kjoiner
Mechanical
- Oct 31, 2002
- 459
Hello,
We have an application the involves sliding doors that are spread apart by a linear actuator mechanism. The spreader mechanism works by engaging two toggle arms to the doors and spreading them apart by 5.5 inches. The doors slide on stainless steel rods in the door frame and also ride against a rub strip made from HDPE. The rub strip is mounted to a cross beam of the door. Becuase of the angle of the toggle arms, there is a force component that presses the doors against the rub strip during the initial stage of movement until the toggle arms spread out. Having said that, we originally used extruded aluminum doors that were anodized but in the past few years switched to injection molded doors made from acetal (Celcon M270).
We are experiencing some issues with doors not sliding freely and jamming when the mechanism operates and testing is narrowing down the problem to the rub strip. Typically, the doors can be slid around with finger pressure. In addition to exploring other possible mechanical issues, I would like to find out if there are possibilities for the acetal doors to gall or otherwise not slide freely when pressed against HDPE. I am considering other meterials for the rub strip including metals. I have made prototype rub strips from stainless steel, but they did not provide as smooth movement as the HDPE. Another option would be to use an anodized aluminum strip.
Thanks,
Kyle
We have an application the involves sliding doors that are spread apart by a linear actuator mechanism. The spreader mechanism works by engaging two toggle arms to the doors and spreading them apart by 5.5 inches. The doors slide on stainless steel rods in the door frame and also ride against a rub strip made from HDPE. The rub strip is mounted to a cross beam of the door. Becuase of the angle of the toggle arms, there is a force component that presses the doors against the rub strip during the initial stage of movement until the toggle arms spread out. Having said that, we originally used extruded aluminum doors that were anodized but in the past few years switched to injection molded doors made from acetal (Celcon M270).
We are experiencing some issues with doors not sliding freely and jamming when the mechanism operates and testing is narrowing down the problem to the rub strip. Typically, the doors can be slid around with finger pressure. In addition to exploring other possible mechanical issues, I would like to find out if there are possibilities for the acetal doors to gall or otherwise not slide freely when pressed against HDPE. I am considering other meterials for the rub strip including metals. I have made prototype rub strips from stainless steel, but they did not provide as smooth movement as the HDPE. Another option would be to use an anodized aluminum strip.
Thanks,
Kyle
