WO2011141303A1

WO2011141303A1 - Linear guide

Info

Publication number: WO2011141303A1
Application number: PCT/EP2011/056899
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daouadji Abdelkader Hassene; Franziska Hausberger; Jean-Marie Jully
Original assignee: Schaeffler Technologies Gmbh & Co. Kg
Priority date: 2010-05-10
Filing date: 2011-05-02
Publication date: 2011-11-17
Also published as: DE102010019975B4; DE102010019975A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a linear guide having a guide carriage (1) displaceably supported along a guide rail (2), on the support body (3) of which a measurement head (10) is mounted, said body being provided for receiving loads. For simple and correct mounting of the measurement head (10) on the guide carriage (1), a bearing surface (22) of the measurement head (10) is supported directly on a bearing surface (19) of the support body (3).

Description

linear guide

The present invention relates to a linear guide, in which a guide carriage is mounted longitudinally displaceably on a guide rail. Such, preferably designed as a profile rail rolling guide linear guides find versatile application, for example, in machine tools or in assembly lines.

Generic guide arrangements serve for example for the transport of goods, workpieces, tools and the like along the path predetermined by the guide rail, which can form either a straight line or a curve. The carriage preferably includes rolling elements, which may be designed as balls or rollers and are moved within the carriage in a circulation system. By means of such guide arrangements a very accurate guidance of goods or tools with high rigidity is possible.

In a particularly suitable for the present invention, profile rail roller guide with Wälzkörperrückführung, the guide rail on opposite longitudinal sides in each case at least one raceway for rolling elements. Rolling elements - balls or rollers - roll on these tracks, which circulate endlessly in endless circulation channels of the guide carriage. The circulation channel has a load section provided for the transmission of loads between the guide carriage and the guide rail, as well as a load-free return section, and furthermore two deflection sections connecting the load section to the return section in an endless manner. Furthermore, the guide carriage has arranged on end faces of the support body head pieces, which are provided with the deflection sections.

The support body may be provided with flanges or mounting holes for attachment of machine parts to be displaced along the guide rail.

From DE 103 47 360 A1, a linear guide has become known, in which a guide carriage runs on a straight line, profiled guide rail extending here. Between carriage and guide rail while rolling elements are provided for storage. The drive of the guide carriage relative to the guide rail follows in a conventional manner, for example by means of toothed belt, ball screw or by means of a linear motor.

The carriage consists of a support body and frontally attached to the support body headers. Each head piece is screwed by means of two fastening screws to the support body. These fastening screws have at their ends remote from the support body threaded holes into which engage the mounting screws of the adapter plate. In this known linear guide of the carriage is provided at its one end face with a measuring head. In many applications, it is increasingly required to enable an exact positioning of the guide carriage on the guide rail. For this purpose, the measuring heads, which are provided with suitable sensors and which cooperate with dimensional standards provided on the part of the guide rail, are attached to these guide carriages.

The measuring heads can be connected to evaluation units and control devices for controlling drive units. Such measuring heads or other additional components to be flanged to the carriage must be properly aligned with respect to the guide rail. This means that a fastening device is to be provided, which makes it possible to attach such an additional component properly aligned with the carriage.

According to DE 103 47 360 AI is proposed to provide an adapter plate between the carriage and the additional component. This adapter plate is attached by means of screws to the carriage. Now follows a face milling of the adapter plate, so that the plane machined surface forms a plane which is exactly orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the guide rail. Following this, the complete measuring head is fastened to the adapter plate by inserting pins and anchors into the designated position holes. Mounting holes are used. By screwing the setscrews into the transverse bores finally a positionally correct attachment of the measuring head takes place on the adapter plate. As connecting means between the adapter plate and measuring head several connecting bolts are used. The measuring head is opposite to the guide positioned. Therefore, a secure connection and disconnection of the measuring head with or from the carriage is possible only with considerable effort.

The object of the invention was to provide a linear guide according to the features of Oberbeg- riff of claim 1, the measuring head can be properly positioned in a simple manner.

According to the invention this object has been achieved by the linear guide according to claim 1.

The fact that the measuring head is mounted with a bearing surface directly on a bearing surface of the support body, the invention offers numerous advantages over known, provided with measuring heads linear guides: While in known linear guides a perfect alignment of the measuring head via special fitting screws, and thus the risk of tilting of the measuring head with respect to the longitudinal axis of the linear guides, this is excluded in the invention. The usually made of steel support body is very rigid, so that a bearing surface formed thereon for storage of the measuring head allows proper positioning. A corresponding bearing surface on the measuring head can also be provided without problems, so that an unwanted tilting of the measuring head about the longitudinal axis of the linear guide is avoided only by the bearing of the measuring head on the support body. It may be sufficient if the measuring head supported in this way is held on the support body, for example by means of fastening screws or threaded bolts.

A scale represents or provides one or more fixed values of a size, for example a length. For example, a measuring tape provided with a scaling can be arranged along the guide rail. If a measuring transducer suitable for the material measure, for example a sensor, is moved along the material measure, a traversed path and / or an absolute position on the material measure can be determined with the sensor on the basis of the scaling. For measuring technology, DIN 1319-1 uses the term measuring transducer and defines it as part of a measuring device that responds to a measurand. Ideally, these inventively provided bearing surfaces can be properly arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis of the linear guide, so that in any case a perfect axis-parallel mounting of the measuring head with respect to the guide rail is guaranteed. It is conceivable that corrections may be required by slight displacements of the measuring head along the bearing surfaces before the fastening screws are tightened. But it is also conceivable that the measuring head is provided with fitting holes are passed through the fitting screws each with its shaft, which are screwed into threaded holes in the support body without a separate alignment of the measuring head in the directions transverse to the longitudinal axis of the linear guides is required ,

In any case, the invention allows over known solutions, a reduction of components that are required in the known solutions for proper positioning of the measuring head relative to the guide rail.

In a further development of the invention, the measuring head has a rigid, in particular integrally formed measuring head housing, which can receive a measuring transducer, for example sensors, whereby this measuring head housing can be provided on its end facing the guide carriage with the bearing surface. If this measuring head housing is formed, for example, from steel or cast steel, the bearing surface can be provided by high-precision milling or grinding. In a skilful manner, the bearing surfaces may be formed so that after placing and storing the measuring head on the support body no further positioning is required, so that a single threaded bolt may suffice to properly support the measuring head housing to the support body. In the case of developments according to the invention, it may be advantageous for threaded bolts to be provided on the support body for proper retention of the measuring head, which are respectively screwed into a threaded bore of the support body and which are each carried through a passage opening provided on a housing flange of the measuring head housing, wherein the housing flange between the support body and a bolt head, in particular screw head or nut can be clamped.

By threaded bolts are meant, for example, suitable screws or threaded rods that can be provided with a fixed head or screwed nut.

These threaded bolts can already be preassembled on the guide carriage, so that the measuring head is merely pushed onto these threaded bolts and is held properly on the guide carriage by means of the mentioned nuts.

Linear guides according to the invention are particularly suitable for profile rail rolling guides, in which the support body surrounds the guide rail with two legs connected to one another by a back, the bearing surface formed on the support body being designed for the measuring head on both legs and / or on the back.

For example, it is conceivable to form the bearing surface only on the back in a very wide and high-building back. In the case of very low-linearity linear guides, it may be expedient to provide the bearing surface both on the two legs and on the back.

It has already been mentioned above that the invention encompasses guide carriages in which the support body has headpieces with deflecting sections for rolling elements on both end faces, wherein according to a development of the invention the housing flange of the measuring head housing engages around the headpiece and engages with the bearing surface formed on the housing flange on the bearing surface of the support body is mounted. Preferably, the head pieces are at least partially offset in directions transverse to the longitudinal axis of the linear guide relative to the support body, so that the formed on the support body bearing surface is accessible to the measuring head. An at least partially discontinued head piece is given if an outer contour of the head piece is arranged within the outer contour of the support surface formed on the bearing surface, that sufficient surface for proper storage of the measuring head is available on the support body. In this case, the measuring head with its measuring head housing can embrace the head piece of the guide carriage and lies perfectly with its bearing surface on the bearing surface of the supporting body. The measuring head can have a similar cross-sectional contour as the carrier body of the guide carriage. As well as the support body, the measuring head may have two leg connected by a spine, which surround the guide rail and possibly the head piece of the carriage, wherein the formed on the measuring head bearing surface may be formed on end sides of these legs and / or this back. In linear guides according to the invention, the guide carriage is roller-mounted on rolling elements on the guide rail, wherein the rolling elements are arranged in at least one endless circulation channel. This circulation channel has a Lasiabschnitt provided for the transmission of loads between the carriage and the guide rail. Furthermore, this Umiaufkanai has a iastfreien Rückiaufabschniti for the rolling elements, as well as two, the load section with the return section endlessly connecting deflection sections. This deflection sections are housed in headers, which are arranged on the front side of the support body of the guide carriage. In the case of linear guides with approximately U-shaped guide carriages, a plurality of circulation channels are usually arranged on both longitudinal sides of the guide rail.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment shown in a total of four figures. Show it: FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a linear guide according to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows the linear guide from FIG. 1, partially assembled,

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged detail of FIGS. 1, and

Figure 4 shows a cross section through the linear guide according to the invention.

The illustrated in Figure 1 linear guide according to the invention has a carriage 1, which is arranged longitudinally displaceably on a guide rail 2. The guide carriage 1 consists of a support body 3 made of steel and head pieces 4, which are mounted on the front side at both ends of the support body 3. These head pieces 4 are made of plastic by injection molding.

The guide carriage 1 has here not further shown endless circulation channels for balls 5, wherein each circulation channel has a load section, a return section and two - the load section with the return section endlessly connecting - deflection sections 6. In this endless circulation channel, the balls 5 roll around endlessly in the exemplary embodiment. In the load section, the balls 5 roll on raceways 7 of the guide rail 2 and the support body 3, wherein in Figure 1, only the track 7 of the guide rail 2 is shown .. In the return section, the balls 5 are returned without load. The head pieces 4 are provided with the deflection sections 6, in which the balls 5 are deflected and guided by the load section in the return section and from there back into the load section. A total of four circulation channels are provided, two each on both longitudinal sides of the guide rail. 2

The supporting body 3 of the guide carriage 1 has two legs 9 integrally connected to one another by a back 8, the guide carriage 1 with its two legs 9 embracing the guide rail 2.

FIG. 1 clearly shows that the head piece 4, viewed in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the linear guide, is smaller than the support body 3, with the two head pieces 4, like the support body 3, embracing the guide rail 2. At one end face of the carriage 1, a measuring head 10 is arranged, which can be positioned and held with high precision on the carriage 1.

The measuring head 10 includes a sensor 1 1, which cooperates with a - not shown - measuring scale on the part of the guide rail 2 to allow a distance measurement of the covered by the carriage 1 along the guide rail 2 distance or the corresponding speed. The thus obtained path measuring signal is further processed by a - not shown - electronic control unit in the usual way data processing.

A measuring head housing 10a likewise has two limbs 13, which are integrally connected to one another by a back 12 and engage around the guide rail 2. The back 12 has a receptacle 14 into which the sensor 1 1 is inserted. The measuring head housing 10a is screwed by means of two threaded bolts 15 with the carriage 1. On the one hand, the two threaded bolts 15 are screwed into threaded bores 15a of the supporting body 3, and on the other hand they penetrate passage openings 16a of a housing flange 16 of the measuring head housing 10a. The free ends of the threaded bolts 15 are each provided with a washer 17 and a nut 18. The housing flange 16 is hollow and surrounds the head piece 4 of the guide carriage 1. The housing flange 16 abuts against an end face of the support body 3 designed as a bearing surface 19.

As seen in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the linear guide, the outer contour of the head piece 4 is arranged within the outline of the supporting body 3. In other words, the head piece 4 is offset from the support body 3. Between these two contour lines, the bearing surface 19 is formed, which is formed both on the back 8 of the guide carriage 1 and on both legs 9.

Figure 2 shows the linear guide according to the invention, wherein the measuring head housing 10a is screwed to the carriage 1. It can be clearly seen that the housing flange 16 surrounds the head piece 4 and is held properly by the two nuts 18 on the carriage 1. FIG. 2 clearly shows a so-called scraper 20, which is arranged on the end face of the measuring head 10 facing away from the guide carriage 1. Figure 3 shows an enlarged detail of Figure 2. It can be clearly seen how the measuring head 10 is supported on the carriage 1. The housing flange 16 of the measuring head housing 10a surrounds the head piece 4 and lies with its the carriage 1 facing, designed as a bearing surface 22 face on the Storage area 19 of the supporting body 3 at. By tightening the nuts 18, the bearing surface 22 of the measuring head housing 10 a is pressed against the bearing surface 19 of the supporting body 3.

The threaded bolts 15 are performed through through holes 4 a of the head piece 4. For proper attachment of the head piece 4 more nuts 23 are screwed onto the two threaded bolts 15, between which nuts 23 and the support body 3, the head piece 4 is properly arranged. The attachment of the head piece 4 to the support body 3 is independent of the attachment of the measuring head 10 to the support body. 3

The two bearing surfaces 19,22 are properly arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis of the linear guides. In this way it is ensured that the measuring head 10 is perfectly aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the linear guide.

FIG. 4 shows a cross section through the linear guide according to the invention, the section being laid through the housing flange 16 of the measuring head housing 10a. Here it can be clearly seen that the housing flange 16 surrounds the head piece 4. The hatched cross-sectional area of the housing flange 16 corresponds in the exemplary embodiment of the bearing surface 22 of the housing flange 16, which bears against the support body 3 of the guide carriage 1. It can be clearly seen that the bearing surface 22 is approximately U-shaped, so that after tightening the nuts 18 of the measuring head 10 is properly aligned and supported on the carriage 1. Position Number List

1 carriage

2 guide rail

3 supporting body

4 head piece

4a passage opening

5 ball

6 deflection section

7 career

8 backs

9 thighs

10 measuring head

10a measuring head housing

1 1 sensor

12 backs

13 thighs

14 recording

15 threaded bolts

15a threaded hole

16 housing flange

16a passage opening

17 Washer

18 mother

19 storage area

20 scrapers

21 return section

22 storage area

23 mother

24 return section

Claims

claims

1. linear guide, with a along a guide rail (2) displaceably mounted guide carriage (1), at the provided for the absorption of loads supporting body (3) a measuring head (10) is supported, characterized in that the measuring head (10) with a Bearing surface (22) is mounted directly on a bearing surface (19) of the supporting body (3).

2. Linear guide according to claim 1, wherein the measuring head (10) has an integrally formed in particular measuring head housing (10a) for receiving a Meßgrößenaufnehmers, wherein the measuring head housing (10a) on its the carriage (1) facing the end face with the bearing surface (22 ) is provided.

3. Linear guide according to claim 2, wherein the measuring head housing (10a) having a bearing surface (22) having housing flange (16) is provided, and wherein the carriage (1) arranged on both end faces, each with one on the support body (3) Headpiece (4) is provided, wherein the housing flange (16) engages around the head piece (4).

4. Linear guide according to claim 2, wherein the measuring head housing (10a) by means of at least one threaded bolt (15) with the support body (3) is screwed.

5. Linear guide according to claim 1, wherein the threaded bolt (15) on the one hand screwed into a threaded bore (15 a) of the support body (3) and on the other hand by a on a housing flange (16) of the measuring head housing (10 a) provided through opening (16 a) is performed, wherein the housing flange (16) between the support body (3) and a bolt head is clamped.

6. Linear guide according to claim 1, wherein the bearing surface (19) of the support body (3) and the bearing surface (22) of the measuring head (10) are arranged transversely to a longitudinal axis of the linear guide.

7. Linear guide according to claim 1, wherein the support body (3) the guide rail (2) with two by a back (8) interconnected legs (9) engages, wherein on the support body (3) provided for bearing surface (19) for the Measuring head (10) on both legs (9) and / or on the back (8) is formed.

8. Linear guide according to claim 1, wherein the guide carriage (1) the support body (3) and on both end sides of the support body (3) arranged head pieces (4) with deflection sections (6) for rolling elements, wherein the head pieces (4) at least partially are offset in the direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the linear guide relative to the support body (3), so that the bearing surface (19) of the support body (3) for the measuring head (10) is accessible.

9. Linear guide according to claims 7 and 8, wherein the measuring head housing (10 a) by two backs (12) interconnected leg (13) and the head piece (4) engages around with its legs (13).