JP2006316890A - Linear guide device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a linear guide device capable of improving productivity and assembly work characteristics without deteriorating operation performance, noise characteristic and durability. <P>SOLUTION: The linear guide device is equipped with two end caps 13A, 13B each of which has a direction turning passage 18 communicating to a rolling element rolling passage 17 formed between two rolling element rolling grooves of a guide rail 11 and a slider body 12 and to a rolling element return passage 19 formed in a slider body 12, with a plurality of rolling elements 16 rolling on the guide rail 11 and the rolling element rolling groove of the slider 12 in response to relative linear motion of a slider 15 consisting of the slider body 12 and end caps 13A, 13B, and with a resin-made rolling element retainer assembled in the slider 15, wherein the rolling element retainer contains two plate parts facing each other across the slider body 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a linear motion guide device used in an industrial machine or the like as a device for guiding a moving body such as a work table in its moving direction.

As linear motion guide devices used for industrial machines and the like, for example, those described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 below are known. In this linear motion guide device, the cage that holds the rolling elements is integrated with the return guide of the end cap. For processing, it has the advantage of cost reduction.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-181331 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-72119

However, in the linear motion guide device described in the above document,
(A) When the rolling element cage is molded with a resin together with a return guide, since there is a thickness due to the return guide, deformation easily occurs due to sink marks during resin molding.
(B) Since it is necessary to form a meat stealer on the back side of the return guide for the purpose of suppressing deformation due to sink marks during resin molding, a complicated mold configuration is required.
(C) When it is necessary to position the sleeve inserted in the rolling element return path, a resin-integrated return guide integrally molded with the rolling element holder projects to the rolling element return path side. Prior to assembly, it was necessary to insert the sleeve into the rolling element return path, and there were problems such as hindering the assembly of the linear motion guide device. In addition, in order to position the slider body and the sleeve, some processing is necessary for the slider body, which increases the cost. In addition, it is necessary to assemble a cage or end cap having a positioning function while adjusting the position of the sleeve, and there is a problem that the assembling property is poor.
The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems, and provides a linear motion guide device capable of improving productivity and assembling performance without deteriorating operability, noise characteristics and durability. It is intended to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a guide rail, a slider main body having a rolling element rolling groove opposed to the rolling element rolling groove formed on the guide rail, and the guide rail. And two rolling element rolling paths formed between both rolling element rolling grooves of the slider main body and a direction changing path communicating with the rolling element return path formed in the slider main body and a return guide respectively. An end cap, a number of rolling elements that roll on the rolling grooves of the guide rail and the slider body in association with the relative linear motion of the slider body and the slider comprising the end cap, and the slider are assembled to the slider. And a resin rolling element holder, the rolling element holder having two plate portions facing each other across the slider body. And wherein the door.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the linear motion guide device according to the first aspect, a lubricant supply groove for supplying a lubricant to the direction changing path or the rolling element return path is provided in the plate portion of the rolling element retainer. It is characterized by that.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the linear motion guide device according to the first or second aspect, a positioning portion for positioning at least one of the end cap and the return guide is provided in the plate portion of the rolling element holder. It is characterized by.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the linear motion guide device according to any one of the first to third aspects, a resin sleeve inserted into the rolling element return path is provided.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the linear motion guide device according to the fourth aspect, the positioning portion for positioning the sleeve by fitting with the end portion of the sleeve protruding from the slider body is a plate portion of the rolling element retainer. It is characterized by being provided in.
The invention according to claim 6 is the linear motion guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the rolling element holder is positioned by a positioning portion provided on an inner surface of the slider body. And

The invention according to claim 7 is the linear motion guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the rolling body rolling groove of the slider body is provided in the upper part of the inner surface and the lower part of the inner surface of the slider body, The rolling element retainer is disposed above the rolling element rolling groove provided on the inner surface upper part of the slider body, the rolling element rolling groove provided on the inner surface upper part of the slider body, and the slider. Of the part disposed between the rolling element rolling groove provided at the lower inner side surface of the main body and the lower part of the rolling element rolling groove provided at the lower inner side surface of the slider main body And having at least one site.
The invention according to claim 8 is the linear motion guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the rolling element holder has a bent portion in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

  According to the linear motion guide device according to the present invention, the rolling element holder has two plate portions opposed to each other across the slider body, so that the rolling element holder has no plate part, Since it is not necessary to incorporate only the holding part into the end cap or the slider as a separate body, the assembling property of the rolling element holder to the slider can be improved and the strength of the rolling element holder can be increased. As a result, deformation such as bending is unlikely to occur in the rolling element holder, so that the rolling element can be reliably held. In addition, since it is not necessary to resin-mold the circulating parts that form other circulation paths on the plate part of the rolling element cage, the thickness of the rolling element cage can be set to an optimum thickness that is unlikely to cause deformation. Thus, the rolling element cage can be resin-molded with high accuracy. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to form a complicated meat theft in the rolling element holder, the rolling element holder can be molded with a mold having a simple configuration.

  In addition, after the rectangular cage is mounted on the slider, the sleeve can be inserted while adjusting the phase from the longitudinal direction, thereby improving the assemblability. Further, by providing the end cap, the return guide positioning portion and the sleeve positioning portion on the plate portion of the cage, the conventional processing of the positioning portion on the slider end surface is not required, and the productivity is improved. At the same time, the position of the end cap, return guide, and sleeve relative to the cage is accurately determined, and the operability and noise characteristics are improved. In addition, by providing a plate part in the cage and making it separate from the molded parts that constitute the other circulation path, the oil path is provided at the joint surface between the plate part and the other molded parts to improve the adhesion of the oil path. The durability is improved by suppressing the leakage of the lubricant from the oil passage.

In addition, the cage is positioned by a positioning part provided on the same inner surface of the slider body as the surface on which the rolling groove is provided, so that the positioning part of the cage can be performed simultaneously with the processing of the rolling groove. By performing the positioning part of the cage simultaneously with the processing of the rolling groove, the cage can be arranged with high alignment accuracy with respect to the rolling groove, and the assembly performance is improved and the operability and noise characteristics are improved. To do.
Here, the rolling element holding portion of the cage is a portion disposed above the rolling groove (hereinafter referred to as “upper groove”) provided on the inner side upper portion of the slider body and the rolling groove provided on the lower inner side surface of the slider body. It is not necessary to provide all of the parts arranged between the lower groove (hereinafter referred to as “lower groove”) and the lower groove.

  (1) By increasing the number of parts of the rolling element holding part or increasing its thickness, the strength of the cage plate part increases, and the holding power of the rolling element can be improved. For example, the holding force of the rolling element is large because the cage has all of the portion disposed above the upper groove, the portion disposed between the upper groove and the lower groove, and the portion disposed below the lower groove, Prevents rolling elements from falling off and makes handling easier during use.

  (2) The thickness of the slider can be increased by reducing the portion of the rolling element holding portion or by reducing the thickness thereof, thereby suppressing the opening deformation of the sleeve portion of the slider body. This is advantageous in terms of strength. For example, when the rolling element holding part is disposed on the upper side of the upper groove and the lower side of the lower groove, or when the rolling element holding part is disposed only between the upper groove and the lower groove, the slider body can be overlaid, The strength of the slider body is improved, which is advantageous for rigidity.

It is important for the rolling element holding part of the cage to hold the rolling element when the slider is taken in and out of the rail, and comprehensively considering the strength of each part, productivity such as grinding, placement of rolling grooves, etc. In the above, the shape should be well balanced.
In addition, when the shape of the rolling element holding part has a bent part in the cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the strength of the holding part against bending is improved, the strength against deformation of the holding part is enhanced, and the holding power of the rolling element is increased. Is further improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 10 are views showing a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a linear guide apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment includes a guide rail 11, a slider body 12, and an end. Caps 13A and 13B and a large number of rolling elements 16 are provided.
The guide rail 11 is formed by drawing a metal material such as steel into a predetermined shape, the right and left side portions 11a, 11b (see FIG. 2) is, for example, Article of rolling grooves 14 _R is guided It is provided along the longitudinal direction of the rail 11.

The slider body 12 is made of a metal material such as steel, and forms the slider 15 (see FIG. 1) of the linear motion guide device 10 together with the end caps 13A and 13B. The slider body 12 has block-shaped rolling element circulation portions 121 (see FIG. 2) on both sides of the guide rail 11, and linear rolling element rolling portions are provided on the inner surface of these rolling element circulation portions 121. It is formed grooves 14 _S is by Nijo.
The rolling element rolling groove 14 _S faces the rolling element rolling groove 14 _R of the guide rail 11 described above, and the rolling element is between the rolling element rolling groove 14 _R and the rolling element rolling groove 14 _S. A rolling element rolling path 17 (see FIG. 1) for rolling 16 in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 11 is formed.

  The end caps 13A and 13B are attached to both end faces of the slider body 12 by a plurality of set screws (not shown). Further, the end caps 13A and 13B form a resin-molded end cap body 131 (see FIG. 3) and a direction change path 18 (see FIG. 1) of the rolling element 16 in cooperation with the end cap body 131. A side seal 20 (see FIG. 1) for sealing a gap between the guide rail 11 and the end caps 13A and 13B is attached to the end cap body 131, and lubrication such as a grease nipple is provided. A nipple mounting hole 21 (see FIG. 3) for mounting an agent supply nipple (not shown) on the slider 15 is provided therethrough.

The rolling element 16 rolls on the rolling element rolling grooves 14 _R and 14 _S when the slider 15 relatively moves in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 11, and the slider 15 includes the linear motion guide device 10. In order to prevent the rolling element 16 from falling off the slider 15 during assembly or disassembly, two rolling element holders 22 (see FIG. 2) are assembled. Further, the rolling element 16 is formed in a spherical shape with a metal material such as steel or a material such as ceramics, and is fixed by a plurality of (for example, four) resin separators 23 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) incorporated in the slider 15. Separated at intervals.

The direction change path 18 communicates with the rolling element rolling path 17, and therefore, the rolling element 16 that has rolled on the rolling element rolling path 17 changes direction, for example, on the direction changing path 18 of the end cap 13 </ b> A. The direction changing path 18 also communicates with a rolling element return path 19 (see FIG. 1) formed in the rolling element circulation portion 121 of the slider body 12. The moving body 16 is changed in direction by a direction changing path 18 of the end cap 13B, for example.
The rolling element return path 19 is formed in the rolling element circulation part 121 of the slider body 12 corresponding to the rolling element rolling path 17, and in each rolling element return path 19, in order to suppress wear of the separator 23, A resin sleeve 24 (see FIG. 2) is inserted.

The rolling element holder 22 is formed, for example, by injection molding a synthetic resin material into a predetermined shape in order to suppress the wear of the separator 23 and the like. Further, the rolling element holder 22 has two plate portions 221 (see FIG. 4) facing each other with the slider main body 12 interposed therebetween. These plate portions 221 are provided on the end caps 13A and 13B. Two arc-shaped notches 26 (see FIG. 5) are provided as positioning parts for engaging the arc-shaped protrusions 25 (see FIG. 3) to position the rolling element cage 22, and grease or the like. A lubricant supply groove 27 for supplying the lubricant to the direction changing path 18 and the rolling element return path 19 is provided. The rolling element holder 22 has three rolling element holders 222 a, 222 b, 222 c between the plate portions 221, and the rolling element holder 222 a is provided at the upper part of the inner side surface of the slider body 12. It arranged on the upper side of the element rolling grooves 14 _S. Then, the rolling element retaining portion 222b is disposed between the rolling grooves 14 _S provided on the inner surface lower portion of the rolling element rolling grooves 14 _S and the slider body 12 provided on the inner surface upper part of the slider body 12 is the rolling element retaining portion 222c is disposed on the lower side of the rolling element rolling grooves 14 _S provided on the lower inner surface of the slider body 12. The rolling element holder 222c of the rolling element holder 22 has a bent portion 231 as shown in the figure.

The separator 23 is formed in a belt shape, and each separator 23 is provided with a plurality of holes 231 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) for accommodating the rolling elements 16 at regular intervals.
Both ends of the sleeve 24 protrude from the slider main body 12, and both ends of each sleeve 24 are fitted into passage connection holes 28 (see FIG. 5) provided in the rolling element holder 22. Two passage connecting holes 28 are formed in the plate portion 221 of the rolling element retainer 22, and the direction changing path 18 and the rolling element return path 19 fit the end of the sleeve 24 into the path connecting hole 28. At the same time, they are connected by fitting cylindrical projections 29 (see FIG. 3) provided on the return guides 132 of the end caps 13A and 13B.

Further, the sleeve 24 is divided into two along the rolling element return path 19, and the guide path 30 of the separator 23 is provided between the sleeve 24 divided in two on the plate portion 221 of the rolling element holder 22. A plurality of protrusions 31 (see FIG. 5) are provided as guide path forming portions that form (see FIG. 9).
The lubricant supply groove 26 communicates with a lubricant flow groove 32 (see FIG. 3) formed in the end cap main body 131 of the end caps 13A and 13B. The lubricant flow groove 32 includes the nipple mounting hole 21. A lubricant such as grease is supplied from a lubricant supply nipple mounted on the.
Two protrusions 31 as guide passage forming portions are provided in the passage connection holes 29 of the rolling element holder 22, and the protrusion 24 is divided into two along the rolling element return path 19. A groove portion 33 (see FIG. 10) having a V-shaped cross section that engages with the portion 31 is provided along the axial direction of the sleeve 24.

  In the linear motion guide device 10 configured as described above, the rolling element holder 22 has two plate portions 221 opposed to each other with the slider body 12 interposed therebetween, so that the rolling element holder does not have a plate portion. In comparison, the assembly of the rolling element holder 22 to the slider 15 is improved, and the strength of the rolling element holder 22 can be increased. Further, since deformation such as bending is less likely to occur in the rolling element holder 22, the rolling element 16 can be reliably held. In addition, since the return guide 132 of the end caps 13A and 13B does not need to be resin-molded on the plate portion 221 of the rolling element holder 22, the thickness of the rolling element holder 22 is set to an optimum thickness that hardly causes deformation. Thus, the rolling element retainer 22 can be resin-molded with high accuracy. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to form a stealer in the rolling element holder 22, the rolling element holder 22 can be resin-molded using a mold having a simple shape.

Further, in the linear motion guide device 10 described above, the lubricant supply groove 26 for supplying the lubricant to the direction changing path 18 and the rolling element return path 19 is provided in the plate portion 221 of the rolling element holder 22, thereby providing an end cap. A lubricant supply path can be formed between the return guide 132 of 13A and 13B and the rolling element holder 22.
Further, in the linear motion guide device 10 described above, a passage that fits with the end of the sleeve 24 inserted into the rolling element return passage 19 and fits with the cylindrical protrusion 29 provided on the end caps 13A and 13B. By providing the connection hole 28 in the plate portion 221 of the rolling element holder 22, the direction change can be made without generating a step causing vibration and noise at the joint between the direction changing path 18 and the rolling element return path 19. The path 18 and the rolling element return path 19 can be connected. Therefore, the operability of the slider 15 can be improved and the noise characteristics can be improved, and the sleeve 24 can be moved from the passage connection hole 28 provided in the plate portion 221 of the rolling element retainer 22 to the rolling element return path. 19, the sleeve 24 can be inserted into the rolling element return path 19 even after the rolling element holder 22 is assembled to the slider main body 12, thereby improving the assemblability of the slider 15.

Further, in the linear motion guide device 10 described above, the arc-shaped notch 26 that engages the arc-shaped protrusion 25 provided on the end caps 13 </ b> A and 13 </ b> B is provided in the plate portion 221 of the rolling element holder 22. Thus, the rolling element holder 22 can be positioned at a predetermined position with respect to the rolling element rolling path 17. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably hold the rolling elements 16 to the slider body 12 rolling grooves 14 on _S of the rolling element 16 at the time and exploded of the linear guide device falls off from the slider 15 This can be reliably prevented, and the positioning part of the cage can be performed simultaneously with the processing of the rolling groove. Therefore, by performing the positioning part of the cage simultaneously with the processing of the rolling groove, the rolling element rolling can be performed. The cage can be positioned with high accuracy with respect to the moving groove, whereby the assemblability of the linear motion guide device can be improved and the operability and noise characteristics can be improved.
In addition, although the case where the rolling element 16 formed in the spherical shape was used in the first embodiment described above, the rolling element 16 may be formed in a cylindrical shape.

It is a top view of the linear motion guide apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing along line II-II shown in FIG. It is a rear view of the end cap shown in FIG. It is a front view of the rolling element holder | retainer shown in FIG. It is a side view of the rolling element holder | retainer shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI shown in FIG. 4. It is a top view of the separator shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII shown in FIG. 7. It is a fragmentary sectional view of the slider main body shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing of the sleeve shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

11 the guide rail 12 slider body 13A, 13B end cap 131 end cap body 132 return guide 14 _R, 14 _S rolling grooves 15 slider 16 rolling element 17 rolling member rolling passage 18 the direction changing passage 19 rolling element return path 20 side seals DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Nipple attachment hole 22 Rolling body holder 221 Plate part 23 Separator 24 Sleeve 25 Projection part 26 Arc-shaped notch part 27 Lubricant supply groove 28 Projection part 29 Passage connection hole 30 Guide path 31 Guide path formation part 32 Lubricant distribution groove 33 Groove

Claims (8)

A guide rail, a slider main body having a rolling element rolling groove facing the rolling element rolling groove formed on the guide rail, and formed between the rolling rail rolling grooves of the guide rail and the slider main body. Two end caps each having a direction change path communicating with a rolling element rolling path and a rolling element return path formed in the slider body and a return guide, respectively, and a relative relationship between the slider body and the slider composed of the end cap Linear guide provided with a large number of rolling elements that roll on the rolling rail rolling grooves of the guide rail and the slider body along with a linear motion, and a resin rolling element cage assembled to the slider A device,
The linear motion guide device, wherein the rolling element holder has two plate portions facing each other with the slider body interposed therebetween.   The linear motion guide device according to claim 1, wherein a lubricant supply groove for supplying a lubricant to the direction changing path or the rolling element return path is provided in a plate portion of the rolling element cage. Guide device.   3. The linear motion guide device according to claim 1, wherein a positioning portion for positioning at least one of the end cap and the return guide is provided on a plate portion of the rolling element holder. apparatus.   The linear guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a resin sleeve inserted into the rolling element return path.   5. The linear motion guide device according to claim 4, wherein a positioning portion for positioning the sleeve by fitting with an end portion of the sleeve protruding from the slider body is provided on the plate portion of the rolling element cage. Linear motion guide device.   The linear motion guide device according to claim 1, wherein the rolling element holder is positioned by a positioning portion provided on an inner surface of the slider body.   The rolling element rolling groove of the slider body is provided at the upper part of the inner side surface and the lower part of the inner side surface of the slider body, and the rolling element holder is located above the rolling element rolling groove provided at the upper part of the inner side surface of the slider body. A portion disposed between a portion to be disposed, a rolling element rolling groove provided in an upper portion of an inner side surface of the slider body, and a rolling element rolling groove provided in a lower portion of the inner side surface of the slider body; It has at least 1 or more site | part among the site | parts arrange | positioned under the rolling-element rolling groove provided in the inner surface lower part of the slider main body, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Linear motion guide device.   The linear motion guide device according to claim 1, wherein the rolling element holder has a bent portion in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

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