Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.

Masatoshi Kondo

Hideki Kuwabara

Masashi Matsui

Yusuke Yamaguchi

Junji Matsui

A linear motion guide unit includes a rail, a slider slidable relative to the rail, and rolling elements rollable in a rolling groove formed with the rail and the slider. The slider has a lubricating oil supply device provided at least at one end face thereof. The lubricating oil supply device includes a lubricating member that retains lubricating oil and abuts against a raceway surface of the rail to supply the lubricating oil to the rail, a housing having front, rear, and bottom surfaces covering front, rear, and bottom surfaces of the lubricating member, with an upper surface of the housing being left open, and a cover that covers at least an upper surface of the lubricating member. The housing is fixed to the slider with a first fixing member. The cover is fixed to the housing with a second fixing member, without being fixed with the first fixing member.

Linear motion guide unit

A miniature linear motion guide unit is described in which a tubular member for a return passage is installed in an outward open recess cut in the carriage and a covering to bear the tubular member is integral with an end cap major part. This construction helps make the slider compact with cost saving in production. The slider is composed of a carriage made up of an upper portion and side bulges extending downward and having the outward open recesses, end caps having turnaround passages, the tubular members lying on outsides of the side bulges of the carriage, and coverings connected integrally with the end cap major parts to embrace the tubular members in combination with the outsides of the carriage.

Miniature linear motion guide unit

In a slider of a linear motion guide unit, a carriage in the slider is cut away at undersides thereof to form concaves in which tubular members defining return passages therein are placed. This is in favor of reduced machining cost. The slider is composed of the carriage having an upper portion and side bulges, end caps secured on ends of the carriage, and tubular members installed closely outside the bulges of the carriage in the sliding direction. Sidewise underparts of the carriage is cut away to provide the concaves into which the tubular members fit with tube ends being kept in spigots which communicate with turnaround passages in the end caps.

A lubricant can be evenly applied onto raceway faces or raceway grooves of a rail even when fixed to a horizontal, vertical, tilted, or ceiling surface. One or a plurality of embedding portions () having a recess or a hole is formed in a member body () straddling the rail (R). An impregnation holding member () holding a lubricant is embedded in the embedding portion. The lubricating member supplies the impregnating lubricant onto the rail raceway faces while making contact with them. Even when the rail is fixed to a horizontal, vertical, tilted or a ceiling surface, the embedding portion of the member body straddling the rail has at least a part maintained in position at a level equal to or higher than the level of at least a part of one of the raceway sections () of the rail located higher relative to the other raceway section.

Lubricating member for linear motion rolling guide unit and slider for linear motion rolling guide unit

An inside seal is installed in a recess open downward in the slider to keep load-carrying races kept free of foreign materials that have already crept into the inside of the slider. The inside seal is composed of a metallic core and a sealing member that includes a joint portion secured to the core and a major portion integral with the joint portion. The joint portion has a mating surface to come into engagement with a downward surface deep inside the recess cut in a carriage while the major portion includes a first lip to come into sliding engagement with a guide rail, a second lip come into abutment against an inward sidewall of the recess, and third lip to come into abutment against the downward surface.

Linear motion guide unit with inside seal

A lubricating member is capable of being used in any type of linear motion rolling guide unit and of appropriately lubricating raceway faces over a long period. The lubricating member used in a linear motion rolling guide unit comprises a bodyimpregnated with a lubricant and being in contact with raceway faces of a rail to supply the lubricant to the raceway faces. The bodycomprises either a single or a plurality of embedding portionshaving either a recess or a hole. A saturation holding memberis embedded in the embedded portion. The saturation holding memberholds a larger amount of lubricant per unit volume than the bodyholds the amount of lubricant, and has a relationship ensuring that it has a force sucking the lubricant equal to or smaller than that the bodyhas.

Growing community of inventors

Mino, Japan

Masatoshi Kondo