Large Assemblies - Precision Rail Systems ???

[Canmore]

I'm looking to find a precision linear rail system roughly 20-meter long to install onto a factory floor. Toleranced at the micron level. This rail will be used for locating assembly tooling and components, so it must be installed accurately.

I'm sure this exists but I'm struggling to find the right term to search for. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mfgenggear]

Canmore
Do you mean a crane lift system

https://www.sbomh.com/collections/equipment

 

[MintJulep]

The right term is unobtainium.

Use a crude rail system to get close, then a more accurate local referenced system at each station.

 

[lucky-guesser]

Lol, I agree with Mint. Your rail will grow by .006" every degree F change. AKA every time your AC kicks on your microns are going out the window. Positions will have to be controlled locally.

 

[Canmore]

That's a valid point.

 

[Jboggs]

I was once involved in the design of a very large multi-axis water jet system. The X-axis stroke was over 115 ft, Y-axis was close to 40 ft. And just to make it more fun, no single piece could be longer than 20 ft because it had to fit inside a shipping container. We had to maintain a precision of .005" over the entire envelope. We used standard high precision linear rails and bearings (of the THK, INA, Thomson style). Much of the precision in these designs comes from an understanding of the importance of the layout of the bearings.

Our controls group included multiple temperature sensors in order to use them in positioning calculations to achieve the required accuracy.

 

[EdStainless]

We had machines where the cutting coolant was pumped through the ways and bearing housings.
As I recall it had a +/-3F tolerance.
The room was also kept temp controlled.
We only had a 60' long bed.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[Canmore]

Thank you for your contributions! It sounds like I'm barking up the wrong tree, so I'll review the concept.

 

[Canmore]

Thanks again for the contributions. To keep the thread updated, I found Losyco GmbH which can install precision rails. However, we're not going down that route anymore.

 

[MintJulep]

Thanks for the update.

What route are you going down?