Tooling machines, manufacturing cells or packaging machines are usually operated in a protective enclosure. This prevents accidents, protects the surroundings from flying shavings or contamination and shields hygienically sensitive products against contamination from the outside. Sliding doors allow for loading and unloading, cleaning, repairing or maintenance. In order to open and close them automatically, the linear axes of the E-Smart series by Rollon, for example, can be used. If they are installed horizontally and tilted 90 degrees, the door can be mounted on the carriage and moved by the actuator. Power is transmitted by steel-reinforced polyurethane timing belts with an AT tooth profile. The axes are characterized by low friction, long service life and low noise. A Compact Rail roller guide safely accommodates the sliding doors at the bottom.
The same solution can be implemented even cheaper with a bi-directional Smart axis. A B-Smart that is twice as long with two synchronously colliding and moving runners stops and then moves the machine doors. This saves an axis and requires only a transmission, a motor, an encoder for determining position and a servo amplifier.
In handling and positioning systems that used to require two horizontal axes, a Robot SP-2C axis with two independently positionable carriages may also be used instead. An SC-axis can be correspondingly mounted onto the trolley, which is provided in the Plus System family for performing vertical strokes. The design with two perpendicular axes on a transverse axis can save not just an axis, it is also a time saver for the user by being able to run parallel processing.
