Abstract
Novel microstepping linear mechanisms are designed for aiming at high-speed and high-resolution positioning. The mechanism employs two electromagnets for clumping the rail, and one electromagnet for longitudinal actuation of the mechanism. Use of the electromagnets with a larger stroke enables to high-speed feed rate. Moreover, toggle mechanisms reduce the actuator's displacement and enlarge the actuator's force. Because the relation between the input and output displacements of the toggle mechanism is non-linear, the microstepper achieves both high-speed and high-resolution positioning as necessary. This paper deals with improvement of experimental mechanisms equipped with two types of actuators. As a result of reducing undesirable attractive force between the actuator's electromagnet and the steel rail, backward motion and serpentine motion was mostly diminished. It was demonstrated that these mechanisms had 1.2 mm/s and 2.6 mm/s maximum speeds and the positioning resolution less than 0.2 μm.
