Slide apparatus

A slide apparatus comprising

• a track rail having a pair of raceways extending in a longitudinal direction thereof in a mutually opposed state,
• a slider capable of being moved slidingly along said raceways of said track rail,
• a nut fixed to said slider,
• a screw shaft engaged with said nut,
• a pair of screw shaft supports supporting two end portions of said screw shaft and fixed in a bridged state to upper surfaces of two end portions of said two raceways,
• a bearing supporting at least one of the end portions of said screw shaft,
• a bearing support metal member comprising thin steel sheet, to which said bearing is fixed, provided fixedly in a bearing housing provided on one of said screw shaft supports,
• a feed screw mechanism formed of said nut and said screw shaft and adapted to slidingly move said slider with respect to said track rail, and
• a driving motor fixed to either one of said screw shaft supports so as to move said nut by rotating said screw shaft;
• wherein said feed screw mechanism includes a ball screw provided with said nut and said screw shaft, and balls provided between a helical groove of said nut and that of said screw shaft;
• wherein said track rail includes a longitudinally extending bottom portion and said two raceways extend along widthwise opposing sides of the bottom portion to form a recess, wherein said slider fits for sliding movement along said track rail;
• wherein said slider includes a casing provided with second raceway grooves opposed to first raceway grooves formed in said raceways of said track rail, rolling elements rolling between said first and second raceway grooves, end caps fixed to both end surfaces of said casing, and end seals fixed to end surfaces of said end caps, and
• wherein said bearing support metal member is accommodated in said bearing housing of said screw shaft support, with providing a clearance to allow position alignment between them, and said bearing support metal member is comprised of a cylindrical portion in which an outer ring of a bearing fits, and a flange integral with the cylindrical portion, said flange being abutted against an end face of said screw shaft support to fix said bearing support metal member on said screw shaft support.