Image credit: Atlanta Drive Systems, Inc. Unlike ball screw assemblies, rack and pinion drives can provide high speeds and high thrust forces regardless of length or mounting factors. In fact, manufacturers of linear actuators commonly offer rack and pinion drive versions, and several profiled rail guide manufacturers offer integrated rack and pinion systems, with the rack ground into the guide rail profile or the guide rail mounted directly on the rack.įurther evidence that rack and pinion drives aren’t going away is the investment that manufacturers continue to make in the technology - from developing improved methods for tooth grinding to researching new materials with better hardness and surface finish for reduced wear, higher efficiency, and reduced weight.
While the rack and pinion drive is sometimes dismissed as old technology, a look at the market for linear motion solutions demonstrates that this isn’t the case.
But rack and pinion drives are the often-overlooked workhorses behind gantry and transport applications that require long travel, high acceleration rates, and high thrust forces at a relatively low cost - a performance-price combination the other drive technologies have difficulty achieving. In linear motion applications, ball screws are widely recognized for their ability to provide high thrust forces, while linear motors are gaining market share in high-speed applications, and belt drives continue to maintain their reputation as the best solution for long travel lengths.
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