Ball Screws Types and Terms

  • Acme screws are lead screws that create a sliding friction between screw and nut. ACME screws maintain a lower efficiency than ball screws, measuring about 30 %, but are often cost effective. Acme screws are often utilized in applications requiring high levels of accuracy at low speeds.
  • Ground ball screws are produced using a grinding wheel instead of the conventional rolling technique. Ground ball screws offer close tolerances, but may be expensive to produce.
  • Jack screws are frequently used in car jacks.
  • Lead screws consist of a threaded shaft and nut, and create friction through sliding rather than through the rolling friction characteristic of ball screws. The efficiency of lead screws increases with increased lead. Lead screws are advantageous in managing high shock loads.
  • Metric ball screws are designed according to metric system measurements, as opposed to the English system of measurements.
  • Miniature ball screws , which consist of ballscrews measuring as little as three millimeters in diameter, are used in applications in which minute products components are needed, such as industrial applications in the computer, electronic, fiber optics, and semiconductor industries. Miniature ball screws maintain high efficiency levels in spite of their size.
  • Screw jacks are used in lifting jacks.

Backdrive - The conversion of thrust motion back to torque motion. Backdrive can be reduced through a self-locking mechanism.
 
Backlash - The movement of a screw and nut from its initial position. Unlike creep, backlash is not caused from vibration or heavy loads.
 
Creep - The movement of a screw and nut from its initial position due to vibration, shock, or intense loads.
 
Column Strength - When a screw is loaded in compression its limit of flexible stability can be exceeded but may end of failing due to future buckling or bending.
 
Critical Speed - Revolving screw shafts will develop normal frequencies of vibration depending upon their length, size and end shape. The speed at which this vibration occurs is predictable and is called the critical speed.
 
Efficiency - A measurement, expressed as a percentage, representing the comparison of power output to power input of a screw assembly.
 
End Fixity - This refers to the method by which the ends of the screw are supported. There are three basic types of end fixity as follows; free, simple and fixed.
 
Freewheeling - A condition that occurs in ball screw assemblies involving continued screw rotation, but no linear movement.
 
Friction - A screw's and nut's resistance to movement. Different types of friction exist, including sliding friction characteristic of Acme screws and lead screws, and rolling friction characteristic of ball screws.
 
Lead - The measurement of a nut's movement across the screw, measured in inches per revolution (in/rev).
 
Pitch - The axial measurement between threads. Pitch also refers to the number of full rotations a screw makes in order to produce one inch of movement of the nut along the screw.
 
Root Diameter - This is reference to the minor diameter of a screw thread or the major diameter of a nut thread.
 
RPM (Revolutions per minute) - The rotary speed of a ball screw, represented by the number of full rotations of a screw occurring in one minute.
 
Screw Starts - Referring to the number of independent threads found on a screw shaft, usually found in configurations of either 1, 2, or 4.
 
Self-locking - A characteristic of Acme screw and other types of screws in which back drive is prevented by the disallowance of thrust to torque conversion.
 
Shaft - The portion of the screw which contains the threads.
 
Speed - The measurement of the pace of linear movement in ball screw assemblies, expressed in inches per minute. Speed is calculated through the multiplication of screw lead by RPM, or revolutions per minute.
 
Stroke - The measurement, expressed in inches, of a ball screw system's linear motion or thrust.
 
Thread - The raised helical rib going around the shaft of a common screw.
 
Thrust - Linear movement achieved by the torque produced from ball screw assemblies.  
 
Torque - Rotational motion of a ball screw system that translates into linear movement, known as thrust.