Braking apparatus for cylinder

A braking apparatus for a rod-less cylinder having a slidable piston in a cylinder body, the apparatus comprising:

• a transfer body arranged outside the cylinder body, and coupled to the piston to be movable with the piston;
• a brake rail laid along a moving direction of the piston, the brake rail having a pair of braking surfaces formed at its upper and lower portions and a fitting side surface facing the cylinder body, said brake rail being secured on the cylinder body in such a way that said fitting side surface contacts an outer side surface of the cylinder body over an entire length of said brake rail;
• braking means provided in said transfer body, and having a pair of braking portions contactable to said braking surfaces in such a way as to sandwich said brake rail in line contact along a width direction of said brake rail, said braking means being selectively switched between a contact position where said braking portions are pressed against said brake rail and a release position where the forced abutment to the brake rail is released;
• and
• operation means for switching said braking means between the contact position and the release position to perform braking and unbraking on said transfer member.