Patents Assigned to Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
  • Patent number: 8360644
    Abstract: A linear motion guide unit in which the smaller pitch between the center-lines of adjacent rollers installed in a cage results in the greater number of the rollers lying in a preselected length of the cage to increase load-carrying capacity. The cage plate has openings for retaining the rollers arranged in the lengthwise direction of the cage plate. Each of the openings has a contour whose major axis lies in a widthwise direction of the cage plate. Bearing lips retain axially opposite end surfaces of the rollers, the bearing lips extending inside from an edge around the opening at locations corresponding with diametrically opposite ends of the major axis. The bearing lips end into wedged bearing edges deformable elastically. The bearing edges have bearing slants that conform to the end surfaces of the roller to bear the roller thereon. The bearing slants are in diametrically symmetric relation to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2013
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shinji Kanoh
  • Patent number: 8353225
    Abstract: An actuator has a frame and a slider body which are both made of extruded shapes of light-metal alloy. A first rail member is fastened to the frame by means of a simple construction. An upper sealing member is placed between the frame and the slider body. With the actuator constructed as stated earlier, the frame is an elongated extrusion of U-shape in transverse section whose side walls have first recesses of dovetail configuration to fit over first rail members and flanges. A slider has therein the slider body having second recesses of rectangular shape to fit over second rail members. There is further provided a driving unit to force the slider with respect to the frame. The first rail members each have the wedged configuration including tapered contours and dents, while the second rail members each have the rectangular shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Junya Mori, Tetsuya Sakai
  • Publication number: 20120285278
    Abstract: A clean environmental actuator is less in weight, height in transverse section and compact in construction, even with ensuring accurate position control and conformable to high speed operation and high acceleration/deceleration. Both a bed and a slider are stowed in an enclosure and packings are in T-slots in side walls of the bed to seal clearances between the bed and the enclosure. The enclosure is composed of an end bracket to cover one end of the bed, a motor bracket to cover another end of the bed, a pair of side coverings to enclose the side surfaces and tops of the side walls of the bed, a sealing panel to cover an upward opening between the side coverings, and a table covering to overlay an area of the sealing panel lying on the slider and side areas of the table bulging out from side edges of the sealing panel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Applicant: NIPPON THOMPSON CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tetsuya SAKAI
  • Publication number: 20120243811
    Abstract: A synthetic resin cage plate to retain rollers is between guideway members. The smaller pitch between the rollers results in the greater number of the rollers in a preselected length of the cage to get heavier load-carrying capacity. A pinion holder is molded integrally with the cage plate. The rollers are retained in openings in the cage plate in such a tilt that their rotating axes are in perpendicular to the lengthwise direction of the raceway surfaces and also in tilting at 45 degrees relatively to major surfaces of the cage plate. The openings on their contour edges have bearing lips to retain end surfaces of the rollers. The cage plate has flanges extending on the lengthwise widthwise edges of the cage plate and bulging out over the major surfaces of the cage plate to render the cage plate tougher to warp or bend.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2012
    Publication date: September 27, 2012
    Applicant: NIPPON THOMPSON CO., LTD
    Inventors: Shinji KANO, Tsuguyoshi NARA
  • Publication number: 20120230623
    Abstract: A rolling-contact bearing has an outer ring, an inner ring or a shaft rotational relative to the outer ring and a full complement of rollers disposed for rotation between the outer ring and the shaft. A semisolid gel-like lubricant composed of a mixture of a gelling agent and lubricating oil is packed into interstices or gaps between the outer ring and the rollers and among the adjacent rollers to retain surely the rollers on a circular inside surface of the outer ring. The gel-like lubricant is composed of the lubricating oil of mineral oil or base oil, and a powdery oil gelling agent based on amino acids.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2012
    Publication date: September 13, 2012
    Applicant: NIPPON THOMPSON CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kengo HIDANO, Shoji Nagao, Shigemasa Itabashi, Akihide Yanagitani
  • Patent number: 8251586
    Abstract: 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 (26e) having a recess or a hole is formed in a member body (26) straddling the rail (R). An impregnation holding member (30) 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 (21a, 21b) of the rail located higher relative to the other raceway section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masatoshi Kondo
  • Publication number: 20120201483
    Abstract: A linear motion guide unit is provided which is downsized in size, maintenance-free for lubrication, and makes it possible to assemble easily and quickly the slider with accuracy. The end cap has outward end surfaces each of which is concaved to provide a first recess to fit over a lubricant applicator of porous compact to apply the rollers while running through the turnaround passages, and a second recess to fit over a retainer plate. The retainer plate is surrounded with a peripheral edge of the end cap and held in place with a snap-fit engagement with the end cap to squeeze the lubricant applicator inside the first recess in the end cap.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2012
    Publication date: August 9, 2012
    Applicant: NIPPON THOMPSON CO., LTD
    Inventor: Yoshihiro YOSHIDA
  • Publication number: 20120195535
    Abstract: Lubrication for rolling elements is carried out in a turnaround passage in an end cap. An applicator nose to come into touch with the rolling elements has a molding density greater than in a lubricant reservoir plate to ensure proper and steady lubrication, with accompanying sustainable maintenance-free condition for lubrication. The lubricant reservoir plate impregnated with lubricant fits into a concavity inside the end cap. The applicator nose is integral with the lubricant reservoir plate and extends through a hole cut in the end cap to reach a turnaround passage to be exposed at a leading edge thereof to the rolling element to resupply the lubricant around the rolling elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 20, 2012
    Publication date: August 2, 2012
    Applicant: NIPPON THOMPSON CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuichi SHIBUYA, Ayumi Shimaguchi
  • Patent number: 8206038
    Abstract: A pinion-holder assembly is compact in size to fit easily within a transverse area of a raceway defined between raceway grooves on guideway members. The pinion-holder assembly is preferable to fit securely into a cage plate with ease, helping lessen required number of parts, simple and compact in construction, and less costly to fabricate. A holder has sides bulged widthwise into triangular shapes in transverse section to closely conform to the raceways on the guideway members and recesses lying in the lengthwise direction at apexes or ridges of the triangular shapes. A cage plate has a window of rectangular shape longer in sides in the lengthwise direction of the cage plate, and the longer sides have fringes somewhat raised inside the window so as to fit into the recesses on the holder, hereby fastening the holder to the cage plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shinji Kanoh
  • Patent number: 8206036
    Abstract: A linear motion rolling guide unit, which has underside seals prevented from falling off a slider, comprises a slider having a pair of end caps secured at ends of a casing, and underside seals provided between the pair of end caps having engaging projections. Insertion holes are formed in the underside seals and engaged with the engaging projections to secure the underside seals to the slider. Fallout-inhibiting protrusions are provided at ends of each underside seal in the longitudinal direction. The slider has holding portions each having a hole or a recess into which each of the fallout-inhibiting protrusions is inserted when the underside seal is secured to the slider. A gap is maintained between the holding portion having the hole or the recess and the outer periphery of the fallout-inhibiting protrusion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hideki Kuwabara
  • Patent number: 8147141
    Abstract: A linear motion guide unit is disclosed in which an end cap of a slider has a tube therein to feed even minor amounts of lubricant into a circulating circuit for rollers with no lubricant leakage, making sure of positive lubrication irrespective of working orientations or postures of the linear motion guide unit. A flexible tube made of fluorocarbon polymers is installed in the end cap to run from a lubricant inlet to a turnaround passage, thereby providing a lubricant-supply passage. A distal end of the tube fits into a three-way member made open to the turnaround passage on a spacer part, which is nested inside the end cap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masashi Fumoto, Ryo Kikuchi, Takeshi Kakamu, Yasuhiro Otsuji
  • Publication number: 20120076447
    Abstract: A ball-spline with rotary mechanism is provided which is as small as possible in size, able to perform high-precision works on a small scale and also weighs less than ever, helping the downsizing of the component-placement systems. The ball-spline has a spline shaft, a slider movable along the spline shaft through balls, and bearings installed on the opposite ends of the slider for rotation relative to a machine bed. The holder has a pair of projections which extend through slots in the spacer parts and slots in the end-cap major body to fit into slots in a carriage. Fastening screws fit into threaded holes in the projections to fasten the holder to the opposite ends of the slider.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2011
    Publication date: March 29, 2012
    Applicant: NIPPON THOMPSON CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toyohisa ISHIHARA, Shinji KANOH
  • Patent number: 8142079
    Abstract: A liner motion guide unit has a means to keep a cage against wandering, in which a pinion is made up of holder halves that are adapted to squeeze each other against the cage to make sure of keeping a pinion in place with accuracy. The means for keeping the cage against wandering is comprised of a pinion holder fitting into a window cut in the cage, racks lying on sides of the guideway members, one to each side, and a pinion provided with teeth mating with the racks and installed in the cage for rotation. The pinion holder is made up of holder halves, any one of which lies on any one side of the cage at a marginal edge of the cage at the same marginal edge of the window. The holder halves have sidewise extensions to firmly squeeze the cage between them along the marginal edge of the window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2012
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shigeki Kakei
  • Publication number: 20120051676
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2011
    Publication date: March 1, 2012
    Applicant: NIPPON THOMPSON CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masatoshi KONDO, Hideki KUWABARA
  • Patent number: 8123408
    Abstract: A linear motion guide unit has a binding strip adapted to fasten a retainer plate to a carriage miniature in dimension, but long in lengthwise direction. The linear motion guide unit has a retainer plate lying lengthwise of the carriage in opposition to load-carrying race to keep more than one roller running through the load-carrying race, and a binding strip to fasten the retainer plate to the carriage. The binding strip is composed of a major part having any number of bents which are positioned at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of binding strip, and lengthwise opposite angled parts prepared to come into engagement with the end caps, so that the binding strip urges elastically at the bents thereof the retainer to come into close engagement with carriage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2012
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kenjiro Nishiwaki
  • Patent number: 8113714
    Abstract: By reducing the component count, a more compact linear motion guide unit having sealing structures capable of maintaining high sealing performance between slider and guide rail over a long term is realized. A rubber-made end seal, attached to each end face of a slider slidably straddling a guide rail, has a lip portion integrally formed on a contact face with the guide rail, and a recessed portion formed in a face opposite to a mounting face attached to the slider. A positional relationship is determined such that the lip portion is located closer to the slider than the recess bottom face is. An oil-impregnated wiper seal is mounted in the recessed portion of the end seal. A scraper is disposed along the outer side of the wiper seal mounted in the recessed portion, so that the wiper seal is fixedly interposed between the scraper and the recess bottom face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2012
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Ogura, Toshiaki Geka
  • Publication number: 20120014628
    Abstract: A linear motion guide unit is described in which a cage plate in itself and of itself can retain rollers in place so as to facilitate and simplify handling of the rollers and other parts on manufacture and assembly phases. In addition, the linear motion guide unit has the constructional feature in that the smaller pitch between the center-lines of adjacent rollers installed in a cage results in the greater number of the rollers lying in a preselected length of the cage to get heavier load-carrying capacity. The cage plate has openings to retain the rollers therein which are arranged in the lengthwise direction of the cage plate. Each of the openings has a contour whose major axis lies in a widthwise direction of the cage plate. The openings have therein bearing lips to retain axially opposite end surfaces of the rollers, the bearing lips extending inside from an edge around the opening at locations corresponding with diametrically opposite ends of the major axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2011
    Publication date: January 19, 2012
    Applicant: NIPPON THOMPSON CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shinji KANOH
  • Publication number: 20110291494
    Abstract: A three-dimensional sliding system has an X-table and a Z-table, which are actuated to travel independently of each other. The sliding system is simple in construction and adapted to actuate a movable table with less takt time. A bed has a first flat zone extending in a horizontal direction to carry the X-table thereon, a second flat zone extending in a vertical direction to carry the Z-table thereon, and a third flat zone where the first flat zone merges with the second flat zone. The movable table is laid over the third flat zone and linked with the X-table and the Z-table through linear motion guide units, respectively. Actuations of an X-linear motor in an X-direction and actuation of a Z-linear motor in a Z-direction cause the movable table to move into a targeted position with high precision in the X-direction and in the Z-direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2011
    Publication date: December 1, 2011
    Applicant: NIPPON THOMPSON CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Eiji IDA, Norimitsu Kitade
  • Patent number: 8061227
    Abstract: A small slider unit having a size effectively reduced in the longitudinal direction is equipped with a rail 22; a slide table 23 moving on the rail 22; a screw shaft 26 coupled to the slide table 23 and situated parallel to the rail 22; a motor M for rotating the screw shaft 26; a coupling member 31 for providing the coupling between a rotating shaft 32 of the motor M and the screw shaft 26; and a bearing 29 supporting the screw shaft 26. The screw shaft 26 is rotated by driving the motor M, whereupon the rotation of the screw shaft 26 moves the slide table 23 in the axis direction of the rail 22. The screw shaft 26 has a holding portion 27a, and the bearing 29 is held between the holding portion 27a and the coupling member 31.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tetsuya Sakai
  • Patent number: 8058775
    Abstract: A movable table unit provided here has a simple structure but can increase the precision of detecting the displacement of a movable table, and comprises a quadrangle frame-shaped stationary base a movable table disposed inside the stationary base, spring members interposed between the movable table and the stationary base, and a piezoelectric element fixed to either the stationary base or the movable table and capable of expanding/contracting in the axis direction to exert either an expansion or contraction force on the other, to allow the movable table to move relative to the stationary base. A strain gauge is mounted in a strain occurrence site where strain occurs as the movable table moves, so that the amount of travel of the movable table is detected on the basis of the value detected by the strain gauge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2011
    Assignee: Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd
    Inventor: Naohito Tsuruta