Bearings – Linear bearing – Recirculating
Patent
1998-11-24
1999-11-30
Hannon, Thomas R.
Bearings
Linear bearing
Recirculating
384 45, 384 51, F16C 2906
Patent
active
059930640
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a ball connector in which a number of balls are arranged in one row and held rollably and which is used by being integrated, for example, to a linear guide device for endless sliding and a ball endless track of a ball screw device, particularly to a ball connector which can be used by freely flexing or twisting the ball connector.
BACKGROUND ART
Conventionally, as a linear guide device for guiding a movable body such as a table or the like along a fixed unit such as a bed or the like, there has been known a bearing for linear sliding in which a sliding base carrying a movable body such as a table or the like is moved along a track rail arranged on a fixed unit such as a bed, a saddle or the like, or a ball spline device in which a cylindrical nut member fitted to a spline shaft is moved along the spline shaft via balls.
Among them, as a former bearing for linear sliding, there has been known a constitution comprising a track rail having a ball rolling groove, a sliding base having a load rolling groove opposed to the ball rolling groove as well as a ball return hole in parallel therewith, having a direction change path for guiding balls from the load rolling groove to the ball return hole and moved along the track rail, and a number of balls rolling between the sliding base and the track rail while carrying a load and circulating an endless track constituted by the load rolling groove, the ball return hole and the direction change path of the sliding base.
Further, as a latter ball spline device, there has been known a constitution comprising a spline shaft having a ball rolling groove along the axial direction and a nut member having a load rolling groove opposed to the ball rolling groove and fitted to the outer periphery of the spline shaft via balls, where the nut member is moved along the spline shaft similarly in accordance with endless circulation of the balls and which is used by transmitting torque mutually between the nut member and the spline shaft.
According to the conventional linear guide device constituted as described above, the endless track of a sliding member such as the sliding base or the nut member is filled with the balls and accordingly, when the sliding member is moved along the track rail or a guide shaft such as the spline shaft, the balls contiguous to each other are circulated in the endless track while colliding with each other or rubbing each other and there poses a problem where the balls are worn at an early stage and the device life is shortened.
Hence, as means for resolving such a problem, there has been proposed a bearing for linear sliding in which a ball connector where a number of balls are aligned and held is integrated to the endless track (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-5-52217). As shown by FIG. 25 and FIG. 26, according to such a ball connector 200, spacers 202 are interposed among respective balls 201 contiguous to each other, the spacers 202 are connected by a pair of strip-like connecting members 203 along a direction of arranging the balls by which the balls 201 are connected in a rosary-like shape and the ball connector is fabricated by molding flexible resin by injection molding in which the balls 201 are arranged in a die as cores.
According to the conventional bearing for linear sliding constituted as described above, as shown by FIG. 27, the above-described ball connector 200 is integrated to a ball return hole 205 and direction change paths 206 of a sliding base 204 and circulated in the endless track and in this case, the spacers 202 are interposed among the balls 201 contiguous to each other and accordingly, mutual friction or collision among the balls is prevented and wear of the balls 201 can be prevented as less as possible.
Meanwhile, in circulating the balls in the endless track, the ball relieved of a load needs to be scooped up from the ball rolling groove of the track rail to the direction change path of the sliding base and in such a scoop-up operation, as shown by FIG. 28
REFERENCES:
patent: 449964 (1891-04-01), Simonds
patent: 2566421 (1951-09-01), Lapointe
patent: 5156462 (1992-10-01), Jacob et al.
Suga Kaichi
Teramachi Hiroshi
Hannon Thomas R.
THK Co. Ltd.
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