The PILine M-674 RodDrive features a patented, ceramic, ultrasonic drive and can easily be used to replace classical drive elements like motor/leadscrew assemblies or magnetic linear drives. It consists of a rod-shaped runner moved and guided by patented PILine piezo linear motors pressed against it from two opposing sides. Depending on the application design, either the runner or the motor housing can be coupled to the moving part.
The highly compact, integrated piezomotors in the M-674 can provide high accelerations, velocities of up to 450mm/s and generated forces up to seven N. Because ceramic motors provide high holding forces at rest, the M-674 with its integrated piezomotor offers extraordinary position stability without the heat generation characteristic of conventional linear motors.
Standard versions of the M-674 are available off the shelf with travel ranges of 50, 100 and 150mm. Special operating and holding force requirements can be fulfilled by varying the characteristics of the piezomotors used. This includes designs for use in vacuum and designs for non-magnetic applications.
The M-682 stage is a 50mm travel closed loop positioning stage that incorporates the PILine Rod Drive. With a height of only 20mm and a force handling of 50N the M-682 is an extremely compact positioner that is ideal for use in biotechnology, microscope and photonics packaging applications where space is critical. The stage which incorporates crossed roller bearing guides mounted on a precision ground aluminium base has a maximum velocity of 350mm/s and a minimum incremental motion of 0.1µm.
A range of open and closed loop PILine controllers are available for driving both open and closed loop versions of the Rod Drive motor.