New Application Scenarios for Telescopic Rails with Ball Bearings

Extractions on the vertical axis or use in demanding, dirty environments or continuous cycles: Telerace telescopic rails with ball bearings from Rollon open the doors to new applications.

by Alma Castiglioni

The Telerace product family was integrated into the Rollon range after the recent acquisition of the Italian company T-Race. These products are telescopic guides with double row bearings. They are the ideal solution for applications that involve the vertical use of rails because the ball bearings are larger, and therefore do not have the criticalities that can arise when ball bearing cages get out of line. They are also particularly suitable for use in difficult environments due to large sliding elements inside the raceways and raceway cleaners that simultaneously protect and lubricate the raceways. Lastly, they can be used in all those applications that involve extractions or automated telescopic movements, without worrying about the difficulties connected with variable strokes, high speeds and demanding cycles.

Construction features in the detail
In detail, Telerace ball bearing rails are structured into two series, TLR-TLQ and TLN-TQN, respectively in steel and folded sheet metal. Both have been treated through the Rollon-Nox process, which gives them a surface hardness of up to 60-62 HRC and good resistance to corrosion. Therefore, they can be used in applications installed outdoors or in humid environments. Models in AISI 304 stainless steel are also available. Telerace products can also manage significant misalignments between installation surfaces, thanks to a possible roller rotation of up to 2°, which allows it to compensate for differences in dimensions between the fixed part and the mobile part of the structures where the rails are mounted, and corrects parallelism errors up to 3 mm.

A few application examples…
The Telerace family of telescopic rails can provide important added value in several different types of applications. Let’s look at some examples.
These guides are very suitable for use in industrial automation because they can work in continuous cycles, with high performance and variable strokes, and they have a high load capacity. A concrete example of their use could be a bottling and labeling machine, where the rail allows the machine to move the label roll quickly and with frequent variation in extension to apply the labels directly on the bottles.
Its large-sized rolling elements and absence of the bearing cage makes Telerace the perfect solution for use in vertical applications. These products can be used in the widest variety of contexts ranging from industrial production to operating rooms – wherever vertical telescopic movement is required. Applications can also include moving theater scenography, where Rollon rails make it possible to change scenes quickly by moving off-stage equipment and backdrops.