JP2542626Y2 - Guide for movable members - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a movable member guide device for moving a movable member along a predetermined guide rail.

[Conventional technology]

As this type of movable member guide device, there is a device such as a moving optical system of a copying machine or the like, which moves a movable member smoothly at a predetermined speed along a fixed guide rail without play.

Conventionally, a movable member guide device is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-405.
There is one as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 32.

This is because, as shown in FIG. 6, a guide rail 1 composed of a round bar is provided on a movable member 2 at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, and two pairs of cone-shaped rollers 3, 3 (FIG. Then 1
Only the pair is shown), and the 1
It is clamped from above and below by the usual rollers 4.

FIG. 7 shows three sets of cone-shaped rollers 3 ', 3'; 4 ', 4' provided on a movable member 2 'as shown in FIG. Thus, a guide angle 1 'which is a guide rail formed by bending a sheet metal is sandwiched from above and below.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, such a conventional movable member guide device has the following problems.

That is, in the former, since the guide rail 1 must be supported at both ends, when the moving distance of the movable member becomes longer,
At its center, the deflection is increased by its own weight and the load of the movable member. If the diameter of the guide rail is increased to prevent this, the weight of the apparatus increases and the production cost also increases.

And since the support part of the guide rail 1 is located at both ends, it hinders the attachment and detachment of the movable member, resulting in poor assemblability and maintainability.

In the latter, since the outer peripheral surfaces of the cone-shaped rollers 3 'and 4' and the guide angle 1 'move while maintaining the line contact state,
If foreign matter such as dust adheres to the surface of the guide angle 1 'or the outer peripheral surface of the rollers 3', 4 ', the load fluctuates at that portion,
This may cause the speed of the movable member to fluctuate, impairing the reliability of the apparatus, and may cause problems in terms of strength and accuracy because the guide angle 1 'is made of sheet metal.

Further, in order to reduce the weight of the guide rail and to solve the problems of strength and accuracy, as shown in FIG. 8, hard metal ribbons 6 are attached to both wall surfaces of the guide member 5 made of light metal, synthetic resin or the like. A method is also conceivable in which the metal ribbon 6 is fixed to the movable member 7 by a plurality of rollers 8 provided on the movable member 7. With such a configuration, it is possible to maintain the accuracy of the guide rail, but the metal ribbon 6
Since the roller 8 and the roller 8 are in line contact with each other, there remains a problem with the attachment of foreign matter, and there is a problem that these surfaces must be constantly cleaned.

This invention has been made in view of the above points,
An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive compact and lightweight movable member guide device that does not require cleaning maintenance.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a guide device for a movable member in which a plurality of ball bearings provided on the movable member sandwich and roll around the guide rail, wherein the guide rail is in point contact with the ball bearing. The rail support member has a cross-section of "soil" shape over the entire length and is supported in parallel by a pair by the upper surface and the left and right three wall surfaces, respectively. .

[Action]

With the above configuration, when the movable member moves,
The plurality of ball bearings provided on the movable member roll while being in point contact with the guide rail.

Therefore, even if foreign matter such as dust adheres to the surfaces of the guide rails and ball bearings, the local pressure at the contact point is extremely large, so that the adhered foreign matter is easily removed and cleaning maintenance is unnecessary.

In addition, since the guide rail is supported by the rail support member over the entire length, the accuracy and mechanical strength of the track on which the movable member moves are ensured by the rail support member, and the surface accuracy and the surface accuracy of the guide surface are ensured. Hardness is ensured by the guide rails, which significantly improves the reliability of the device.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a main part of one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a part of FIG. 2 in an enlarged manner, FIG.
The figure is a perspective view showing the entire configuration.

First, the outline of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The guide rails 11a, 11a; 11b, 11b;
A pair of 11c is supported in parallel with each other on the upper surface of the rail support member 12 having a cross section of "soil" and on both surfaces of the three left and right walls, and the lower portion of the rail support member 12 is fixed to the device fixing portion 13 and movable. The guide member 10 of the member 20 is configured.

The guide rails 11a to 11c are made of a small-diameter metal rod having high hardness such as stainless steel, and the rail support member 12 is made of, for example, an extruded product of an aluminum material or a molded product of a reinforced resin mixed with a fiber. 11a to 11c determine the surface accuracy and hardness of the guide member 10 and the rail support member 12
Thus, the straightness and the mechanical strength of the guide member 10 are shared, respectively, so that the guide member 10 can be obtained with the minimum size and weight.

As a structure for supporting the pair of guide rails 11a, 11a on the rail support member 12, as shown in FIG. 3, grooves 12a are formed on both left and right wall surfaces at the upper end of the rail support member 12, respectively. Into the guide rail 11a and fix the open end of the guide rail 11a to the groove 12a.
And fixed by the elastic restoring force of the rail support member 12. Incidentally, a pair of left and right guide rails 11b, 11b; 11c,
The supporting structure is the same for 11c.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS.
Is formed into a channel shape with its lower open end bent inward, and three ball bearings 21, 22, 22, 23, 22, 23, 22, 23, 22, 23,, having upper and lower wall surfaces 20 a, 20 b, 20 c on their inner surfaces 23; 24,25,26; 27,28,29.

The ball bearings 22, 23; 25, 26; 28, 29 are disposed near the ends of the movable member 20 in the vertical direction in FIG. 1, and three pairs of guide rails 11a, 11a; , 11b; 11c, 11
The ball bearings 21, 24, and 27 are disposed at the center in the vertical direction in the same figure, and are rolled and contacted with the other of the paired guide rails.

As a result, the pair of guide rails 11a provided on the rail support member 12 in FIG.
A pair of guide rails 11b, 11b and 11c, 11c provided on the left and right are held by ball bearings 24, 25, 26 and 27, 28, 29 from above and below, respectively. Is done.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the movable member 20 is provided with a pair of guide rails 11a, 11a on the upper side to guide the displacement in the vertical direction. Guided by the rails 11b, 11b; 11c, 11c, respectively, they can move smoothly without play and without inclination.

The axis of each of the ball bearings 21 to 29 and the axis of each of the guide rails 11a to 11c are orthogonal to each other, and the respective contacts are in point contact. In addition, each guide rail
The surfaces of the ball bearings 11a to 11c and the ball bearings 21 to 29 are cylindrical and have a shape in which foreign substances such as dust are unlikely to adhere and stay.

Therefore, even if foreign matter adheres to the guide rails 11a to 11c and the ball bearings 21 to 29, the foreign matter falls due to slight vibration or fluctuation of air flow. Even if stagnation occurs, the local pressure at the contact surface between the guide rails 11a to 11c and the ball bearings 21 to 29 is extremely high, so that foreign matter is easily sheared at the contact point and eliminated, and both surfaces are automatically removed. Is cleaned.

Next, FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention in which the sectional shape of the guide rail is changed.

In this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of each guide rail 31 is rectangular and the ridge 31a is brought into contact with each ball bearing 33, and the shape of the groove 32a of the rail support member 32 supporting each guide rail 31 is described. Has been changed accordingly.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to further increase the local pressure at the contact point between the guide rail 31 and the ball bearing 33 and the shearing force of the foreign matter based on the local pressure.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the cross-sectional shape of the guide rail 31 is square, but it may be triangular or polygonal such as pentagon or more, and the interior of each may be hollow.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the guide member is formed in a straight line is described, but the guide member may be formed in an arbitrary curved line.

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the cross-sectional shape of the guide rail for guiding the movable member is made to make point contact with the ball bearing provided on the movable member side, the guide rail adheres to the surface of the guide rail or ball bearing. Foreign matter is easily sheared off by the high local pressure at the point of contact,
No need for troublesome cleaning maintenance.

In addition, since the guide rail is supported by the rail support member over the entire length, the accuracy and hardness of the guide surface are shared by the guide rail, and the accuracy and mechanical strength of all the tracks are shared by the rail support member. A small, lightweight, long-life guide device can be supplied at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a main part of one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an enlarged part of FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing a main part of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 6 and 7 show different examples of a conventional movable member guide device. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing an example of a guide device for a movable member which can be easily considered. 10 Guide members 11a, 11b, 11c, 31 Guide rails 12, 32 Rail support members, 13 Fixed portions 20 Movable members 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 , 29,33 …… Ball bearing

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A guide device for a movable member, wherein a plurality of ball bearings provided on the movable member sandwich and roll the guide rail, wherein the guide rail has a cross-sectional shape such that the guide rail makes point contact with the ball bearing. A movable member guide device which is supported by a pair of upper and lower right and left wall surfaces of a rail support member having a cross section of "earth" over its entire length, each pair being parallel to each other. .