Abstract:
An end cap module of a linear guideway for being installed on a sliding block, comprises: a cap having an oil-input hole and a resilient dustproof member installed on the cap. The dustproof member has an oil-guiding passage concavely formed on a surface thereof and communicated with the oil-input hole. When the end cap module is installed on the sliding block, the dustproof member is clipped between the cap and the sliding block. Thus, the instant disclosure provides the end cap module for reducing the design difficulty and producing difficulty of the cap. Moreover, the instant disclosure also provides a linear guideway.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The instant disclosure relates to a guide rail; more particularly, to a linear guideway and an end cap module thereof. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     The linear guideway includes a guide rail, a sliding block slidably sleeved at the guide rail and having a rolled surface, a rolling unit in chain type or non-chain type arranged between the guide rail and the sliding block, a circulation module for providing the rolling unit to roll therein, and two end caps respectively fixed on two opposite ends of the sliding block. Specifically, the end cap is formed by metal and formed with an oil-guiding passage for transferring the lubricating oil to the rolling unit (e.g., the Taiwan Patent I325928). However, the oil-guiding passage formed on the metallic end cap results the construction of the end cap to be complicated, such that the design of mold and the producing process of end cap are difficultly to carry out. 
     To achieve the abovementioned improvement, the inventors strive via industrial experience and academic research to present the instant disclosure, which can provide additional improvement as mentioned above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One embodiment of the instant disclosure provides a linear guideway and end cap module to reduce the design difficulty and the producing difficulty of the cap. 
     The linear guideway comprises: a guide rail having two opposite rolled grooves; a sliding block having a mating trough slidably sleeved at the guide rail, the sliding block having four accommodating channels penetrating two opposite portions thereof and respectively arranged at two opposite sides of the mating trough; two circulation modules respectively fixed on the opposite portions of the sliding block, each circulation module comprising: two circulation tubes respectively coupling through two adjacent accommodating channels, each circulation tube partially protruding out of the sliding block; and two rolling units respectively arranged into the circulation tubes, wherein part of each rolling unit is arranged out of the corresponding circulation tube and clipped between the guide rail and the sliding block, wherein a portion of each circulation tube protruding out of the sliding block has an oil-guiding opening, each oil-guiding opening is communicated with the inner space of the corresponding circulation tube, and the oil-guiding openings of each circulation module are arranged adjacent to each other; two retainers respectively arranged in the rolled grooves of the guide rail and installed on the sliding block, wherein the retainers are configured to position and keep the positions of the circulation modules with respect to the guide rail; and two end cap modules fixed on the sliding block and slidably sleeved at the guide rail, and the end cap modules respectively covering the portions of the circulation modules protruding out of the sliding block, each end cap module comprising: a cap having an oil-input hole; and a dustproof member clipped between the cap and the sliding block, the dustproof member having an oil-guiding passage concavely formed on a surface thereof adjacent to the sliding block, wherein the oil-guiding passage is arranged between the oil-input hole of the cap and the adjacent oil-guiding openings to enable the oil-input hole of the cap to communicate with the adjacent oil-guiding openings via the oil-guiding passage. 
     The end cap module of a linear guideway, for being installed on a sliding block, comprises: a cap having an oil-input hole; and a resilient dustproof member installed on the cap, wherein the dustproof member has an oil-guiding passage concavely formed on a surface thereof and communicated with the oil-input hole, wherein when the end cap module is installed on the sliding block, the dustproof member is clipped between the cap and the sliding block. 
     In summary, the linear guideway and the end cap module of the instant disclosure each has the oil-guiding passage formed on the dustproof member, so that the cap of the instant disclosure needs not to be formed with the oil-guiding passage for reducing the design difficulty and the producing difficulty of the cap. Moreover, the dustproof member of the end cap module is clipped between the cap and the sliding block for being a buffer, that is to say, the resilient dustproof member is configured to absorb the tolerance between the cap and the sliding block. 
     In order to further appreciate the characteristics and technical contents of the instant disclosure, references are hereunder made to the detailed descriptions and appended drawings in connection with the instant disclosure. However, the appended drawings are merely shown for exemplary purposes, rather than being used to restrict the scope of the instant disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a linear guideway according to the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 1A  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 1  taken along line A-A; 
         FIG. 1B  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 1  taken along line B-B; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the linear guideway according to the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view illustrating the guide rail, the sliding block, the circulation modules, and the retainers according to the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating the sliding block according to the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating one circulation module and the corresponding retainer according to the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of  FIG. 5  from another viewing angle; 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view illustrating the circulation tube and the corresponding separating sheet according to the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view illustrating one circulation module installed on the sliding block according to the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view illustrating one circulation module together with the corresponding retainer installed on the sliding block according to the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  is an exploded view of the end cap module according to the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 11  is an exploded view of  FIG. 10  from another viewing angle; and 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view illustrating the end cap module according the instant disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , which show an embodiment of the instant disclosure. The embodiment provides a linear guideway  100  including a guide rail  1 , a sliding block  2 , two circulation modules  3 , two retainers  4 , and two end cap modules  5 . The circulation modules  3  are coupled through the sliding block  2 , the retainers  4  are respectively disposed on the circulation modules  3 , and the end cap modules  5  are respectively fixed on two opposite end surfaces  23  of the sliding block  2  (i.e., the front surface and the rear surface of the sliding block  2  as shown in  FIG. 2 ). Moreover, the sliding block  2 , the circulation modules  3 , the retainers  4 , and the end cap modules  5  are slidably disposed on the guide rail  1  and symmetrical to the guide rail  1 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 3 . The guide rail  1  is an elongated structure, the axis of elongation of guide rail  1  defines a sliding direction S, and the cross-section of the guide rail  1 , which is perpendicular to the sliding direction S, is approximately I-shaped. Specifically, the guide rail  1  includes two elongated rolled grooves  11  respectively formed on two opposite side surfaces thereof (i.e., the left side surface and the right side surface of the guide rail  1  as shown in  FIG. 2 ), and each rolled groove  11  is parallel to the sliding direction S. The other portion of each side surface of the guide rail  1 , which is connected to the edge of the rolled groove  11 , is defined as a contact surface  12 . Each rolled groove  11  has a bottom wall  111  and two loaded side wall  112  respectively connected to two opposite edges of the bottom wall  111  (i.e., the top edge and the bottom edge of the bottom wall  111  as shown in  FIG. 2 ). 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The sliding block  2  is an elongated structure, and the length of the sliding block  2  is smaller than the length of the guide rail  1 . A mating trough  21  is concavely formed on the sliding block  2 , that is to say, the cross-section of the sliding block  2 , which is perpendicular to the elongation direction of the sliding block  2 , is approximately U-shaped. The mating trough  21  of the sliding block  2  is slidably sleeved at the guide rail  1 . The elongation direction of the sliding block  2  is parallel to the elongation direction of the guide rail  1  (such as the sliding direction S). Two opposite inner side surfaces of the mating trough  21  are respectively spaced apart from the opposite side surfaces of the guide rail  1  (as shown in  FIG. 1A ) for enabling the circulation module  3  and the retainers  4  to arrange between the opposite inner side surfaces of the mating trough  21  and the opposite side surfaces of the guide rail  1 . 
     The sliding block  2  includes two opposite side portions substantially symmetrical to the guide rail  1 , such that the following description just discloses one side portion of the sliding block  2 . Specifically, the inner side surface of each side portion of the mating trough  21  is formed with a positioning groove  211 , two side positioning grooves  212 , and two carrying walls  213 . 
     One carrying wall  213  is arranged between the positioning groove  211  and one side positioning groove  212 , and another carrying wall  213  is arranged between the positioning groove  211  and another side positioning groove  212 . In the cross-section of the sliding block  2  perpendicular to the sliding direction S (as shown in  FIG. 1A ), the perpendicular bisectors of the carrying walls  213  are perpendicularly intersected at a position, which is at one side of the positioning groove  211  away from the guide rail  1 . In other words, the positioning groove  211  and the carrying walls  213  are corresponding to the rolled groove  11 . Specifically, the positioning groove  211  faces the bottom wall  111  of the rolled groove  11 , and the carrying walls  213  respectively face the loaded side walls  112  of the rolled groove  11 . 
     Moreover, a portion of the sliding block  2  apart from each carrying wall  213  in a predetermined distance is formed with a penetrating accommodating channel  22  along the sliding direction S. The carry walls  213  together with the faced loaded side walls  112  are respectively corresponding to the accommodating channels  22 . Specifically, in the cross-section of the sliding block  2  perpendicular to the sliding direction S, the perpendicular bisector of each carrying wall  213  passes through the center of the corresponding accommodating channel  22 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the circulation modules  3  are respectively installed on two opposite inner side surfaces of the sliding block  2  (i.e., the inner left side surface and the inner right side surface of the sliding block  2  as shown in  FIG. 3 ). The following description just discloses one circulation module  3  and the corresponding components, because the circulation modules  3  have the same structure. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 5 and 6 . The circulation module  3  includes two circulation tubes  31 , two separating sheets  32 , and two rolling units  33 . Each circulation tube  31  in the instant embodiment is formed by assembling several half tubes, but the following description takes each circulation tube  31  to be one piece for conveniently explaining the construction. Each rolling unit  33  in the instant embodiment takes the rolling pillars connected by the chain for example, but the rolling unit  33  is not limited thereto. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , each circulation tube  31  includes a straight portion  311  and two U-like cornering portions  312  respectively extended from two opposite ends of the straight portion  311 . The length of the straight portion  311  of each circulation tube  31  is greater than the length of accommodating channel  22 . The ends of two cornering portions  312  of each circulation tube  31  are facing to each other, and the distance of the ends of two cornering portions  312  of each circulation tube  31  is smaller than the length of accommodating channel  22 . One of the cornering portions  312  of each circulation tube  31  includes a fill-in opening  313  formed on a portion thereof adjacent to the straight portion  311 . The separating sheet  32  is arced and installed on the circulation tube  31  to shield the fill-in opening  313 , such that the circulation tube  31  and the corresponding separating sheet  32  are jointly defines a rolling path, in which the rolling path communicates with the outer space via the ends of cornering portions  312  of the corresponding circulation tube  31 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , the straight portion  311  of each circulation tube  31  is configured to couple through the corresponding accommodating channel  22 , and the straight portion  311  is firmly arranged in the corresponding accommodating channel  22  by a step-like structure formed on the outer surface of the straight portion  311 . The ends of the cornering portions  312  of each circulation tube  31  are disposed on the corresponding carrying wall  213 . A portion of the straight portion  311  of each circulation tube  31  adjacent to the fill-in opening  313  is protruding out of the sliding block  3 , and the cornering portion  312  having the fill-in opening  313  is arranged outside the adjacent cornering portion  312  without the fill-in opening  313 . 
     In other words, when viewing the cornering portions  312  of the circulation module  3  from one end portion of the sliding block  2 , the cornering portion  312  having the fill-in opening  313  of each circulating tube  31  (i.e., the position of separating sheet  32 ) is arranged outside the cornering portion  312  without the fill-in opening  313  of another circulating tube  31 . The circulation tubes  31  of each circulation module  3  are installed on the sliding block  2  in a staggered and crossed arrangement. 
     The rolling unit  33  is rollably arranged in the corresponding circulation tube  31  via the fill-in opening  313 , in which the rolling unit  33  is rolling out of the circulation tube  31  from the end of one cornering portion  312  along the carrying wall  213 , and then rolling into the circulation tube  31  via the end of another cornering portion  312  for establishing an entire circulation loop. The separating sheet  32  is installed on the circulation tube  31  after the installation of the rolling unit  33 , so that the rolling unit  33  is shield by the circulation tube  31  and the separating sheet  32 , thereby preventing the rolling unit  33  from exposing out of the sliding block  2 . Specifically, the rolling unit  33  is rollable on a track structure, which is formed on the inner surfaces of the circulation tube  31  and the separating sheet  32 , and the corresponding carrying wall  213 . 
     Additionally, a portion of each circulation tube  31  protruding out of the sliding block  2  has an oil-guiding opening  314 . Each oil-guiding opening  314  is communicated with the inner space of the corresponding circulation tube  31 , and the oil-guiding openings  314  of each circulation module  3  are arranged adjacent to each other, such that each oil-guiding opening  314  is configured to provide a lubricating oil to be injected into the circulation tube  31 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the retainers  4  are respectively clipped between the opposite inner side surfaces of the mating trough  21  and the opposite side surfaces of the guide rail  1 . The retainers  4  are configured to position and keep the positions of the circulation modules  3  with respect to the guide rail  1 . The following description discloses one retainer  4  and the corresponding components, because the retainers  4  have the same structure and symmetrical to the guide rail  1 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 5 and 6 . The retainer  4  is elongated, and the length of the retainer  4  is greater than the length of the sliding block  2 . The retainer  4  includes a retaining member  41 , a supporting member  42 , and two dustproof strips  43 . The retaining member  41  is integrally formed, and the cross-section of the retaining member  41 , which is perpendicular to the elongated direction of the retaining member  41 , is approximately V-shaped. 
     Specifically, the retainer  4  has an elongated base portion  411  and two side wing portions  412  respectively and slantingly extended from two opposite long edges of the base portion  411  along two different directions (i.e., the upper left direction and the lower left direction of the base portion  411  as shown in  FIG. 5 ). The base portion  411  has a receiving groove  4111  formed on the center portion thereof along the elongation direction thereof. The base portion  411  further has two pair of clipping bumps  4112  respectively formed adjacent to two opposite ends of the receiving groove  4111  (i.e., the left end and the right end of the receiving groove  4111  as shown in  FIG. 5 ). 
     Moreover, each side wing portion  412  has an elongated positioning opening  4121  formed along the elongation direction thereof. One positioning opening  4121  is offset with respect to the receiving groove  4111  along a first direction (i.e., the upper positioning opening  4121  is formed toward the right side of the receiving groove  4111  as shown in  FIG. 5 ), and another positioning opening  4121  is offset with respect to the receiving groove  4111  along a second direction opposite to the first direction (i.e., the lower positioning opening  4121  is formed toward the left side of the receiving groove  4111  as shown in  FIG. 5 ). 
     Specifically, each positioning opening  4121  is surroundingly defined by two elongated walls  4123  and two arced walls  4122  of the side wing portion  412 . Two positioning flanges  4124  are respectively extended from the two elongated walls  4123  of each side wing portion  412 . The positioning flanges  4124  of each side wing portion  412  are arranged in the corresponding positioning opening  4121  and facing to each other. The distance between the positioning flanges  4124  of each side wing portion  412  is smaller than the biggest distance of arced walls  4122 . Moreover, a mating flange  4125  is formed on a portion of each side wing portion  412  away from the base portion  411 , and the mating flange  4125  conforms to the side positioning groove  212 . 
     The supporting member  42  has a mating post  421  and two clipped pillars  422 . The cross-section of the mating post  421 , which is perpendicular to the elongation direction of the mating post  421 , is hexagon, and two opposite portions of the mating post  421  (i.e., the front portion and the rear potion of the mating post  421  as shown in  FIG. 5 ) respectively conform to the positioning groove  211  and the receiving groove  4111 . The clipped pillars  422  are respectively and integrally extended from two end surfaces of the mating post  421  (the left end surface and the right end surface of the mating post  421  as shown in  FIG. 5 ). 
     Moreover, one side portion of the mating post  421  is wedged to the receiving groove  4111  of the retaining member  41 , and the clipped pillars  422  are respectively clipped by the pairs of clipping bumps  4112 . The dustproof strips  43  are respectively disposed (e.g., adhered) on the side wing portions  412  away from the base portion  411  and approximately located at the back of the mating flange  4125 . That is to say, the dustproof strips  43  are respectively disposed (e.g., adhered) on two outside end portions of the retaining member  41 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1A and 9 , and with reference occasionally made to  FIGS. 5 and 6 . The relationship between the retainer  4  and the corresponding components is disclosed as follows. The cooperation of the retainer  4  and the sliding block  2 : the mating post  421  is wedged to the positioning groove  211 , and the mating flanges  4125  of the side wing portions  412  are respectively wedged to the side positioning grooves  212 . The cooperation of the retainer  4  and the circulation module  3 : the circulation tubes  31  are respectively coupled through the positioning openings  4121  of the retaining member  41 , in more detail, the ends of cornering portions  312  of each circulation tube  31  are respectively wedged to the arced walls  4122  and the adjacent end surfaces of the positioning flanges  4121 , and part of the rolling unit  33  disposed on each carrying wall  213  is arranged in the corresponding positioning opening  4121 . The cooperation of the retainer  4  and the guide rail  1 : the outer surfaces of the retainer  4  (corresponding to the outside edge of the V-shaped) are respectively spaced apart from the rolled groove  11  of the guide rail  1 , and the dustproof strips  43  are respectively abutted against the two contact surfaces  12 , which are arranged adjacent to the rolled groove  11 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2 . The two end cap modules  5  are respectively fixed on the end surfaces  23  of the sliding block  2  and slidably sleeved at the guide rail  1 . The end cap modules  5  are respectively covering the portions of the circulation modules  3  protruding out of the sliding block  2  (i.e., the cornering portions  312  and the separating sheets  32 ). Part of each rolling unit  33  arranged out of the sliding block  2  is spaced apart from the adjacent end cap module  5  by the corresponding circulation tube  31  and the corresponding separating sheet  32 . That is to say, the rolling unit  33  does not contact the end cap module  5 . 
     The following description discloses one end cap module  5  and the corresponding components, because the end cap modules  5  have the same structure and symmetrical to the sliding block  2 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 10 and 11 . The end cap module  5  includes a cap  51  and a dustproof member  52 . The cap  51  is non-flexible and integrally formed by a hard material (e.g., metal), and the dustproof member  52  is flexible and integrally formed by a resilient material (e.g., rubber). Moreover, the cap  51  and the dustproof member  52  are two detachable components. 
     The cap  51  is a reversed U-like construction for mating to the guide rail  1 , that is to say, the cap  51  has a rail opening  511  formed corresponding to the guide rail  1 . The cap  51  has an outer surface  512 , an inner surface  523 , and a side surface  514 . The outer surface  512  and the inner surface  513  are two opposite surfaces of the cap  51 , and the side surface  514  connects the edge of outer surface  512  and the edge of inner surface  513 . Moreover, the cap  51  has an oil-input hole  515  penetratingly formed from the outer surface  512 , and the cap  51  has two side oil-input holes  516  penetratingly formed from the side surface  514 . The cap  51  has an accommodating slot  517  concavely formed on the inner surface  513 . 
     The dustproof member  52  has an oil-guiding block  521  and a dustproof sheet  522  integrally extended from the rear portion of the oil-guiding block  521 . The oil-guiding block  521  has an oil-guiding passage  5211  by concavely formed on the front portion thereof. The dustproof sheet  522  has a dustproof brush  5221 , and the dustproof brush  5221  is conforming to the guide rail  1  for abutting against the guide rail  1 . Specifically, the oil-guiding passage  5211  defines three inlets  5212  and two outlets  5213 . The oil-guiding passage  5211  is concavely formed on a surface of the oil-guiding block  521  away from the dustproof sheet  522 . The oil-guiding block  521  has a protrusion  523  substantially around the oil-guiding passage  5211 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 12 , and with reference occasionally made to  FIGS. 10 and 11 . The dustproof member  52  is installed (wedged) in the accommodating slot  517  of the cap  51 . The surface of the oil-guiding block  521  away from the dustproof sheet  522  is coplanar with the inner surface  513  of the cap  51 , and the protrusion  513  is protruding out of the inner surface  513 . The inlets  5212  of the oil-guiding passage  5211  are respectively communicated with the oil-input hole  515  and the side oil-input holes  516 . Additionally, an oil nozzle (not numbered) can be installed at the oil-input hole  515 , and two socket set screws (not numbered) can be respectively installed at the side oil-input holes  516 . 
     Moreover, the dustproof brush  5221  is arranged on the rail opening  511 . The dustproof sheet  522  and the cap  51  jointly defines an accommodating space  53 , that is to say, when the dustproof member  52  received in the accommodating slot  517 , the remnant space of the accommodating slot  517  is regarded as the accommodating space  53 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1B ,  2 , and  12 . The end cap module  5  is fixed on the end surface  23  of the sliding block  2 , a portion of each circulation tube  31  exposed from the sliding block  2  (i.e., the cornering portions  312 ) and the separating sheet  32  are arranged in the accommodating space  53 , and the separating sheet  32  and the cornering portion  312  having the fill-in opening  313  are approximately contact the dustproof sheet  522 . Moreover, the end of each retaining member  41  protruding out of the sliding block  2  is abutted against the dustproof sheet  522 . The protrusion  523  of the oil-guiding block  521  is seamlessly abutted against the end surface  23  of the sliding block  2 , and the outlets  5213  of the oil-guiding passage  521  respectively align the corresponding oil-guiding openings  314  of the circulation modules  3 . In other words, the oil-guiding passage  5211  is arranged between the oil-input hole  515  and the side oil-input holes  516  of the cap  51  and the adjacent oil-guiding openings  314  to enable the oil-input hole  515  and the side oil-input holes  516  of the cap  51  to communicate with the adjacent oil-guiding openings  314  via the oil-guiding passage  5211 . 
     The descriptions illustrated supra set forth simply the preferred embodiments of the instant disclosure; however, the characteristics of the instant disclosure are by no means restricted thereto. All changes, alternations, or modifications conveniently considered by those skilled in the art are deemed to be encompassed within the scope of the instant disclosure delineated by the following claims.