Many of our customers, especially those with high speed applications, have been asking: can you make the screws any quieter? Recently, Steinmeyer delivered an answer: the Quiet Series, featuring an innovative end cap that reduces noise by 50%.
Ball screws with high leads and high linear speeds are notoriously noisy. The loading and unloading of the balls against the return is the main source of noise. With steel balls and steel returns, this cycling can create a loud “whirling” sound at high speeds, especially when using preloaded ball nuts. Steinmeyer has been researching this issue, and recently announced some important results involving process improvements that may yield benefits across most of our product range (http://machinedesign.com/cables-connectors-enclosures/researchers-uncover-source-ball-screw-noise)
Meanwhile, on the design side, the innovative plastic end caps provide a solution for small diameter screws. As shown in the 3D drawing below, the steel body (blue) has an integrated flange and “through the nut” ball recirculation. The plastic end caps (gray) provide quiet return, and may also include integrated combination wipers (not shown).

Quiet Series screws are designed typically for a lead/diameter ratio greater than 0.5. Due to the high lead, they are especially well-suited for use in high speed pick-and-place actuators. The screws are available in diameters from 5 to 20 mm and leads up to 32 mm! All feature dual start threads, P5 accuracy grade, and ball nuts with zero or minimum axial play.
So, if you are running a high-speed application and your current ball screws are too noisy, contact Steinmeyer and ask about our Quiet Series. We may have an ideal solution that gets you running quiet.

Learn more: http://www.steinmeyer.com/en/products/drive-technology/