JP3291933B2 - Fall prevention device for linear guide device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fall prevention device for a linear guide device, and more particularly, to a use mode in which a guide rail is fixedly mounted on a ceiling, a wall, or the like. The present invention relates to a fall prevention device for preventing a falling off from a rail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional linear guide device slider fall prevention structure, there is one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-24573, for example. As shown in FIG. 8, a slider having a generally U-shaped cross section is provided on a guide rail 1 having a square cross section and having axial rolling element rolling grooves (ball rolling grooves) 3 on both side surfaces 1b. A ball rolling groove 4 facing the ball rolling groove 3 of the guide rail 1 is formed on the inner surface of the slider 2, and the ball rolling groove 4 faces the ball rolling groove 3. The slider 2 moves the guide rail 1 through the rolling of the balls B, which are a large number of rolling elements rotatably inserted.
This is a device for preventing the slider 2 from falling in a linear guide device of a type that freely travels above.

As shown in FIG. 9, the slider 2 is composed of a slider body 2A made of metal and an end cap 2B made of a plastic molded product that closes both front and rear ends thereof. A parallel ball return path 5 is provided within the thickness of the slider body 2A, and a curved path curved in a semi-arc shape for connecting the ball return path 5 and the ball rolling groove 4 to the end cap 2B at the end. 6
have. The ball rolling grooves 3 and 4, the ball return path 5, and the curved path 6 oppose each other to form a ball circulation path 7.

When the slider 2 moves in the axial direction along the guide rail 1, the ball B interposed between the guide rail 1 and the slider 2 rolls between the opposing rolling grooves 3, 4. Proceeds at a speed lower than the traveling speed of the slider 2, moves to the end of the slider 2 in the traveling direction, makes a U-turn on the curved path 6,
It reaches the opposite end via the ball return path 5 and is inverted U on the curved path 6
The circulation of turning and returning to the opposing rolling grooves 3 and 4 is repeated.

A side seal SS is provided on the end surface of the end cap 2B, and a side seal SS is provided on the lower surface of the slider 2 in order to remove dirt, dust and the like adhering to the surface of the guide rail 1 to prevent the guide rail 1 from entering the inside of the slider 2. Under seals are installed. For example, when this linear guide device is turned upside down, the guide rail 1 is fixed to the ceiling, and the conveyed object is attached to the suspended slider 2 for use.
When the plastic end cap 2B joined to both ends of the slider 2 collides with another member such as a stopper and breaks, the guide rail 1 and the slider 2 are engaged while rolling in the ball circulation path 7. The ball B may flow out to the outside, and the slider 2 may come off the guide rail 1 and fall with the load.

In order to prevent the slider 2 from dropping off the guide rail 1 even if the ball B flows out, a drop-off prevention device 20 is provided. The drop prevention device 20 is provided on the upper surface 1 a of the guide rail 1.
A groove (T groove) 21 having a width wider at the bottom than the opening is formed over the entire length of the rail 1, and a top member 22 engaging with the groove 21 is secured to the inner surface of the slider 2 with a bolt 26. Things. The slider 2 to which the top member 22 is attached is inserted from one end side of the guide rail 1, and the extended head 23 of the top member 22 is loosely engaged with the extended concave portion 24 of the T-groove 21 to prevent it from coming off. I have.

[0007]

However, in the above conventional example, a T-groove having an opening narrower than the width of the groove bottom must be formed on the upper surface of the guide rail over the entire length of the rail. On the other hand, the slider 2 needs bolt hole processing for attaching a top member to be engaged with the T groove,
There is a problem that the number of processing steps and cost of the linear guide device are greatly increased.

Further, foreign matter such as dust easily accumulates in the T-slot for retaining the guide rail (especially inside the narrow opening smaller than the groove bottom) and cannot be wiped off by the side seal or under seal of the slider. Therefore, there is also a problem that the ball rolling groove between the slider and the guide rail or the ball may be contaminated, which may adversely affect the running accuracy of the slider. Further, since the mechanical strength of the guide rail is reduced by the T-groove of the entire length of the guide rail, the supporting load is reduced as compared with a linear guide device of the same size, and there is a problem that a large load cannot be supported.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and a dropping device for a linear guide device which can completely prevent the slider from falling off without touching the guide rail or the slider at all. It is intended to provide a prevention device.

[0010]

A drop prevention device for a linear guide device according to the present invention, which achieves the above object, has a guide rail extended with an axial rolling element rolling groove on both side surfaces, A slider having a rolling element rolling groove on its inner surface which is movably loosely fitted on the guide rail and which opposes the rolling element rolling groove of the guide rail; A linear guide device having a number of rolling elements inserted therein, the present invention relates to a linear guide device drop prevention device for preventing the slider from falling off when the guide rail is used by fixing the guide rail to a ceiling or a wall surface, A rolling element rolling groove that is movably loosely fitted to the guide rail and faces a rolling element rolling groove of the guide rail is provided on the inner surface, and is extended in the rolling element rolling groove in the axial direction. Equipped with a roller and rolling the roller on the guide rail. Those formed by allowed engaging through the gap to the body rolling Domizo.

[0011]

When the guide rail of the linear guide device is used by being fixed to a ceiling, a wall, or the like, the fall prevention device of the present invention is mounted on the guide rail together with the slider. Fixed to both sides.
Even if the slider comes off the guide rail, the fall prevention device does not come off the guide rail because the rollers are engaged with the rolling element rolling grooves facing the guide rail and the slider. Therefore, the transferred object attached to the fall prevention device does not drop, and the slider engaged with the transferred object does not drop.

When the slider comes off the guide rail, the amount of downward movement of the slider is almost zero, and there is almost no impact of falling off. The fall prevention device of the present invention is a structure much simpler than a slider in which a rolling element is not used and only a long roller is attached in the axial direction, and is a standard cold drawn material for a slider body before machining. Can be diverted, in which case only new rollers and their supporting members are sufficient.

Processing of the guide rail and the slider is completely unnecessary, and there is no reduction in strength. Further, it is possible to seal like the slider, and it is easy to prevent contamination by foreign matter.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 7 show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
It is a perspective view of 30 A of fall prevention apparatus main bodies for linear guide apparatuses. As is clear from the drawing, the block is a block body having a substantially U-shaped cross section and opening upward. Opposing inner surface 3
Two substantially semi-circular grooves 31 and 32 extending in the axial direction are provided at 0d and 30d, respectively, at a certain interval vertically. These grooves 31 and 32 are formed corresponding to the rolling element rolling grooves (ball rolling grooves) formed on both side surfaces of the guide rail 1 of the linear guide device, as described later. Fall prevention device main body 30A of this embodiment
Is obtained by diverting the cold-drawn material for the slider body 2A of the standard specification. Usually, this material is subjected to predetermined machining and heat treatment, and then the ball rolling grooves 31, 32 are formed.
The slider body 2A is formed by polishing a predetermined portion of the slider body 2A. However, when used as the fall prevention device main body 30A, it is not necessary to perform complicated machining, heat treatment, polishing, or the like, and merely the front and rear end faces 30b of the fall prevention device main body 30A are used.
It is only necessary to form a screw hole 33 for mounting a roller support plate 36, which will be described later, and to form a screw hole (not shown) for mounting a transported body on the upper surface 30a of the material.

As shown in FIG. 2, rollers 35, which are long in the axial direction and have short protrusions 35a at both ends, are fitted into the respective grooves 31, 32 (FIG. 1 shows a single roller 35). The state where the rollers 35 are fitted is shown). The length of the rollers 35 is the same as or slightly shorter than the length of the fall prevention device main body 30A except for the protrusion 35a. The outer diameter of the roller 35 is made slightly smaller than the diameter of the ball B rolling on the ball rolling groove 3 of the guide rail 1 so that there is a slight clearance between the roller 35 and the ball surface when the ball 35 is engaged with the ball rolling groove 3. I try to keep.

Rollers 3 fitted in grooves 31 and 32, respectively.
5 is the front and rear end surfaces 30b of the fall prevention device main body 30A.
The roller holding plate 36 shown in FIG. That is, the roller holding plate 36 is attached to the fall prevention device main body 3.
The inner surface 36a is a U-shaped plate fitted to the end surface of the
Is provided with an arc-shaped protrusion 37 at a position corresponding to each of the grooves 31 and 32 of the fall prevention device main body 30A, and a fitting hole 38 for a protrusion 35a at the end of the roller 35 is formed in each protrusion 37. I have. The roller holding plate 36 is applied to the end surface 30b of the fall prevention device main body 30A, and the protrusion 35a at the end of the roller 35 is passed through the fitting hole 38. Further, a side seal SS shown in FIG. 4 is applied on the roller holding plate 36 so that a bolt hole 39 and a side seal SS formed in the roller holding plate 36 are formed.
The roller 35 is held by screwing a bolt through the bolt hole 40 formed in the screw hole 33 on the end face of the fall prevention device main body 30A.

The side seal SS is formed by baking rubber 42 on the surface of a thin iron plate 41. Usually, the side seal SS is mounted on the end surface of the slider 2 of the linear guide device by screwing, and the seal lip 42L at the rubber tip is attached to the guide rail. 1 upper surface 1a,
Sealing is performed by contacting the side surfaces 1b, the ball rolling grooves 3, and the like, but these may be diverted as they are. Also,
The sleeve end face 30c of the fall prevention device main body 30A is provided with the parts shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6, a strip-shaped underseal SU is attached with a rivet 43. This under seal S
As for U, the one attached to the slider 2 of the linear guide device can be diverted as it is.

The fall prevention device 30 thus configured
Is inserted from one end of the guide rail 1, and the roller 35 is gently engaged with the ball rolling groove 3 on the side surface of the guide rail.
Thus, the slider 2 is used by being assembled to the guide rail 1. Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. FIG.
2 shows that two sets of sliders 2 and a fall prevention device 30 are attached to a guide rail 1 attached to a ceiling 50 in a suspended state. Each of the fall prevention devices 30 is close to the slider 2. A common work-to-be-transferred work mounting table W is mounted to the slider 2 and the fall prevention device 30 by bolting.

When the transported work mounting table W, which is a moving body, moves, the fall prevention device 30 moves along with the slider 2 along the guide rail 1 with the movement. In such a normal use state, the rollers (3
5) is merely loosely loosely fitting in the ball rolling groove 3 of the guide rail, and both are not in contact with each other. Therefore, it does not hinder the traveling of the slider 2 at all.

However, the end cap 2 of the slider 2
If B is broken by colliding with a driving device or the like, the ball B falls out of the ball rolling groove 3 when the slider 2 moves. In this case, the slider 2 cannot be supported on the guide rail 1 via the ball B, and the slider comes off the guide rail 1 and tends to drop together with the transferred work mounting table W.

However, when the slider 2 is slightly lowered together with the transferred work mounting table W, the rollers 35 in the fall prevention device 30 which are loosely fitted in the ball rolling grooves 3 of the guide rails are inserted into the ball rolling grooves 3. Get caught. Thus, the slider 2 is supported by the guide rail 1 together with the transported work mounting table W via the rollers 35, and is prevented from falling.

The amount of downward movement of the slider 2 when the slider 2 comes off the guide rail 1 is almost zero, and there is almost no dropping impact. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the work to be transferred and other devices from being adversely affected. Further, as in the case of the fall prevention device 30 of this embodiment, when a ready-made cold drawn material before machining for the slider body is diverted as it is,
A new machined part requires only the rollers 35 and the support members 36, which is very economical.

Further, since the guide rail 1 and the slider 2 are not processed at all, there is no reduction in the strength of each of the parts, and therefore, if the size is the same, a large load can be supported as compared with the conventional example. The side seal SS and the under seal SU attached to the fall prevention device 30 make the surface of the guide rail 1 and the groove surface of the ball rolling groove 3 fall into the fall prevention device 30.
As the vehicle travels, it is always wiped to remove foreign matter such as dust.

In the above embodiment, the linear guide device using balls as rolling elements has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a roller linear guide device using rollers may be used.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the guide rail of the linear guide device is movably loosely fitted and includes a roller extended in the axial direction therein. Since the fall prevention device is configured to engage with the rolling element rolling groove via a clearance, it is mounted together with the slider on the guide rail, and the slider and the fall prevention device are integrally connected via the transferred object. ,
It is possible to completely prevent a falling accident of the slider and the load carried on the guide rail.

In addition, the cold drawn material before machining, which is the material of the slider, can be used almost as it is with a small amount of screw hole processing. Thus, the effect that processing is extremely easy, low cost and can be provided in a short time is obtained. Further, since the guide rails and the slider of the linear guide device are not touched at all, there is an advantage that their original strength and load bearing capacity can be utilized as they are.

Further, it is possible to mount a ready-made side seal or under seal for the slider of the linear guide device, thereby preventing foreign matter contamination on the surface of the guide rail and the ball rolling groove, and improving the running accuracy of the slider. Is also obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fall prevention device main body according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the rollers.

3A is a front view of a roller holding plate, and FIG.
It is an arrow view.

FIG. 4A is a front view of a side seal, and FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a state where the fall prevention device of the present invention is mounted on a guide rail. However, the roller holding plate and a part of the side seal are cut off.

6 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow VI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating a use mode of the fall prevention device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing a part of a conventional linear guide device with a slider falling-off preventing device.

9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Guide rail 2 Slider 3 Rolling element (ball) rolling groove 4 Rolling element (ball) rolling groove 30 Fall prevention device 31 Rolling element (ball) rolling groove 32 Rolling element (ball) rolling groove 35 Roller 36 Roller support Board

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A guide rail extended with axial rolling element rolling grooves on both side surfaces, movably fitted to the guide rail and opposed to the rolling element rolling grooves of the guide rail. The guide rail of a linear guide device including a slider having rolling element rolling grooves on the inner side surface and a number of rolling elements rotatably inserted into the opposed rolling element rolling grooves is used to move the guide rail to a ceiling or a wall surface. A drop prevention device for a linear guide device for preventing the slider from falling off when used while being fixed to the guide rail, wherein the slide prevention device is movably fitted to the guide rail and faces a rolling element rolling groove of the guide rail. A rolling element rolling groove is provided on the inner side surface, and the rolling element rolling groove is provided with a roller extended in the axial direction, and the roller is engaged with the rolling element rolling groove of the guide rail via a clearance. Fall prevention device for linear guide device.