Linear Guides & Telescopic Rails for Robotics & Handling

Where linear guides and telescopic rails work in robotics & handling

Typical mounting points across the industry — the tag shows which product line does the job.

Linear guide

Robot track axes

VR roller guides carry robots along a floor-mounted track — high tilting moments, long strokes with joined rails.

Linear guide

Gantry & portal robots

VB ball guides run the X, Y and Z axes of linear gantries at up to 5 m/s.

Linear guide

Pick-and-place units

Compact VB and VX guides in sizes 15–25 for fast short-stroke handling.

Linear guide

Palletising & depalletising

Heavy portal axes on VR roller guides for layer grippers and palletising heads.

Linear guide

Machine tending

Loading axes that feed machine tools and presses — VB or VR depending on payload.

Linear guide

Assembly & screw-driving stations

VX guides tolerate the mounting errors of welded frames and aluminium profiles.

Telescopic rail

Telescopic grippers & load handlers

Telescopic rails let a gripper reach deep into a machine, rack or container and retract for travel.

Telescopic rail

AGV & AMR load handling

Partial- and full-extension rails extend forks and transfer decks on mobile robots.

Telescopic rail

Heavy auxiliary axes

Compact rail for short, heavily loaded auxiliary axes — up to 12 000 kg per carriage inside a C-profile.

What the application demands

The engineering constraints that drive series selection — and how Veltork answers them.

speed

Dynamics

Gantries accelerate hard and stop precisely. VB ball guides are rated to 5 m/s and 500 m/s²; preload C1 or C2 keeps the axis stiff without raising friction.

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Moment loads and long strokes

A robot on a track or a cantilevered Z-axis loads the guide with tilting moments. Roller guides (VR) and the long carriage types carry the highest moments; long tracks use joined rails.

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Real-world mounting surfaces

Welded frames and aluminium profiles are rarely ground flat. VX ball guides in X-arrangement tolerate mounting errors and still run smoothly.

Recommended series

Start with these series; the configurators weigh your exact load, stroke and service life against the whole range.

Linear guides

VBBalls · O-arrangement

Ball linear guide, O-arrangement

Gantries, pick-and-place and handling axes: up to 5 m/s and 500 m/s², accuracy N to UP, sizes 15–65.

Sizes 15–65up to 5 m/s · accuracy N to UP

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VRRollers · O-arrangement

Roller linear guide

Robot tracks and heavy portal axes: cylindrical rollers for the highest stiffness and moment capacity, sizes 25–65.

Sizes 25–65up to 4 m/s · preload C1–C3

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VXBalls · X-arrangement

Ball linear guide, X-arrangement

Axes on welded frames and aluminium profiles: tolerant of mounting errors, quiet, sizes 20–35.

Sizes 20–35tolerates mounting errors

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Telescopic rails

VT-X100 % ext

I-Beam Full Extension

Full extension at the best stiffness-to-weight ratio — for telescopic grippers and load handlers on moving axes.

Sizes 22–63best load-to-weight ratio

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VT-LCarriage in C-profile

Compact Rail

Compact rail for short, heavily loaded auxiliary axes — up to 12 000 kg per carriage inside a C-profile.

Sizes 22–63up to 122 kN per carriage

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Technical fit

Execution options of both product lines.

Linear guides

Accuracy · preload

Accuracy N · H · P · SP · UP; preload C0–C3 (roller guides C1–C3, C4 and C5 on request)

Speed · acceleration

VB up to 5 m/s and 500 m/s² · VR 4 m/s, 150 m/s² · VX 2 m/s, 40 m/s²

Sealing

End and bottom seals standard; double seals, metal scrapers, inner seal strips and rail cover strip on request

Corrosion protection

Oiled as standard; hard chrome, black chrome, nickel, black oxide or stainless steel

Load basis

Per carriage; load ratings to ISO 14728

Telescopic rails

Working speed

≤ 0.8 m/s (derates with length) · max accel 1.2 m/s²

Surface coatings

Zinc per ISO 2081 (standard) · zinc-nickel · nickel · E-coat on request

Lubrication

Medium lithium grease; re-lube every 100 km or 6 months. FDA, cleanroom, marine & temperature greases on request.

Load basis

Telescopic series per pair of rails · VT-L per carriage

Frequently asked questions

Ball or roller guide for a robot track?expand_more

Roller guides (VR) for heavy robots and high tilting moments; ball guides (VB) for lighter robots and faster travel. Long tracks use joined rails. The linear-guide configurator sizes the carriage from payload, stroke, speed and required life.

Which accuracy and preload class for a gantry axis?expand_more

Accuracy class H or P with preload C1 covers most handling gantries; precision assembly axes use P or SP. Higher preload raises stiffness, but also friction and drive power.

Can the guides be mounted on aluminium profiles?expand_more

Yes. VX ball guides in X-arrangement tolerate the flatness and parallelism errors of profile frames; VB guides with light preload (C0 or C1) also work on reasonably flat frames. Our engineers check the mounting tolerances for your frame.

Can a gripper reach into a machine or a rack?expand_more

Yes — telescopic rails extend the gripper or load handler: VT-X for full 100 % extension at low moving mass, VT-H heavy-duty sets for large payloads, sized per pair of rails.

Other industries

Automated Storagearrow_forward Vehicle Equipmentarrow_forward Machine Toolsarrow_forward Electronicsarrow_forward Medical Techarrow_forward Cateringarrow_forward Transportarrow_forward Aerospacearrow_forward

Tell us your application — we return a part number.

Send the payload, stroke and envelope, or let a configurator narrow the range first. Our team returns a sized series, deflection estimate and dimension drawing — prototypes in under 14 days.

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