Over the past couple years; PBC Linear has
been touting Integral V™ Technology (IVT) and its ability to simplify
linear guide systems without painstaking labor and alignment. This has
sparked a wave of curiosity with potential customers wanting to know
more; specifically “how does it work?”, and “how much will it cost me?”
Integral V™ linear guides were designed as
the next generation in V-guide technology. Hardened steel inserts
embedded directly into aluminum structural framing provide fast,
accurate and long-lasting travel without additional fastening
components, alignment or labor. Typical V-guide products require
mounting fasteners, plates and bolts to adhere V-races onto structural
framing; resulting in increased tolerance stack-up, or steadily
accumulated variation in the products performance.
Stacked against the competition, IVT shines
out as the obvious choice for cost efficiency. This new linear guide
product simplifies all facets of integrating a new linear guide system:
design/installation labor, material costs and performance. For a
definite picture of how IVT saves on cost, we must compare the product
to its closest competing product: V-guides.
Click here to download the cost
comparison in PDF format.
Linear motion engineers work tirelessly when designing a new system.
This process can take hours, days and, in some cases, weeks to plan out
appropriately—causing labor costs to skyrocket. Within a linear guide
system integration process, design engineers have the highest labor
cost; therefore a streamlined product that saves hours in design time
could potentially save a company thousands of dollars!
Example application: Company X needs a
linear guide system for a 1m application under general load, speed and
environmental capacities.
Using the given example, design time
for this general application is broken down in Figure 1.1 below:
Design Labor
Note: Estimated Design
Engineer Wage: $100.00/hour.
Conclusion: Due to eliminated tolerance
stack-up, PBC Linear’s availability of design models, and IVT’s
simplified design, the customer is able to save a potential 63% on
projected labor costs before the product is even ordered!
A V-guide system carries more additional
components than two V-rails. It has an entire inventory of fastening and
mounting materials. This not only presents tolerance and alignment
issues, but also steadily increases the Bill of Materials (BOM).
Figure 2.1 shows each product’s
potential BOM for the example application
Conclusion: Over a length of 1m, Integral
V™ linear guides are able to save the customer 27% on material costs.
This is due to the hardened steel embedded raceways; which are
permanently adhered to the aluminum extrusion without the need for
fasteners. IVT’s innovative design and proprietary machining process
allow for enhanced performance without enhanced component inventory.
Using half of the fasteners required for V-guide technology, Integral V™
provides precision linear guidance, smooth travel and sophisticated
operation.
The design is specified and the materials
are ordered. The final step is to install the system. With V-guides, the
installation process is complex, requiring constant checking and
re-checking alignment of the V-guide rails to the machining plate and
the machining plate to the aluminum extrusion. IVT’s simplified design
eliminates tolerance stack-up; which also reduces alignment issues.
Figure 3.1: Tolerance stack-up
comparison
As shown above, V-guides’ additional
components cause steadily increasing variance and inaccuracies for the
linear guide application. However, installation requires more than
alignment.
Figure 3.2 depicts the installation
steps for each product:
Conclusion: As shown in
Figure 3.2 above, Integral V™ saves the customer on time, cost and
labor. This next-gen linear guide product is easy to specify, saves on
materials, and installs in a fraction of the time versus the older
technology. How is it able to accomplish this? IVT’s competitive edge
begins with PBC Linear’s proprietary SIMO™ process (Simultaneous
Integral Milling Operation). SIMO™ ensures accurate travel and precision
by concurrently machining all qualified edges at once. This process
rectifies the natural bow twist and camber variance in aluminum
extrusions. V-guides—relying on outdated and expensive machining
techniques—dramatically increase a customer’s labor and production
costs.
Summary: In the example application,
Integral V™ Technology (IVT) comes in to deliver a 47% overall cost
savings over the traditional V-guide product. But does this make it more
reliable? The proof is the performance. Integral V™ saves on cost NOT
because it’s a substandard product, but because it re-imagines the
design of the traditional linear guide. IVT is designed to hold tight
tolerances (±0.001’’/0.025mm), precise parallelism (±0.001’’), and
machined straightness (±0.002’’/ft). This allows IVT to deliver
sophisticated, reliable and smooth linear guidance for several
applications and industries. Available in multiple different profile
structures along with custom options, Integral V™ is shown to be more
versatile than competing technologies.
Potential applications include: CNC
gantries, sliding doors, patient-assist adjustment tables and overhead
architectural guidance.
