Anorad's New HerculesT Series Gantry Offers OEM's Low Cost and Design Flexibility

Shirley, New York (March 2005) - Anorad, the precision motion division of Rockwell Automation, introduces its new aggressively priced HerculesT Series Gantry that will be Introduced at SEMICON West 2005. The latest generation of Anorad's successful Gantry product line features a modular construction that offers unprecedented design flexibility for gantry applications. Specifically, each axis of the Anorad Hercules Gantry can be ordered with either iron core or ironless (zero-cogging) linear servo motors. Furthermore, both motor types are available in three coil lengths to best suit an application's power requirements. Additionally, the lower, Y-axis, can be specified with either single or dual-motor actuation to optimize throughput. All of these motor options make Anorad's Hercules Series Gantry the most highly configurable precision gantry in the industry, and ready to meet your high throughput and high accuracy XY automation needs.

The Hercules Gantry's many motor options enable designers to satisfy a broad range of precision gantry applications. For high speed point-to-point motion, both the X and Y-axes can be built with Anorad's low cost LC-50 iron-core motors, in either 200 or 300mm coil lengths depending on the desired speed for each axis. Heavier payloads and longer X-axis crossbeams can take advantage of the dual-motor Y-axis option to enhance system throughput. Another example of the Hercules Series Gantry's flexibility is in step-and-scan applications. For these, the gantry's scanning axis (usually the upper or X-axis) can be specified with Anorad's new zero-cogging LEB ironless linear servo motor, and the lower (Y-axis) with the LC-50 iron core motors for cost-effective "stepping" motion. Finally, if extremely smooth, dual-axis contouring motion is required; both axes of the Hercules Series can be configured with ironless LEB-motors for the tightest velocity control and highest levels of precision.

In addition to all the motor options, the economically efficient Hercules Series is available in variety of travels and resolutions. Standard X-axis travels are available from 250 to 1000 mm and Y-axis travels range from 250 to 1000 mm. These travels can be mixed and matched to best meet your specific requirements. Rugged high resolution optical encoder options (0.1 to 5.0 ?m per count) are standard along with high-flex strain relieved cables neatly bundled in modular cable carriers. The Hercules Series offers cable options for both left-hand and right-hand depending upon your system's requirement. To further reduce implementation costs, the Anorad Hercules Gantry comes standard with a single encoder per axis configuration. This simplifies the motion control architecture to bring down total system part count and minimize programming and operational complexity. The Hercules Gantry cable tracks can also accommodate our customer's specific cables and customer payloads.

The Hercules Gantry is the first of its type to offer an exclusive four-piece construction base plate as a standard that reduces costs and complexity. (Custom solid base-plate shown above) This greatly improves manufacturability and reduced lead-times.

The Hercules Series Gantry is ideally suited for applications requiring high throughput micron-level precision motion. This type of motion is common in electronics assembly, pick and place, and many types of precision automation. Typical applications include Automated Optical Inspection (AOI), SMT assembly, and Life Science and other types of precision material handling.

In addition to all these features, the Hercules Series Gantries can be supplied with many desirable value-added options including Z&T axis modules, servo drive and control packages, machine frames, enclosures and the complete line of over 500,000 world-class industrial automation products available only from Rockwell Automation.