Screw Jack Move Precisely with Coil Spring Load Limiter

When an industrial machine needs to move a cover or lid onto a dead stop or sealing face it must do so precisely and positively with contact on all dead stops or over the complete sealing face. One product that is frequently used for this type of operation is a mechanical linear actuator or screw jack. Conventionally these are best suited to lowering applications as a simple elongated slot in an actuators ram or clevis end allows the cover to be lowered into position and mate under its own weight driving the actuator until the lifting pins are midway in the clevis slot. However this method cannot be used to push a cover into position. This was the problem that Spooner Industries asked Screw Jack to solve for one of their Dryer Hoods.

For this particular application a screw jack was the best type of solution. To push the cover into position precisely Screw Jack designed a special coil spring load limiter for the end of the jacks lifting screw. The load limiter consists of a helical coil wire spring with squared ends held in place between two mounting plates. One plate is a restraining plate and the other a moving plate that is bolted to the cover structure. The spring is preloaded between these two plates so that the spring will not compress under normal working load when the cover is not in contact its dead stops. When the screw jack drives the cover against a dead stop the spring compresses over a normal working distance of 10mm. Within this "10mm window" a limit switch is positioned to signal the machines control system to stop the screw jack as a positive stop position is reached. As the rate of compression of the spring is critical to the operation each spring is designed for each applications specific requirements. Also for the device to work correctly the spring assembly could not be allowed to rotate in its fixture. The screw jack was therefore fitted with a keyed lifting screw to prevent rotation.
Safety on the machine was of prime concern and two extra safety features were included on the screw jack.

A rotation monitor to detect if a jamming condition occurs. This monitor consisted of a proximity sensor creating a train of pulses from a target ring that rotates with the gear wheel in the screw jack. The machines control system can then compare pulse rates to determine a moving or stopped condition.
A secondary holding device for the lifting screw was provided fitting a safety nut in series with the worm gear. This safety nut is not normally in contact with the lifting screw threads and is only engaged in the unlikely event that the trapezoidal screw thread on the gear wheel fails.

To complete the unit for system installation the screw jacks lifting screw was fitted with a bellows boot cover and a special flange mount Neeter Drive bevel gearbox was used to connect the drive system to the screw jack at right angles.

Since installation the unit has worked successfully for Spooner Industries who have now used several variants and models of the design up to 100kN screw jack capacity rating.

Screw Jack Group
268# WenErXi Road , Fraserburgh
Aberdeenshire AB43 8TE
Scotland ( UK)

Tel: +44 (0) 1346 513131
Fax: +44 (0) 1346 516827
Email: [email protected]

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