New small size actuator family offers through-hole design and customization for compact OEM requirements

In order to simplify assemblies and save space, the number of OEMs looking for a way to insert their equipment directly through a Voice Coil Actuator (VCA) is on the rise for medical, scientific, and analytical laboratory instruments. In response to this increasing demand, BEI Kimco has introduced a family of linear unhoused VCAs with aperture sizes of 15mm, 20mm, and 24.9 mm. The through-hole design allows an OEM assembly to pass directly through the middle of the actuator, resulting in reduced weight, fewer parts and a more compact product overall.

Available in three standard models, the new military and medical grade actuators offer the ruggedized quality and durability critical to many types of industrial applications. Auto focusing equipment to support medical and other lab equipment that use lasers, lights, wires, lenses, or tubes filled with gas or fluid can be inserted directly through the VCA aperture to save valuable space in tight designs. With capabilities for low out-gassing, these VCAs are also well suited for optical instruments where it is important to prevent film from building up on lens or glass.

Additional space-savings beyond the through-hole design is achieved with actuator sizes that measure as small as 1.5" (38.1mm) in diameter and 1.56" (39.6mm) in length (at mid-stroke). Other product performance features include total strokes ranging from 0.25" to 0.45" and peak forces of 14 Lbs. to 45.2 Lbs. respectively.

"Designing apertures into our VCA family is a recent example of how BEI Kimco continues to develop products to meet emerging OEM needs," says Jim McNamara, BEI Kimco Application Engineer. "BEI Kimco provides further fine-tuning customization of our standard products to enable even more precision in exactly matching specific OEM design requirements."