JPS63180437A - Linear guide device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the height of a guide rail by forming the first ball rolling grooves having an arcuate section at the both angle parts formed from the upper surface and side surfaces of a guide rail and forming the second ball rolling grooves on the both side surfaces on the underside of the first ball rolling grooves. CONSTITUTION:A linear guide device is constituted by allowing a number of balls to be interposed between a slider 7 and the ball rolling groove of a guide rail 1. The first ball rolling grooves 2L and 2R having an arcuate section are formed at the both upper angle parts of the guide rail 1, and the second ball rolling grooves 3L and 3R each of which has a nearly V-shaped section consisting of the ball rolling surface having an arcuate section and the measurement element contact surface in noncontact with the ball 11 are formed on the lower side of the first ball rolling grooves. Since the ball rolling grooves of the guide rail 1 is constituted of the first and second ball rolling grooves (2L, 2R) and (3L, 3R), the height from the installation surface of the guide rail 1 can be reduced, and the height of the whole linear guide device can be reduced by the above-described reduced height portion.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a linear guide device suitable for application to a carriage on which a machining center table, a Cartesian coordinate robot, etc. is placed and reciprocated.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional linear guide device, there is one described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-241526, which was already proposed by the applicant of the present invention.

This conventional linear guide device consists of a plurality of pairs of left and right ball rolling grooves extending in the axial direction at symmetrical positions on the side surface of the guide rail, and a pair of ball rolling grooves facing the ball rolling grooves of the guide rail. At least one of the ball rolling grooves of the slider is formed into a substantially V-shaped groove in cross section with two curved surfaces, and between the ball rolling groove of the guide rail and the ball rolling groove of the slider. A large number of balls are fitted with two-point contact, and the balls are in contact with one of the two curved surfaces of the V-shaped groove, and a predetermined gap is secured with respect to the other curved surface. It is configured as follows.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional linear guide device, a ball rolling groove with a substantially V-shaped cross section is formed on the side surface of the guide rail, and the position of the ball rolling groove is downward as a whole, so that the linear When the height from the fixed surface of the guide rail of the guide device to the mounting surface of the sand-like slider fitted via the ball across this guide rail must be kept below a predetermined value, the guide rail is There is an unresolved problem that the thickness of the top plate of the slider must be reduced by the amount that protrudes above the balls interposed in the ball rolling groove near the top surface, and the slider becomes insufficient in strength. Ta.

Furthermore, although it is possible to measure the widthwise spacing and height of the ball rolling grooves of the guide rail and slider with high accuracy using a measuring head,
Because it was a row of grooves, the shape was a combination of four circular arc surfaces, making it difficult to manufacture a rotary dresser with high precision, and the unresolved problem of not being able to fully utilize high-precision measurement values. There were also points.

Therefore, the present invention has been made by focusing on the problems of the conventional example, and by positioning the ball rolling grooves formed in the guide rail upward as a whole, the height of the entire device is increased. It is an object of the present invention to provide a linear guide device that can improve the strength of a slider without causing any damage, easily measure the position of a ball rolling groove, and perform grinding with high precision based on the measured value.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a guide rail having a plurality of ball rolling grooves extending in the axial direction at symmetrical positions on a side surface, and a ball rolling groove opposing the ball rolling grooves of the guide rail. and a large number of balls interposed between a ball rolling groove of the slider and a ball rolling groove of the guide rail, wherein the ball rolling groove of the guide rail has at least A first ball rolling groove having an arcuate cross section formed on both upper corners of the guide rail, a ball rolling surface having an arcuate cross section formed below the first ball rolling groove, and a first ball rolling groove having an arcuate cross section formed at both upper corners of the guide rail, and a first ball rolling groove having an arcuate cross section and a first ball rolling groove having an arcuate cross section formed at both upper corners of the guide rail. a second ball rolling groove having a substantially V-shaped cross section and a measuring head contact surface, and at least one pair of left and right grooves of the ball rolling grooves of the slider have a ball rolling groove having an arcuate cross section. The ball roller is formed in a substantially V-shaped cross section, and has a contact surface with a probe contacting surface that is not in contact with the ball, and the ball rolling grooves of the guide rail and the slider are formed in a substantially V-shaped cross section. It is characterized by being finished by grinding with a full-form grindstone using the dynamic groove as a reference.

[Function] In the present invention, first ball rolling grooves are formed at both corners formed by the upper surface and side surfaces of the guide rail, and first ball rolling grooves are formed on both side surfaces below the first ball rolling groove. By forming the ball rolling groove No. 2, the height of the guide rail from the mounting surface can be reduced, and the height of the entire linear guide device can be reduced accordingly, and the height of the guide rail can be reduced. When the dimension from the fixed surface to the mounting surface of the slider guided by this guide rail is determined to be a certain value, the thickness of the top plate of the slider is increased by the decrease in the height of the guide rail. mechanical strength can be improved.

In addition, the ball rolling grooves formed on the guide rail and the slider are formed in a roughly V-shaped cross section with only a pair of left and right portions in the width direction having a contact surface with a probe for measuring the groove position. Since the shape of the pair of grooves is a single arcuate surface, it is only necessary to achieve the shape accuracy of three arcuate surfaces, and the shape of the rotary dresser becomes simple, making it easy to manufacture the rotary dresser.

Furthermore, the ball rolling grooves are ground by using a full-form grindstone that has been shaped in advance to match the shape of multiple pairs of grooves.
The dimensional accuracy of the ball rolling groove can also be finished by grinding with high precision.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

1 to 3 are diagrams showing an embodiment of a linear guide device according to the present invention.

In the figure, ■ is a guide rail in the shape of a rectangular prism, and mounting holes 4 for inserting bolts penetrating from the upper surface 1a to the lower surface are bored at predetermined intervals in the axial direction at the center in the width direction. By inserting the hexagon socket head bolt 5 into the mounting hole 4, the rail l is fixed to the fixed part 6. And guide rail 1
First ball rolling grooves 2L, 2R and second ball rolling grooves 3L, 3R extending in the axial direction are formed in left and right sides LL, IR at symmetrical positions and parallel to each other. .

The first ball rolling grooves 2L, 2R are arcuate ball rolling surfaces with a single curvature centered on an approximately 45 degree inclination line at the 9 corners of the side surfaces IL, IR and the upper surface 1a of the guide rail l. 2a, and its curvature is set to be slightly thicker than the curvature of the ball 11 so that the ball 11, which will be described later, makes point contact.

By forming the ball rolling grooves 2L and 2R at the upper corners of the guide rail 1 in this way, the groove surface width of the ball rolling groove 3 can be narrow, and the height from the mounting surface of the guide rail 1 can be reduced. is low (possible)

The second ball rolling grooves 3L, 3R are formed in a so-called Gothic arch shape with a generally V-shaped cross section, having two curved surfaces of the same curvature on the lower side of the first ball rolling grooves 2L, 2R, and on the upper side. The curved surface is a ball rolling surface 3a on which the balls 11 are transferred, and the lower curved surface is a measuring element contact surface 3b on which a measuring element is applied to measure the groove position of the guide rail 1. A predetermined gap is secured between the measuring element contact surface 3b and the ball 11, which will be described later, and the ball 11 will be in a non-contact state when the guide rail 1 and the slider 7 are assembled as described later.

A slider 7 is disposed on the guide rail l so as to straddle the guide rail l so as to be slidable in the axial direction via a large number of balls 11.

The slider 7 is composed of a slider main body 7a and side plates 7b and 7c fixed to both ends of the slider main body 7a in the axial direction. The slider body 7a includes an upper surface plate portion 7e having a flat upper surface and having mounting holes 7d formed on the left and right side edges, and a vertical plate portion 7f extending downward facing the side surfaces IL and IR of the guide rail 1.
7g are integrally molded, and the whole is formed into a sheath shape. The inner distance between the vertical plate parts 7f and 7g is the same as the guide rail l.
This vertical plate part 7 is set slightly wider than the width of
On the inside of f and 7g, ball rolling grooves 8L, 8R, 9L, and 9R are formed at positions facing the left and right pair of ball rolling grooves 2L, 2R, and 3L, 3R of the guide rail 1, respectively.

The ball rolling grooves 8L and 8R are formed in a so-called Gothic arch shape with two curved surfaces having the same curvature and a substantially V-shaped cross section.
The upper curved surface is a ball rolling surface 8a, and the lower curved surface is a contact surface 8b.・This ball rolling groove 8L, 8R
and a ball rolling groove 2L of the guide rail l facing these,
2R, ball transfer paths 12L and 12R are formed, and a large number of balls 11 are formed on these ball transfer paths 12L and 12R.
are rolled in point contact with each of the ball rolling surface 8a and the ball rolling surface 2R. In addition, a predetermined gap is secured between the contact surfaces 8b of the ball rolling grooves 8L and 8R with respect to the balls 11, so that the balls 11 are in a non-contact state when the guide rail l and the slider 7 are assembled. becomes.

The ball rolling grooves 9L, 9R have an arcuate ball rolling surface 9R with a single curvature, the curvature of which is set larger than the curvature of the ball 11, and the ball rolling grooves 3L, 3 of the guide rail l.
R and ball rolling grooves 9L, 9R form a ball transfer path 13L,
13R is formed, and these ball transfer paths 13L, 13R
, a large number of balls 11 are in point contact with each of the ball rolling surfaces 3a and 9a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the slider body 7a has ball rolling grooves 8L in vertical plate portions 7f and 7g.

Inside the thick wall corresponding to 9L, 8R, and 9R, there is a ball return passage 1 with a circular cross section similar to that of a normal linear guide device.
4L, 15L and 14R, 15R are formed in the axial direction,
These ball return passages 14L.

Both ends of 15L, 14R, and 15R are curved ball passages 1, which are half-doughnut-shaped spaces provided on the side plates 7b and 7C.
6a, 16b, respectively, and the other ends of these curved ball passages 16a, 16b are connected to the ball rolling paths 12L, 1.
It is connected to 3L, 12R, and 13R. That is,
The inner arc surface and outer arc surface of the curved ball passages 16a, 16b are the ball return passages 14L, 14R and 15L, 15.
R, and ball return passages 14L, 14R and 15
A ball circulation path is formed by L, 15R and the curved ball paths 16a, 16b. and a ball transfer path 1 between the ball circulation path and the guide rail 1 and the slider 7;
2L, 12R and 13L.

13R and a large number of balls 11 are transferred to ball transfer paths 12L and 1.
They fit in 2R, 13L, and 13R, and are accommodated in a loose fit in the ball circulation path, so that these balls can be moved freely.

Then, the ball rolling grooves 2L, 2R and 3 of the guide rail 1
In order to form the ball rolling grooves 8L, 8R, 9L, and 9R of the slider 7 and the ball rolling grooves 8L, 3R, and the slider 7, first, cutting is performed, and then precision finishing is performed using a grinding wheel of a grinding machine. It is necessary for the balls 11 to uniformly contact and transfer the rolling grooves, which requires precision finishing on the order of microns.

For this reason, the ground ball rolling groove 2L of the guide rail 1
, 2R, between 3L and 3R, between the ball rolling grooves 8L and 8R of the slider 7, and between 9L and 9R, and the height from the reference plane must be precisely measured. To perform these measurements, the ball rolling groove 3L is made larger than the ball 11 by a predetermined dimension.

3R, 8L, and 8R are in contact with both the ball rolling surfaces 3a and 8a and the probe contact surfaces 3b and 8b, and the ball 1
Two measuring balls 20a and 20b are prepared as measuring probes that contact the same contact point as the first contact point. To measure the distance and height of the ball rolling grooves 3L and 3R of the guide rail 1, as shown in FIG.
, 20b are brought into contact with both the ball rolling surfaces 3a and the measuring head contact surfaces 3b of the ball rolling grooves 3L and 3R of the guide rail 1, and in this state, the distance W between the inner sides of both measuring balls 20a, 20b and the reference By measuring the heights Ha and Hb between the surfaces and the upper surfaces of the measurement balls 20a and 2Qb, it is possible to precisely measure the distance and height of the ball rolling surfaces 3a of the ball rolling grooves 3L and 3R. .

In addition, in order to measure the distance between the ball rolling surfaces 8a of the ball rolling grooves 8L, 8R of the slider 7 and the height from the reference surface, as shown in FIG. With the measuring balls 20a and 20b in contact with both the ball rolling surface 8a and the measuring head contact surface 8b, the distance W between the outer surfaces of the measuring balls 20a and 20b and the reference surface and the measuring ball are determined in the same way as above. Height Ha from the bottom surface of balls 20a, 20b
.

By measuring Hb, the ball rolling groove 8L.

The spacing and height of the 8R ball rolling surface 8a can be precisely measured.

As for the guide rail l, as shown in FIG. 6, the outer surface corresponds to the ball rolling grooves 2L, 2R and 3L, 3R, respectively, and the grindstone portion 30b is formed into an arcuate surface 30a, and the outer surface has a substantially V-shaped cross section. Grindstone portion 30 formed on surface 30C
Using a full-form grindstone 30 that is integrated with d and that is precisely trued with a rotary dresser,
The ball rolling grooves 2L, 3L and 2R, 3R can be precisely finished by moving them relatively in the axial direction and finishing the grinding based on the above-mentioned measured value using the grinding position d as a reference.

Similarly, the ball rolling grooves 8L, 9L and 8R of the slider 7
, 9R as well, as shown in FIG. 7, a grindstone portion 31b whose outer surface is formed to have a substantially V-shaped cross section 31a and a grindstone portion 31d whose outer surface is formed to be an arcuate surface 31c are integrated, and the rotary dresser Using the full-form grindstone 31 that is accurately trued with the grinding wheel 31, the grinding position of the grindstone portion 31b is used as a reference, and by moving both in the axial direction relative to each other based on the above measurement value, the ball rolling groove is finished. 8L,
9L, 8R, and 9R can be precisely finished. In this case, since the rotary dresser has a shape with three arcuate surfaces, the shape is simplified and a product with good precision can be easily obtained. Do not measure the other ball rolling groove (but there is no practical problem.

Therefore, when the slider 7 is assembled to the guide rail 1, the ball rolling grooves 2L, 2R, 3L, 3R and 8
Since L, 8R, 9L, and 9R are precisely finished, the ball transfer paths 12L and 1 constituted by these ball rolling grooves are
The balls 11 can be brought into even rolling contact with 2R, 13L, and 13R, and by selecting the diameter of the balls 11, a desired preload can be accurately obtained.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained. When the slider 7 is moved to the left in FIG. 3, that is, to the front in the axial direction in FIG. The balls 11 inserted between 8L, 8R and 9L, 9R roll as the slider 7 moves, and
The amount of movement of the slider 7 is in the same direction as the movement direction, that is, in the forward direction.
, enters the curved ball passage 16a at the front end, makes a U-turn along this, and returns to the ball return passage 14.
L, 14R, 15L, 15R, and is again U-turned by the curved ball passage 16b on the opposite side, and then the guide rail 1
Ball rolling groove 2L.

Ball rolling paths 12L, 12R and 13L are composed of 2R, 3L and 3R, and ball rolling grooves 8L, 8R and 9L and 9R of the slider 7 facing these.

Move to 13R and cycle. At this time, ball transfer path 1
As described above, since 2L, 12R and 13L, 13R are formed with high precision, the ball 11 can be transferred extremely smoothly.

In the above embodiment, the case where the ball rolling grooves 9L and 9R on the lower side of the slider 7 are composed of circular arc surfaces with a single curvature has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 8, the ball rolling groove is composed of a ball rolling surface 9a and a simple flank surface 9b connected to this, and the upper ball rolling groove is formed into a single arcuate surface. Furthermore, the contact surfaces of the guide rail 1 and the slider 7 do not need to be formed in the same arc shape as the ball rolling surface, but may be formed in an arc shape or a flat shape with different dimensions. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the first ball rolling groove is formed at the corner on the upper surface side of both side surfaces of the guide rail, and the ball rolling surface and the measuring element contact surface are provided below the first ball rolling groove. A second ball rolling groove having a substantially V-shaped cross section is formed, and at least one of the ball rolling grooves faces each ball rolling groove of a guide rail of a slider slidably disposed on the guide rail. The cross section with the ball rolling surface and the measured contact surface is approximately V
Since the ball rolling groove is shaped like a letter, it is easy to manufacture a rotary dresser, and by using the ball rolling groove with a roughly V-shaped cross section on the guide rail and slider, the distance between the ball rolling surfaces and the relationship with the reference surface can be improved. The height can be precisely measured and managed, and the measured value is used to finish the grinding with a general grindstone using the roughly V-shaped cross-section ball rolling groove as a reference, so the ball rolling groove of the guide rail and slider The ball can contact the ball rolling groove uniformly to achieve a good rolling condition, and the distance between the ball rolling groove and the height from the reference surface of the guide rail and slider can be precisely finished. Since each measurement only needs to be performed once, the measurements can be performed quickly.

In addition, since the first ball rolling groove of the guide rail is formed at the top corner of both sides of the guide rail, the height of the guide rail can be reduced, and the height of the entire linear slider device can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to increase the thickness of the top surface of the slider of the linear guide device, improving mechanical strength, and the grinding of the first ball rolling groove. Since the area is small, grinding efficiency can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the ball rolling groove on the right side of FIG. 1, and FIG.
4 is an explanatory diagram when measuring the ball rolling groove of the guide rail, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram when measuring the ball rolling groove of the slider, and 6th FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the grinding state of the ball rolling groove of the guide rail, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the grinding state of the ball rolling groove of the slider, and FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view corresponding to FIG. 2; In the figure, 1 is a guide rail, 2L and 2R are first ball rolling grooves, 3L and 3R are second ball rolling grooves, 3a is a ball rolling surface, 3b is a measuring head contact surface, 7 is a slider, 8L, 8R
is a ball rolling surface, 8a is a ball rolling surface, 8b is a probe contact surface, 9L and 9R are ball rolling grooves, 11 is a ball, 12
L, 12R. 13L and 13R are ball transfer roads, 14L and 14R. 15L, 15R are ball return passages, 16a, 16b are curved ball passages, 20a, 20b are measuring balls, 30.
31 is a general grindstone.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A guide rail having a plurality of ball rolling grooves extending in the axial direction at symmetrical positions on a side surface, a slider having a ball rolling groove opposite to the ball rolling groove of the guide rail, and a ball rolling groove of the slider. In the linear guide device comprising a plurality of balls interposed between a ball rolling groove of the guide rail, the ball rolling groove of the guide rail is formed at least at both upper corners of the guide rail. A cross section approximately V including a first ball rolling groove having an arcuate cross section, a ball rolling surface having an arcuate cross section formed below the first ball rolling groove, and a contacting surface of the contact point which is not in contact with the ball. and a second ball rolling groove in the shape of a letter, and at least one pair of left and right grooves of the ball rolling groove of the slider are made non-contact with the ball rolling surface having an arcuate cross section and the ball. The ball rolling grooves of the guide rail and the slider are ground with a full-form grindstone using the ball rolling grooves formed as having a roughly V-shaped cross section as a reference. A linear guide device characterized by: