Linear slide with dust protection plate

Abstract

A linear slide includes: a rail; a slide block, which is mounted on the rail and is movable relative to the rail; a plurality of rolling elements, which are arranged between the rail and the slide block; two end caps, which are respectively mounted to two ends of the slide block, the end caps each comprising a mounting trough formed therein to correspond to and face the rail, the mounting trough having a wall; and two dust protection plates, each of which is arranged in each of the mounting troughs, each of the dust protection plates comprising a main body and two elastic sections projecting from two opposite sides of the main body such that one of the elastic sections is in contact engagement with the wall and the other one of the elastic sections is engageable with a surface of the rail.

Claims

1. A linear slide, comprising: a rail; a slide block, which is mounted on the rail and is movable relative to the rail; a plurality of rolling elements, which are arranged between the rail and the slide block; two end caps, which are respectively mounted to two ends of the slide block, the end caps each comprising a mounting trough formed therein to correspond to and face the rail, the mounting trough having a wall; and two dust protection plates, each of which is arranged in each of the mounting troughs, each of the dust protection plates comprising a main body and two elastic sections projecting from two opposite sides of the main body such that one of the elastic sections is in contact engagement with the wall and the other one of the elastic sections is engageable with a surface of the rail, wherein a plurality of ribs are formed between at least one of the elastic sections and the main body of each of the dust protection plates.

2. The linear slide according to claim 1, wherein the mounting troughs and the dust protection plates are of a U-shape.

3. The linear slide according to claim 1, wherein the mounting troughs are each provided with a positioning section formed therein and the dust protection plates are each provided with a positioning hole corresponding to the positioning section such that the positioning hole is fit over the positioning section.

4. The linear slide according to claim 1, wherein the two end caps are each mounted to and covered by a fixing plate such that the fixing plate constrains a degree of freedom of the dust protection plate in an axial direction.

5. The linear slide according to claim 1, wherein the elastic sections of each of the dust protection plates are set in continuous and sustained contact engagement with the wall or the surface of the rail.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing a linear slide with dust protection plate according to the present invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the linear slide with dust protection plate according to the present invention in an assembled form.

(3) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the linear slide with dust protection plate according to the present invention.

(4) FIG. 4 is another cross-sectional view showing the linear slide with dust protection plate according to the present invention.

(5) FIG. 5A shows an example of a dust protection plate according to the present invention.

(6) FIG. 5B shows an example of a dust protection plate according to the present invention.

(7) FIG. 5C shows an example of a dust protection plate according to the present invention.

(8) FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a prior art dust protection plate.

(9) FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a prior art linear slide with dust protection plate in an assembled form.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(10) The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

(11) Referring to FIGS. 1-5, the present invention provides a linear slide with dust protection plate, which comprises: a rail (1); a slide block (2), which is mounted on the rail (1) and is movable relative to the rail (1); a plurality of rolling elements (7), which are arranged between the rail (1) and the slide block (2); two end caps (3), which are respectively mounted to two opposite ends of the slide block (2), the end caps (3) each comprising a mounting trough (31) formed therein to correspond to and face the rail (1), the mounting trough (31) having a wall (33) opposite to the rail; and two dust protection plates (4), each of which is arranged in each of the mounting troughs (31), each of the dust protection plates (4) comprising a main body (41) and two elastic sections (42, 43) projecting sideways from two opposite sides of the main body (41) such that one of the elastic sections, which is the elastic section (42) in this example, is set in continuous and sustained contact engagement with the wall (33), while the other one of the elastic sections, which is the elastic section (43) in this example, is set in continuous and sustained contact engagement with a surface of the rail (1). In the instant embodiment, the mounting troughs (31) and the dust protection plates (4) are both of a U-shape; however, each of the mounting troughs or any one of the mounting troughs can be divided into two or three independent, perhaps separate, segments and the dust protection plate corresponding to the multiple-segment mounting trough is divided into two or three segments respectively corresponding to and arranged in the segments of the mounting trough. In the instant embodiment, the mounting troughs (31) are each provided a positioning section (32) formed therein and the positioning section (32) in this example is a projecting pillar. Each of the dust protection plates (4) is provided with a positioning hole (44) corresponding to the positioning section (32) and the positioning hole (44) is fit over the positioning section (32). Preferably, loose fitting is adopted and a gap is provided between the positioning hole (44) and the positioning section (32) to allow for minor displacement of the dust protection plate (4) in any desired direction. To improve the strength of the elastic sections (42, 43), particularly for a large-sized dust protection plate (4), a plurality of apertures (421) may be formed between the elastic sections (42, 43) and the main body (41), as shown in FIG. 5A, or alternatively, a plurality of ribs (422) are used, where the ribs (422) can be of a wavy shape or comprise successively arranged V-shape, as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5B. In the instant embodiment, only the elastic section (42) is modified in this way, just to illustrate an example; however, the other elastic section (43) may also be modified to include a plurality of apertures or ribs in the same way. The two end caps (3) are each provided with and covered by a fixing plate (5), such that the fixing plate (5) constrain the degree of freedom of the corresponding dust protection plate (3) in an axial direction (X) to prevent the dust protection plate (4) from undesirably detaching from the mounting trough (31). The fixing plate (5) is fixed by a plurality of screws (6) to the end cap (3).

(12) It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.

(13) While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the claims of the present invention.