WO2007046641A1

WO2007046641A1 - Slide with rollers

Info

Publication number: WO2007046641A1
Application number: PCT/KR2006/004256
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yoon Sik Park
Original assignee: Yoon Sik Park
Priority date: 2005-10-20
Filing date: 2006-10-19
Publication date: 2007-04-26
Also published as: KR20070043065A; KR100850546B1

Abstract

Disclosed is a slide with a stationary rail and a movable block. The movable block includes a body having upper and lower plates, ball bearings fixedly located between both the plates, and rollers rotatably secured to the bearings. Each roller includes a wheel performing rolling movements along raceways of the stationary rail and a shaft fixedly inserted into a bearing hole of the associated ball bearing. The bearings serve to attach the rollers to the body while guaranteeing the free rotation of the rollers. A washer groove is formed around the shaft for the insertion of a washer. The washer groove has an inclined bottom surface to come into contact with a corresponding inclined inner surface of the washer, to achieve easy insertion of the shaft into the bearing hole and easy securing of the roller to the bearing.

Description

Description SLIDE WITH ROLLERS

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to slides, and more particularly, to a slide having rollers as sliding means thereof. Background Art

[2] Slides cause a drawer to be pushed into or pulled out of an article of furniture, such as a desk, cabinet, or the like, and have been disclosed in a large number of patents, for example, U.S.Patent No.6,254,209, U.S.Patent No.6,033,047, U.S.Patent No.6,254,210, U.S.Patent No.6,733,097, U.S.Patent No.5,895,101, etc.

[3] The conventional slides may be classified into a double member type consisting of an inner member and an outer member, or a triple member type consisting of an inner member, an intermediate member, and an outer member. In both cases, ball retainers are located between the respective members. The ball retainers are made of thin plates and perforated with a plurality of ball insertion holes for the insertion of spherical metallic balls. The balls commonly have a small diameter of 5mm and are slidably secured in the respective ball insertion holes of the ball retainer. Each member of the slide has an arcuate raceway for the sliding of the balls of the ball retainer. Accordingly, as the ball retainers perform sliding movements along the raceways of the members of the slide, each member of the slide can perform sliding movements relative to the other members.

[4] The above described slides use the ball retainers, more particularly, the balls inserted in the ball retainers, as sliding assistance means. However, the balls in a certain case slip rather than normally slide along the raceways. The slip phenomenon is an abnormal operation mode of the slide. The greater the load, the higher the generation rate of the slip phenomenon.

[5] In addition to the above described slides, technologies related to other different slides, which can be called "linear movement guiding devices" and have been used in automatic welding machines, injection molding machines, industrial robots, etc., are disclosed in U.S.Patent No.6,142,671, U.S.Patent No.6,155,717, U.S.Patent No.6,977,450, U.S.Patent No.6,132,093, etc.

[6] The disclosed slides (i.e. linear movement guiding devices) include a movable block configured to engage with a track having a predetermined cross sectional shape and adapted to perform sliding movements along the track. The movable block has an elongated elliptical slot formed along an axis thereof, and a plurality of balls are installed to perform sliding movements along the slot in an endless track moving manner. The slot is partially exposed to a surface of the track. Accordingly, when the balls perform sliding movements along the slot exposed to the surface of the track, the movable block is able to perform sliding movements relative to the track.

[7] Although the above described slides (linear movement guiding devices) are operable even when a relatively high load is applied thereto, these slides need a complicated configuration as well as a high-grade precision slot processing technology for achieving the smooth sliding movements of the balls in the slot. As a result, these slides requre high manufacturing costs. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[8] Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems through the provision of an improved slide.

[9] It is an object of the present invention to provide a slide which has a simplified configuration and no necessity for a high-grade precision processing operation, therefore resulting in reduced manufacturing costs.

[10] It is another object of the present invention to provide a slide in which less slip phenomenon happens even when a high load is applied thereto. Technical Solution

[11] In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a rolling slide comprising: a stationary rail having a web and raceways; and a movable block adapted to move along the raceways of the stationary rail.

[12] The movable block of the slide comprises a body consisting of an upper plate and lower plate, ball bearings located and secured between the upper plate and the lower plate of the body, each ball bearing having a center ball bearing hole, and rollers secured to the respective ball bearings to perform rotating movements. Each of the rollers comprises a wheel adapted to perform rolling movements along the raceways of the stationary rail and a shaft. The shaft of the roller is inserted into the associated ball bearing hole, so as to be secured to the associated ball bearing. Here, the ball bearing serves to attach the roller to the body while guaranteeing the free rotation of the roller.

[13] The roller shaft comprises a washer groove formed along a periphery thereof, and a bottom surface of the washer groove is inclined. A washer is inserted into the washer groove. The washer has an inclined inner surface to come into contact with the bottom surface of the washer groove, the inner surface of the washer having an inclination corresponding to that of the bottom surface of the washer groove. Thereby, the roller shaft is easily inserted into the ball bearing hole and secured to an inner race of the ball bearing without a risk of separation. Advantageous Effects

[14] A slide having the above described configuration according to the present invention has the effect of eliminating the use of conventional ball retainers, and achieving higher operational efficiency and lower manufacturing costs than conventional slides. In particular, the slide of the present invention generates less slip phenomenon even if a relatively high load is applied thereto. Brief Description of the Drawings

[15] The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[16] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a slide according to the present invention;

[17] FIG. 2 is a side view of the slide shown in FIG. 1;

[18] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a movable block used in the slide according to the present invention;

[19] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the movable block shown in FIG. 3, when viewing from an opposite direction of FIG. 3;

[20] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a body of the movable block;

[21] FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of a lower plate of the movable block;

[22] FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a ball bearing, washer, and roller used in the slide according to the present invention;

[23] FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the ball bearing;

[24] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the roller; and

[25] FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the washer inserted in the roller.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[26] Now, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[27] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a slide according to the present invention includes a stationary rail 100 and a movable block 200.

[28] Similar to conventional rails used in slides, the stationary rail 100 includes a web

110 and raceways 120 formed at opposite sides of the web 110.

[29] The movable block 200, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, includes a body 210 consisting of an upper plate 220 and a lower plate 240, rollers 300, and ball bearings 400.

[30] Each of the rollers 300 is attached to the body 210 of the movable block 200 to perform rotating movements. The roller 300 includes a wheel 310, which is configured to protrude outward from the lower plate 240 of the movable block 200, so as to perform rolling movements along the raceways 120 of the stationary rail 100. Accordingly, the movable block 200 performs sliding movements along the stationary rail 100.

[31] The number of the rollers 300 attached to the movable block 200 is three. As shown in FIG. 4, the rollers 300 are arranged in a zigzag pattern in a longitudinal direction of the movable block 200. Specifically, of the three rollers 300, the center of the middle roller is spaced apart from the center of the other adjacent roller (i.e. the roller located at one side or the other side of the middle roller) by a predetermined distance L. The distance L may be changed according to an outer diameter of the roller wheel 310, but a maximum distance M between a leftmost outer diameter point of the wheel 310 of the middle roller and a rightmost outer diameter point of the wheel 310 of the adjacent roller always must correspond to a distance between inner side surfaces of the raceways 120 of the stationary rail 100. With this configuration, the movable block 200 is able to perform rolling movements without a risk of separation from the raceways 120 of the stationary rail 100. Furthermore, by virtue of the zigzag arrangement of the rollers 300 and the maximum distance M corresponding to the distance between the inner side surfaces of the raceways 120 of the stationary rail 100, the movable block 200 can perform smooth linear movements along the raceways 120 of the stationary rail 100 under the assistance of a minimum number of rollers.

[32] The body 210 of the movable block 200, as described above, consists of the upper plate 220 and the lower plate 240. Referring to FIG. 5, the upper plate 220 and the lower plate 240 are formed with three roller holes 230 and three roller holes 250, respectively. The rollers 300 and the ball bearings 400 are located in the roller holes 230 and 250. Specifically, the wheels 310 of the rollers 300 protrude from the roller holes 250 of the lower plate 240, and shafts 330 of the rollers 300 are located in the roller holes 230 of the upper plate 220. Each of the roller holes 230 and 250 has a stepped holding portion 232 or 252, which is formed along a circumferential direction of the roller hole and has a slightly smaller outer diameter than an outer diameter of the bearings 400. Accordingly, the stepped holding portion 232 or 252 serves to press and secure the associated bearing 400 when the bearing 400 is located in the roller hole 230 or 250 and the upper and lower plates 220 and 240 are fixedly coupled to each other.

[33] The upper and lower plates 220 and 240 also have a plurality of fastening holes 222 and 242; 224 and 244; and 226 and 246. The coupling holes 224 and 244 are rivet fastening holes to allow the upper and lower plates 220 and 240 to be coupled to each other by use of rivets 280. The fastening holes 226 and 246 are screw fastening holes, to allow the movable block 200 to be secured to a bottom or lateral portion of,for example, a drawer by use of screws. The coupling holes 222 and 242 are also screw fastening holes. In particular, the lower plate 240, formed with the fastening holes 242, are also formed, at an upper surface thereof, with hollow protrusions 248 (See FIG. 6). The hollow protrusions 248 are formed, at an inner surface thereof, with screw grooves, to allow the movable block 200 to be secured to the bottom or lateral portion of the drawer by use of screws.

[34] Although the rivets are used to couple the upper and lower plates to each other in the illustrated embodiment, screws or other appropriate attachment means may be used, or the upper and lower plates may be welded to each other. Also, although the fastening holes 226 and 246 and the fastening holes 222 and 242 associated with the hollow protrusions 248 are used to secure the movable block 200 to the bottom or lateral portion of the drawer in the illustrated embodiment, only one kind of the fastening holes 226 and 246 or 222 and 242 may be used, and rivets, or other fixing means may be used, to meet the convenience of fastening.

[35] Meanwhile, flanges 228 are formed at opposite ends of the upper plate 220 of the movable block 200. The flanges 228 are configured to enclose the lower plate 240. When the upper and lower plates 220 and 240 are coupled to each other, the flanges 228 come into contact with end surfaces 258 of the lower plate 240, thus acting to facilitate the alignment of the upper and lower plates 220 and 240.

[36]

[37] As shown in FIG. 9, each of the rollers 300, which are attached to the movable block 200 and adapted to assist the movable block 200 to perform sliding movements along the stationary rail 100, includes the wheel 310 and the shaft 330.

[38] The wheel 310 has a circumferential surface having a curvature corresponding to that of the inner side surfaces of the raceways 120 of the stationary rail 100 and also has a thickness corresponding to that of the raceways 120 (See FIG. 2). The wheel 310 is located to protrude out of the associated roller hole 250 of the lower plate 240 and adapted to perform rolling movements along the raceways 120 of the stationary rail 100. The roller 300 further includes a stepped portion 320 formed at a joint portion between the shaft 330 and the wheel 310.

[39] The shaft 330 has a circular column shape suitable to be inserted into a bearing hole

402 of the associated ball bearing 400. Accordingly, the shaft 330 serves to secure the roller 300 to the bearing 400. The shaft 330 has a groove 331 processed along a periphery of a lower portion thereof (See FIGS. 9 and 10). In consideration of a machining process of the shaft 330 and the wheel 310, there is a risk in that any raised portion may be unintentionally formed at the juncture of the shaft 330 and the stepped portion 320 of the wheel 310 due to a processing error. In the course of inserting the shaft 330 into the bearing hole 402, the raised portion acts to hinder the stepped portion 320 of the wheel 310 from coming into close contact with a surface of the bearing 400. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the raised portion may cause damage to the surface of the bearing 400 during the sliding movements of the movable block 200. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, to prevent the raised portion from being formed at the juncture of the shaft 330 and the stepped portion 320 of the wheel 310 during a machining process, the groove 331 is processed around the shaft 310 intentionally. The groove 331 is processed to have a width suitable for preventing the formation of the raised portion.

[40] The shaft 330 also has a washer insertion groove 332 formed along a periphery of a middle portion thereof for the insertion of a washer 500 (See FIG. 7). Now, the function of the washer 500 and the washer insertion groove 332 will be described.

[41] As the roller 300 is secured to the ball bearing 400 and the ball bearing 400 is fixedly located in the roller holes 230 and 250 of the upper and lower plates 220 and 240 of the movable block 200, the roller 300 is attached to the body 210 of the movable block 200. Here, securing the roller 300 to the ball bearing 400, as shown in FIG. 7, is accomplished as the shaft 330 of the roller 300 is inserted into the ball bearing hole 402 of the ball bearing 400.

[42] Referring to FIG. 8, the ball bearing 400 is of a conventional ball bearing type, and includes a ball bearing body and two side plates 410. The ball bearing body consists of an inner race 430, an outer race 420, and a plurality of balls 450 located between the inner race 430 and the outer race 420. Here, the balls 450 are equidistantly secured at fixed positions by use of ball retainers, and no ball retainers are shown in FIG. 8 for the convenience of illustration. The roller 300 is inserted into the ball bearing hole 402 so as to be secured to the inner race 430 of the ball bearing 400, thereby being adapted to rotate along with the inner race 430. As a result of allowing the roller 300 to be rotatably secured to the inner race 430 through the ball bearing 402, the use of conventional ball bearings is possible, which is not allowed when the roller 300 is rotatably secured to the outer race 420. Furthermore, this enables free regulation in the shape or size of the roller, thus guaranteeing the design flexibility of the roller.

[43] The roller 300 is secured to the inner race 430 of the ball bearing 400 by use of the washer 500. More particularly, the washer 500 is first inserted into the washer insertion groove 332 of the roller shaft 330 and then, the roller shaft 330 is inserted into the bearing hole 402 in a direction as represented by the arrow (See FIG. 7). In this case, a bottom surface 334 of the washer insertion groove 332, as shown in FIG. 10, is inclined so that a radius of the roller 300 decreases toward the roller wheel 310. The washer 500 has a cross sectional shape corresponding to that of the washer insertion groove 332. In particular, an inner surface of the washer 500, which will come into contact with the bottom surface 334 of the washer insertion groove 332, is inclined to have an inclination corresponding to that of the bottom surface 334 of the washer insertion groove 332. When the bottom surface 334 of the washer insertion groove 332 and the inner surface of the washer 500 are inclined as described above, even if the washer 500 comes into contact with the inner race 430 of the bearing 400 and is subjected to a frictional resistance as the shaft 300 is inserted into the bearing hole 402 (in a direction as represented by the arrows shown in FIGS. 7 and 10), the washer 500 is able to be pushed in a radius-decreasing direction of the roller 300. This has the effect of allowing the shaft 300 to be easily inserted into the bearing hole 402. Once the shaft 330 is completely inserted into the bearing hole 402, the washer 500 is located at the smallest radius position of the roller 300. Meanwhile, when the shaft 330, inserted in the bearing hole 402, is moved to be separated from the bearing hole 402 (in an opposite direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 10), the washer 500 is gradually moved in aradius -increasing directionof the roller 300 under the influence of a frictional resistance of the inner race 430. Therefore, the washer 500 gradually comes into close contact with the inner race 430, and this has the effect of preventing the shaft 330 from being unintentionally separated from the bearing hole 402.

[44] In conclusion, when the bottom surface 334 of the washer insertion groove 332 and the inner surface of the washer 500 are inclined as described above, the shaft 330 of the roller 300 can be easily inserted into the ball bearing hole 402 and be secured to the inner race 430 of the ball bearing 400 without a risk of unintentional separation. With this configuration, the ball bearing 400 serves to attach the roller 300 to the body 210 of the movable block 200 while guaranteeing the free rotation of the roller 300.

[45] To assemble the movable block 200, first, the shaft 330 of each roller 300 is inserted into the associated roller hole 250 of the lower plate 240 of the movable block 200 from the lower side of the lower plate 240. Subsequently, after inserting the washer 500 into the washer insertion groove 332 of the roller shaft 330, the roller shaft 300 is continuously inserted into the associated ball bearing hole 402, to allow the roller 300 to be secured to the ball bearing 400. In this way, if the ball bearing 400 is located in the roller hole 250 of the lower plate 240 of the movable block 200, the flanges 228 of the upper plate 220 are aligned with the end surfaces 258 of the lower plate 240, to align the upper and lower plates 220 and 240 with each other. Finally, the upper and lower plates 220 and 240 are coupled to each other by use of the rivets 280, to complete the movable block 200. Then, if the movable block 200 is inserted into the stationary rail 100 so that the wheels 310 of the movable block 200 are located on the raceways 120 of the stationary rail 100, the slide with the rollers according to the present invention is completed.

[46] Stoppers must be provided at opposite longitudinal ends of the stationary rail 100 for preventing the movable block 200 from being separated from the stationary rail 100 in the course of sliding along the stationary rail 100. For example, the stoppers may take the form of protrusions, which are formed by punching certain portions of the raceways 120. The provision of the stoppers is necessary for the normal operation of the slide, and the appropriate shape and position of the stoppers will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. For the convenience of illustration, no stoppers are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

[47] To install the slide according to the present invention, the movable block 200 is secured to the bottom or lateral portion of the drawer (not shown) by use of screws fastened through the above described fastening holes 226 and 246. Also, a plurality of holes (not shown) are perforated through the web 110 of the stationary rail 100 at appropriate positions so that the stationary rail 100 is secured to the bottom or lateral portion of the drawer (not shown) by use of fasteners, such as screws, etc. Thereby, the drawer is able to be pushed into or pulled out of the drawer. Meanwhile, between the web 110 of the stationary rail 100 and the roller wheels 310 of the movable block 200 is defined a space 150 (See FIG. 2). With the provision of the space 150, even if fasteners, such as screws, etc., are fastened through the holes of the web 110, there is no risk of interference to the smooth sliding movements of the movable block 200.

[48] Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and sprit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. Industrial Applicability

[49] As apparent from the above description, a slide according to the present invention has a configuration capable of eliminating the use of ball retainers, which have to be essentially used in conventional slides. As a result, even if a length of the slide increases, there is no need for increasing a length and/or number of the ball retainers. According to the present invention, the slide includes a movable block, which is capable of performing sliding movements along a stationary rail of the slide regardless of the overall length of the slide. Accordingly, in the case where it is necessary to provide a relatively long slide suitable for a long sliding distance, it can be said that the slide of the present invention is more advantageous in the views of operational efficiency and manufacturing costs as compared to conventional slides.

[50] In particular, differently from conventional slides, which use small balls and thus, may suffer from a slip phenomenon of the small balls if a high load is applied thereto, the slide according to the present invention employs the rotation of rollers having a relatively large diameter and thus, generates less slip phenomenon even if a high load is applied thereto.

Claims

[1] A rolling slide comprising: a stationary rail having a web and raceways formed at opposite sides of the web; and a movable block adapted to move along the raceways of the stationary rail, wherein the movable block comprises a body consisting of an upper plate and lower plate each having three roller holes, and three ball bearings and three rollers located between the upper plate and the lower plate of the body and secured to the body, each ball bearing having a center bearing hole, each of the rollers comprises a circular wheel adapted to perform rolling movements along the raceways of the stationary rail and a shaft extended from a surface of the wheel, and the shaft of each roller is inserted into the bearing hole of the associated ball bearing and secured to an inner race of the ball bearing, so as to allow the roller to be rotatably secured to the body of the movable block.

[2] The slide according to claim 1, wherein each roller hole formed in the upper and lower plates of the movable block comprises a stepped holding portion formed along a circumferential portion thereof to be caught by the ball bearing.

[3] The slide according to claim 1, wherein the upper and lower plates comprise a plurality of fastening holes for use in the coupling of the upper and lower plates, and the upper plate comprises flanges formed at opposite ends thereof for the easy alignment of the upper and lower plates when the upper and lower plates are coupled to each other.

[4] The slide according to claim 1, wherein the shaft of each roller comprises a washer insertion groove formed along a periphery thereof for the insertion of a washer, and a bottom surface of the washer insertion groove is inclined so that a cross section of the roller decreases gradually toward the roller wheel.

[5] The slide according to claim 4, wherein the washer has an inclined inner surface to come into contact with the bottom surface of the washer insertion groove, the inner surface of the washer having an inclination corresponding to that of the bottom surface of the washer insertion groove.

[6] The slide according to claim 1, wherein the three rollers, rotatably secured to the body of the movable block, are arranged in a zigzag pattern in a longitudinal direction of the movable block, and a maximum distance between a leftmost outer diameter point of the wheel of the middle roller and a rightmost outer diameter point of the wheel of the adjacent roller corresponds to a distance between inner side surfaces of the raceways of the stationary rail.