Patent ID: 7855477

Claim:
An apparatus for guiding the movement of a table of a machine tool along guide surfaces of a bed or a saddle, comprising: a plurality of rollers disposed along the guide surfaces; a plurality of retainers constructed and arranged to hold said rollers; a displacement regulator having at least one stopper contacting the retainers, said displacement regulator regulating the position of each of the retainers, said regulator being movable in conjunction with the movement of the table of the machine tool; a linear motor feed mechanism constructed and arranged to move the table on the plurality of rollers held by the retainers, said linear motor feed mechanism including a line of magnet plates fixed to the bed or saddle of the machine tool and arranged parallel to the guide surfaces; a linear motor mechanism constructed and arranged to move the displacement regulator in the same direction as the moving direction of the table; and a linear motor controller constructed and arranged to control said linear motor mechanism to move the displacement regulator in synchronization with the movement of the table at a velocity which is one-half of the velocity of the table.