Aids in the Electrification of Large Injection Molding Machines
NSK Ltd. (NSK; Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Toshihiro Uchiyama) today announced that it has expanded the size of its high-load drive ball screws, whereby making it possible to fabricate even larger plastic components. NSK is targeting 1 billion yen in annual global sales of its super large, high-load drive ball screw series in 2018.
Development Background
As automobiles become more energy efficient and emission regulations become even stricter, there is a greater need to reduce the weight of hybrids and electric vehicles. This need is in turn driving the need for larger plastic components such as large one-piece bumpers and door modules, as well as instrument panel interior components.
In the past, hydraulic injection machines capable of high loads were the solution for forming these large components. Today, however, electronic injection machines, which are energy efficient and clean (since they do not require oil), are seeing greater and greater demand. In response, NSK has developed a super large, high-load drive ball screw compatible for use in large electronic injection molding machines.
Product Features
- Original new method for grinding nuts 800 mm in length (1.4x the length of conventional)
NSK has developed technology for grinding long nuts, something that was not easily done until now. This makes it possible to increase the number of load balls in the nut, whereby increasing the maximum allowable axial load by 1.3 times and the life by 2.8 times. - Compatibility with high speeds
NSK employs a dedicated design for ball circulation that employs a tangential pickup method using a proprietary deflector, which makes it possible to achieve high-speed rotation even with large ball screws over 140 mm in diameter and balls that are one inch in size (dn up to 100,000).
*dn: diameter (mm) x rpm (min-1)
These days, high-load drive ball screws are indispensible core mechanical components for driving electric injection molding machines and servoless machines. In 1996, NSK launched the first series of high-load drive ball screws in the industry. Since then, NSK has continued to expand the variety of its ball screw series to meet the need for higher speeds and reduced lubrication. NSK is committed to providing solutions as Your Real Partner.™ by continuing to meet various market needs.