JP2008138748A - Linear motion guide device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a linear motion guide device capable of inhibiting leak of lubricant from a joint part of an oil supply passage forming groove formed on an end cap and an oil supply passage forming groove formed on a plate part of a rolling element retainer. <P>SOLUTION: A pressing projection 17 pressing an open end part of the oil supply passage forming groove 16 formed on the plate part 91 of the rolling element retainer against an open end part of the oil supply passage forming groove 12 formed on the end cap 7 is provided on the plate part of the rolling element retainer or the end cap. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a linear motion guide device that guides an object that reciprocates linearly in its moving direction.

  A linear motion guide device used in industrial machines such as machine tools and measuring instruments, a linear guide rail, a slider that moves relative to the longitudinal direction of the guide rail, and a slider that is incorporated in the slider It is the structure which comprised many rolling elements. The slider of such a linear motion guide device includes a slider body having a plurality of rolling element rolling grooves facing the rolling element rolling grooves formed on the left and right side surfaces of the guide rail, and one end of the slider body. It comprises a pair of end caps mounted on the other end and a plurality of return guides incorporated in each of these end caps.

  In such a linear motion guide device, when a minute gap is generated between the slider body and the end cap, a lubricant (for example, grease, lubricating oil, etc.) that flows in an oil supply passage forming groove formed in the back surface of the end cap. Leaks from the gap between the slider body and the end cap, and it becomes impossible to supply a sufficient amount of lubricant to the rolling element direction change path formed between the end cap and the return guide. Therefore, a belt-like protrusion is provided on both lands of the oil supply groove, and the lubricant is prevented from leaking by the belt-like protrusion (see Patent Document 1), and an oil supply passage forming groove formed on the back surface of the upper end cap; A device has been devised in which an O-ring is provided at a connection portion with an oil supply passage forming groove formed on a back surface portion of a lower end cap (see Patent Document 2).

Moreover, what was disclosed by patent document 3 is known as an example which a circulating component aligns with several components.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-252626 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-6124 Japanese Patent No. 03571911 (pages 25-30, FIG. 41, FIG. 42)

  However, in the device described in Patent Document 1, no means for preventing leakage of the lubricant is provided between the end cap serving as the connecting portion of the oil supply passage and the return guide. If the fitting with the guide is loose, the lubricant leaks from the gap formed between the end cap and the return guide, and there is a possibility that the durability is lowered due to the lack of the lubricant.

In the device described in Patent Document 2, since an O-ring is interposed between the upper end cap and the lower end cap to prevent the lubricant from leaking, the increase in the number of components reduces the productivity and costs. There is a possibility to invite up.
In what is described in Patent Document 3, when an oil supply path from the center portion of the end cap to the rolling element circulation path is configured, a joint portion between the cage and the end cap becomes a joint for the flow direction of the oil supply path. To prevent the leakage of lubricant at this part, if the end cap and the cage are interference-fitted, the cage is strongly positioned by the end cap, and the cage and the slider body are accurately aligned. May not be possible, and the operability and noise characteristics may be deteriorated. In addition, in order for the cage to be aligned with both the end cap and the slider body without any gap, it is necessary to manufacture the cage, the end cap and the slider body with high precision, which may lead to a decrease in productivity and an increase in cost. There is sex.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a joint between the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap and the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the plate portion of the rolling element retainer without causing deterioration in productivity or cost increase. An object of the present invention is to provide a linear motion guide device capable of suppressing leakage of a lubricant.

In order to achieve the above object, a linear motion guide device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a rolling element rolling groove formed on the left and right side surfaces of the guide rail and a rolling element formed on the inner surface of the slider body. A pair of left and right rolling element holders for holding the rolling elements interposed between the rolling grooves on the slider body side are formed of a synthetic resin material, and are attached to the slider body and one end and the other end of the slider body. Oil supply formed between the end cap and the plate portion of the rolling element retainer by a supply passage forming groove formed in these plate portions, having a pair of plate portions arranged between the end caps In a linear motion guide device in which a passage communicates with an oil supply passage formed between the slider body and the end cap by an oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap.
The opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the plate portion of the rolling element retainer is connected to the opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap on the side aligned with the plate portion of the rolling element retainer. A pressing projection for pressing is provided on the plate portion of the rolling element holder or the end cap.

The linear motion guide device according to claim 2 is the linear motion guide device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing protrusion is located on an extension line of an oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap. It is provided in the plate part of the rolling element holder or the end cap.
The linear motion guide device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the linear motion guide device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the opening end portion and the end of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the plate portion of the rolling element retainer are provided. The opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the cap has an uneven shape that fits together.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a linear motion guide device interposed between the rolling element rolling grooves formed on the left and right side surfaces of the guide rail and the rolling element rolling grooves formed on the inner surface of the slider body. A pair of left and right rolling element holders for holding the rolling elements on the slider body side is formed of a synthetic resin material and is disposed between the slider body and an end cap attached to one end and the other end of the slider body. An oil supply passage formed between the end cap and the plate portion of the rolling element retainer is formed in the end cap by an oil supply passage forming groove formed in the plate portion. In a linear motion guide device that communicates with an oil supply passage formed between the slider body and the end cap by an oil supply passage forming groove, an opening of the oil supply passage formation groove formed in the plate portion of the rolling element retainer is opened. The end portion and the opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap on the side of mating with the plate portion of the rolling element retainer have an uneven shape that fits each other by an interference fit. .

  The linear motion guide device according to claim 5 is the linear motion guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the circulating component constituting the oil passage is aligned with another plurality of components. It is characterized by being.

  In the linear motion guide device according to the present invention, the gap between the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap and the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the plate portion of the rolling element cage is formed so as to allow the leakage of the lubricant. Therefore, the lubricant can be prevented from leaking from the joint between the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap and the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the plate portion of the rolling element retainer. . In addition, the joining of parts in the vicinity of the joint portion of the oil supply path is a fitting with protrusions or irregularities, so that the joining area can be made smaller than joining with the entire outer peripheral surface of each part. The other part is not strongly positioned by this part. Therefore, it is not necessary to manufacture both parts with high accuracy.

  Since the linear motion guide device according to the fifth aspect constitutes the joint portion of the oil supply passage according to the specification of the first aspect, the mutual restraint between the components is more than that in the case where the entire outer peripheral surface of each conventional component is joined. Power relaxes. For this reason, it is possible to align the parts aligned at the joint of the oil supply passage with other parts at other locations, improving the productivity while reducing the leakage of the lubricant, reducing the cost, and improving the operability and noise. Functional improvements such as improved characteristics can be achieved. For example, as in Patent Document 3, an inner guide surface that constitutes a part of the circulation path of the cage and the rolling element is integrally configured to improve operability and noise characteristics due to smooth circulation of the rolling element or to reduce the number of parts. Even in specifications aimed at improving productivity and reducing costs, the end cap and integrated rectangular cage are joined with the interference fit of the present invention to prevent leakage of the lubricant, and the integrated rectangular to the slider. It is also possible to align the shape holder.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a linear motion guide apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The linear motion guide apparatus according to the first embodiment includes a guide rail 1 formed in a straight line and the guide rail. A slider 2 that relatively moves in the longitudinal direction of the rail 1 and a number of rolling elements 3 incorporated in the slider 2 are provided.

  The slider 2 is made of a metal having four rolling element rolling grooves 6 (see FIG. 3) on the inner surface facing the rolling element rolling grooves 4 (see FIG. 2) formed on the left and right side surfaces of the guide rail 1 two by two. The slider body 5, a pair of end caps 7 attached to one end and the other end of the slider body 5, and four return guides 8 incorporated into each of the end caps 7, for example. A pair of left and right rolling element holders 9 (see FIG. 4) for holding the rolling element 3 interposed between the rolling element rolling groove 4 and the rolling element rolling groove 6 on the slider body side is assembled. .

The rolling element 3 has a spherical shape, and the rolling element 3 that has rolled the rolling element rolling grooves 4 and 6 with the relative movement of the slider 2 is formed between the end cap 7 and the return guide 8. After the direction is changed by the rolling element direction change path 10 (see FIG. 1), it is introduced into the rolling element return passage 11 (see FIG. 3) formed in the slider body 5 along the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 1. It has become.
The end cap 7 is formed of a synthetic resin material, and two oil supply paths are formed between the slider main body 5 and the end cap 7 on the back surface of the end cap 7 that contacts the end surface of the slider main body 5. An oil supply passage forming groove 12 (see FIG. 5) is formed. A side seal 13 (see FIG. 1) for preventing foreign matters such as dust from entering the inside of the slider 2 from between the guide rail 1 and the end cap 7 is attached to the front portion of the end cap 7. In addition, an oil supply hole 14 (see FIG. 5) for supplying a lubricant such as grease to the oil supply passage forming groove 12 is opened.

The return guides 8 are made of a synthetic resin material like the end caps 7, and an oil supply groove (not shown) for supplying a lubricant such as grease to the rolling elements 3 is provided on the back surface of each return guide 8. ) Is formed.
Similar to the end cap 7 and the return guide 8, the rolling element holder 9 is made of a synthetic resin material. Further, the rolling element holder 9 has a pair of plate portions 91 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) interposed between the slider body 5 and the end cap 7, and the end cap 7 and the rolling element holder are provided. An oil supply passage for supplying a lubricant such as grease to the oil supply groove of the return guide 8 is formed by the oil supply passage forming groove 16 (see FIG. 8).

The oil supply passage forming groove 16 is formed in the plate portion 91 of the rolling element holder 9, and the opening end portion 16 a of the oil supply passage forming groove 16 formed in the plate portion 91 is formed in the plate portion 91 of the rolling element holder 9. Is provided with a pressing protrusion 17 (see FIG. 9) for pressing against the opening end 12a of the oil supply passage forming groove 12 formed in the end cap 7.
The pressing protrusion 17 is provided on the plate portion 91 of the rolling element retainer 9 so as to be positioned on the extension line of the oil supply passage forming groove 12, and the opening end 12 a of the oil supply passage formation groove 12 and the oil supply passage formation groove 16. The opening end portions 16a have an uneven shape that fits together. The dimension L1 shown in FIG. 6 is smaller than the dimension L2 shown in FIG. 9 in order to press the concave portion 16b at the opening end of the oil supply passage forming groove 16 against the convex portion 12b at the opening end of the oil supply passage forming groove 12. (L1 <L2).

  In such a configuration, when the rolling element holder 9 is assembled to the slider body 5 and then the end cap 7 is attached to one end and the other end of the slider body 5, the plate of the rolling element holder 9 is shown in FIG. The depressions 16 b at the open end of the oil supply passage forming groove 16 abut against the convex portions 12 b at the open end of the oil supply passage forming groove 12 by the pressing protrusions 17 provided on the portion 91. As a result, even if there is some molding error in the end cap 7 or the rolling element retainer 9 due to sink marks during resin molding, the leakage of the lubricant is allowed at the joint between the oil supply passage forming groove 12 and the oil supply passage forming groove 16. Therefore, the lubricant leaks from the joint between the oil supply passage forming groove 12 formed in the end cap 7 and the oil supply passage forming groove 16 formed in the plate portion 91 of the rolling element retainer 9. Can be suppressed.

In the first embodiment described above, the pressing protrusion 17 that presses the opening end of the oil supply passage forming groove 16 against the opening end of the oil supply passage forming groove 12 is provided on the plate portion 91 of the rolling element retainer 9. The pressing cap 17 may be provided on the end cap 7 so as to be positioned on the extension line of the oil supply passage forming groove 12.
Further, the convex portion 12b of the opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove 12 formed in the end cap 7 and the concave portion 16b of the opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove 16 formed in the plate portion 91 of the rolling cage 9 are mutually connected. Although the concave and convex shape to be fitted is formed, only the vicinity of the opening end portion 16a of the oil supply passage forming groove 16 formed in the plate portion 91 of the rolling cage 9 is convex as in the second embodiment shown in FIG. It is good also as a shape.

  Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the concave portion 16b of the opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove 16 is pressed against the convex portion 12b of the opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove 12 to prevent leakage of the lubricant. As in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the opening end 16 a of the oil supply passage forming groove 16 formed in the plate portion 91 of the rolling element retainer and the opening of the oil supply passage forming groove 12 formed in the end cap 7. The end portions 12a may be formed into an uneven shape that fits to each other by interference fitting (L3 <L4) to prevent the leakage of the lubricant.

  In the above embodiment, the fitting portion with the unevenness is aligned with a tightening margin, but the other peripheral surface is opened with a clearance of about 0.1 mm and the retainer at the oil passage joint portion. Relieving each other's restraining force with the end cap, the cage is positioned at the junction with the end cap due to the end cap aligned with the slider's rolling element return passage, making it impossible to align with the slider. To prevent that.

  Furthermore, since the amount of the convex portion that gives the tightening allowance can be provided by shaving the mold, it is easy to make adjustments such as setting it smaller and increasing it later. Further, in this embodiment, the R of the concave portion is made larger than the R of the convex portion at the oil passage joint, and the contact area at the joint of the concave and convex portions is made as small as possible so that the tightening allowance is large. On the other hand, it aims at further relaxing the mutual restraint force at the concavo-convex part.

It is a top view of the linear motion guide apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the guide rail shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing of the slider main body shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the IV-IV line of FIG. It is a rear view of the end cap shown in FIG. It is a figure which expands and shows the A section of 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. It is a figure which expands and shows the B section of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect of the linear motion guide apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Guide rail 2 Slider 3 Rolling body 4,6 Rolling body rolling groove 5 Slider main body 7 End cap 8 Return guide 9 Rolling body holder 91 Plate part 10 Rolling body direction change path 11 Rolling body return path 12, 16 Oil supply path formation Groove 17 Pushing projection

Claims (5)

A pair of left and right rolling elements for holding on the slider body the rolling elements interposed between the rolling element rolling grooves formed on the left and right side portions of the guide rail and the rolling element rolling grooves formed on the inner surface portion of the slider body. The cage is made of a synthetic resin material and has a pair of plate portions disposed between the slider body and end caps attached to one end and the other end of the slider body, and formed on these plate portions. An oil supply path formed between the end cap and the plate portion of the rolling element retainer by the oil supply path forming groove formed between the slider body and the end cap is formed by an oil supply path formation groove formed in the end cap. In a linear motion guide device that communicates with an oil supply passage formed therebetween,
The opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the plate portion of the rolling element retainer is connected to the opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap on the side aligned with the plate portion of the rolling element retainer. A linear motion guide device, wherein a pressing projection for pressing is provided on a plate portion of the rolling element holder or the end cap.   The pressing protrusion is provided on a plate portion of the rolling element holder or the end cap so as to be positioned on an extension line of an oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap. The linear guide apparatus according to 1.   The linear motion guide device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the plate portion of the rolling element retainer and an opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap are provided. A linear guide device characterized by having a concave and convex shape that fits each other. A pair of left and right rolling elements for holding on the slider body the rolling elements interposed between the rolling element rolling grooves formed on the left and right side portions of the guide rail and the rolling element rolling grooves formed on the inner surface portion of the slider body. The cage is made of a synthetic resin material, and has a pair of plate portions disposed between the slider body and an end cap attached to one end and the other end of the slider body, and formed on these plate portions. An oil supply path formed between the end cap and the plate portion of the rolling element retainer by the oil supply path forming groove formed between the slider body and the end cap is formed by an oil supply path formation groove formed in the end cap. In a linear motion guide device that communicates with an oil supply passage formed therebetween,
An opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the plate portion of the rolling element retainer and an opening end portion of the oil supply passage forming groove formed in the end cap on the mating side with the plate portion of the rolling element retainer; A linear motion guide device characterized in that the projections and recesses are concavo-convex shapes that fit together with an interference fit.   The linear motion guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the circulating component constituting the oil passage is aligned with another plurality of components.

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