Machine element or mechanism – Mechanical movements – Reciprocating or oscillating to or from alternating rotary
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-02
2001-06-05
Fenstermacher, David (Department: 3682)
Machine element or mechanism
Mechanical movements
Reciprocating or oscillating to or from alternating rotary
C074S424830
Reexamination Certificate
active
06240796
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a slide apparatus applied to linear sliding portions of machine tools, various kinds of assembled apparatuses and test apparatuses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The mechatronic techniques have been developed remarkably in recent years, and there is a slide apparatus as a basic and multi-purpose apparatus which supports such techniques. A slide apparatus is a unitary combination of a feed screw apparatus and a linear guide apparatus, and has been used with the development of the electronic industries, by being incorporated in apparatuses in various technical fields, such as a machine tool, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a transfer apparatus and an industrial robot. With the development of the techniques, the uses of a slide apparatus have been widened, and this apparatus requires a higher accuracy, a higher speed, easier assembling and higher versatility.
The slide apparatus is provided with a raceway groove-carrying track rail, a slider slidingly movable on the track rail, a screw shaft engaged with a threaded portion of the slider, support plates supporting both end portions of the screw shaft, and a driving motor fixed to either one of the support plates and adapted to rotate the screw shaft. This slide apparatus is controlled electrically and electronically and adapted to guide various kinds of machines and tools which are to be positioned along a straight line.
When such a slide apparatus as a whole is changed with another in accordance with its purpose and scale, the cost increases, and the changing operation becomes troublesome and requires a long period of time. Therefore, the development of a slide apparatus capable of changing the sizes and performance thereof freely, being obtained at a low cost and carrying out a replacement operation speedily is demanded so as to deal with problems which would be encountered when changes occur in the sizes and table supporting and transferring performance of the slide apparatus.
As shown in
FIG. 17
, a conventional XY positioning table apparatus has track rails
106
fixed on a bed
105
, an X table
102
moving forward and backward on the track rails
106
via sliders
113
, track rails
108
fixed on a support base
114
on the X table
102
, a Y table moving forward and backward on the track rails
108
via sliders
107
, a driving motor
104
for an X axis fixed to the bed
105
, and a driving motor
103
for a Y axis fixed to the X table
102
. The XY positioning table apparatus further has a ball screw shaft
112
supported rotatably on the support base
114
, which is provided on the X table
102
driven by the Y axis driving motor
103
, via bearings
111
, and a ball screw shaft
109
supported rotatably on the bed
105
, which is driven by the X axis driving motor
104
, via bearings
110
. The X table
102
is moved on the ball screw shaft
109
in accordance with the rotation thereof, and the Y table on the ball screw shaft
112
in accordance with the rotation thereof.
In the XY table apparatus, the bearing
110
for the ball screw shaft
109
which is on the motor-provided side is provided on the inner side of the track rails
106
, and the bearing
110
on the non-motor-provided side on end surfaces of the track rails
106
. Therefore, even when the changing of the length of the track rails
106
and the replacing of the ball screw shafts are done, it is necessary to form bolt holes for use in fixing the bearings
110
and carry out the bearing fixing operations.
The ball screw-united type linear guide apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 193637/1988 is a unitary combination of a ball screw and a linear guide apparatus, which is provided with a guide rail having a groove and ball rolling grooves in both of its inner surfaces, a nut fitted loosely and movable axially in the groove of the guide rail via rolling balls, a ball screw shaft engaged with the nut, support units supporting both end portions of the screw shaft, and a driving motor fixed to one of the support units and adapted to rotate the screw shaft. The groove has a function of an oil reservoir for a lubricating and cooling oil. The support units are fixed to end surfaces of the guide rail by bolts via seal members so as to prevent the leakage of the oil. A cover fixed to the nut encloses the groove of the guide rail.
The known table transfer apparatuses include a table transfer apparatus of a structure in which a table is supported movably by a guide and adapted to be transferred by a feed screw shaft. This table transfer apparatus is provided with a guide rail having a C-shaped cross section and upper and lower rolling element raceway surfaces in the inner side surfaces, a table supported movably on the guide rail so as to be held between the inner surfaces of the guide rail via rolling balls, and a feed screw shaft screwed to the table. This feed screw shaft is rotated by a motor, one end portion of the feed screw shaft being supported pivotably on a bearing portion provided on one end portion of the guide rail, the other end portion of the feed screw shaft being operatively connected to a motor, which is fixed to the other end portion of the guide rail, via a joint (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 298446/1990 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 61587/1995).
In a conventional slide apparatus, support plates supporting both end portions of a screw shaft are fixed end surfaces of a guide rail, so that the working efficiency and positioning operations in the assembling and disassembling of the apparatus for the maintenance thereof become low and troublesome respectively. When the length of the guide rail is changed, bolt holes are formed in a cut end surface thereof by a tapping process. To carry out the tapping process, it is necessary to use a fixing jig for securing the guide rail to a support base.
The feed unit apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 28444/1995 has a structure in which a feed screw apparatus and a linear guide apparatus are unitarily combined, the feed unit apparatus being provided with an upper side-opened cross-sectionally C-shaped elongated guide rail having mutually opposed axially extending ball rolling grooves in both of inner side surfaces thereof, a nut block having in both of outer side surfaces thereof ball rolling grooves opposed to those of the guide rail, a feed screw shaft engaged with the nut block, and support units fixed to the guide rail and supporting the feed screw shaft so that the feed screw shaft can be rotated freely and cannot be moved axially. The positioning of the support unit is done by fixing the same to the guide rail by engaging pins implanted in the support units with the ball rolling grooves of the guide rail. The specification of this feed unit apparatus discloses various types of fixing structures for fitting the motor-side support unit in the guide rail. However, since the fitting portion has to be formed during the manufacture of the support unit, the fitting position of the support unit cannot be changed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provide a slide apparatus having a nut which is engaged with a screw shaft slidingly moving a slider on a track rail, and which is fixed to the slider, and screw shaft supports supporting both end portions of the screw shaft and fixed to an upper surface of the track rail, whereby the slide apparatus enables the disassembling and assembling operations for the maintenance thereof and for meeting the requirements when the length of the track rail is changed, as well as various operations for fixing the screw shaft supports to the track rail to be simplified.
The present invention relates to a slide apparatus comprising a track rail having a pair of raceways extending in the longitudinal direction thereof in a mutually opposed state, a slider capable of being moved slidingly along the raceways of the track rail, a nut fixed to the slider
Browdy & Neimark
Fenstermacher David
Joyce William C.
Nippon Thompson Co. Ltd.
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