Construction

1.2.1 Carriage and Guide Rail

The SCHNEEBERGER MONORAIL guideway system consists of guide rails and carriages containing rolling elements. The rolling elements run in raceways enclosed within the carriage, enabling the carriage to achieve unlimited linear motion on the guide rail. The rolling element raceways are divided into load zones and return zones.

Figure 1.5 - Carriage and guide rail construction: 1 Carriage 2 Guide rail

Rolling Element Recirculating Unit

The rolling element recirculating unit is located inside the carriage and contains the load zone and return zone. In the load zone, rolling elements bear and transmit external loads; in the return zone, rolling elements return in an unloaded state.

Reference Surfaces and Fixing

SCHNEEBERGER MONORAIL guideways are fixed to the surrounding structure via the guide rail base surface and lateral locating surface. The support surface of the guide rail base is designed by SCHNEEBERGER as a full surface area to achieve maximum possible contact area.

The lateral locating surface is standard designed on one side for lateral support and orientation with the connecting structure. Dual-sided locating surfaces can also be provided upon request.

Fixing Hole Configuration

Using threaded fixing holes

Using carriage fixing holes as through holes

Guide rail with through holes

Guide rail with threaded fixing holes from below

1.2.2 Individual Components and Accessories

SCHNEEBERGER MONORAIL guideway carriages consist of multiple components. The core is the load-bearing body made of high-grade ball bearing steel, with fixing holes and raceways and return bores for rolling elements.

Figure 1.6 - Basic equipment of MONORAIL MR roller guideway

Accessory Options

Carriages can be upgraded with accessories, such as additional wipers, metal scrapers, or lubrication plates, which are mounted in front of the end plate to support system adaptation for specific applications.

Figure 1.7 - Accessory options for MONORAIL MR roller guideway

1.2.3 Types and Design Principles

Applicable Standards

SCHNEEBERGER MONORAIL guideways are available in various sizes and types. To establish consistent standards for these machine elements, the most important design elements have been compiled in industry standard DIN 645 Part 1.

Rolling Element Arrangement

The number and arrangement of rolling element rows depends on rolling element shape, roller contact, available installation space, transmittable forces, and other factors. There are guideways with two, four, or more rows of rolling elements.

Guideway Type:

SCHNEEBERGER MONORAIL roller guideway

Geometry:

• 4 rows
• Line contact
• O-geometry

SCHNEEBERGER Products:

• MONORAIL MR
• MONORAIL AMS 3B
• MONORAIL AMSABS 3B
• MONORAIL AMSA 3L

Guideway Type:

SCHNEEBERGER MONORAIL ball guideway

Geometry:

• 4 rows
• 2-point contact
• O-geometry

SCHNEEBERGER Products:

• MONORAIL BM
• MONORAIL BZ
• MONORAIL AMS 4B
• MONORAIL AMSABS 4B

X-Geometry and O-Geometry

The raceway arrangement of profiled rail guideways is distinguished between X-geometry and O-geometry. With so-called O-geometry, the rolling element raceways are offset by 90°, enabling a larger internal spacing. Therefore, guideways can consistently withstand high load forces and moments from all directions.

X-geometry with spacing a_s

O-geometry with spacing a_s

Contact Angle

SCHNEEBERGER MONORAIL guideway raceways are arranged at specific angles to enable them to withstand forces from different directions. The contact angle α is defined according to DIN ISO 14728 as the angle between the direction of force acting on the guideway and the contact line.

Contact angle of the rolling element with the guide rail

1.2.4 Materials

SCHNEEBERGER MONORAIL guideway rails and carriages use high-grade tool steel and various high-grade plastics as materials. Non-ferrous metals and aluminum are used for some accessories.

1.2.5 Hardening Processes

To achieve sufficiently high load capacity and long service life, the surfaces of profiled rail guideways in contact with rolling elements must have high surface hardness. Different hardening processes are used for rails and carriages to ensure optimal performance.

Guide Rail Hardening

For guide rails, the rolling element raceways can be surface hardened (induction hardening), or the entire rail can be fully hardened.

Inductively hardened guide rail with hardness zone (1) based on the example of an MR guide rail

Fully hardened guide rail based on the example of an MR guide rail

Inductively Hardened Guide Rail

Induction hardening is a surface hardening method that only hardens the rolling element raceway area of the guide rail. This method uses high-frequency current to generate heat on the surface, then rapidly cools to form a hardened layer.

Fully Hardened Guide Rail

Full hardening is heat treatment of the entire guide rail, making the entire component achieve uniform high hardness. SCHNEEBERGER's fully hardened guide rails provide additional advantages, particularly suitable for harsh environmental conditions.

Carriage Hardening

The load-bearing body of the carriage is made of high-grade ball bearing steel and is fully hardened (through hardened). This ensures the carriage has sufficient hardness and wear resistance to withstand continuous rolling contact loads.

Force F is applied against deformation dx up to breaking point

Selection of Hardening Process

Selection of the appropriate hardening process depends on various factors, including guide rail size, application environment, and performance requirements. SCHNEEBERGER provides different hardening options according to product series and customer needs.