Belt Technologies’ latest range of stainless steel drive tapes are suited to and designed for linear actuators and can provide a clean, accurate and simple method of providing linear motion. These are unwelded steel strips supplied with end attachments. Drive tapes are belts in strip form. They come in plain or perforated (synchronous) formats and the type used will depend on the loads and on the motion control systems incorporated into the machinery. Drive tapes manufactured from 100% stainless steel provide a high strength to weight ratio, are static free, need no lubrication and are dust free. Steel belts do not stretch relative to other materials therefore very tight precision of movement is possible. Typically, repeatability will be between 0.05mm – 0.127mm and pitch-to-pitch accuracy of 0.013mm or less. Stainless steel drive tapes can be used in very critical applications. Like steel belts, drive tapes are designed and manufactured across a broad range of sizes utilising the same high-strength, high-quality alloys. In the majority of cases steel belts and drive tapes are made from high-grade stainless steels for applications in industries as diverse as electronics, pharmaceutical, imaging, robotics and general engineering. Other materials are also used, including carbon for magnetic applications, inconel for very high temperature applications, and titanium for high bend stress applications. Steel belts are made endless using high-energy beam welding techniques which produce joints that are smooth, clean and have a yield strength close to that of the parent material.
