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Aerotech's ASR1100 series is an extension of the ASR1000 direct-drive rotary stage used in many laser machining applications, including the manufacture of the most technologically-advanced cylindrical devices in use today. The ASR1100 adds an integral pneumatically operated collet chuck providing "out of the box" material handling capability.

Integral Collet Design
The collet chuck on the ASR1100 accepts ER16 series collets, which are readily available in multiple sizes supporting tube diameters from 0.5 mm to 10 mm. The collet is retained with a threaded retaining cap that enables quick changeover to different tube diameters. The collet chuck is configured in a "fail-safe" mode where full clamping force is applied when no air pressure is present. Applying air pressure up to 40 psi adjusts the collet from fully closed to fully open.

Air is delivered to the rotating collet assembly through a custom-designed frictionless, seal-less, rotary union. This 100% noncontact rotary union design ensures a lifetime of maintenance-free operation. The combination collet chuck and rotary union also has significantly less friction and inertia than external assemblies created from discrete parts. This reduced inertia improves system performance by allowing higher peak acceleration and reducing position error during laser machining operations.

Brushless Direct-Drive
To maximize positioning performance the ASR1100 series utilizes direct-drive brushless motor technology. Direct-drive technology is optimized for 24/7 production environments because there are no brushes to replace and no gear trains or belts to maintain. Direct-drive also provides quicker acceleration and higher top speeds than gear- or belt-driven mechanisms, which yields higher total overall throughput. The low maintenance and high throughput characteristics of the ASR1100 provide a stage that yields the lowest total cost of ownership.

Compact Packaging
The design of the ASR1100 series direct-drive rotary stage was optimized to minimize stage weight and rotating inertia. The resulting product, with a net overall weight under 5 kg (11 lb), is significantly lighter than competitive product offerings. When used in a multi-axis system, the lower weight results in an increase in performance for all positioning stages carrying the rotary stage.