JPH0447447Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] The present invention is a miniature linear guide in which a slider is supported by a guide rail via rolling elements disposed so as to be able to circulate, and is movable in the axial direction. The present invention relates to a device, particularly a miniature linear guide device that is extremely compact and lightweight, and allows sliders of different widths to be easily constructed.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional miniature linear guide device, there is one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 136018/1983.

In this conventional example, a bed and a table having an approximately U-shaped cross section are placed together with their bottom surfaces facing each other and the table is placed inside the bed, and a raceway groove is formed in the longitudinal direction of the overlapping side wall surfaces, and balls are assembled into this raceway groove. In the bearing, a pair of unloaded ball circulation paths formed in the table are formed in the left-right direction by a single member, and are formed in the top-down direction by two members, an upper cover and a lower cover, and this unloaded ball circulation path is fixed integrally to the table by rivets, and further a retainer or protrusion for guiding the balls is provided on the side of the table facing the bed side wall surface.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, in the conventional miniature linear guide device described above, the ball rolling along the raceway groove is guided by a retainer or a protrusion, so that Since the distance between the table and the side surface cannot be narrowed, the ball rolling groove becomes shallow and the load capacity for vertical loads is small, resulting in an increase in the overall size of the structure, which increases the weight of the table, resulting in poor responsiveness. In addition, there is a problem that the frictional resistance of the balls increases, and the pair of ball no-load circulation paths formed in the table are configured as a single member in the left-right direction and two members, the upper cover and the lower cover, in the vertical direction. Since these and the retainer are integrally fixed to the table with rivets, assembly is troublesome. Furthermore, when the upper and lower covers are molded using a mold, errors in the mold can easily cause misalignment between the two. If misalignment occurs between the two, the rolling of the balls in the no-load ball circulation path will be inhibited, resulting in a defective product. There were problems such as a decrease in yield.

In addition, since the ball unloaded circulation path is composed of a single member in the width direction, in order to meet the demands of tables with different widths, the ball circulation path must be formed according to the design of the table according to the width. There were also problems in that it was necessary to newly manufacture the upper cover and the lower cover, and it was necessary to manufacture a new mold in order to manufacture these members.

Therefore, the present invention was made by focusing on the problems of the conventional example, and is easy to assemble.
A miniature linear guide device that is extremely lightweight and has good positioning accuracy, eliminates the need to create a new mold for the ball guide member even when designing and manufacturing sliders with different widths, and improves product yield. is intended to provide.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a guide rail that has a U-shape extending in the axial direction and has a ball rolling groove facing the inner surface of the side wall, and a guide rail that has a ball rolling groove facing the inner surface of the side wall. a race member having a U-shaped ball rolling groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of a side wall; and a race member disposed in a recess of the race member,
first and second ball guide members each having a ball passage formed therein that communicates with one of the ball rolling grooves of the race member; and the ball rolling groove of the race member and the rail, and the first and second ball guiding members. a ball passage of the ball guide member and a plurality of balls inserted in a rolling and circulating manner; the first and second ball guide members include a lower guide having a ball circulation passage for substantially guiding the balls; and a closing plate portion that closes the lower guide portion are integrally connected,
A positioning hole is provided in one of the race member and the closing plate portion of the first and second ball guide members, a positioning protrusion that fits into the positioning hole is provided in the other, and the first and second ball guide The parts are
A curved ball passage having protrusions fitted into the ball rolling groove of the rail at both ends in the axial direction adjacent thereto, and communicating the internal ball passage with the ball rolling groove of the guide rail and the race member. The race member and the first and second ball guide members each fit into the positioning protrusion and the positioning hole and are fixed together to form a slider. It is a feature.

[Effect]

In the present invention, a ball passage communicating with one of the ball rolling groove of the guide rail and the rolling groove of the race member is formed in each of the first and second ball guide members, and these first and second guide members is composed of two parts: a lower guide part having a ball circulation passage that actually guides the balls, and a closing plate part that closes the open end surface of the lower guide part. Even if the closing plate portion is slightly misaligned, the ball guide surface will not be affected in any way. Further, by fitting and fixing the closing plate portion to the race member, the positioning protrusion and the positioning hole, and integrating the race member and the first and second ball guide members to form a slider, Assembling can be made extremely easy, and positioning accuracy can also be improved. Furthermore, the first and second ball guide members can be formed using the same mold, and if necessary, the slider with different widths can be created by simply assembling the race member with a different width. can be easily manufactured. Furthermore, since the first and second ball guide members are provided with protrusions that fit closely into the ball rolling grooves of the guide rails to guide the balls into the slider, the opposing surfaces of the guide rail and slider are By increasing the depth of the ball rolling grooves formed on the rail and slider, the contact angle of the balls can be brought closer to the vertical direction, and the load capacity in the vertical direction can be increased with small balls.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the guide rail 1 is a rope rail that guides the slider 5, and includes a bottom plate portion 1a and side walls 1 extending upward from both side edges of the bottom plate portion 1a.
b and 1c are formed into a U-shaped cross section, and ball rolling grooves 2a and 2b are formed extending in the axial direction on the inner surfaces of the wall sides 1b and 1c, respectively, facing each other. The ball rolling grooves 2a and 2b are parallel to each other, and the cross section of the ball rolling grooves 2a and 2b is a so-called gossic arch-shaped groove formed in a V-shape by two arcuate surfaces of the same curvature with different centers. There is. Further, the bottom plate portion 1a is provided with holes 3 for mounting screws for mounting the guide rail 1 to other members when using the miniature linear guide device.

The slider 5 includes a race member 10 made of thin-walled rope and first and second ball guide members 20 made of synthetic resin.
It is composed of A and 20B.

The race member 10 is attached to both side walls 1 of the guide rail 1.
A side wall 1 having an outer width narrower than the inner width of the upper plate portion 10a and 1c and extending downward from the upper plate portion 10a and both side edges thereof.
0b, 10c, and is arranged between both side walls 1b, 1c of the guide rail 1, and the guide rail 1 is formed on the outer surface of the both side walls 10b, 10c.
Ball rolling grooves 11a and 11b facing the ball rolling grooves 2a and 2b are formed to extend in the axial direction. The cross section of the ball rolling grooves 11a, 11b is a gossic-arch groove similar to the guide rail 1. The upper plate portion 10a is formed with a positioning hole 12 whose upper end is tapered and chamfered, and a female mounting thread 13 for mounting other members.

First and second ball guide members 20A, 20B
As shown in FIG. 2, a lower guide portion 21a and a closing plate portion 21b that closes the upper end of the lower guide portion 21a are fixed to each other. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lower guide portion 21a is provided at a body portion 22 that fits inside the race member 10 and at both ends of the body portion 22, so as to come into contact with the end surface of the race member 10. It is composed of flange portions 23a and 23b that protrude from the side.
A linear concave groove 25 having a rectangular cross section and substantially serving as a ball return passage 24 for loosely fitting and guiding a ball 30, which will be described later, is formed in the body part 22 from the upper surface side, and the cross section of this groove is is formed in a U-shape. Both ends of these grooves 25 are flange portions 23a and 23b.
The ball passages 26a and 26b are respectively connected to curved ball passages 26a and 26b, which are semicircular arc-shaped spaces provided inside the ball passages 26a and 26b. That is, the inner circular arc surface and the outer circular arc surface of the curved ball passages 26a and 26b are connected to the ball return passage 24.
A ball circulation path is formed by the ball return path 24 and the curved ball paths 26a and 26b.

The other ends of the curved ball passages 26a and 26b have inner arcuate surfaces connected to the ball rolling grooves 11a and 11b of the race member 10, and outer arcuate surfaces that fit into the ball rolling grooves 2a and 2b of the guide rail 1. The protrusions 27a, 27b protruding from the flanges 23a, 23b are partially cut out to form sharp edges at the protrusions 27a, 27b so as to be close to the bottom of the groove. Furthermore, engagement protrusions 28 are formed at the corners of the flanges 23a and 23b. The engagement protrusion 28 may be integrally formed when the lower guide portion 21a is formed, or may be formed by fitting a separate member.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the closing plate part 21b is formed into a plate shape that covers the lower guide part 21a, and has an upper surface fitted into a positioning hole 12 provided on the bottom surface of the race member 10. positioning protrusion 2
9 is provided, and the flange portion 23 is provided at the corner.
Fitting hole 28 into which the engaging protrusion 28 of a, 23b is fitted
b is formed.

Then, the lower guide part 21a and the closing plate part 21b fit the fitting protrusion 28 formed therein into the fitting hole 28b.
They are fitted into each other and connected by means of adhesion, welding, or other fixing means.

Further, the first and second ball guide members 20A and 20B have a positioning protrusion 29 formed on the upper surface of the closing plate part 21b in a recess surrounded by the upper plate part 10a and the side walls 10b and 10c of the race member 10.
fits into the positioning hole 12 of the race member 10,
In addition, the flange portions 23a and 23b are fitted so as to contact the longitudinal end surfaces of the side walls 10b and 10c of the race member 10, and the upper end portions of the positioning projections 29 are welded, thereby connecting the race member 10 and the first and second
The slider 5 is constructed by integrating the ball guide members 20A and 20B.

The slider 5 is loosely fitted into the U-shaped recess of the guide race 1, and is inserted into the ball rolling groove 2 of the guide rail 1.
A, 2b and the ball rolling grooves 11a, 11b of the race member 10 facing these, a large number of balls 30 are placed so as to slightly elastically deform the side walls 1b, 1c of the rail 1, that is, a slight preload is applied to the balls 30. are fitted so that they can roll freely. This ball 30 has ball rolling grooves 2a, 2b and 11a, 1.
The slider 5 is inserted into the gossic arch-shaped groove of 1b in a four-point contact state, and the slider 5 is supported by the guide rail 1 via the ball 30 without rattling vertically and horizontally, and the ball 30 rolls in the longitudinal direction (axial direction). It is said that it can be moved by movement.

Ball guide member 20A attached to slider 5,
A ball 30 having the same diameter as the ball 30 disposed between the slider 5 and the guide rail 1 is loosely fitted into the ball circulation passage 20B so as to be able to freely roll and circulate.

Reference numeral 31 denotes an end plate that is fitted onto the end of the guide rail 1 and fixed by adhesive or the like to prevent the slider 5 from coming off, and as shown in FIG. Semicircular protrusions 32a and 32b are formed to protrude and engage with the grooves 2a and 2b.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained. When the slider 5 is moved axially backward (upward in FIG. 1), the ball rolling groove 2a of the guide rail 1,
2b and the race member 1 provided on the slider 5
The ball 30 inserted between the ball rolling grooves 11a and 11b of 0 rolls as the slider 5 moves, and the ball 30 rolls in the same direction as the moving direction of the slider 5.
As a result, the ball guide members 20A and 20B move toward the front end of the race member 10, causing the first and second ball guide members 20A and 20B to protrude at the front end of the race member 10. Parts 27a and 27b
is redirected by the sharpened end of the curved ball path 26a and 26b, makes a U-turn along the curved ball path 26a and 26b, passes through the ball return path 24, and enters the curved ball path 2 on the opposite side.
6b and 26a, the ball rolling grooves 2a, 2b of the guide rail 1 and the race member 1 are
The balls 30 are continuously and smoothly guided and circulated in the ball circulation path so as to move between the ball rolling grooves 11a and 11b of 0. At this time, ball 3
0 is guided only by the concave groove 25 of the lower guide part 21a that constitutes the ball circulation passage 24 having a rectangular cross section, and the lower guide part 21a and the closing plate part 21
Even if there is a slight deviation when connecting the balls 30 to the balls 30, the deviation will not affect the ball circulation path 24 at all, and the balls 30 will roll in a stable state, allowing smooth circulation.

In addition, if a slider 5 with a different length in the width direction is required, a lace member 10 with a desired width can be used.
is prepared, and the first and second ball guide members 20A and 20B are fixed thereto by welding, thereby creating separate new ball guide members 20A and 2.
Sliders 5 with different widths can be easily configured without preparing 0B.

In this embodiment of the miniature linear guide device, the diameter of the ball 30 is 2.0 mm, the cross section of the slider 5 is 6 x 12 mm, and the gap between the side surface of the guide rail 1 and the side surface of the slider 5 is 0.2 mm. , the weight of the slider 5 is approximately 14 g.

Next, a second embodiment of this invention is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.
The diagram will be explained.

In this second embodiment, the closing plate portions of the first and second ball guide members 20A and 20B are constituted by one common closing plate portion.

That is, as shown in FIG.
A closing plate portion 21b that closes both lower guide portions 21a of the ball guide members 20A and 20B is integrally molded, and a hole 1 for positioning the race member 10 is formed on the upper surface of the closing plate portion 21b.
A positioning protrusion 29 is formed to fit into the lower guide part 21a, and a positioning protrusion 40 is formed protruding from the center part of the lower guide part 21a of the lower surface corresponding to the body part 22. is fixed by adhesive or the like with the side surface of the body 22 in contact with the positioning protrusion 40.
It has the same configuration as the embodiment.

According to this second embodiment, the common closing plate portion 21
b is used, the number of parts can be reduced compared to the first embodiment, and the common closing plate portion 21b allows the first and second ball guide members 20A and Since the lower guide portion 21a of the guide member 20B is positioned and fixed, the first and second guide members 20A and 20B can be accurately positioned.

Next, a third embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to FIG.

This third embodiment differs from the second embodiment in that the concave groove 25 of the lower guide portion 21a is formed to have a semicircular cross section to guide the lower half of the ball 30, and also has a common blockage. The configuration is similar to that of the second embodiment, except that a groove 41 with a rectangular cross section that does not contact the ball 30 is formed on the lower surface of the plate portion 21b facing the groove 25.

Also in this third embodiment, the ball return passages 24 of the first and second ball guide members 20A and 20B are substantially formed by the semicircular grooves 25 of the lower guide portion 21a, Even if a deviation occurs when the lower guide part 21a and the closing plate part 21b are connected, the deviation can be prevented from affecting the ball return passage 24, and the ball 30 can be passed through smoothly.

In the above embodiment, the case where the side walls 1b and 1c of the guide rail 1 are vertical surfaces has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and they may be slightly inclined surfaces. The opposing surface of the race member 10 of the slider 5 may be an inclined surface parallel to the inclined surface.

Further, in the above embodiment, the race member 10
The case where the positioning holes 12a, 12b are provided in the ball guide members 20A, 20B and the positioning protrusions 29 are provided in the closing plate portions 21b of the ball guide members 20A, 20B has been described. Positioning holes can also be formed in the closing plate portions 21b of the guide members 20A and 20B, respectively.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, according to the present invention, the slider is formed by the thin race member and the first and second ball guide members each forming a ball circulation passage, and the ball guide members are It can be small, and since there is a space between the two, the slider can be made lighter, and
Since the first and second ball guide members are configured by combining a lower guide part that essentially guides the ball and a closing plate part that closes the lower guide part, when combining these lower guide parts and the closing plate part, Even if a deviation occurs between the two, it can be avoided that the deviation affects the ball return path, ensuring smooth movement of the ball in the ball return path, and greatly improving product yield. Moreover, since these ball guide members are independent of the width of the race member to be attached, they can be used in common without preparing a separate mold for the ball guide member even when designing a slider of any width. In addition, the race member and the first and second ball guide members can be fixed by fitting the positioning holes and positioning protrusions provided on both sides and heat-stamping them. In addition, the cross section of the ball circulation passage is made circular, and the protrusions provided on the flanges of the first and second ball guide members are placed close to the ball rolling grooves of the guide rail. This protrusion is cut out on the outer arcuate surface of the curved ball passage to guide the ball into the curved ball passage, allowing the ball to roll smoothly and keeping the opposing sides of the guide race and slider close together. Since the ball rolling groove can be made deeper, the vertical load can be effectively received, and the load capacity can be increased even if small balls are used, so the linear guide device can be made smaller. As a result, the inertia of the slider can be reduced, and a miniature linear guide device with good high-speed controllability and almost no residual vibration when stopped can be obtained.

And this miniature linear guide device is
Since the balls circulate smoothly, the operating noise is extremely quiet, making it suitable for office machines used in quiet rooms.

In addition, the thickness of the side wall of the U-shaped guide rail is determined in relation to the preload force of the ball, and elastic deformation of the side wall of the guide rail alleviates the tight tolerance of parts due to smaller parts. This makes it a miniature linear guide with good operating characteristics and great durability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the left half of the first embodiment of the present invention as a cross section, and Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the -
A line sectional view, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the lower guide part of the ball guide member applicable to this invention, and FIG.
5 is a plan view showing the closing plate portion of the ball guide member applicable to this invention, FIG. 6 is a front view thereof, FIG. 7 is a front view of the end plate, and FIG.
The figure is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the second embodiment of this invention, FIG. 9 is a plan view of the closing plate portion of the second embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a third embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a guide rail, 2a, 2b are ball rolling grooves, 5 is a slider, 10 is a race member, 11
a, 11b are ball rolling grooves, 12 is a positioning hole,
20A is a first ball guide member, 20B is a second ball guide member, 21a is a lower guide part, 21b is a closing plate part, 22 is a body part, 23a, 23b are collar parts, 2
4 is a ball return path, 25 is a groove, 26a, 26
b is a curved ball passage; 27a and 27b are protrusions;
29 is a positioning protrusion, 30 is a ball, 40 is a positioning protrusion, and 41 is a groove.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A guide rail that has a U-shape extending in the axial direction and has a ball rolling groove facing the inner surface of the side wall, and a ball rolling groove is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the side wall facing the ball rolling groove of the guide rail. a race member formed in a U-shape, and first and second ball guides disposed in a recessed portion of the race member and having a ball passage therein communicating with one of the ball rolling grooves of the race member. a member, and a large number of balls inserted into the race member and the ball rolling groove of the rail and the ball passages of the first and second ball guide members so as to be able to roll and circulate, the first and second balls. 2
The ball guide member has a lower guide portion having a ball circulation passage that substantially guides the balls and a closing plate portion that closes the lower guide portion, which are integrally connected, and the ball guide member has 1st and 2nd
A positioning hole is provided in one of the closing plates of the ball guide member, and a positioning protrusion that fits into the positioning hole is provided in the other, and the first and second ball guide members are arranged at both ends of the ball guide member in the axial direction in close proximity to each other. a flange having a protruding part that fits into the ball rolling groove of the rail, and forming a curved ball passage that communicates the internal ball passage with the ball rolling groove of the guide rail and the race member; , wherein the race member and the first and second ball guide members are fixed together by fitting the positioning protrusion and the positioning hole, respectively, to form a slider. Guide device.