BELL-EVERMAN, INC.

ServoBelt™ Linear Drive

ServoBelt™ Linear Drive

Forget everything you thought you knew about belt drives

ServoBelt™ Linear actuators redefine the classic belt drive, putting belts to work in an entirely new way that reduces the positioning errors and speed limitations of conventional belt drives.

• High Performance, Low Cost. With speeds up to 4 m/s, accuracy to ± 4 µm per meter and bi-directional repeatability of ± 1 encoder count, ServoBelt Linear compares favorably to high-end linear motor drives costing thousands more.
• Limitless Scalability. With a chassis based on standard Bosch-Rexroth T-slot extrusions, ServoBelt Linear can be engineered for travel distances up to 50 meters to create large-format motion systems.
• Multiple Carriages and Axes. A single ServoBelt Linear axis will support multiple carriages with independent motion. Multi-axis configurations include Cartesian motion systems and gantry robots.

How it works

Unlike a conventional single-belt drive, ServoBelt Linear’s carriage rides between a pair of toothed, steel-reinforced polyurethane belts.

• Dual Belts. The “static” belt is permanently bonded to an aluminum rail to form ServoBelt’s structural chassis, much like a gear rack. The “active” belt runs over a driven pinion and through a set of idler rollers fixed inside ServoBelt’s moving carriage.
• Constant Stiffness. The two belts are under tension only around the pinion, which minimizes belt stretch and makes driveline stiffness constant along the entire axis.
• Backlash Free. Tensioning of the belt preloads the belt mesh on either side of the pinion for backlash free movement in either direction.
• Debris Tolerant. Along the rest of the rail length, the active and static belts remain engaged, protecting the mesh from debris.