COMPACT SLIDE SYSTEM DELIVERS LONG TERM RELIABILITY
PCS Instruments manufactures equipment for testing fuels and lubricants and counts amongst its customers all the major oil companies as well as many national standards laboratories and test houses. Its products perform well and look good. So when specifying components for its tribology test equipment and laboratory instruments, PCS needs to satisfy both performance and appearance criteria. And for two of its popular models this need is ably met by the IEF Werner domiLINE linear motion system from RARUK Automation.
Formed by a group of research engineers from the Tribology Laboratory at Imperial College in London, PCS uses state of the art computer control and measurement techniques allowing for greater automation, more flexibility and lower operating costs. Its range of test equipment performs standard ISO, ASTM and CEC test procedures and other specialised research tasks.
The PCS Mini Traction Machine is a flexible general-purpose instrument for measuring the frictional properties of lubricated and unlubricated contacts under a wide range of rolling and sliding conditions. One of the main applications is the fully automated traction mapping of lubricants under conditions commonly found in internal combustion engines. DomiLINE is responsible for the linear motion and focus adjustment of the RGB colour camera and microscope system.
DomiLINE has a similar job in the company’s EHL Ultra Thin Film Measurement System. This is a computer-controlled instrument for measuring the film thickness and traction coefficient of lubricants and is believed to be the only system commercially available. The domiLINE assembly specified for this product focuses a spectrometer and monochrome camera.
“Standard, long axes lengths available in single and multi-axis combinations and fine adjustment of 0.05mm were the main reasons for choice of domiLINE for these applications.” explained Dr. Matt Smeeth from PCS. “It has contributed to the reliability and accuracy for which these products are world renowned. In all the years we have been using domiLINE it hasn’t presented us with a single problem.”
Manufactured from hard anodised aluminium and with a stainless-steel option, compact domiLINE offers high load ratings, low play and easy motor assembly. It is specified for X-Y-Z applications across a range of sectors from adjusting soldering heads to measuring optical fibres. Also available is a low-cost turntable for rotary motion which can be fitted with a digital display for NC positioning.
