Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Zip Screws And Other Types Of Linear Actuator

By Bonnie Contreras


Yes, zip screws are actually motors. It is the simplest type of motor. It is also a linear actuator, which is an actuator. An actuator is a type of motor for moving stuff. Hence, a screw is a motor. A linear actuator converts circular motion into forward motion in a straight line. A screw has a grooved head and a shaft with a helical external groove.

There are loads of types of simple linear actuators. Most have a single indentation in the head and can be driven into a wall or other material using a straight screwdriver. Others have a two grooves at right angles to each other. These can be driven by either a normal screwdriver, but more effectively by a special tool called a phillips head screwdriver, named after a man named Henry F Phillips.

It is surprising how we take the crosshead screw for granted and never give a thought to the man who patented it. Born in Portland, Oregon, Phillips bought the rights to the device from its original inventor, John P. Thompson. Phillips tweaked the design and got the patent for it.

One of Phillips' first customers, in 1936, was General Motors, who put it to work on its Cadillac assembly lines. He sold the patents to Ford Motor Company in 1945 for approximately $5 million. Phillips died in 1958.

More often than not, when we are confronted by a Phillips head screw, there is no crosshead screwdriver around. When this happens, a straight screwdriver will work just as well. However, when we have a straight screw, a Phillips head screwdriver is not so useful. When this happens, we normally reach for a table knife or a small, thin coin like a dime.

Another similar tool is a bolt. This has external grooves only part way up the shaft. It performs a similar job to the screw. A bolt is secured by a nut, which is threaded internally. A nut winds around the external threads of the bolt until the load is secured.

Screws do not require nuts to hold them into place. Imagine you want to hang up a painting on your wall. You would drill a hole, making sure you are drilling into a strut and not just plasterboard or sheetrock. In most cases, you bash in a rawl plug, a plastic sleeve that holds the screw more securely in place than if you just screwed it directly into the wall. You don't make the head of the screw flush with the wall; you leave a bit hanging out to hold the picture.

Zip screws are used for guttering and for sheet metal, the type used for heating ducts. They have a sharp tip that will easily pierce soft metal. If you are working with a harder, thicker metal, then you would opt for a TEK screw. The zip screw, also known as a self-piercing screw, earned its name because it zip in fast.




About the Author:





0 التعليقات:

Post a Comment

Search