Thk Co., Ltd.

Mitsuaki Honma

Hidekazu Michioka

Tetsuhiro Nishide

Tomozumi Murata

Hiroshi Niwa

Hiroaki Mochizuki

Takeki Shirai

Masahiko Yoshino

Daisuke Yatsushiro

Ryuji Takeda

Shigeru Ebina

Hiroshi Takamatsu

Yoshiaki Saitou

Yasuhide Katsumata

Mieko Fujitsuna

Hiroshi Takamatu

This invention relates to a dust preventing structure of a guide unit comprising a track shaft and a sliding member engaging the track shaft via a plurality of rolling bodies such that it is capable of reciprocating in a length direction thereof. Elastic members in firm contact with the track shaft are overlaid in the length direction of the track shaft. A lubricant pocket forming member having a concave groove portion for forming a lubricant pocket constituted of the elastic members and filled with lubricant by a help of the surface of the track shaft as well is provided so as to achieve a smooth reciprocating motion of the sliding member with respect to the track shaft with less sliding friction. Particularly, under even a severe use condition in which use of coolant is required or dust, dirt, wooden pieces, cutting powder or the like falls on the guide unit, a smooth reciprocating motion of the sliding member with respect to the track shaft can be maintained in a long period.

Dust preventing structure of guide unit

Lubricant retaining slits ( ) are formed on a pair of seal members ( ) from end surfaces ( ) thereof facing inside in the axial direction of a nut ( ) of a ball screw to intermediate portions of the seal members ( ), and foreign bodies removing slits ( ) are formed on the seal members ( ) from end surfaces ( ) thereof facing outside in the axial direction of the nut ( ) to intermediate portions thereof The lubricant retaining slits ( ) can positively trap the lubricant invading into the gap between the seal member ( ) and the screw shaft and returns the lubricant inside the nut ( ). The foreign bodies removing slits ( ) can remove the foreign bodies stored on the outer peripheral surface of the screw shaft and discharged outside the nut ( ).

Ball screw

A lubricant supplying unit preferable for a linear motion apparatus such as a linear guide unit and a ball screw unit, always capable of coating all rolling body rolling grooves formed on a track shaft with an equal amount of lubricant regardless of a difference in the mounting posture of the track shaft with respect to a fixing unit, is provided. A lubricant supplying system for achieving such an object comprises a casing fixed to the slide member, a plurality of coating pieces which are protruded from plural positions of the casing so that they are in contact with the track shaft for coating the track shaft with lubricant and a lubricant accommodating chamber provided in the casing for supplying lubricant to the coating piece, wherein the plurality of the coating pieces are divided to groups consisting of one or two or more adjacent coating pieces and the lubricant accommodating chambers is formed for each of the groups.

Lubricant supply system

A lubricant supply device is to be fitted to a nut member engaging with a screw shaft through rolling members to supply lubricant to the screw shaft along with a relative rotational motion of the nut member to the screw shaft. The device comprises an application member, a lubricant storage member and a control device. The application member for applying the lubricant on the screw shaft has at least one tongue portion, which is capable of coming into contact with at least one of rolling-member running surface of the screw shaft. The number of the at least one tongue portion is identical with or larger than the number of the rolling-member running surface. The lubricant storage member supplies the lubricant to the application member. The control device controls an amount of the lubricant supplied from the lubricant storage member to the application member.

Lubricant supply device

A ball screw assembly includes a screw shaft with a spiral groove, balls along the groove, a nut with the screw shaft relatively rotatable with the balls, and a seal device. A portion of each seal member is radially divided into blocks by plural slits so as to extend from one end surface directing outward in an axial direction of the nut to an axial intermediate portion of the seal member, each block having a pair of end faces, the end faces including one end face directed to a rotational direction of the nut with respect to the screw shaft when the screw shaft is screwed into the nut and another end face opposing to the other end face, this one end face being inclined so as to be gradually displaced, towards an outer peripheral side from an inner peripheral side of the seal member, in a direction reverse to the rotational direction with respect to a radial direction of the nut, and the other end face extending in this radial direction of the nut or in a direction inclined to a side reverse to the one end face with respect to the radial direction of the nut.

Ball screw assembly

Linear movement device and lubricant supplying device used therefor

Ball spline unit and method of forming outer cylinder of ball spline unit

Ball chain

An endless sliding guide apparatus including a track rail, a sliding table having an endless track comprising a load rolling path, a no-load rolling path and a change direction path and rolling bodies wherein at least one of the no-load rolling path, the inner peripheral portion of the change direction path and a rolling body retaining section of the load rolling path is formed by synthetic resin rolling body guide members formed by insert molding using a bearing race as a core. The rolling body guide members are molded by a synthetic resin composition satisfying the relational expression of (a.times.b).div.c.gtoreq.700 Mpa with respect to the tensile strength a (MPa), tensile elongation b (%) and shrinkage c (%). The endless sliding guide apparatus of the present invention has the advantages that since the endless track of the sliding table is accurately formed, the rolling of the rolling bodies along the endless track is quite smooth, the noise level is minimized and not only the manufacture of the sliding table can be automated but also the problem of 'corner cracks' in the synthetic resin rolling body guide members can be eliminated thereby extending the working life of the apparatus.

Endless sliding guide apparatus

Endless retainer of guide device and fabrication method thereof

Growing community of inventors

Yamanashi-ken, Japan

Mitsuaki Honma