Most people would be familiar with 12/24V actuators as the basis of the drive mechanism for hospital beds. These offer plug and play linear motion and are readily adaptable to many small stroke, low speed applications. They are available with load capacities up to 10,000N, speeds of up to 46mm/s and strokes of 500mm. 12/24V electrical connection is suitable for direct connection to automotive or control circuit (PLC) wiring. And due to the low voltage electrical drive, there is no need for pumps or hoses.

Travel direction is achieved by simple reversing of the electrical polarity and models with built in limit switches offer simple robust actuation right out of the box. Standard mechanical connection is commonly via a through pin and can easily be set up to handle rotation during actuation.

As this type has evolved from stand-alone medical systems, integrated power supplies and keypads are also available. Some types offer up to 6-axis control and make stand alone simple human controlled actuation extremely simple.

Due to the simple 12 or 24V motors and the commonly used ACME threads, linear speeds are lower and duty cycles are normally restricted to 20 percent. Another drawback is that the retracted length is similar to the stroke length and this extra length needs to be considered as part of the design.

This type of actuator is an ideal solution for gates and hatches, in home or office furniture automation, windows, louvres and shutters. IP65 models are available for outdoors or marine environments.

Belt or ball screw driven actuators

For more demanding applications belt or ball screw driven actuators are a better choice. Typically these actuators are enclosed in an aluminium extrusion complete with guide ways. Belt driven actuators offer high speed, low maintenance and quiet operation. Higher precision (<= 0.1mm) can be provided with ball screw driven actuators. These types are more compact as the moving attachment is connected directly to the carriage rather than via a push rod and most of the actuator is contained within the stroke length.

As these types of actuators are built up from components they can be readily configured to suit a wide variety of load cases and applications. Most feature T-nut slots along the length of the extrusion for easy mounting to machine frames and provide a linear motion component to machine building systems. This also facilitates mounting units directly to one another for multi-axis applications.

Almost any type of motor can be attached directly to the actuator using a mounting plate. This allows the drive systems to be optimised for application – choose from AC motors with limit switches and/or frequency drives for simple point to point, or servo drives for complete and accurate motion control.

Your provider should be able to recommend an actuator to meet your performance requirements. Belt driven actuators are stocked in component form in New Zealand to enable short lead times and customisation for most applications.