JP2017078477A - Rolling bearing guide device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rolling bearing guide device good in operativeness.SOLUTION: The rolling bearing guide device includes rolling elements 5, a guide rail 1 having a rolling groove 1a for the rolling elements 5, a rolling groove 3a forming a rolling path for the rolling elements 5 together with the rolling groove 1a of the guide rail 1, a slider body 3 having a return path 3b for circulating the rolling elements 5 rolling on the rolling path, and a pair of end caps 4 having a turnaround path 6 communicating the rolling path with the return path 3b, and arranged at both ends of the slider body 3, respectively, the end caps 4 each having at least one of padding parts 9a-9c at the edge of a gateway of the turnaround path 6 on the side of the rolling path for guiding the rolling elements 5 into the turnaround path 6.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a rolling bearing guide device.

  Conventionally, as a rolling bearing guide device, a linear motion guide device (linear guide device) having a linear guide rail and a curved motion guide device having a curved guide rail are known.

  Among rolling bearing guide devices, for example, linear motion guide devices connect the rolling path of a rolling element comprising a rolling groove provided in the guide rail and a rolling groove provided in the main body of the slider, and both ends of the rolling path. Thus, a circulation path for circulating the rolling elements is provided. The circulation path is composed of a return path provided in the main body of the slider and a direction changing path provided in the end cap.

  In such a linear motion guide device, the circulation path has a slight allowance with respect to the rolling element so that the smooth revolution of the rolling element is not hindered by the positional deviation and the dimensional variation of the slider body and the end cap. Designed to. On the other hand, the tongue of the end cap that scoops up the rolling element that has rolled on the rolling path and leads it to the circulation path has a gap with respect to the rolling groove of the guide rail in order to avoid an increase in sliding resistance due to interference with the guide rail. Is provided. For this reason, the play allowance of the rolling element is larger in the vicinity of the tongue than in the circulation path, and the rolling element may greatly deviate from the revolution track, thereby hindering the smooth revolution of other rolling elements. is there. Therefore, a linear motion guide device that restricts unstable movement of the rolling element in the vicinity of the tongue portion and smoothly revolves the rolling element has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP-A-61-274117 Japanese Utility Model Publication No.59-103928

  However, in the conventional linear motion guide device as described above, the unstable movement of the rolling element in the vicinity of the tongue portion of the end cap cannot be sufficiently restricted, and the operability of the slider is deteriorated. was there.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a rolling bearing guide device having good operability.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention
Rolling elements,
A guide rail in which a rolling groove of the rolling element is formed;
A slider body in which a rolling groove that forms a rolling path of the rolling element together with the rolling groove of the guide rail, and a return path for circulating the rolling element that has rolled on the rolling path;
A direction changing path that connects the rolling path and the return path is formed, and has a pair of end caps disposed at both ends of the slider body,
The end cap includes at least one built-up portion that guides the rolling element into the direction change path at an edge of the entrance / exit on the rolling path side in the direction change path. A guidance device is provided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a rolling bearing guide apparatus with favorable operativity can be provided.

Fig.1 (a) is a figure which shows the linear motion guide apparatus which is a rolling bearing guide apparatus based on embodiment of this invention, FIG.1 (b) is a figure which shows the structure of an end cap. 2A is a partial cross-sectional view (cross section 1A-1A of FIG. 1B) of the linear motion guide device, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of 2A-2A of FIG. 2 (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along 2B-2B in FIG. 2 (a). FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the linear motion guide device, and is a view showing respective built-up portions of the upper rolling groove and the lower rolling groove in the end cap. FIG. 4A is a partially enlarged view showing a built-up portion of the upper rolling groove in the end cap, and FIG. 4B is a partially enlarged view showing one build-up portion of the lower rolling groove in the end cap. FIG. 4C is a partially enlarged view showing the other overlaid portion of the lower rolling groove. FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the linear motion guide device, showing a projection of the tongue portion of the end cap. FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view showing the protrusion of the tongue portion of the end cap.

A rolling bearing guide device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A linear motion guide device 10 that is a rolling bearing guide device according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1A is used for a conveying device or the like in the general industrial field, and includes a linear guide rail 1 and a guide rail 1. The slider 2 is movable along the axis.

  The guide rail 1 is made of a substantially quadrangular prism-shaped metal member, and two rolling grooves 1a extending in the longitudinal direction are formed on both side surfaces thereof.

The slider 2 includes a slider body 3 and end caps 4 attached to both ends of the slider body 3 in the longitudinal direction.
The slider body 3 is made of a metal member that extends in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 1 and has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and is straddled over the guide rail 1. Two rolling grooves 3 a extending in the longitudinal direction facing the rolling grooves 1 a of the guide rail 1 are provided on the portions of the slider body 3 facing the both sides of the guide rail 1, that is, the inner surfaces of the legs on both sides. Is formed.
The rolling groove 3 a of the slider body 3 and the rolling groove 1 a of the guide rail 1 constitute a rolling path (load rolling path) of the rolling element 5.
Two straight return paths 3b penetrating in the longitudinal direction of the slider body 3 are formed in parallel with the rolling grooves 3a on the legs on both sides of the slider body 3.

  The end cap 4 is made of a substantially U-shaped resin member. As shown also in FIG.1 (b), the direction change path 6 is formed in two places at the leg part of both sides in the surface at the side of the slider main body 3 of the end cap 4. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1A, the direction change path 6 communicates the rolling path and the return path 3b and has a semicircular arc shape. The end cap 4 is not limited to resin but may be made of metal.

  The return path 3b of the slider body 3 and the direction change path 6 of the end cap 4 constitute a circulation path for circulating the rolling elements 5 to the rolling path. As shown in FIG. 1A, a large number of balls are loaded as rolling elements 5 in the circulation path and the rolling path.

  With the above configuration, the slider 2 can linearly move on the guide rail 1 by the rolling element 5 rolling on the rolling path. In addition, the rolling element 5 that has rolled in the rolling path is guided to the rolling path again through the circulation path, and can circulate through the rolling path and the circulation path.

  The most characteristic end cap 4 in the present embodiment will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 1B, on the surface of the end cap 4 on the slider body 3 side, two semicircular rolling grooves (upper rolling groove and lower rolling groove) 4a, 4b are formed on each leg portion. Are formed, and a semi-cylindrical recess 4c is further formed so as to intersect these. In the recess 4c, as shown in FIG. 2A, there is a semi-columnar return guide 7 in which two rolling grooves (not shown) facing the upper rolling groove 4a and the lower rolling groove 4b are formed. It is attached. The above-described direction change paths 6 and 6 are configured by the upper rolling groove 4 a and the lower rolling groove 4 b of the end cap 4 and the two rolling grooves of the return guide 7. In addition, as shown in FIG.1 (b), two tongue parts 8 for scooping up the rolling element 5 which rolled the rolling path and guide | inducing to the direction change path 6 are provided in the inner surface of each leg part of the end cap 4. As shown in FIG. Each is formed integrally.

In the end cap 4, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 (a), the lower rolling edge of the upper rolling groove 4a on the rolling path side, that is, the lower edge of the base portion of the tongue 8 is piled up. The part 9a is integrally formed. The build-up portion 9a smoothly guides the rolling element 5 into the direction change path 6 at a location closer to the joint surface between the slider body and the end cap than the “rolling element scooping portion” at the front end of the tongue. As shown to 4 (a), it has the gentle mountain shape in which the ridgeline extended in the extension direction of the upper side rolling groove 4a.
As shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 (b) and FIG. 4 (c), the upper and lower edges of the entrance / exit on the rolling path side of the lower rolling groove 4b have the built-up portions 9b and 9c. Each is integrally formed. The built-up portions 9b and 9c are similar to the built-up portion 9a in that the rolling element 5 is moved into the direction change path 6 at a place closer to the joint surface between the slider body and the end cap than the “rolling body scooping portion” at the front end of the tongue. As shown in FIGS. 4 (b) and 4 (c), it has a gentle mountain shape with a ridge line extending in the extending direction of the lower rolling groove 4b.

The rolling elements 5 between the rolling elements 5 leaving the rolling path and being pulled into the direction changing path 6 are unstable due to the built-up portions 9a to 9c of the upper rolling groove 4a and the lower rolling groove 4b. The region where movement is easy can be made as small as possible. Moreover, the allowance for the rolling element 5 in a plane perpendicular to the traveling direction of the rolling element 5 in the same region can be reduced as much as possible.
Therefore, the rolling element 5 that has rolled on the rolling path can be smoothly and quickly drawn into the direction changing path 6 at a position close to the joint surface S between the slider body 3 and the end cap 4 by the built-up portions 9a to 9c. Therefore, it is possible to realize a favorable operation of the slider 2 while preventing the generation of noise.

  Note that the built-up portions 9 a to 9 c of the upper rolling groove 4 a and the lower rolling groove 4 b pass through the return path 3 b of the slider body 3, contrary to the case where the rolling elements 5 are guided into the direction changing path 6. Even when the rolling element 5 rolled in the direction change path 6 is sent out from the tongue portion 8 to the rolling path, the rolling element 5 can be smoothly guided to the rolling path, so that the slider 2 is good while preventing noise generation. Can be realized.

  The size, number, shape and position of the built-up portions 9 a to 9 c of the upper rolling groove 4 a and the lower rolling groove 4 b are not limited to those described above, and the center of the rolling element 5 is the slider in the longitudinal direction of the slider body 3. When located on the joint surface S between the main body 3 and the end cap 4, the center C of the rolling element 5 can be eccentric to the return path 3 b side of the slider main body 3 in a plane perpendicular to the traveling direction of the rolling element 5. Anything can be used (see FIG. 3). Here, when the amount of the eccentricity is small, the above-described effect is reduced. On the other hand, if the amount of eccentricity is too large, the end surface of the slider body 3 needs to be chamfered (see the chamfered portion 11 in FIG. 2A), which adversely affects the productivity of the linear motion guide device 10. Will be affected. The practical amount of eccentricity is about 0.1 to 0.4 mm or about 2 to 15% of the diameter of the rolling element 5.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, in the end cap 4, semi-cylindrical protrusions 12 extending in the longitudinal direction of the slider body 3 are integrally provided on the outer peripheral surface of each tongue portion 8 one by one. . The protrusion 12 of the tongue portion 8 of the upper rolling groove 4a is provided at a position approximately 60 degrees below the horizontal plane from the center C of the rolling element 5 located in the rolling path when viewed from the longitudinal direction of the slider body 3. Yes. The protrusion 12 of the tongue portion 8 of the lower rolling groove 4b is provided at a position of approximately 60 degrees above the horizontal plane from the center C of the rolling element 5 located in the rolling path when viewed from the longitudinal direction of the slider body 3. ing. Each protrusion 12 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tongue portion 8 at the outer end in the longitudinal direction of the slider body 3.

  The height of the protrusion 12, that is, the length of the protrusion 12 extending toward the rolling groove 1 a of the guide rail 1 facing the protrusion 12 is designed to be substantially the same as the distance from the outer peripheral surface of the tongue portion 8 to the rolling groove 1 a. . For this reason, when the protrusion 12 contacts the rolling groove 1a, the tongue portion 8 can be accurately positioned with respect to the rolling groove 1a. That is, it is not necessary to position the parts such as the end cap 4 and the slider main body 3 with high accuracy, and the play allowance of the rolling element 5 in the rolling element scooping portion described above can be further reduced. Therefore, the slider 2 can be more satisfactorily operated while preventing noise from being generated without adversely affecting the function, being easier to assemble and having better productivity, and without increasing the cost.

  Since the protrusion 12 has a semi-cylindrical shape extending in the longitudinal direction of the slider body 3 as described above, the contact area between the protrusion 12 and the rolling groove 1a of the guide rail 1 can be made as small as possible. In addition, since the length of the protrusion 12 in the longitudinal direction of the slider body 3 is designed to be small, an increase in sliding resistance due to contact between the protrusion 1 and the rolling groove 1a can be suppressed. The size, number, shape, and position of the protrusion 12 are not limited to those described above, and may be appropriately changed according to the shape and size of the end cap 4. For example, the protrusion 12 may have a triangular column shape extending in the longitudinal direction of the slider body 3.

The present invention is not limited to the end cap of the linear motion guide device, but can of course be applied to the end cap of the curved motion guide device.
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a rolling bearing guide device with good operability that prevents generation of noise without causing productivity problems such as deterioration in assemblability and cost increase.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Guide rail 1a Rolling groove 2 of a guide rail 2 Slider 3 Slider main body 3a Rolling groove 3b of a slider main body Return path 4 of a slider main body 4 End cap 4a Upper rolling groove 4b Lower rolling groove 4c Recessed part (return guide fitting part) )
5 Rolling elements 6 End cap direction change path 7 Return guide 8 End cap tongue 10 Linear motion guide device (linear guide device)
12 Protrusions

Claims (6)

Rolling elements,
A guide rail in which a rolling groove of the rolling element is formed;
A slider body in which a rolling groove that forms a rolling path of the rolling element together with the rolling groove of the guide rail, and a return path for circulating the rolling element that has rolled on the rolling path;
A direction changing path that connects the rolling path and the return path is formed, and has a pair of end caps disposed at both ends of the slider body,
The end cap includes at least one built-up portion that guides the rolling element into the direction change path at an edge of the entrance / exit on the rolling path side in the direction change path. Guide device.   The rolling bearing guide device according to claim 1, wherein the built-up portion of the end cap extends in an extending direction of the direction change path.   The rolling bearing guide device according to claim 1, wherein the build-up portion of the end cap has a mountain shape in which a ridge line extends in an extending direction of the direction change path.   The end cap includes a tongue portion that protrudes toward the rolling groove of the guide rail, and a protrusion that protrudes toward the rolling groove of the guide rail on the outer peripheral surface of the tongue portion. The rolling bearing guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   5. The rolling bearing guide device according to claim 4, wherein a height of the protrusion of the end cap is the same as an interval from the outer peripheral surface of the tongue portion to the rolling groove of the guide rail.   The rolling bearing guide device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the protrusion of the end cap has a semi-cylindrical shape or a triangular prism shape extending in a longitudinal direction of the slider body.

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