What is the difference between ball screw drive and lead screw drive?

Ball screw transmission and lead screw transmission are two common mechanical transmission methods. The differences between them are as follows:

1. Working principle: In screw transmission, the thread cooperation between the threaded screw and the nut causes the nut to move along the axial direction of the screw when the screw rotates. In ball screw transmission, the thread surface of the threaded screw is supported by balls. Under the action of the balls, the ball screw has higher efficiency and greater load capacity.

2. Efficiency and precision: The efficiency of ball screw transmission is usually higher than that of screw transmission because the rolling friction of the balls is smaller than the sliding friction of the thread. In addition, ball screw transmission has high positioning accuracy and repeatable positioning accuracy, and is suitable for applications that require higher accuracy.

3. Load capacity: Due to the rolling effect of the balls, the ball screw drive has a greater load capacity than the screw drive. Ball screw drives can generally handle higher axial and inclination loads.

4. Friction and wear: The rolling friction of the ball screw drive is smaller, so there is less frictional heat and wear, making it more reliable at high speeds and long periods of operation.

In general, ball screw transmission has higher efficiency, greater load capacity and better accuracy than screw transmission, but its manufacturing cost is higher. Therefore, the choice of ball screw drive or lead screw drive should be decided based on the requirements and budget of the specific application.