Ball screw mechanism

Abstract

Between two mutually adjoining load balls 5 , there is interposed a retaining piece 10 having two concave surfaces 11 which are respectively opposed to the two adjoining load balls 5 . The retaining piece 10 has an outside diameter dimension equal to or more than 0.5 times the outside diameter dimension of the load ball 5 . Further, the retaining piece 10 has an outside diameter dimension which, when the retaining piece 10 passes through a screw groove circulation passage and a tube circulation passage, prevents the retaining piece 10 from touching the inner walls of these screw groove circulation passage and tube circulation passage, or has an outside diameter dimension which is equal to or less than 0.9 times the outside diameter dimension of the load ball. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a ball screw mechanism which can prevent a retaining piece from interfering with the inner walls of circulation passages to circulate load balls stably to thereby prevent variations in torque as well as prevent the wear of the retaining piece to thereby enhance the durability thereof.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A ball screw mechanism comprising: 
 a screw shaft having a spiral-shaped screw groove on its outer peripheral surface;    a nut member having a spiral-shaped screw groove on its inner peripheral surface mutually facing said spiral-shaped screw groove of said screw shaft;    a plurality of load balls disposed in a spiral-shaped screw groove circulation passage formed by said mutually facing screw grooves and also in a return circulation passage which is formed in said nut member and is continuously connected to said spiral-shaped screw groove circulation passage, wherein said load balls taken out from said screw groove circulation passage can be returned again into said screw groove circulation passage through said return circulation passage;    a plurality of retaining pieces each interposed between every two mutually adjoining ones of said load balls, said retaining piece having two concave surfaces respectively facing said two load balls and also an outside diameter dimension in the range from 0.5 to 0.9 times the outside diameter dimension of said load ball.    
     
     
         2 . The ball screw mechanism according to  claim 1 , wherein a radius of curvature of a bent portion in said return circulation passage satisfies a following equation  
         R ≈( BCD−Dw )/2  where R defines the radius curvature, BCD expresses a load ball pitch circle diameter, and Dw expresses a load ball outside diameter.    
     
     
         3 . The ball screw mechanism according to  claim 1 , wherein an diameter-direction outer peripheral surface of at least one of said retaining pieces is formed into a concave shape.  
     
     
         4 . A ball screw mechanism comprising: 
 a screw shaft having a spiral-shaped screw groove on its inner peripheral surface mutually facing said spiral-shaped screw groove of screw shaft;    a nut member having a spiral-shaped screw groove on its on its inner peripheral surface mutually facing said spiral-shaped screw groove of the screw shaft;    a plurality of load balls disposed in a spiral-shaped screw groove circulation passage formed by said mutually facing screw grooves and also in a return circulation passage which is formed in said nut member and is continuously connected to said spiral-shaped screw groove circulation passage, wherein said load balls taken out from said screw groove circulation passage can be returned again into said screw groove circulation passage through said return circulation passage,    wherein, between every two mutually adjoining ones of said load balls, there is interposed a retaining piece having two concave surfaces respectively facing said two load balls, said retaining piece has an outside diameter dimension equal to or more than 0.5 times the outside diameter dimension of said load ball, and said retaining piece has an outside diameter dimension which, when said retaining piece passes through said screw groove circulation passage and said tube circulation passage, prevents said retaining piece from touching the inner walls of said screw groove circulation passage and said return circulation passage,    wherein a radius of curvature of a bent portion in said return circulation passage satisfies a following equation      R ≈( BCD−Dw )/2    where R defines the radius curvature, BCD expresses a load ball pitch circle diameter, and Dw expresses a load ball outside diameter.    
     
     
         5 . The ball screw mechanism of  claim 1 , wherein said plurality of load balls and said plurality of retaining pieces comprise such a number so as to satisfy the following equations:  
       S1>0; and  S 2<0.8 ×ds,    wherein, when all the load balls and all the retaining pieces are gathered to one side so as to form a continuous chain, S1 is a clearance formed between a load ball positioned at a head of the chain and a tail retaining piece positioned at a tail of the chain, S2 is a clearance between the head load ball and a tail load ball when the tail retaining piece is removed, and ds is the diameter of the retaining pieces.    
     
     
         6 . The ball screw mechanism of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said retaining pieces is shaped as a sphere and has recesses formed therein, wherein said recesses are opposite one another.  
     
     
         7 . The ball screw mechanism of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said retaining pieces is X-shaped in cross section.  
     
     
         8 . The ball screw mechanism of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said retaining pieces is shaped as a cylinder and has recesses formed therein, wherein said recesses are opposite one another.  
     
     
         9 . The ball screw mechanism of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said retaining pieces, in cross section, further comprises rounded corners.  
     
     
         10 . The ball screw mechanism of  claim 4 , wherein said plurality of load balls and said plurality of retaining pieces comprise such a number so as to satisfy the following equations:  
       S1>0; and  S 2<0.8 ×ds,    wherein, when all the load balls and all the retaining pieces are gathered to one side so as to form a continuous chain, S1 is a clearance formed between a load ball positioned at a head of the chain and a tail retaining piece positioned at a tail of the chain, S2 is a clearance between the head load ball and a tail load ball when the tail retaining piece is removed, and ds is the diameter of the retaining piece.    
     
     
         11 . The ball screw mechanism of  claim 4 , wherein said retaining piece is shaped as a sphere, and said two concave surfaces are opposite one another.  
     
     
         12 . The ball screw mechanism of  claim 4 , wherein said retaining piece is X-shaped in cross section.  
     
     
         13 . The ball screw mechanism of  claim 4 , wherein said retaining piece is shaped as a cylinder and said two concave surfaces are opposite one another.  
     
     
         14 . The ball screw mechanism of  claim 4 , wherein said retaining piece, in cross section, comprises rounded corners.  
     
     
         15 . A ball screw mechanism comprising: 
 a screw shaft having a spiral-shaped screw groove on its outer peripheral surface;    a nut member having a spiral-shaped screw groove on its inner peripheral surface mutually facing said spiral-shaped screw groove of said screw shaft;    a plurality of load balls disposed in a spiral-shaped screw groove circulation passage formed by said mutually facing screw grooves and also in a return circulation passage which is formed in said nut member and is continuously connected to said spiral-shaped screw groove circulation passage, wherein said load balls taken out from said screw groove circulation passage can be returned again into said screw groove circulation passage through said return circulation passage;    a plurality of retaining pieces each interposed between every two mutually adjoining ones of said load balls, said retaining piece having two concave surfaces respectively facing said two load balls and also an outside diameter dimension in the range from 0.5 to 0.9 times the outside diameter dimension of said load ball, wherein an outer peripheral portion of each of the retaining pieces is projected in a radial direction thereof.    
     
     
         16 . A ball screw mechanism comprising: 
 a screw shaft having a spiral-shaped screw groove on its outer peripheral surface;    a nut member having a spiral-shaped screw groove on its inner peripheral surface mutually facing said spiral-shaped screw groove of said screw shaft;    a plurality of load balls disposed in a spiral-shaped screw groove circulation passage formed by said mutually facing screw grooves and also in a return circulation passage which is formed in said nut member and is continuously connected to said spiral-shaped screw groove circulation passage, wherein said load balls taken out from said screw groove circulation passage can be returned again into said screw groove circulation passage through said return circulation passage;    a plurality of retaining pieces each interposed between every two mutually adjoining ones of said load balls, said retaining piece having two concave surfaces respectively facing said two load balls and also an outside diameter dimension in the range from 0.5 to 0.9 times the outside diameter dimension of said load ball, wherein each of said retaining pieces is concave in a radial direction thereof.    
     
     
         17 . The ball screw mechanism according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said plurality of retaining pieces has an outside diameter dimension of 0.9 times the outside diameter dimension of said load ball.  
     
     
         18 . The ball screw mechanism according to  claim 15 , wherein at least one of said plurality of retaining pieces has an outside diameter dimension of 0.5 times the outside diameter dimension of said load ball.  
     
     
         19 . The ball screw mechanism according to  claim 16 , wherein at least one of said plurality of retaining pieces has an outside diameter dimension of either 0.5 or 0.9 times the outside diameter dimension of said load ball.