Screw Driven Tables are a mechanical device used to develop force and linear motion from a source of energy. The force is translated into a linear motion rather than a rotational motion as an electrical motor would have it. The Screw Driven Tables convert rotary motion into linear displacement by screws or gears to which the electric motor is attached. Screw Driven Tables are components of a motion system used to restrict an object to a single axis of motion. All Screw Driven Tables consists of a platform and a base, joined by some form of guide or linear bearing. The platform of the Screw Driven Tables is restricted to linear motion with respect to the base. The term Screw Driven Tables may or may not also include the mechanism by which the position of the platform is controlled relative to the base.

Screw Driven Tables have a platform, also known as carriage, that moves relative to a base. The Screw Driven Tables are joined by a form of guide which only allows the carriage to move in one dimension or axis. There are a variety of different style of guides for Screw Driven Tables with pros and cons to make each suitable for a particular application. Ball Bearing Screw Driven Tables are fairly inexpensive. The drawbacks of Ball bearing Screw Driven Tables is short travel, low load capacity, poor accuracy, and short lifetime. Re-circulating ball bearing Screw Driven Tables have unlimited travel and are relatively inexpensive. The downside for this type of Screw Driven Tables is low load capacity, quick to wear, oscillating positioning load as bearings re-circulate. Crossed roller bearing Screw Driven Tables have high load capacity, good accuracy, and long lifetime. The cons to this type of Screw Driven Tables are short travel, which is limited by length of bearing contact and they are expensive. Flexure Screw Driven Tables have benefits of excellent accuracy, no backlash, and no wear. The downsides to flexure Screw Driven Tables include short travel, low load capacity, and expensive. Cylindrical sleeve Screw Driven Tables are capable of high load capacities, unlimited travel, and being inexpensive. The Screw Driven Tables are susceptible to binding if bending moments are present in the application. The Dovetail Screw Driven Tables have high load capacity capabilities, along with unlimited travel, long lifetime and are fairly inexpensive. These types of Screw Driven Tables require high positioning force and are susceptible to binding if bending moments are present a long with high backlash.

Manual Screw Driven Tables can have a crank or control knob in addition to a lead screw which is very typical in most applications. The knob of Screw Driven Tables can also be indexed to indicate the angular position of the load. The displacement of Screw Driven Tables is related to the angular displacement of the knob by the lead screw pitch. Precision Screw Driven Tables do not use a lead screw, but rather Screw Driven Tables of that caliber use a fine-pitch screw which presses on a hard metal pad on the platform of the storage. Rotating the screw will move the platform in a linear motion. A spring is used to keep force between the platform and Screw Driven Tables. This provides a more precise motion for Screw Driven Tables. Screw Driven Tables mounted vertically use something different, the actuator is connected to the moveable platform and its tip rests on a metal pad on the fixed base. The weight of the platform and its load is supported by the actuator.

In some Screw Driven Tables, a stepper motor may be used in place of a manual knob. A stepper motor used in Screw Driven Tables can move in fixed increments dependant on the step resolution of the system. The Screw Driven Tables, in this case, moves similar to an indexed knob.

In some Screw Driven Tables, a DC motor can be used in place of a manual knob control. A DC motor, however, does not move in fixed increments like a stepper motor or knob in Screw Driven Tables. An alternate means for Screw Driven Tables is required for position verification. This can be addressed with an encoder being integrated into Screw Driven Tables. The encoder allows a motion controller to reliably move the stage to set positions within the Screw Driven Tables.

For control of position in more than one direction, Screw Driven Tables of a single-axis may be combined to allow motion in multiple directions. A two-axis system of Screw Driven Tables can be assembled from two Screw Driven Tables, one mounted to the platform or carriage to the other in a way that the axis of motion of the second Screw Driven Tables is perpendicular of the first. Three-axis or X-Y-Z stage is composed of three Screw Driven Tables mounted to each other where the axis of motion of all stages is orthogonal. Many two-axis and three-axis Screw Driven Tables are designs integrated rather than assembled from separate single-axis Screw Driven Tables. Utilizing rotary elements can also create four-axis, five-axis, and even six-axis Screw Driven Tables.

Screw Driven Tables can be used in the following applications:

Lab Automation
Biotech Automation
Inspection Stations
Part Scanning
Pick & Place
Liquid Dispensing
Part Insertion

Today in most manufacturing process the use of Screw Driven Tables is extremely common because Screw Driven Tables may be customized to whatever the application may be. Within the biotechnology field, finding a means of accelerating drug testing is an important task for scientists. By using Screw Driven Tables you can precisely position plates that contain minute quantities of drug samples. With the precision of Screw Driven Tables bio-technicians can test more samples more quickly, resulting in new pharmaceutical solutions faster. Screw Driven Tables are used throughout the packaging industry one example being liquid dispensing; Screw Driven Tables track the bottle on the moving conveyor while filling it up and retract as the liquid level rises. After the bottle has been filled up vertical Screw Driven Tables lower a threaded cap onto the bottle and uses a rotary motor to tighten the cap. When wanting to move one product from one conveyor belt to another we use Screw Driven Tables to channel these products to different conveyors. Screw Driven Tables are not solely for the packaging and manufacturing industries but are also being used in everyday life by everyday people, for example; your local deli could be using an automatic food slicer that is controlled by Screw Driven Tables which feed the food into the slicing mechanism.