Steinmeyer, Inc. announced an important addition to its standard line of miniature precision screws the "world’s smallest commercially available ball screw." The new Ultra-Miniature ball screws are available in diameters as small as 3 mm with choice of two pitches from 1 mm or 0.5 millimeter. In addition, the company also offers an extensive range of miniature screws from 16 mm diameter (with up to 30 mm pitch), down to 3 mm diameter. The screws are equipped with one of four types of ball nuts, with or without preload. By using Steinmeyer’s internal ball deflector returns instead of external tubes, the nuts offer smooth lower noise operation. Several standard lengths are included in the production program, complete with finished ends. Custom lengths are available with journals machined to a control drawing. The screws are manufactured from standard tool steel, hardened and then precision ground to meet ISO tolerances from T0 to T5. Stainless steel material is available as an option. For maximum application flexibility, miniature screws are offered with a choice of four nut types: - Series 1112, a cylindrical single nut with attaching thread, available with play or preloaded using oversized balls. - Series 1214, a compact cylindrical single nut with fitting key, available with play or preloaded using oversized balls. - Series 1412, a single nut with flange, available with play or preloaded using oversize balls - Series 1510, a spring preloaded double nut, that compensates for torque variations due to inaccuracies in the ground thread. The result is extremely smooth motion with near constant idling torque, which is a requirement in many scanning applications.