Movement guide device

A movement guide device comprises: a support body formed with two roller rolling grooves in each of two side surfaces thereof; a moving body assembled onto the support body to freely move along the support body, and having a load roller rolling groove provided opposite to the roller rolling groove to form a load path together with the roller rolling groove; rollers arranged such that lines forming a contact angle with respect to the roller rolling groove intersect at a position outside the support body; and a roller retaining member arranged between two row of rollers, the moving body comprises a main moving body and cover bodies mounted at two ends of the main moving body; in the movement guide device, the roller retaining member comprises a roller retaining portion, formed in a plate shape extending in a length direction of the support body, and orthogonal to the length direction.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a movement guide device, and particularly, to a movement guide device having a roller retaining member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

A linear guide rail, as one kind of movement guide devices, comprises a rail and a moving block mounted to be moveable along the rail. A plurality of roll balls capable of rolling are provided between the rail and the moving block. The plurality of roll ball are circulated in an annular roll ball circulation path, which includes: a load path formed by a roll ball rolling groove provided in the rail and a load roll ball rolling groove provided in the moving block and arranged opposite to the roll ball rolling groove of the rail, a no-load path provided in the moving block and parallel to the load path, and a U-shaped direction conversion path provided in the moving block and connecting an end of the load path with an end of the no-load path.

In the above-described linear guide rail, a roll ball retaining member is required to retain the roll ball rolling in the load path.

For example, patent document 1 discloses a roll ball retaining member used in a movement guide device for retaining roll balls. In the patent document 1, for example, as shown inFIG. 4, a roll ball retaining member10, a roll ball retaining member11and a roll ball retaining elastic member13are used to retain upper and lower rows of roll balls on a side of a moving block at the same time.

In the patent document 1, however, up to three retaining members are needed for simultaneously retaining upper and lower rows of roll balls on a side of the moving block, thus, the number of the members is larger, and assembling operations are complicated.Patent document 1: JP 2649745B2

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is made in order to overcome the above defects, and has an object to provide a movement guide device having less roller retaining members for retaining rollers and enabling easy assembling operations.

In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure provides a movement guide device, comprising: a support body formed with two roller rolling grooves in each of two side surfaces thereof a moving body assembled onto the support body to freely move along the support body, and having a load roller rolling groove provided opposite to the roller rolling groove so as to form a load path together with the roller rolling groove; rollers arranged such that lines forming a contact angle with respect to the roller rolling groove intersect at a position outside of the support body; and a roller retaining member arranged between two rows of the rollers, the moving body comprises a main moving body and cover bodies mounted at both ends of the main moving body, the movement guide device being characterized in that, the roller retaining member comprises a roller retaining portion, which is formed in a plate shape extending in a length direction of the support body and is orthogonal to the length direction, and the roller retaining portion retains the two rows of the rollers simultaneously.

Advantageous Effects

In the movement guide device according to the present disclosure, since roller retaining member comprises roller retaining portion for retaining two rows of rollers simultaneously, upper and lower rows of rollers on one side of the moving block can be retained by only one roller retaining member, without other additional members, thereby the number of members is reduced, and assembling operations are easy; further, since the roller retaining portion is formed in a plate shape extending in a length direction of the support body and is orthogonal to the length direction, thus the shape is simple and the retaining member is easy to be manufactured, and accordingly the moving body and the support body need not to be particularly machined.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, structures and functions of parts of the present disclosure will be described in detail with refer to the drawings. Further, in the following description, the likes or corresponding members or structures are denoted by the like reference numerals and repeated description thereof will be omitted.

As shown inFIG. 1, a linear guide rail1, as one kind of movement guide devices, comprises a rail2and a moving block3mounted to be freely moveable along the rail2, and the moving block3is configured to relatively move linearly in a length direction of the rail2. Further, the rail2is mounted to a fixing side of a base or the like, and the moving block3is used to mount thereon a guided object such as a worktable or the like.

Further, as shown inFIG. 2, the moving block3comprises a slider3a, end cover plates3b1, inner direction conversion path formation members3b2and end cover plate sealing members3b3. Furthermore, the inner direction conversion path formation member3b2is embedded in a surface of the end cover plate3b1at the side of the slider3aso as to form a U-shaped direction conversion path for direction conversion of roll balls B, which will be described later, in the moving block3. Further, a screw5is a member for threadedly fixing the end cover plate3b1and the inner direction conversion path formation member3b2onto the slider3a. Moreover, a screw6is a member for threadedly fixing the end cover plate sealing member3b3onto the end cover plate3b1, after a roll ball retaining member4, which will be described later, is mounted onto the end cover plate3b1.

Further as shown inFIG. 3(a), the rail2is formed with two roller rolling grooves2ain each of two side surfaces thereof, and the slider3ahas a load roller rolling groove3a1provided opposite to the roller rolling groove2aso as to form a load path together with the roller rolling groove, and the slider3afurther has a no-load path3a2parallel to the load path. A plurality of roll balls B are provided between the rail2and the moving block3and capable of rolling therebetween. The plurality of roll balls B are circulated in an annular roll ball circulation path, which includes the above mentioned load path, the above mentioned no-load path3a2, and the above mentioned U-shaped direction conversion path connecting an end of the load path with an end of no-load path3a2. Thereby, the moving block3can freely move linearly along the rail2.

Hereinafter, the roll ball retaining member4according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference toFIG. 3toFIG. 7.

As shown inFIG. 4, the roll ball retaining member4is a member provided between the rail2and the moving block3for retaining the roll balls B, and comprises a roll ball retaining portion4aand a fixing portion4b, and the fixing portion4bhas a bent part4b1and a engagement and stop portion4b2.

Specifically, as shown inFIG. 3(a)andFIG. 3(b), the roll balls B are arranged such that lines forming a contact angle with respect to the roll ball rolling groove2aintersect at a position outside of the rail2, and the roll ball retaining member4is disposed between two rows of roll balls arranged as above and comprises a roll ball retaining portion4a, which is formed in a plate shape extending in the length direction of the rail2and is orthogonal to the length direction, the roll ball retaining portion4aretains the two rows of roll balls B arranged as above simultaneously. Thereby, upper and lower rows of rollers on a side of the moving block3can be retained by only one roll ball retaining member4, without other additional members, thus the number of members is reduced, and assembling operations are simple. Further, since the roll ball retaining portion4ais formed in a plate shape extending in the length direction of the rail2and is orthogonal to the length direction, thus the shape is simple and the retaining member is easy to be manufactured, and accordingly, the moving block3and the rail2need not to be particularly machined.

Further, as shown inFIG. 3(b), the slider3ahas an inner wall portion3a3arranged opposite to the roll ball retaining portion4a, and there is a gap between the roll ball retaining portion4aand the inner wall portion3a3. That is, the roll ball retaining portion4ais not in contact with the inner wall portion3a3, thereby, influence of the slider3aon the roll ball retaining member4is decreased, such that the roll ball retaining member4is relatively stable. Specifically, since there is a manufacturing tolerance for the inner wall portion3a3of the slider3a, the roll ball retaining member4would be deformed if the roll ball retaining member4contacts the inner wall portion3a3and is affected by the inner wall portion3a3. As a comparison, the present disclosure solves the above problem by providing a gap between the roll ball retaining portion4aand the inner wall portion3a3, and roll balls B will be retained more stably by the roll ball retaining member4. Moreover, since there is a gap between the roll ball retaining portion4aand the inner wall portion3a3, operations of positioning the roll ball retaining member4and the slider3aare not required, thereby facilitating design in tolerances. Further, with the gap provided between the roll ball retaining portion4aand the inner wall portion3a3, it will be convenient for maintenance and service.

It is noted that, as indicated by the circular part shown inFIG. 3(b), the slider3ahas a portion formed close to the rail2, more specifically, at the side of the load roll ball rolling groove3a1of the slider3a, a gripping portion gripping the roll ball B is formed larger. Since the gripping portion gripping the roll ball B is formed larger, it can hold the roll ball B in a certain extent, and thus the roll balls B can be held more reliably and stably, merely by the plate-like roll ball retaining portion4a.

Further,FIG. 5(a)toFIG. 5(c)shows schematic diagrams of the detached moving block2shown inFIG. 2in an assembled state, where illustrations of the end cover plate sealing members3b3and the screws6are omitted. As shown in theFIG. 5(a)toFIG. 5(c), the roll ball retaining member4for retaining the upper and lower rows of roll balls B on one side of the moving block3simultaneously is engaged onto the end cover plate3b1. Specifically, as shown inFIG. 6(a)andFIG. 6(b), a receiving groove3b11for receiving the bent part4b1and a engagement and stop groove3b12for receiving the engagement and stop portion4b2are formed in a surface of end cover plate3b1opposite to a surface thereof at the side of the slider3a, and the roll ball retaining member4, while retaining the two rows of roll balls B arranged as above by using the roll ball retaining portion4ais engaged and fixed onto the end cover plate3b1by virtue of, for example, its own elasticity, and through receiving the bent part4b1in the receiving groove3b11and engaging the engagement and stop portion4b2into the engagement and stop groove3b12.

Since the roll ball retaining member4has the bent part4b1and the engagement and stop portion4b2as described above, it can be engaged and fixed onto the end cover plate3b1without using mounting members such as a screw and the like, thereby the number of members is reduced, and assembling operations are easy.

Further,FIG. 7is a variant example of the roll ball retaining member4of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 7, the variant example is different from the roll ball retaining member4shown inFIG. 4in that the roll ball retaining portion4ais formed with a recess4a1in a portion thereof.

With the recess4a1being provided in the roll ball retaining portion4a, retaining strength of the roll ball retaining portion4acan be improved, thereby the roll balls B can be retained more stably.

A specific structure of the linear guide rail1of the present disclosure has been described above by means of exemplary embodiments shown inFIGS. 1-7.

As can be seen from the above description, in order to achieve the object to provide a linear guide rail1having less roll ball retaining member4for retaining roll balls B and enabling easy assembling operations, the present disclosure provides a linear guide rail1, characterized in comprising: the rail2formed with two roll ball rolling grooves2ain each of two side surfaces thereof; the moving block3, assembled onto the rail2to freely move along the rail2, and having a load roll ball rolling groove3a1provided opposite to the roll ball rolling groove2aso as to form a load path together with the roll ball rolling groove; roll balls B, arranged such that lines forming a contact angle with respect to the roll ball rolling groove2aintersect at a position outside of the rail2; the roll ball retaining member4arranged between two rows of roll balls B, the moving block3comprises the slider3aand end cover plates3b1mounted at both ends of the slider3a; the linear guide rail1is characterized in that, the roll ball retaining member4comprises a roll ball retaining portion4a, which is formed in a plate shape extending in the length direction of the rail2and is orthogonal to the length direction, and the roll ball retaining portion4aretains the two rolls of roll balls B simultaneously.

Since the roll ball retaining member4comprises the roll ball retaining portion4afor retaining the two rows of roll balls B simultaneously, upper and lower rows of roll balls B on a side of the moving block3can be retained by only one said the roll ball retaining member4, without other additional members, thereby the number of members is reduced, and assembling operations are easy. Further, since the roll ball retaining portion4ais formed in a plate shape extending in the length direction of the rail2and is orthogonal to the length direction, thus the shape is simple and the retaining member is easy to be manufactured, and accordingly, the moving block3and the rail2need not to be particularly machined.

Preferably, the slider3ahas an inner wall portion3a3arranged opposite to the roll ball retaining portion4a, and there is gap between the roll ball retaining portion4aand the inner wall portion3a3.

Since the roll ball retaining portion4ais not in contact with the inner wall portion3a3, thereby, influence of the slider3aon the roll ball retaining member4is decreased, such that the roll ball retaining member4is relatively stable. Moreover, operations of positioning the roll ball retaining member4and the slider3aare not required, thereby facilitating design in tolerances. Further, by providing the gap, it will be convenient for maintenance and service.

Preferably, the roll ball retaining member4further comprises a fixing portion4bbesides of the roll ball retaining portion4a, the fixing portion4bhas a bent part4b1and a engagement and stop portion4b2, and the end cover plate3b1is formed with a receiving groove3b11for receiving the bent part4b1and a engagement and stop groove3b12for receiving the engagement and stop portion4b2.

Since the roll ball retaining member4has the bent part4b1and the engagement and stop portion4b2as described above, it can be engaged and fixed onto the end cover plate3b1without using mounting members such as a screw and the like, thereby the number of members is reduced, and assembling operations are easy.

Preferably, the roll ball retaining portion4ais formed with a recess4a1in a portion thereof.

Thus, retaining strength of the roll ball retaining portion4acan be improved, and thereby the roll balls B can be more stably retained.

As described above, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described sufficiently with reference to the drawings, and it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the scopes of the disclosure defined by technique solutions thereof and shall be covered within the scopes.