JP2000230548A - Three dimensional guide device using curved rail - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a three dimensional guide device, capable of making a movable body such as a table or the like move along a prescribed curved surface in a three dimensional space with a simple structure, and simply controlling it. SOLUTION: This guide device is composed of a lower rail fixing member 13 fixed on a base, a first curved rail 11 fixed on the base via the lower rail fixing member 13, a lower slider 12 moving along the first curved rail 11, an upper rail fixing member 27 fixed to a movable body, a second curved rail 21 fixed on the first curved rail 11 in such a manner that they meet at right angles to each other via the upper rail fixing member 27, and an upper slider 22 moving along the second curved rail 21 and fixed on the lower slider 12. A plane which includes a motion locus of the lower slider 12 and a plane which includes the motion locus of the upper slider 22 are made to cross each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional guide device for freely guiding a movable body such as a table in a three-dimensional space.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a three-dimensional guide device that freely guides the movable body within a predetermined curved surface by a combination of curved rails.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of three-dimensional guide device is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, there is known an apparatus including three sets of linear guides 101, 102, and 103 that linearly move in an X direction, a Y direction, and a Z direction, respectively. Each of the linear guides includes a linear rail and a slider that moves along the linear rail.
The saddle 104 is attached to the slider 101b that moves along
The linear rail 102a of the Y-direction linear guide portion 102 is mounted on the saddle 104.
A saddle 106 having a Z-direction mounting surface 105 orthogonal to the XY plane is mounted on the slider 102b of the Y-direction linear guide 102 that moves along the linear rail 102a. A straight rail 103a of the direction straight guide portion 103 is attached.

[0003] In the conventional three-dimensional guide device configured as described above, each of the linear guide portions 101, 102, and 103 is provided.
By adjusting the amount of movement of the slider with respect to the linear rail at
Is guided to an arbitrary position in the three-dimensional space.

[0004]

However, since this conventional three-dimensional guide device is constructed by stacking three-way linear guide portions, the structure is complicated, the cost is high, and it is difficult to reduce the size. There was a problem. Furthermore, in order to set the table at a target position in the three-dimensional space, three parameters for each linear guide must be controlled, and the control is very troublesome. In particular, when the table is moved along a predetermined curved surface in a three-dimensional space, there is a problem that the control of each linear guide becomes very complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to move a movable body such as a table along a predetermined curved surface in a three-dimensional space with a simple configuration. It is another object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional guide device which can be easily controlled.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a three-dimensional guide device by combining a curved rail formed in an arc shape with a predetermined curvature with another curved rail or a straight rail. Things.

That is, a first three-dimensional guide device provided by the present invention is a first guide portion provided with a curved rail formed in a circular arc shape with a predetermined curvature and a slider moving along the curved rail. A curved rail and a slider are provided in the same manner as the first guide, and one of the curved rail and the slider is fixed to the slider of the first guide and a movable body is fixed to the other. And a plane including the movement trajectory of the slider of the first curved guide section intersects with a plane including the movement trajectory of the slider of the second curved guide section. .

In such technical means, the curvatures of the curved rails of the first and second guides may be respectively selected arbitrarily, whereby the curved rails of the second guide are fixed to the slider or the slider. The movable body can be guided along an arbitrary curved surface in the three-dimensional space. That is, if the curvatures of the curved rails of the first and second guide portions are the same, the moving curved surface of the movable body is a perfect spherical surface, and if the curvatures are different from each other, the moving curved surface of the movable body is one of the elongated spherical surfaces. Become.

Also, the plane including the movement trajectory of the slider of the first guide section and the plane including the movement trajectory of the slider of the second guide section need not necessarily be orthogonal to each other, but intersect at a predetermined angle. Anything is fine.

[0010] Further, a second three-dimensional guide device provided by the present invention is a first guide portion provided with a rail and a slider moving along the rail, and a rail and a rail, like the first guide portion. And a second guide portion to which one of these rails and the slider is fixed to the slider of the first guide portion and the other is fixed to a movable body, and wherein the first guide portion is provided. One of the rails of the first and second guides is formed as a curved rail having an arc shape with a predetermined curvature, and the other is formed as a straight rail, and the slider moves along the curved rail. A plane including the trajectory intersects the movement direction of the slider moving along the straight rail.

As described above, in such technical means, the curvature of the curved rail may be arbitrarily selected. In addition, the plane including the movement trajectory of the slider moving along the curved rail does not necessarily need to be orthogonal to the movement direction of the slider moving along the straight rail, provided that the plane intersects with a predetermined angle. good. Therefore, in the second three-dimensional guide device, by arbitrarily selecting the angle and the curvature of the curved rail, the motion curved surface of the movable body can be arbitrarily designed.

[0012]

The above technical means operates as follows. First, in a three-dimensional guide device in which first and second guide portions each having a curved rail are combined, the slider moves in a circular arc at a predetermined curvature in each guide portion, so that the movement of the slider of each guide portion is When these guides are combined so that the planes including the trajectories intersect each other, the movable body guided by the second guide moves along a specific curved surface.

[0013] For example, in a three-dimensional guide device in which the curved rail of the first guide portion is replaced with a straight rail,
Since the slider of the first guide part moves linearly, while the slider of the second guide part moves in an arc, the movement direction of the slider of the first guide part and the movement trajectory of the slider of the second guide part When these guides are combined so that the planes including the two intersect with each other, the movable body guided by the second guide also moves along a specific curved surface.
The same applies to the case where the first guide is a curved rail and the second guide is a straight rail.

Therefore, according to these technical means, the three-dimensional guide of the movable body, which has been conventionally performed by the combination of the three linear guides, can be realized by the combination of the two guides.

[0015]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a three-dimensional guide apparatus using a curved rail according to the present invention. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of a three-dimensional guide device according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes curved rails 11, 11 formed in an arc shape with a predetermined curvature, and a slider moving along the rails. 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a first guide portion provided with the curved rails 21 and 21 and the slider 2 similar to the first guide portion 1.
2 is a second guide portion provided with 2, 22;

Each guide section has a rail fixing member 13 and 23 formed in a channel shape, respectively, and
1 is the side walls 14, 14 of these rail fixing members 13, 23.
Alternatively, it is fixed to the upper edge of 24, 24 from the outside. In this embodiment, any one of the guide portions 1 and 2 is used.
Also, the curved rails 11 and 21 are arranged such that the centers of curvature of the curved rails 11 and 21 are located above the respective guide portions 1 and 2.
Is fixed.

Further, the sliders 12, 1 of the first guide portion 1
2 is a saddle 15 so as to straddle the rail fixing member 13.
On the other hand, the movable body 3 is disposed on the slider 22 of the second guide portion 2 so as to straddle the rail fixing member 23 as well. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the movable body 3 is fixed to the slider 22. The movable body 3 is fixed to the slider 22 by mounting bolts 4 inserted from the side thereof. Although not shown, the saddle 15 is similarly fixed to the slider 12 with mounting bolts. In the figure, reference numeral 5 denotes a fixing bolt for fixing the curved rail 21 to the side wall 24 of the rail fixing member 23.

FIGS. 4 to 6 show a curved guide device used as the curved rails 11 and 21 and the sliders 12 and 22 of the guide portions 1 and 2, respectively. First, reference numeral 6 denotes a curved rail having two ball rolling grooves 61 on both sides, each of which is formed in a circular arc with a predetermined curvature. The curved rail has through holes 62 at predetermined intervals.
The rail fixing member 13 or 1
The fixing bolt 5 screwed into the hole 4 is inserted into the through hole 62.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a slider, which comprises a slider block 71 and a pair of end cuffs 72, 72 attached to both front and rear end faces in the moving direction. The slider block 71 has a concave portion into which the upper half of the curved rail 6 is fitted while holding a small gap. On both sides of the concave portion, a large number of ball rolling grooves 61 of the curved rail 6 are provided. A load ball groove 73 that sandwiches the ball 8 is formed. A ball return hole 74 corresponding to the load ball groove is formed in the slider block 71, while a load ball groove 73 is formed in the end cap 72.
And a ball return hole 75 connecting both ends of the ball return hole 74. Therefore, when the end cap 72 is fixed to the slider block 71, an infinite circulation path of the ball 8 is formed as shown in FIG. 6, and the ball 8 circulates in the infinite circulation path as the slider 7 moves.
Reference numerals 76, 76 and 77 in FIG. 5 denote ball retainers for preventing the balls 8 from falling off when the slider 7 is removed from the curved rail 6.

The slider 7 constructed as described above is provided with a bolt hole 79 formed in the mounting surface 78 of the slider block 71.
Are fixed to the saddle 15 or the movable body 3 by mounting bolts 4 screwed into the saddle 15. Therefore, in FIG. 1, the saddle 15 fixed to the slider 12 and the movable body 3 fixed to the slider 22 correspond to the curved rails 11, 21 respectively.
Along the rail fixing members 13 and 23.

In this embodiment, the plane including the movement trajectory of the saddle 15 in the first guide 1 and the plane including the movement trajectory of the movable body 3 in the second guide 2 are orthogonal to each other. The saddle 15 and the rail fixing member 23 are connected. Thereby, the movable body 3 is guided in the directions of the arrows A and B in FIG. 1, and as a result of the combined movement in both directions, along the spherical surface having the same curvature as the curvatures of the curved rails 11 and 21. You will be guided freely.

In this embodiment, the saddle 15 is moved on the rail fixing member 13 by a rack and pinion mechanism to set the movable body 3 at an arbitrary position on the spherical surface.
Further, the movable body 3 is moved on the rail fixing member 23. Specifically, the side wall 1 of each of the rail fixing members 13 and 23
While the racks 8 and 8 formed in the shape of an arc with the same curvature as the curved rails 11 and 21 are attached to the insides of the curved rails 4 and 24, respectively.
Motors 9 and 9 are attached to the saddle 15 and the movable body 3, and pinions 10 and 1 fixed to output shafts of the motors 9 and 9.
0 are engaged with the rack 8 respectively. Therefore, the movable body 3 is set at an arbitrary position on the spherical surface according to the outputs of the two motors 9 and 9.

FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the curved rail 1 of the first guide portion is used.
The center of curvature of 1 is located below the guide section 1, and accordingly, the rail fixing member of the guide section is changed to the illustrated rail fixing member 25. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore, the same reference numerals are given in the drawings and the description thereof will be omitted.

According to this embodiment, the movable body 3 is guided in the directions indicated by arrows C and D in FIG.
As a result of the combination of the movements in both directions, the movable body 3 is guided along a curved surface simulating a shape in which the inner peripheral surface of the semi-cylinder is warped.

FIG. 8 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the second guide 2 is the same as that of the first embodiment, but the first guide 1 is a linear guide. That is, a pair of linear rails 17 and 17 are disposed on a fixing member 16 such as a bed, and a saddle 19 is fixed to a slider 18 that moves along the linear rail 17. Then, the saddle 19 and the rail fixing member 23 of the second guide portion 2 are connected, and the saddle is propelled by the ball screw 20 arranged along the straight rail 17. Reference numeral 10 denotes a ball screw 20
Is a motor for rotating the screw shaft. Since the second guide 2 has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given in the drawings and the description thereof will be omitted.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the movable body 3 makes a curved movement in the direction of the arrow E in the figure, while
Since the linear motion is performed along the direction, the movable body 3 is guided along a curved surface simulating the inner peripheral surface of the half cylinder as a result of the combined movement in both directions.

FIG. 9 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the slider 22 of the second guide 2 is fixed to the saddle 26 of the first guide 1, and the movable body 27 is fixed to the curved rail 21 of the second guide 2.

Therefore, in the second guide part 2, the curved rail 2
1 moves in a curved line in the direction of the arrow G along the slider, and as a result, the movable body 27 is freely guided along the spherical surface as in the first embodiment. That is, in the present invention, any one of the slider 22 of the second guide portion 2 and the curved rail 21 may be connected to the slider 12 of the first guide portion 1, and in any case, the second guide portion The movable body fixed to the curved rail or the slider can be guided along an arbitrary curved surface according to the combination of the curved rail or the linear rail.

In this embodiment, the second guide 2 is driven by engaging the curved rack 8 attached to the movable body 27 with the pinion 10 attached to the saddle 26, and a motor 28 for driving the pinion 10. Also the above saddle 2
6 is installed. On the other hand, the driving of the first guide unit 1 is as follows.
Unlike the above-described embodiment, this is performed by a ball screw arranged along the longitudinal direction of the rail fixing member 13.

FIG. 10 shows this drive mechanism.
Reference numeral 31 denotes a slider integrally formed with the nut of the ball screw, reference numeral 32 denotes a channel-shaped track rail for guiding the slider 31, and reference numeral 33 denotes a motor for rotating a screw shaft 34 of the ball screw. The slider 31 holds a large number of balls together with the track rail 32 and is screwed to the screw shaft 34. When the motor 33 rotates the screw shaft 34, the slider 31 moves in the H direction along the track rail 32. I do.

In the same figure, reference numeral 35 denotes a mounting base fixed to the slider, and reference numeral 36 denotes a guide rail of a linear guide device erected on the mounting base. Further, reference numeral 37
Reference numeral 38 denotes a slider that moves in the direction of the arrow I along the guide rail, and reference numeral 38 denotes a joint that swingably connects the slider 37 and the saddle 26.

In the drive mechanism configured as described above, when the motor 33 is rotated, the slider moves in the direction of the arrow H in accordance with the pitch of the screw shaft, and the saddle 26 is pushed and pulled by the joint 38 so that the first guide is provided. Exercise along the curved rails. At this time, since the saddle moves in an arc shape, the slider 37 moves in the direction of the arrow I, and the rail fixing member 13 is moved.
The joint 38 swings in the direction of the arrow J while following the change in the angle of the saddle 26 with respect to the slider 37. As a result, the saddle 26 can be guided in an arc shape along the curved rail 11 by the ball screw.

The drive mechanism shown in FIG. 10 using a ball screw is not only applicable to the drive of the saddle 26 of the first guide 1 but is also applicable to the drive of the movable body 27 of the second guide 2. Can be applied. In the first to third embodiments, this ball screw drive mechanism may be used instead of the rack and pinion mechanism.

[0034]

As described above, according to the three-dimensional guide device using the curved rail according to the present invention, the curved guide portion provided with the curved rail is combined with another curved guide portion or a linear guide portion. Since a movable body such as a table can be moved along a predetermined curved surface in a three-dimensional space, the three-dimensional guide of the movable body which has been conventionally performed by a combination of three linear guides is replaced by two guides. This can be realized by a combination of units, and the apparatus structure can be simplified to achieve low cost, and the apparatus control can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a three-dimensional guide device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an assembled state of the movable body and the slider according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a curved rail and a slider according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a curved rail and a slider according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the three-dimensional guide device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of the three-dimensional guide device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the three-dimensional guide device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a ball screw drive mechanism according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a conventional three-dimensional guide device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... 1st guide part, 2 ... 2nd guide part, 3 ... movable body, 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Curved rail (1st guide), 12 ... Slider (1st guide), 17 ... Straight rail, 21 ... Curved rail (2nd guide), 22 ... Slider (2nd guide)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lower rail fixing member fixed on a foundation, a first curved rail fixed on the foundation via the lower rail fixing member, and a movement along the first curved rail. A lower slider, an upper rail fixing member fixed to the movable body, a second curved rail fixed at a right angle to the first curved rail via the upper rail fixing member, And an upper slider moving along the curved rail of No. 2 and fixed to the lower slider. A plane including the motion trajectory of the lower slider intersects with a plane including the motion trajectory of the upper slider. Characteristic three-dimensional guide device.