Precision Leadscrews & Nuts.

What are Precision Leadscrews & Nuts?

Precision Leadscrews (commonly called Power Screws or Translation Screws) are designed for high-precision actuation. Leadscrews use helical threads to translate rotary motion into linear movement. These mechanisms are used within a wide range of appliances, including printers, lathes, CNC machines and robotics.

Accu supply a selection of matched Leadscrew Nuts in a range of materials from A2/A4 stainless to carbon steel. The range includes flanged and unflanged varieties, and they are available with and without anti-backlash capabilities.

Leadscrew Basics

Leadscrews rotate using teeth (or single tooth) to push a Leadscrew Nut back and forth in very precise increments. The ‘lead’ of a Leadscrew is the distance moved during one 360° rotation of the screw. Smaller leads results in a tighter thread, which allows for more precise movements per rotation. The ‘starts’ of a Leadscrew are the number of teeth on the Screw itself. A larger number of starts results in a more robust mechanism with a greater ability to transmit torque, but multiple ‘starts’ can sometimes be incompatible with a small ‘lead’ due to space limitations.

Leadscrews are becoming increasingly useful in industrial engineering applications requiring very intricate movements and ultra-high precision actuation. These include high precision robotics, animatronic limbs, and in hospital medical equipment such as centrifuges and automated pipetting systems. 

Leadscrews are sometimes confused with threaded rods/bars but it is important to understand that due to the much finer threads on a threaded rod - there is an increased risk of thread deformation under load.

Leadscrew Types

Metric Trapezoidal Leadscrews and Nuts

Accu's Trapezoidal Metric Leadscrews feature a trapezoidal tooth profile, and a tooth angle of 30°. Trapezoidal Leadscrews have a similar tooth shape, but a shallower tooth angle than ACME Leadscrews, which creates stronger teeth with greater load-bearing capabilities.

What Are The Advantages Of Using Leadscrews?

Accu Leadscrews have a number of key advantages over alternative power transmission methods:

Ultra-High Precision Leadscrews

Accu's High Precision Leadscrews can be precisely operated to achieve lead accuracies of up to 0.0001mm/mm. This highly accurate linear motion makes Leadscrews ideal for applications where precision is critical.

Large Load-Carrying Capacity

Leadscrews are capable of supporting very large axial loads. This capability is further enhanced by using Leadscrews which feature multiple thread starts.

Large Mechanical Advantage

Due to their unique design, Leadscrews are able to exert high levels of torque with relatively little breakaway torque. 

Compact and Simple Design

Leadscrew mechanisms have only a small number of essential components, and take up very little space within an assembly, this makes them simple to design and install, and means that they can be utilised in environments where space is limited.

Bespoke Precision Leadscrews & Nuts Manufacture.

High precision, bespoke manufacture of Precision Leadscrews & Nuts to customer specification. State of the art facilities specialising in both small batch prototyping and large scale manufacture.