JP2009190123A - Sliding table - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sliding table positioning a positioning table with a stable and high accuracy. <P>SOLUTION: The sliding table is provided with: a support plate 11; a plurality of spherical bodies 12 which are contactably arranged on the upper surface of the support plate; and a plurality of through-holes 13 which are vertically opened respectively and has the diameter of an upper opening, set to be smaller than that of the spherical body, and includes: a spherical body holding plate 14 having through-holes which each rotatably store and hold the spherical body in a state where the spherical body is projected from the upper and lower openings; and a table plate 15 which is contactably arranged on the plurality of the spherical bodies. The sliding table has a plurality of protrusions 16 at an interval on the upper surface of the spherical body holding plate 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sliding table used as a component constituting a positioning table.

  The positioning table is used for positioning a sample when observing with a microscope, positioning a workpiece when performing precision machining, or positioning a glass substrate when bonding two glass substrates constituting a liquid crystal cell. It is used.

  The positioning table includes a support plate, a plurality of spheres arranged in contact with the upper surface of the support plate, and a sphere holding device having a plurality of through holes that rotatably accommodate and hold the spheres protruding from the upper and lower openings. The sliding table includes a plate, a table plate arranged in contact with the plurality of spheres, and a driving device for the table plate.

In such a sliding table, the diameter of the upper opening of each through hole of the spherical body holding plate is set to a value smaller than the diameter of the spherical body. Thus, the sphere holding plate is supported by the plurality of spheres at the peripheral edge of the upper opening of each through hole in a state where the sphere is accommodated and held in each through hole. For this reason, a spherical body holding | maintenance board is arrange | positioned in a non-contact state between both between a table board and a support plate. Such an arrangement prevents wear of the spherical body holding plate due to contact with the table plate or the support plate. A positioning table including a sliding table having the same configuration as this is disclosed in, for example, each of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-242989 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-117537

  In the conventional positioning table, when the grease for lubrication is filled between the table plate and the support plate of the sliding table, the positioning accuracy may be lowered. According to the study by the present inventors, the above-described decrease in positioning accuracy is caused by the vibration during transportation of the positioning table, or by using the positioning table in an inclined state (particularly in a state where the table plate is arranged vertically). It has been found that the spherical body holding plate moves to the table plate side, and the entire upper surface sticks to the lower surface of the table plate via grease. When the entire upper surface of the spherical body holding plate is attached to the lower surface of the table plate in this way, the load on the driving device that moves the table plate becomes very large, and the positioning accuracy is lowered.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a sliding table that enables positioning of the positioning table with stable and high accuracy.

  The present invention includes a support plate, a plurality of spheres arranged in contact with the upper surface of the support plate, and a plurality of through holes each having an upper and lower opening and the upper opening having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the sphere. And a sphere holding plate that rotatably accommodates and holds the sphere in a state in which the sphere protrudes from the upper and lower openings, and a table plate arranged in contact with the plurality of spheres. A plurality of protrusions spaced apart from each other on the upper surface of the sphere holding plate, the height of each protrusion being less than or equal to the protruding height of the sphere protruding from the upper opening of the through hole; The sliding table is characterized in that it is provided with a height set to the height of the sliding table.

Preferred embodiments of the sliding table of the present invention are as follows.
(1) The height of the protrusion is set to a height within a range of 0.1 to 1.0 times the protruding height of the sphere.
(2) The protrusion is composed of small spheres having a size smaller than that of the sphere embedded in a fixed state on the upper surface of the sphere holding plate.

  By using the sliding table of the present invention, it is possible to realize stable and highly accurate positioning that does not depend on the state of transportation and use of the positioning table.

  The sliding table of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a sliding table of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sphere holding plate 14 shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the sliding table 10 of FIG.

The sliding table 10 has a support plate 11, a plurality of spheres 12 arranged in contact with the upper surface of the support plate 11, each of which opens up and down, and the diameter of the upper opening 13 a is set to a value smaller than the diameter of the sphere 12. A plurality of through holes 13 are provided, and each through hole 13 rotatably accommodates and holds the sphere 12 with the sphere 12 protruding from the upper and lower openings 13a and 13b, and the plurality of spheres 12 It is comprised from the table board 15 etc. which are contact-arranged on top. The sliding table 10 is mainly characterized in that a plurality of protrusions 16 are provided on the upper surface of the spherical body holding plate 14 at intervals. However, the height of each protrusion 16 (FIG. 3: H ₁ ) is set to a height equal to or less than the protruding height (FIG. 3: H ₂ ) of the sphere 12 protruding from the upper opening 13 a of the through hole 13.

  On the upper surface of the table plate 15 of the sliding table 10, for example, a positioning object such as a sample to be observed with a microscope is arranged. When a driving force is applied to the side surface of the table plate 15, the plurality of spheres 12 held rotatably on the sphere holding plate 14 start rolling on the support plate 11. The table plate 15 moves (slids) along the upper surface of the support plate 11 while being supported by the plurality of rolling spheres 12.

  The sliding table 10 is supported by a support base 17 provided at the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the support plate 11. The shapes of the table plate 15, the support plate 11, and the support base 17 are set to be square when viewed from above in FIG. The support plate 11 and the support base 17 are each provided with circular openings 11a and 17a in the center. A columnar column 18 is provided on the lower surface of the table plate 15. The support column 18 is inserted into the opening 11 a of the support plate 11.

The table plate 15 can slide until the outer peripheral surface of the column 18 contacts the inner wall surface of the opening 11 a of the support plate 11. For example, the distance that the table plate 15 can slide in the left and right directions in FIG. 1 is the distance L _{1 in} the left direction and the distance L ₂ in the right direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the spherical body holding plate 14 includes a plurality of (for example, a total of 40) through holes 13. The diameter of the upper opening 13 a of each through hole 13 is set to a value smaller than the diameter of the sphere 12. For this reason, the sphere holding plate 14 is supported by the plurality of spheres 12 at the peripheral edge portion of the opening 13 a of each through hole 13 in a state where the sphere 12 is accommodated and held in each through hole 13. Therefore, in a normal use state of the sliding table 10 (a state in which the table plate 15 is disposed horizontally), the spherical body holding plate 14 is in a non-contact state between the table plate 15 and the support plate 11. It is arranged with. With such an arrangement, wear of the spherical body holding plate 14 due to contact with the table plate 15 or the support plate 11 is prevented.

  A plurality of (for example, a total of four) protrusions 16 are provided on the upper surface of the spherical body holding plate 14 at intervals. The protrusion 16 is composed of small spheres 22 having a size smaller than that of the sphere 12. The small sphere 22 is accommodated in a through hole 23 formed in the sphere holding plate 14. The diameter of the upper opening 23 a of the through hole 23 is set to a value larger than the diameter of the small sphere 22, and the diameter of the lower opening 23 b is set to a value smaller than the diameter of the small sphere 22. The small spheres 22 are embedded in a fixed state on the upper surface of the sphere holding plate 14 by an adhesive applied to the inner wall surface of the through hole 23. The small sphere 22 protrudes upward from the opening 23 a on the upper side of the through hole 23, and a portion protruding from the opening 23 a of the small sphere 22 constitutes the protrusion 16. Thus, the advantage of constituting the protrusion 16 from the small sphere 22 will be described in detail later.

  The protrusions of the sphere holding plate do not necessarily have to be configured using small spheres. For example, the spherical body holding plate and the protrusion can be integrally formed. Further, a pin constituting a protrusion may be partially press-fitted into a through hole formed on the upper surface of the spherical body holding plate, and a portion protruding from the opening above the through hole of the pin may be used as the protrusion.

The height (H ₁ ) of the protrusion 16 is set to a height equal to or less than the protruding height (H ₂ ) of the sphere 12 protruding from the upper openings 13 a of the plurality of through holes 13. If the height of the protrusion 16 exceeds the protruding height of the sphere 12, a gap is formed between the table plate 15 and the sphere 12, so that the table plate 15 can be stably supported by the plurality of spheres 12. Disappear. For this reason, the smooth sliding of the table board 15 is prevented. Further, the load applied to the table plate 15 may concentrate on the protrusions 16, and the spherical body holding plate 14 may be plastically deformed or damaged.

  Hereinafter, the functions of the plurality of protrusions will be described with a plurality of protrusions 16 included in the spherical body holding plate 14 of the sliding table 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 as a representative example.

The height (H ₁ ) of the protrusion 16 of the spherical body holding plate 14 is set to be slightly lower than the protruding height (H ₂ ) of the spherical body 12. For example, the thickness of the sphere holding plate 14 is set to 3 mm, the diameter of the sphere 12 is set to 4 mm, and the diameter of the small sphere 22 constituting the protrusion 16 is set to 2 mm. The protruding height (H ₂ ) of the sphere 12 is set to 0.4 mm by setting the shape of the through hole 13, and the height (H ₁ ) of the protrusion 16 is set to 0.2 mm by setting the shape of the through hole 23. Set to That is, the height (H ₁ ) of the protrusion 16 is set to 0.5 times the protruding height (H ₂ ) of the sphere 12. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the protrusion 16 does not contact the lower surface of the table plate 15.

  On the other hand, when the sphere holding plate 14 slides on the table plate 15, the sphere holding plate 14 moves in the same direction as the direction in which the table plate 15 slides together with the rolling spheres 12. In a normal use state of such a sliding table 10 (or a positioning table using the sliding table 10), the plurality of protrusions 16 are not in contact with the lower surface of the table plate 15 and are held on the spherical body. Just moving with 14 does not perform any function. Conversely, these protrusions 16 do not prevent the table plate 15 from sliding. That is, these protrusions 16 do not deteriorate the positioning accuracy in the normal use state of the positioning table using the sliding table 10.

  However, if the spherical body holding plate 14 is not provided with the protrusions 16, as described above, for example, vibration is applied to the sliding table 10 (or the positioning table using the sliding table 10) during transportation, or sliding. When the table 10 is used in an inclined state (particularly in a state in which the table plate 15 is arranged vertically), the spherical body holding plate 14 moves to the table plate 15 side, and the entire upper surface thereof is the lower surface of the table plate 15. It may stick to grease via grease. When the entire upper surface of the sphere holding plate 14 is attached to the lower surface of the table plate 15, the load on the driving device that moves the table plate 15 becomes very large. Therefore, the positioning table positioning accuracy using the sliding table 10 is high. Decreases. In addition, when using this positioning table in the state which has arrange | positioned the table board 15 perpendicularly, the table board 15 is supported by the drive device attached to the side surface.

  If the sphere holding plate 14 is provided with a plurality of protrusions 16 as described above, the protrusions 16 prevent the sphere holding plate 14 from moving toward the table plate 15. That is, since the sphere holding plate 14 is supported by the plurality of spheres 12, movement to the support plate 11 side is prevented, and movement to the table plate 15 side is prevented by the plurality of protrusions 16. Yes. For this reason, the spherical body holding plate 14 is always arranged between the table plate 15 and the support plate 11 in a non-contact state regardless of the state of transportation or use of the sliding table 10, and the entire upper surface thereof is arranged. It does not stick to the lower surface of the table plate 15.

  Thus, the sliding table 10 of the present invention has no influence on the positioning accuracy in the normal use state of the positioning table using the sliding table due to the plurality of protrusions provided on the spherical body holding plate 14. In addition, the positioning table can be positioned with high accuracy without depending on the state of transportation and use of the positioning table.

  As described above, the protrusion 16 is preferably composed of small spheres 22 of a size smaller than the sphere 12 embedded in a fixed state on the upper surface of the sphere holding plate 14. When the small spheres 22 are used, the protrusions 16 can be formed very simply by adhering and fixing the small spheres 22 to the inner wall surfaces of the through holes 23 of the spherical body holding plate 14 as described above. Further, there is an advantage that, for example, a sphere used for various existing ball bearings can be diverted without using a specially produced ball as the small sphere 22. Furthermore, even when the protrusion 16 comes into contact with the lower surface of the table plate 15, the contact area between the table plate 15 and the protrusion 16 is extremely small, and this protrusion 16 prevents smooth sliding of the table plate 15. Absent.

The height (H ₁ ) of the protrusion 16 is preferably set to a height within a range of 0.1 to 1.0 times the protruding height (H ₂ ) of the sphere 12. When the height of the protrusion is set to 1.0 times the protrusion height of the sphere 12, the protrusion always contacts the lower surface of the table plate 15. Such contact does not prevent smooth sliding of the table plate 15, but slightly wears the lower surface of the table plate 15. It is also difficult to set the height of the projections precisely so as not to exceed the protruding height of the sphere 12. For this reason, it is more preferable that the height of the protrusion 16 is set to a height within a range of 0.1 to 0.9 times the protruding height of the sphere 12. In order to suppress wear on the lower surface of the table plate 15 due to contact with the projections as described above, the small spheres 22 can be accommodated in the through holes 23 in a rotatable state.

  In order to effectively prevent the entire upper surface of the spherical body holding plate 14 from sticking to the lower surface of the table plate 15, the number of protrusions is preferably in the range of 3 to 10 (preferably 3 to 5). . If the number of protrusions is two, the entire upper surface of the sphere holding plate 14 will not stick to the lower surface of the table plate 15, but the sphere holding plate 14 is slightly in the direction connecting the two protrusions. In some cases, the table may be inclined and contact the lower surface of the table plate 15. On the other hand, when the number of protrusions exceeds ten, it takes time to form protrusions on the spherical body holding plate 14.

  As the material of the support plate 11, the sphere 12 and the table plate 15, a metal material such as steel (eg, high carbon chrome steel or stainless steel) or aluminum is usually used. When the sliding table 10 is used in a high humidity or high temperature environment, a ceramic material can also be used. In addition, when the load applied to the table plate 15 is small, a resin material can be used to reduce the weight of the sliding table 10.

  As the material of the spherical body holding plate 14, a metal material such as aluminum or stainless steel, or a resin material is used because the machining of the through holes 13 and the through holes 23 becomes easy. As the resin material, a crystalline resin material typified by polyacetal resin, polyamide resin, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resin, or polyether ether ketone (PEEK) resin is used in order to increase the rigidity of the sphere holding plate 14. Is preferred.

  Note that the diameter of the opening 13 a on the upper side of the through hole 13 of the sphere holding plate 14 is preferably set to a value within the range of 30 to 95% (particularly 40 to 90%) of the diameter of the sphere 12. When the diameter of the opening 13a is set to a value less than 30% of the diameter of the sphere 12, the sphere 12 hardly protrudes from the opening 13a. Therefore, the height (extremely low height) is less than the protruding height of the sphere 12. ) May be attached to the lower surface of the table plate 15 via grease. If the diameter of the opening 13 a is set to a value exceeding 95% of the diameter of the sphere 12, it becomes difficult to support the sphere holding plate 14 at the periphery of the opening 13 a of each through hole 13. That is, the spherical body holding plate 14 may move to the support plate 11 side without being supported at the peripheral edge of the opening 13a.

  The diameter of the opening 13b on the lower side of the through hole 13 is not particularly limited as long as the sphere 12 can be protruded from the opening 13a on the upper side of the through hole 13. Usually, the diameter of the sphere 12 is 1.0 to 1.0. The value is set within a range of 1.5 times (preferably 1.01 to 1.2 times). When the diameter of the lower opening 13b of the through hole 13 is set to a value that is 1.5 times or more the diameter of the sphere 12, the strength of the peripheral edge of the upper opening 13a (the part that supports the sphere holding plate 14) is reduced. .

  In addition to the plurality of through holes 13 in which the diameter of the upper opening 13 a is set to a value smaller than the diameter of the sphere 12 as described above, the diameter of the upper opening is the sphere holding plate 14. One or more through-holes set to a value equal to or larger than the diameter (for example, cylindrical through-holes) are provided, and a sphere of the same size as the sphere 12 is rotatably accommodated and held in such a through-hole. May be. In such a case, it is preferable that the spherical body holding plate 14 includes at least three through holes 13 in which the diameter of the upper opening 13 a is set to a value smaller than the diameter of the spherical body 12. Even if the number of the through holes 13 is two, the sphere holding plate 14 can be supported by the two spheres accommodated in these through holes, but the sphere holding plate 14 connects the two spheres. There is a case where the upper surface of the support plate 11 is contacted with a slight inclination with respect to the direction.

  In addition, the total number of the through holes in which the diameter of the upper opening is set to a value smaller than the diameter of the sphere and the number of the through holes in which the diameter of the upper opening is set to a value equal to or larger than the diameter of the sphere. The number (that is, the total number of spheres supporting the table plate 15) is set to an appropriate number according to the size of the table plate 15 or the load applied to the table plate 15, for example.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing another configuration example of the sliding table of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged view of the sliding table 40 of FIG.

  The sliding table 40 shown in FIG. 4 includes a plurality of spheres 42 arranged in contact with the lower surface of the support plate 11, projections 46 similar to the sphere holding plate, and diameters of upper and lower openings 43a. Is provided with a plurality of through holes 43 set to a value smaller than the diameter of the sphere 42, and each of the through holes 43 rotatably accommodates and holds the sphere 42 protruding from the upper and lower openings. The sliding table 10 of FIG. 1 is provided except that the auxiliary plate 45 connected to the table plate 15 via the support column 18 is provided in contact with the spherical holding plate 44 and the plurality of spherical bodies 42. It is the same.

  In the sliding table 40, the distance between the table plate 15 and the auxiliary plate 45 is set to be slightly shorter than the total length of the thickness of the support plate 11, the diameter of the sphere 12, and the diameter of the sphere 42. As a result, the table plate 15 is pressed against the support plate 11 via the plurality of spheres 12, and therefore hardly moves in the vertical direction. Therefore, the sliding table 40 can move the table plate 15 along the upper surface of the support plate 11 with extremely high accuracy. In order to press the table plate 15 against the support plate 11 via the plurality of spheres 12, the diameter of the sphere 12 disposed between the table plate 15 and the support plate 11, and the support plate 11 and the auxiliary plate 45, You may adjust the diameter of the spherical body 42 arrange | positioned between.

  For example, by fixing three linear drive devices on the side surface of the table plate 15 of the sliding table 40, the positioning object placed on the upper surface of the table plate 15 is directly moved along the upper surface of the table plate 15. A positioning table (XYθ stage) that performs high-accuracy positioning by moving or rotating can be configured. The configuration of such a positioning table is described in detail in Patent Document 2 described above. Since a method for configuring various positioning tables using the sliding table and the driving device is well known, the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing still another configuration example of the sliding table of the present invention.

  The sliding table 60 shown in FIG. 6 has a configuration in which the table plate 15 and the auxiliary plate 65 are connected to each other through a column 68 at each peripheral edge, and the sliding table 60 is provided on the lower surface of the support plate 61. The slide table 40 is the same as the slide table 40 of FIG. 4 except that it is supported and fixed to the support base 67 via the cylindrical column 69.

  The support plate 61 of the sliding table 60 does not have an opening because the table plate 15 and the auxiliary plate 65 are connected to each other at each peripheral edge via a support column 68. The auxiliary plate 65 is provided with a circular opening 65a into which the support column 69 is inserted.

  In the sliding table 60, since the support plate 61 does not have an opening, a larger number of spheres 12 can be arranged between the table plate 15 and the support plate 61. For this reason, the sliding table 60 has an advantage that the load resistance is large because the table plate 15 to which a load is applied from above can be supported by a larger number of spheres 12.

  FIG. 7 is a plan view showing another method of using the sliding table of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the large table plate 75 and the sliding table 40 cut along the cutting line VIII-VIII entered in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a large slide table can be configured by supporting a large table plate 75 using, for example, four slide tables 40 in FIG.

  Also, an opening can be provided in the center of the table plate 75. As described above, when the opening is provided at the center of the table plate 75, an imaging device represented by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera, for example, can be disposed inside or below the opening. Thereby, the positioning object arrange | positioned above the opening part of the table board 75 can be positioned with high precision, detecting the arrangement | positioning with an imaging device. Thus, the large slide table provided with the opening in the table plate 75 can be advantageously used as a part of a positioning table used when, for example, two glass substrates constituting a liquid crystal cell are bonded together.

  The large table plate 75 may be formed integrally with the table plate 15 of each sliding table 40. Thereby, a large sliding table with a low height can be configured.

  Further, the four sliding tables 40 in total can be installed on the large support base 77. The large support base 77 can also be formed integrally with the support base 17 of each sliding table 40.

It is sectional drawing which shows the structural example of the sliding table of this invention. It is a top view of the spherical body holding | maintenance board 14 shown in FIG. It is the elements on larger scale of the sliding table 10 of FIG. However, the support base 17 shown in FIG. 1 is not filled in. It is sectional drawing which shows another structural example of the sliding table of this invention. It is the elements on larger scale of the sliding table 40 of FIG. However, the support base 17 shown in FIG. 4 is not filled in. It is sectional drawing which shows another example of a structure of the sliding table of this invention. It is a top view which shows another usage method of the sliding table of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the large sized table board 75 cut | disconnected along the cutting line VIII-VIII line entered in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sliding table 11 Support plate 11a Opening 12 Sphere 13 Through-hole 13a Opening of upper side of through-hole 13 13b Opening of lower side of through-hole 13 14 Sphere holding plate 15 Table plate 16 Protrusion 17 Supporting base 17a Opening 18 Supporting column 22 Small ball 23 Through hole 23a Upper opening of through hole 23b Lower opening of through hole 23 40 Sliding table 42 Sphere 43 Through hole 43a Upper opening of through hole 43 43b Lower opening of through hole 43 Sphere holding plate
45 Auxiliary plate 46 Protrusion 52 Small ball 53 Through hole 60 Sliding table 61 Support plate 65 Auxiliary plate 65a Opening 67 Support stand 68 Support column 69 Support column 75 Large table plate 77 Large support table

Claims (3)

A support plate, a plurality of spheres arranged in contact with the upper surface of the support plate, each provided with a plurality of through holes that open vertically and whose upper opening diameter is set to a value smaller than the diameter of the sphere; and A sliding table including a sphere holding plate that rotatably accommodates and holds the sphere in a state in which the sphere protrudes from the upper and lower openings, and a table plate arranged in contact with the plurality of spheres. And
A plurality of protrusions spaced apart from each other on the upper surface of the sphere holding plate, provided that the height of each protrusion is set to a height equal to or less than the protruding height of the sphere protruding from the upper opening of the through hole. A sliding table characterized by being provided with.   The sliding table according to claim 1, wherein the height of the protrusion is set to a height within a range of 0.1 to 1.0 times the protruding height of the sphere.   The sliding table according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is configured by a small sphere embedded in a fixed state on the upper surface of the sphere holding plate and having a size smaller than the sphere.

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