Leading Linear Motion Guide Manufacturers

A linear motion guide can be powered by a motor or operated by hand to create movement. Various types of bearings or rolling parts can be used inside the linear motion guide to allow it to roll smoothly along the guide rail.

The different types of linear motion guide bearings include ball bearings, roller bearings, and magnetic bearings. Ball bearings are the most common type of rolling element for linear motion guides because they are both effective and affordable.

These small ball shaped components are placed in a sleeve or in a track between the two moving component of the guide and the rail. The moving component rolls over these bearings rather than making contact with the fixed portion of the slide which significantly reduces the amount of friction.

With reduced friction, the slide can move more smoothly. Roller bearings and magnetic bearings provide very similar benefits, but they operate in a slightly different way. Roller bearings mostly differ from ball bearings in their shape only.

Instead of a ball, they are flat cylinders and the sliding portion of the guide moves along the rounded edge of the cylinders. Magnetic bearings, on the other hand, differ more significantly from the other types of bearings.

This type of bearing consists of two encased magnets with opposite polarization. One is attached to the fixed portion of the linear guide and the other is attached to the sliding portion.

While the sliding portion is still incapable of coming off of the rail, the oppositely polarized magnets repel each other, keeping the two components from coming in physical contact with each other. This allows the sliding portion to move along the rail without experiencing significant frictional forces.

Linear motion guides are used in all kinds of household and industrial applications. Most sliding doors in a house or desk drawers in an office use some kind of linear motion guide to allow someone to smoothly slide them open or close them back up.

Conveyor belts in some automated factory assembly lines also use linear motion guides to keep new products moving down the assembly line and on to the next step in production. In industrial or household settings, linear motion systems help to make tasks easier and more efficient every day.