JP2008002492A - Seal for linear motion guiding bearing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To fix a side seal easily. <P>SOLUTION: The rigidity of a seal lip L coming into contact with the upper face 11a of a guide rail 11 is lower than the rigidity of a seal lip L' coming into contact with the side face of the guide rail 11. For this reason, it is enough to apply only a small force to the side seal 14 (downward force for pressing the seal lip L coming into contact with the upper face 11a of the guide rail 11 against the upper face of a guide seal 15) when fixing the side seal 14. As a result, the side seal 14 can be easily fixed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a linear motion guide bearing seal for linear motion guide bearings used in machine tools, industrial machines, measuring instruments and the like.

Conventionally, this type of linear motion guide bearing includes a guide rail that extends in the axial direction and a slider that is movably suspended over the guide rail (see Patent Document 1).
In such a linear motion guide bearing, a side seal is generally attached to the end surface in the moving direction of the slider so as to be in sliding contact with the upper surface and the side surface of the guide rail.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-201361

However, in the above prior art, the portion that contacts the upper surface of the guide rail is also rigid as the portion that contacts the side surface. Therefore, in order to make the interference of the side seal uniform, the side seal At the time of fixing, it is necessary to press the side seal with a force (downward force) against the rigidity, and as a result, there is a problem that workability deteriorates.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned unsolved problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a seal for a linear motion guide bearing capable of easily fixing a side seal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the linear motion guide bearing seal of the present invention is attached to the end surface in the moving direction of a slider that is straddled on the guide rail extending in the axial direction and relatively linearly moves on the guide rail. The linear guide bearing seal is in sliding contact with the upper and side surfaces of the guide rail, and the rigidity of the portion that contacts the upper surface of the guide rail is lower than the rigidity of the portion that contacts the side surface of the guide rail. And

According to such a configuration, when the side seal is fixed, a downward force for pressing the side seal is small, and as a result, the side seal can be easily fixed.
And a rubber plate having a lip slidably contacting the upper surface and the side surface of the guide rail, and a reinforcing plate fixed to the rubber plate to reinforce the strength of the rubber plate, the lip contacting the upper surface of the guide rail. The distance between the end portion and the end portion of the reinforcing plate may be larger than the distance between the end portion of the lip that contacts the side surface of the guide rail and the end portion of the reinforcing plate.

And a rubber plate having a lip slidably contacting the upper surface and the side surface of the guide rail, and a reinforcing plate fixed to the rubber plate to reinforce the strength of the rubber plate, the lip contacting the upper surface of the guide rail. The rigidity may be lower than the rigidity of the lip contacting the side surface of the guide rail.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to easily and reliably adjust the rigidity of the portion in contact with the upper surface of the guide rail to be lower than the rigidity of the portion in contact with the side surface of the guide rail.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a linear guide bearing seal according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the linear motion guide device. As shown in FIG. 1, the linear motion guide device 1 is assembled with a guide rail 11 having rolling element rolling grooves 10, 10 ′ on the outer surface and extending in the axial direction, and straddling the guide rail 11. And a slider 12.
Specifically, the rolling element rolling groove 10 formed at an intermediate position between both side surfaces 11b of the guide rail 11 has a substantially semicircular cross section, and the slider 12 is placed on the guide rail at the groove bottom of the rolling element rolling groove 10. 11 is formed with a cage relief groove 10a that prevents the rolling elements from falling off in a state where the rolling element is not assembled to the bearing 11. In addition, a rolling element rolling groove 10 ′ formed of an axial concave groove having a substantially ¼ arc cross section is formed at a ridge line portion where the upper surface 11 a and both side surfaces 11 b of the guide rail 11 intersect.

  On the other hand, the slider 12 includes a slider main body 12a and end caps 12b attached to both ends thereof. The slider main body 12a is a load facing the rolling element rolling grooves 10 of the guide rail 11 on the inner side surfaces of both sleeve portions 13. It has rolling element rolling grooves and a rolling element return path that penetrates the thick part of the sleeve portion in the axial direction. On the other hand, the end cap 12b has a curved path that allows the load rolling element rolling groove of the slider body 12a to communicate with the rolling element return path parallel to the load rolling element rolling groove, and the rolling element rolling groove and the rolling element return path. A rolling element circulation circuit is formed by the curved paths at both ends. A large number of rolling elements made of, for example, steel balls are loaded in the rolling element circulation circuit.

The end cap 12b is an injection molded product of a synthetic resin material and is formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section. And the side seal 14 is being fixed in the state where it overlapped on each outer surface side of the end cap 12b.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the side seal 14 is formed of a steel plate reinforcing plate 15 formed in a substantially U shape in accordance with the outer shape of the end cap 12 b and a shape similar to the reinforcing plate 15. And a rubber plate 16 made of a synthetic rubber thick plate fixed to the outer surface of the reinforcing plate 15. 3A is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

  Specifically, the central portion of the reinforcing plate 15 has an opening shape that follows the shape of the opening on the end face of the end cap 3 (an opening shape that is slightly larger than the cross-sectional shape of the guide rail 11 on which the slider 2 is strung). Protrusions 18 formed corresponding to the rolling element rolling grooves 10 of the guide rail 11 are formed on the inner edges of the sleeve portions 17 on both sides of the central portion. Further, a through hole 19 for attaching a screw is formed in the central portion of the sleeve portion 17.

On the other hand, the left and right inner edges of the opening of the central portion of the rubber plate 16 are in contact with the rolling element rolling groove 10 on the side surface of the guide rail 11 for sealing so that the side groove has a shape corresponding to the groove shape. A seal portion 20 is provided so as to protrude. A rail upper surface seal portion 21 is formed on the upper edge of the opening at the center of the rubber plate 16 so as to slide in contact with the upper surface of the guide rail 11 and seal it.
These seal portions 20 and 21 are provided with a seal lip L at the front end of the front surface that is in sliding contact with the guide rail 11. A slope 22 is formed in the thickness direction of the rubber plate 16 from the front end of the seal lip L, and the rear end is fixed to the reinforcing plate 15.

Further, the thickness L1 of the seal lip L that contacts the upper surface 11a of the guide rail 11 is formed thinner than the thickness L1 ′ of the seal lip L ′ that contacts the side surface of the guide rail 11 (as shown in FIG. 4). The rigidity of the seal lip L that contacts the upper surface 11a of the guide rail 11 is lower than that of the seal lip L ′ that contacts the side surface of the guide rail 11.
Thus, in the side seal 14 of the present embodiment, the rigidity of the seal lip L that contacts the upper surface 11 a of the guide rail 11 is made lower than that of the seal lip L ′ that contacts the side surface 11 b of the guide rail 11. Therefore, when the side seal 14 is fixed, the force applied to the side seal 14 (downward force pressing the seal lip L against the upper surface 11a of the guide seal 15) can be small, and as a result, the side seal 14 can be easily fixed. Can do.

Moreover, by attaching the position of the side seal 14 with respect to the guide rail 11 in a well-balanced manner, the dustproofness can be improved and the life can be extended.
Furthermore, since the thickness of the seal lip L that contacts the upper surface 11a of the guide rail 11 is made thinner than the seal lip L that contacts the side surface of the guide rail 11, the rigidity of the seal lip L is lowered. Adjustment can be performed easily and reliably.

Note that the linear motion guide bearing seal of the present invention is not limited to the contents of the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which only the rigidity of the seal lip L that contacts the upper surface 11a of the guide rail 11 is lowered is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the surrounding rigidity may be reduced. Further, in addition to the seal lip L and the periphery thereof, as shown in FIG. 6, the rigidity of the portion of the side surface groove seal portion 20 that contacts the lower portion of the rolling element rolling grooves 10, 10 ′ may be reduced.

Furthermore, although the example which provides the through-hole 19 for attachment screw penetration for attaching the side seal 14 in circular shape was shown, it is not restricted to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the through hole 19 may have a shape that is long in the vertical direction.
Moreover, although the example which uses a steel ball as a rolling element was shown, it is not restricted to this. For example, rollers may be used as shown in FIGS.

Furthermore, although the example which makes the rigidity of the said seal lip L low by reducing the thickness of the seal lip L which contacts the upper surface 11a of the guide rail 11 was shown, it is not restricted to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, a distance L2 between the end of the seal lip L that contacts the upper surface of the guide rail 11 and the end of the reinforcing plate 15 is set to the seal lip L ′ that contacts the side surface of the guide rail 11. By making the distance L2 ′ larger than the distance L2 ′ between the end of the reinforcing plate 15 and the end of the reinforcing plate 15 (by omitting the reinforcing plate 15 near the end of the seal lip L contacting the upper surface of the guide rail 11) The rigidity of the seal lip L that contacts the upper surface 11a of the rail 11 may be reduced.
Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the number of steps of the seal lip L that contacts the upper surface of the guide rail 11 is made smaller than the number of steps of the seal lip L ′ that contacts the side surface of the guide rail 11. The rigidity of the seal lip L that contacts the surface may be reduced.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the seal | sticker for linear motion guide bearings of this invention. It is a front view which expands and shows the side seal of FIG. It is sectional drawing which fractures | ruptures and shows the side seal of FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a side seal. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a side seal. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a side seal. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a side seal. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a side seal. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a side seal. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a side seal. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a side seal. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a side seal.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 is a linear guide apparatus, 10 and 10 'are rolling-element rolling grooves, 11 is a guide rail, 11a is an upper surface, 11b is a side surface, 12 is a slider, 12a is a slider main body, 12b is an end cap, 13 is a sleeve part, 14 is a side seal, 15 is a reinforcing plate, 16 is a rubber plate, 17 is a sleeve, 18 is a protrusion, 19 is a through hole, 20 is a side groove seal, 21 is a rail top seal, and L and L ′ are seals. lip

Claims (3)

This is a linear guide bearing seal that is attached to the end surface in the moving direction of a slider that moves over the guide rail in a relative linear motion, straddling the guide rail extending in the axial direction, and is in sliding contact with the upper and side surfaces of the guide rail. And
The linear guide bearing seal characterized in that the rigidity of the portion contacting the upper surface of the guide rail is lower than the rigidity of the portion contacting the side surface of the guide rail. A rubber plate having a lip that is in sliding contact with the upper and side surfaces of the guide rail, and a reinforcing plate that is fixed to the rubber plate and reinforces the strength of the rubber plate,
The distance between the end of the lip that contacts the upper surface of the guide rail and the end of the reinforcing plate is the distance between the end of the lip that contacts the side surface of the guide rail and the end of the reinforcing plate. The linear guide bearing seal according to claim 1, which is larger. A rubber plate having a lip that is in sliding contact with the upper and side surfaces of the guide rail, and a reinforcing plate that is fixed to the rubber plate and reinforces the strength of the rubber plate,
2. The linear guide bearing seal according to claim 1, wherein the rigidity of the lip contacting the upper surface of the guide rail is lower than the rigidity of the lip contacting the side surface of the guide rail.

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