Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.

Akihiko Kamimura

Shigemasa Itabashi

Norimasa Agari

Toyohisa Ishihara

Kazunori Hayashida

Takaaki Tsuboi

Kouji Obara

Yoshitaka Takahashi

A linear motion guide unit is disclosed which makes it possible to a long-lasting steady application of lubricant and also makes sure of preventing effectively occurrence of particles of dirt. The linear motion guide unit is comprised of a guide member, more than one rolling element, and a slider supported for linear movement along the guide track rail by virtue of rolling elements, the slider being made therein with a fore-and-aft hole in which a sleeve fits to allow the rolling elements to roll through there. The sleeve is made of a cellular member impregnated with lubricant in vacuum atmosphere.

Linear motion guide unit

In a linear motion guide unit in which a rack-and-pinion arrangement is interposed between paired guide rail members to keep a cage against falling off from the guide rail members, the rack is made reduced in size in depth direction to fit well in even a gutter cut small in depth in the guide rail member. The rack is made up of successive teeth mating with the pinion, and side walls to join the teeth together with one another. The side walls of the rack are rendered thickened sidewise with depth while sidewise opposing surfaces defining a gutter cut in the guide rail also lean away one another with depth in a way conforming to the side walls of the rack, so that the rack can be fastened in the gutter by virtue of face-to-face engagement of the side walls with the associated surfaces in the gutter.

Linear motion guide unit with means for keeping cage against wandering

In a curvilinear motion guide unit in which sliders are allowed to move along a track rail extending curved with a preselected curvature, this unit makes the slider reduced in size with well balance. An end cap may be made common in specification to a variety of sliders, which are modified in specification depending on diverse variations in curvature of track rail. To this end, a casing for the slider has forward and aft end faces that are arranged, regardless of the variations in length of the casing, such that imaginary planes including the end faces and normal to a top surface of the track rail coincide with radial planes extending through the center of curvature of the track rail. The return passages are opened on the forward and aft end faces at locations that are closer to the centroidal axis of the track rail than the loaded raceways. Moreover, the return passages are linear bores that run straight through the casing.

Curvilinear motion guide units

A linear motion guide unit is disclosed wherein lubricant-containing members of sintered resinous components are fixed to core metals with either of mechanical means and adhesives whereby the lubricant-containing members may be kept in an accurate sliding contact with the raceway grooves on the track rail. Lubricating plate assemblies attached on end caps by bolts are each composed of the lubricant-containing member of sintered resinous component, core metal and dustproof cover. The lubricant-containing members are each fixed on the associated core metal with adhesives or with mechanical means such as claws, grasping fingers or the like, which are formed on the core metals. The core metals have rigidity sufficient to protect the lubricant-containing members from deformation, resulting in keeping the highly accurate sliding contact relation of the lubricant-containing members with the raceway grooves on the track rail.

Linear motion guide unit with lubricating plate assembly

A relatively movable unit with rolling elements, or balls, adapted for use in a linear motion guide unit or a ball nut screw assembly. The relatively movable unit has lubricating rings disposed between any adjoining balls to thereby lubricate the balls. In the linear motion guide unit employing this relatively movable unit, the balls are confined in raceways at the interfaces between a track rail and a slider, while the lubricating ring is arranged between the adjoining balls. The lubricating ring is provided therein with spherical pockets opened to each other through a window at the center of the ring. The lubricating ring may be produced by forming a mixture of lubricant of turbine oil with resinous material of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene powder in a mold under pressure, and heating the molded mixture under pressure.

Relatively movable unit with rolling elements

An end block defining a part of a slider of a linear motion guide unit is provided. The end block includes a rib structure fabricated in a desired shape from a first resin material by injection molding. The rib structure is provided with a rib system including a plurality of ribs, preferably, arranged in the form of a grid to thereby define a plurality of void spaces or recesses and also with at least one curved connecting path section of an endless circulating path provided in the guide unit. A filing material preferably of a second resin material is provided in at least one of the plurality of recesses. The second resin material preferably has a viscous characteristic after hardening.

End block of a linear motion guide unit

A linear motion guide unit including a bed, a sliding table and a plurality of rolling members interposed between the bed and the sliding table to provide a relative sliding motion therebetween. The bed has an outwardly extending mounting wall section and it is mounted on a housing having an associated recess or hole. Thus, when the linear motion guide unit is mounted in position, it is located in the associated recess or hole so that the overall exposed height of the present linear motion guide unit can be made extremely small, thereby allowing to be used in moving parts of various devices, such as floppy disc and hard disc drives.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa-ken, Japan

Akihiko Kamimura