Temporary shaft accessories for linear motion guide devices

Abstract

This invention provides a temporary shaft accessory for a linear motion guide device, which prevents seal breakage and damage to the rolling elements when the sliding member is transferred from the temporary shaft to the guide rail. The size of the cross section orthogonal to the axial direction in the rail side end (43) has a shape that smoothly increases from the temporary shaft side end (42) toward the rail side end (43). The size of the cross section of the temporary shaft side end (42) is equal to the size of the cross section of the axial direction end (31) of the temporary shaft (30), and the size of the cross section of the rail side end (43) is larger than the size of the cross section of the temporary shaft side end (42). The rail side end (43) includes a plate-shaped protrusion (47) that forms an outer peripheral surface and protrudes in the axial direction. In this protrusion (47) are formed a plurality of elastically deformable portions that are separated by a plurality of slots (49) extending in the axial direction and are elastically deformable in the thickness direction. The elastic deformation portion (50) located at the position through which the rolling element (103) passes has a width greater than the rolling surface of the rolling element (103).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to: a temporary shaft accessory for a linear motion guide device used after installation. Prior Technology

[0002] Referring to Figures 6 and 7, an example of a general linear motion guide device is illustrated. Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of a linear motion guide device. Furthermore, Figure 7 is a front view of the "linear motion guide device of Figure 6" viewed from the axial direction (the end cap is omitted from the illustration). The linear motion guide device 100 has a slider 102 that is movable relative to the axis on a guide rail 101 that extends in the axial direction and has a slightly square cross-section. The cross-sectional shape of the slider 102 is slightly inverted U-shaped, and the cross-sectional shape of its inner surface is formed along the cross-sectional shape of the outer surface of the guide rail 101. Two rolling element track surfaces 110, 110 are formed on the two sides 101a and 101b of the guide rail 101, respectively, along the axial direction.

[0003] Furthermore, the slider 102 is composed of a slider body 102A and end caps 102B, 102B that are detachably mounted on both ends of the slider body 102A in the axial direction. On the inner sides of the left and right sleeve portions 106, 106 of the slider body 102A, two rolling element track surfaces 111, 111, 111, 111 are formed facing the rolling element track surfaces 110, 110, 110, 110 of the guide rail 101.

[0004] Then, four rolling paths are formed by the rolling surface 110, 110, 110, 110 of the guide rail 101 and the rolling surface 111, 111, 111, 111 of the two sleeve sections 106, 106. These rolling paths extend in the axial direction. The number of rolling surface 110, 111 of the guide rail 101 and the slider 102 is not limited to two on one side. For example, there can be one or more on one side.

[0005] In addition, within the rolling path of the rolling elements, a plurality of rolling elements 103 arranged along the axial direction are configured to roll freely. Through the rolling of these rolling elements 103, the slider 102 becomes: to slide along the guide rail 101 in the axial direction to form a movement. If this linear motion guide device 100 is installed in an injection molding machine, machine tool (such as various grinding machines), robot, etc., there is a concern that foreign objects such as garbage and dust may accumulate on the rolling element track surface 110 or other exposed surfaces of the guide track 101, which may hinder the rolling of the rolling element 103. Therefore, it is common practice to install a side seal 105 for dust prevention on the end cap 102B.

[0006] That is, side seals 105, 105 that are slightly plate-shaped are installed at both ends of the slider 102 in the axial direction (the axial end face of each end cap 102B), so that the part of the gap between the guide rail 101 and the slider 102 that forms an opening towards the axial end face of the end cap 102B is sealed, thereby preventing foreign objects from the outside from entering the gap and lubricant from flowing out of the gap. Furthermore, in order to prevent foreign objects such as garbage and dust that have crossed the side seal 105 and entered the sliding body 102 from entering the rolling body track surface 110, 111, an inner seal 109 is provided along the rolling body track surface 111 on the sliding body body 102A and the end cap 102B.

[0007] Furthermore, in order to fix the guide rail 101 to an injection molding machine, machine tool (such as various grinding machines), robot, etc. with bolts, mounting holes 107 are formed in the guide rail 101. If foreign objects such as garbage and dust accumulate in the mounting holes 107, when the slider 102 passes over the mounting holes 107, the garbage, dust and other foreign objects will adhere to the rolling track surface 111 of the slider 102, which may hinder the smooth movement of the slider 102. Therefore, for example, a metal track cover 108 is used to cover the upper surface of the guide rail 101 to close the opening above the mounting holes 107.

[0008] When the slider 102 is mounted on the guide rail 101 and the linear motion guide device 100 is assembled, it is necessary to prevent the rolling element 103 held in the slider 102 from falling off the rolling element track surface 111. Therefore, in addition to temporarily assembling the slider 102 on a temporary resin shaft (not shown in the figure) that "has a substantially the same shape as the guide rail 101", the temporary shaft is also arranged coaxially and in a straight line with the guide rail 101, causing the slider 102 on the temporary shaft to move in the axial direction and then be transferred to the guide rail 101.

[0009] At this time, a step 130 is formed between the track cover 108 and the upper surface or side surface 101a of the guide rail 101 exposed from the track cover 108. Furthermore, sometimes a step is also formed between the two axial end faces of the guide rails and the temporary shaft that are facing each other. Then, when the slider 102 is installed, since these steps 130 come into contact with the side seal 105 and the inner seal 109, there is a concern that they may cause damage to the side seal 105 and the inner seal 109. Furthermore, if the track cover 108 interferes with the side seal 105 and the inner seal 109 during the installation of the slider 102, there is a concern that the slider 102 may not be able to move smoothly.

[0010] Patent Document 1 discloses a temporary shaft attachment for transferring a "slider of a temporary shaft already assembled in a linear motion guide device" from the temporary shaft to a guide rail. This temporary shaft attachment is coaxially disposed at one axial end of the guide rail, forming an outer surface with a cross-sectional shape larger than that of the temporary shaft, and has a thin plate-like protrusion at the guide rail end that protrudes in the direction of the guide rail and extends in the axial direction. A plurality of slots extending in the axial direction are formed in the protrusion, and each protrusion is elastically deformable inwards.

[0011] In this way, the side seals and inner seals of the slider are pressed down by the outwardly expanding protrusions, while simultaneously moving the slider from the temporary shaft to the guide rail. This suppresses damage to the side seals and inner seals caused by the step difference during the transfer of the slider from the temporary shaft to the guide rail. [Previous Technical Documents] [Patent Literature]

[0012] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-67838 Summary of the Invention

[0013] [The problem the invention aims to solve] However, in the temporary shaft accessory described in Patent Document 1, the groove formed in the protrusion, once positioned on the rolling path of the rolling element, may cause the protrusion to deform in an unexpected direction due to the position of the groove and the passage of the rolling element, potentially damaging the side seal and inner seal. Furthermore, the rolling element may be damaged when passing through the edge of the groove.

[0014] The present invention was developed in view of the above situation, and its purpose is to provide an accessory for a temporary shaft of a linear motion guide device that can prevent "damage to the seal" and "damage to the rolling elements" when the sliding member moves from the temporary shaft to the guide rail. [Solutions]

[0015] The above-mentioned objective of the present invention can be achieved by the following construction. (1) A temporary shaft accessory for a linear motion guide device, wherein when a temporary shaft is used, which is assembled with the aforementioned sliding member of a linear motion guide device having a "guide rail; a sliding member that can move relative to the guide rail in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail via a rolling element", and the aforementioned sliding member is transferred from the aforementioned temporary shaft to the aforementioned guide rail, the temporary shaft and the guide rail are installed coaxially and in a straight line between their axial ends, wherein, When the axial end assembled on the aforementioned temporary axial side is designated as the temporary axial end, and the axial end facing the "axial end of the aforementioned guide rail" is designated as the rail end, it has the following shape: the size of the cross-section cut by a plane orthogonal to the axial direction in the aforementioned rail end smoothly increases from the aforementioned temporary axial end toward the aforementioned rail end. The dimensions of the cross-section at the aforementioned temporary shaft end are equal to the dimensions of the cross-section at the axial end of the aforementioned temporary shaft, while the dimensions of the cross-section at the aforementioned track end are larger than the dimensions of the cross-section at the aforementioned temporary shaft end. The aforementioned track-side end portion includes: a plate-shaped protrusion forming the outer surface of the aforementioned track-side end portion and protruding in the axial direction. The protrusion is provided with a plurality of elastically deformable portions, each separated by a plurality of slots extending in the axial direction and capable of elastic deformation in the thickness direction. The width of the elastic deformation section through which the aforementioned rolling element passes is greater than the rolling surface of the aforementioned rolling element. [The effects of the invention]

[0016] According to the temporary shaft accessory of the linear motion guide device of the present invention, when the slider is moved from the temporary shaft to the guide rail, the rolling surface of the rolling element is prevented from passing through the edge portion of the groove, and the protrusion is suppressed from deforming in an unexpected direction. Therefore, the seal is prevented from breaking and damage to the rolling element is prevented. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0017] [Figure 1] is a perspective view showing the state of a sliding member being transferred from a temporary shaft to a guide rail using a temporary shaft attachment of a linear motion guide device employing one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2](a) is a perspective view showing the state of the temporary shaft accessory and the temporary shaft before they are combined, as shown in Figure 1. (b) is a perspective view showing the state of the temporary shaft accessory and the temporary shaft after they are combined. [Figure 3] is a side view of the temporary shaft attachment shown in Figure 1. [Figure 4] is a front view of the "temporary shaft accessory shown in Figure 3" viewed from the axial direction. [Figure 5] is a front view of the "temporary shaft accessory for the linear motion guide device of the modified example" viewed from the axial direction. [Figure 6] is a perspective view used to illustrate the structure of the linear motion guidance device. [Figure 7] is a front view of the "linear motion guide device of Figure 6" viewed from the axial direction (the end cap is omitted from the illustration). Implementation

[0018] Hereinafter, a suitable embodiment of the temporary shaft accessory for the linear motion guide device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The temporary shaft accessory of this embodiment is a device used for the following purpose: when assembling the linear motion guide device shown in Figures 6 and 7, it is used to transfer the sliding member assembled on the temporary shaft from the temporary shaft to the guide rail. Specifically, as shown in Figure 1, the temporary shaft accessory 40 is arranged coaxially and in a straight line between the temporary shaft 30 and the guide rail 101, so that the sliding member 102 on the temporary shaft 30 moves in the axial direction toward the guide rail 101 through the temporary shaft accessory 40 and is transferred onto the guide rail 101. The construction of the linear motion guide device is marked with the same symbols as the linear motion guide device 100 shown in Figures 6 and 7, and its description is omitted or simplified. The following mainly describes the temporary shaft and temporary shaft accessories that can be assembled with the sliding parts.

[0019] The temporary shaft 30 is made of resin or metal, as shown in Figure 2, and has a cross-sectional shape that is approximately the same as the cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the length direction of the guide rail 101. In addition, since the temporary shaft 30 is a device for temporarily pre-assembling the slider 102, its axial length is only slightly longer than the axial length of the slider 102. Furthermore, in this embodiment, corresponding to the rolling element track surfaces 110, 110 of the guide rail 101, two rolling element track surfaces 31, 31 extending in the axial direction are also formed on both sides of the temporary shaft 30.

[0020] Furthermore, the temporary shaft accessory 40 is also made of resin or metal, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. In the length direction, it has a cross-sectional shape that is approximately the same as that of the guide rail 101 and the temporary shaft 30. Moreover, on both sides of the temporary shaft accessory 40, corresponding to the rolling element track surfaces 31, 31, 110, 110 of the temporary shaft 30 and the guide rail 101, two rolling element track surfaces 41, 41 extending in the axial direction are formed respectively.

[0021] Furthermore, when the axial end of the temporary shaft 30 is designated as the temporary shaft end 42 and the axial end of the guide rail 101 is designated as the rail end 43, a pair of engaging protrusions 44 and 44 are formed on the lower left and right sides of the temporary shaft end 42, which can engage with a pair of engaging recesses 32 and 32 formed on the axial end face of the temporary shaft 30.

[0022] The temporary shaft accessory 40 has the following shape: the size of the cross-section orthogonal to the axial direction in the track-side end 43 smoothly increases from the temporary shaft-side end 42 toward the track-side end 43, that is, the end face toward the track-side end 43. The size of the cross-section of the temporary shaft-side end 42 is approximately equal to the size of the cross-section of the axial end of the installed temporary shaft 30. In addition, the size of the cross-section of the track-side end 43 is larger than the size of the cross-section of the temporary shaft-side end 42.

[0023] Furthermore, the temporary shaft attachment 40 has a thin plate-shaped protrusion 47 on the upper part and left and right sides of the track-side end 43, forming its outer surface and protruding in the axial direction. The protrusion 47 is formed such that its outer surface gradually expands outward from the base end of the track-side end 43 toward the front end.

[0024] The protrusion 47 has a plurality of slots 49 extending in the axial direction from the front end of the track-side end 43. Thus, the protrusion 47 has a plurality of elastically deformable portions 50 that are separated by the plurality of slots 49 and are each elastically deformable in the thickness direction.

[0025] Furthermore, the elastically deformable portion 50 located at the position where the rolling element 103 passes through the outer surface of the temporary shaft attachment 40 has a width greater than the rolling surface of the rolling element 103. That is, the groove 49 is formed on both sides in the width direction separated from the position of the outer surface of the protrusion 47 through which the rolling element 103 passes. Furthermore, the elastic deformation portion 50 located at the position of the rolling element 103 on the outer surface of the temporary shaft attachment 40 has its width direction middle position CL1 aligned with the middle position CL2 of the rolling surface of the rolling element 103.

[0026] Therefore, the engaging recesses 32, 32 formed at the axial end of the temporary shaft 30 and the engaging protrusions 44, 44 formed at the temporary shaft side end 42 of the temporary shaft accessory 40 are engaged, thereby connecting the temporary shaft 30 with the sliding member 102 to the temporary shaft accessory 40. In addition, the axial end of the guide rail 101 is mated with the rail side end 43 of the temporary shaft accessory 40, so that the temporary shaft accessory 40 is installed coaxially and in a straight line between the axial end of the temporary shaft 30 and the axial end of the guide rail 101.

[0027] Then, as shown in Figure 1, when the slider 102 is transferred from the temporary shaft 30 toward the guide rail 101, once the slider 102 reaches the temporary shaft attachment 40, the side seal and inner seal reasonably expand outward along the outer surface of the temporary shaft attachment 40. Next, once the slider 102 reaches the plate-like protrusion 47, the side seal 105 and inner seal 109 are pushed further outward along the protrusion 47.

[0028] Therefore, when the slider 102 moves from the temporary shaft 30 toward the guide rail 101, the side seal 105 and inner seal 109 are prevented from contacting the axial end face of the guide rail 101 and the end face of the rail cover 108, thus suppressing damage to the side seal 105 and inner seal 109. In this way, the slider 102 can be smoothly moved from the temporary shaft 30 to the guide rail 101 for assembly.

[0029] Furthermore, the rolling element 103 of the linear motion guide device 100 rolls from the rolling element track surfaces 31, 31 of the temporary shaft 30, through the rolling element track surfaces 41, 41 of the temporary shaft attachment 40, and onto the rolling element track surfaces 110, 110 of the guide rail 101. Then, the rolling element 103 causes the elastic deformation portion 50 to elastically deform inward while passing through the rolling element track surfaces 41, 41 of the temporary shaft attachment 40. At this time, the elastic deformation portion 50, whose outer surface is located at the "position through which the rolling element 103 passes", has a width greater than the rolling surface of the rolling element 103, so there is no concern that "the rolling element 103 will come into contact with the edge of the elastic deformation portion 50", and "damage to the rolling element 103 caused by the edge" can be reliably prevented.

[0030] Furthermore, the elastically deformable portion 50 located on the outer surface at the position through which the rolling element 103 passes has its width-direction midpoint CL1 aligned with the midpoint CL2 of the rolling surface of the rolling element 103. Therefore, when the rolling element 103 moves on the protrusion 47, stress is evenly applied to each part of the protrusion 47, resulting in parallel deformation relative to its state before elastic deformation. Thus, the possibility of the protrusion 47 deforming in an unexpected direction is suppressed, and the elastic force of the protrusion 47 acts evenly, which can suppress damage to the side seal 105 and the inner seal 109, and stabilize the behavior of the rolling element 103.

[0031] (Modified Example) Next, the temporary shaft attachment for the modified example will be explained with reference to Figure 5. As shown in Figure 5, the temporary shaft accessory 40A of the modified example corresponds to a linear motion guide device having "one guide rail on each of the two sides and two rolling element track surfaces on the upper surface (not shown in the drawing)" and is used to move the slider 102 from the temporary shaft 30. Therefore, the temporary shaft and the temporary shaft accessory 40A, which are not shown in the drawing, are also provided with one on each of the two sides, and two rolling element track surfaces 41 are provided on the upper surface.

[0032] Then, in this temporary shaft accessory 40A, a thin plate-shaped protrusion 47 protruding in the axial direction is also provided at the track-side end 43. A plurality of slots 49 extending in the axial direction from the front end of the track-side end 43 are formed in the protrusion 47. Thus, a plurality of elastically deformable portions 50, separated by the plurality of slots 49, are formed in the protrusion 47, each capable of elastic deformation in the thickness direction. Furthermore, the elastically deformable portions 50 located at the position where the rolling element 103 passes through the outer surface of the temporary shaft accessory 40A, have a width greater than the rolling surface of the rolling element 103. In this way, even linear motion guide devices of different specifications can achieve the same effect as the temporary shaft accessory 40 of the above embodiment.

[0033] This invention is not limited to the embodiments and variations described above. Modifications and applications made by those skilled in the art based on "the combination of the various structures of the embodiments, or the description in the specification and the prior art" are also within the scope of this invention and are included in the scope of protection of this invention.

[0034] For example, although the above description describes a temporary shaft accessory with a linear motion guiding device that is a "rolling element formed as a roller", the present invention is not limited to this. It can be applied even if the rolling element is a ball and achieve the same effect.

[0035] As explained above, the following matters are disclosed in the specification of this case. (1) A temporary shaft accessory for a linear motion guide device, wherein when a temporary shaft is used, which is assembled with the aforementioned sliding member of a linear motion guide device having a "guide rail; a sliding member that can move relative to the guide rail in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail via a rolling element", and the aforementioned sliding member is transferred from the aforementioned temporary shaft to the aforementioned guide rail, the temporary shaft and the guide rail are installed coaxially and in a straight line between their axial ends, wherein, When the axial end assembled on the aforementioned temporary axial side is designated as the temporary axial end, and the axial end facing the "axial end of the aforementioned guide rail" is designated as the rail end, it has the following shape: the size of the cross-section cut by a plane orthogonal to the axial direction in the aforementioned rail end smoothly increases from the aforementioned temporary axial end toward the aforementioned rail end. The dimensions of the cross-section at the aforementioned temporary shaft end are equal to the dimensions of the cross-section at the axial end of the aforementioned temporary shaft, while the dimensions of the cross-section at the aforementioned track end are greater than the dimensions of the cross-section at the aforementioned temporary shaft end. The aforementioned track-side end portion includes: a plate-shaped protrusion forming the outer surface of the aforementioned track-side end portion and protruding in the axial direction. The protrusion is provided with a plurality of elastically deformable portions, each separated by a plurality of slots extending in the axial direction and capable of elastic deformation in the thickness direction. The elastically deformable portion located at the position where the aforementioned rolling element passes through the aforementioned outer surface has a width greater than the rolling surface of the aforementioned rolling element. According to this structure, when the slider is moved from the temporary shaft to the guide rail, the rolling surface of the rolling element can be prevented from passing through the edge portion of the elastic deformation part, thereby preventing damage to the seal and the rolling element, and moving smoothly to the guide rail.

[0036] (2) The temporary shaft accessory of the linear motion guide device as described in (1) wherein the elastic deformation portion located before the outer surface through which the aforementioned rolling element passes is positioned in the width direction at the middle position of the aforementioned elastic deformation portion, which is consistent with the middle position of the rolling surface of the aforementioned rolling element. According to this structure, when the rolling element passes through the elastic deformation section, it can prevent the elastic deformation section from deforming in an unexpected direction due to the force from the rolling element, thus preventing seal damage and stabilizing the behavior of the rolling element.

[0037] (3) A temporary shaft accessory for a linear motion guide device as described in (1) or (2), wherein the aforementioned rolling element is a roller or a ball. According to this construction, the same effect can be achieved regardless of the shape of the rolling element.

[0038] 30: Temporary shaft 31: Rolling element track surface 32: Engagement recess 40, 40A: Temporary shaft accessories 41: Rolling element track surface 42: Temporary shaft end 43: Track side end 47: Protrusion 49: Groove 50: Elastic deformation part 100: Linear motion guidance device 101: Guiding Track 102: Slider 103: Rolling element 105: Side seal 109: Inner Sealing 110: Rolling element track surface CL1: Center position in the width direction CL2: Middle position

Claims

1. A temporary shaft accessory for a linear motion guide device, the linear motion guide device comprising: a guide rail; and a slider movable relative to the guide rail in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail via a rolling element, wherein when a temporary shaft for mounting the slider of the linear motion guide device is used, and the slider is transferred from the temporary shaft to the guide rail, the temporary shaft and the guide rail are coaxially aligned and in a straight line at their axial ends, wherein... When the axial end assembled on the aforementioned temporary shaft side is designated as the temporary shaft side end, and the axial end facing the aforementioned guide rail side is designated as the rail side end, it has the following shape: the size of the cross section cut by a plane orthogonal to the axial direction in the aforementioned rail side end smoothly increases from the aforementioned temporary shaft side end toward the aforementioned rail side end; the size of the cross section of the aforementioned temporary shaft side end is equal to the size of the cross section of the axial end of the aforementioned temporary shaft that is installed; the size of the cross section of the aforementioned rail side end is larger than the size of the cross section of the aforementioned temporary shaft side end; the aforementioned rail side end has: a plate-shaped protrusion that forms the outer surface of the aforementioned rail side end and protrudes in the axial direction; a plurality of elastically deformable portions that are separated by a plurality of slots extending in the axial direction and are elastically deformable in the thickness direction; the width of the aforementioned elastically deformable portion located at the position where the aforementioned rolling element passes through the aforementioned outer surface is larger than the rolling surface of the aforementioned rolling element; The aforementioned elastic deformation portion, located at the position where the aforementioned rolling element passes through the aforementioned outer surface, has its width direction at the middle position, which coincides with the middle position of the aforementioned rolling surface of the rolling element.

2. A temporary shaft accessory for a linear motion guide device as described in claim 1, wherein the aforementioned rolling element is a roller or a ball.

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