A Low-Profile Planar Motion Table System Driven by Steel Belt

Abstract

Machine tools and inspection systems require high performance positioning table systems that have long travel ranges, lower profile structures, multi-degree-of-freedom motion, and high speed motion, simultaneously. This paper presents a newly developed low-profile planar motion table system driven by steel belts. The driving system has two steel belts, two servo motors, and four ball spline shafts. These elements are symmetrically arranged on the same plane, and the moving table realizes planar motion. After confirming the effectiveness of the proposed driving mechanism with a one-axis table system, the planar table system developed is evaluated through the some positioning experiments. The results confirm that the developed table system is useful in material handling and other applications.