Demystifying Ball Spline Specs

Overview:

Place a recirculating-ball bushing on a shaft and what do you get? Frictionless movement of the shaft.

But, create grooves along the axial length of the shaft that correspond to the radius of the bushing's ball elements and you've got frictionless linear movement coupled with two important characteristics - those being anti-rotation torque transfer and higher load capabilities.

Now...that's a ball spline. It combines a linear bushing (nut) that can now handle greater moment loads and, a shaft, which, unlike a rail, can be rotated when needed. It is perfect for high-speed motion and high-speed rotation.

There is the right ball spline for an endless number of automated operations: Robotics, inspection, spinning, loading, coating, wire winding, grinding, indexing, die setting, transferring, conveyance, molding, drafting, measuring, optical measuring, welding, riveting, printing, book-binding, packaging, filling, pressing and more.

So why isn't identifying the right ball spline for an application straightforward and easy? Demystify the semantic differences in the literature and it will, at least, be easier. We'll do this by thinking of ball splines in terms of how their various configurations affect their functions and then compare their functionality to application requirements.