Precision air bearing slide and stage assembly for controlled linear motion
AssigneeLintech Motion Control, Inc.
InventorBerj Kafai
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An air bearing slide assembly including a carriage having a plurality of planar slide faces containing integrally mounted porous carbon air bearings, the carriage being movable over a slide ram. The slide faces of the carriage being mated to opposing planar slide surfaces on the slide ram, wherein compressed air expelled from the air bearings creates a hydrostatic fluid film between the slide ram and the air bearings, thereby separating and supporting the carriage for longitudinal movement over the slide ram.
Claims17
A carriage assembly adapted to be slidably mated to a slide ram for use in a linear slide assembly, the carriage assembly comprising:
- a plurality of gas bearings;
- upper and lower horizontal bearing carriers;
- left and right vertical bearing carriers;
- each bearing carrier being adapted to hold at least one gas bearing, the carriers including a throttling port which opens to a recessed gas cavity, the port and cavity being positioned behind each gas bearing;
- each carrier further including at least one internal passageway for delivering pressurized gas to the throttling port, wherein the pressurized gas enters the recessed cavity and is expelled through the gas bearing;
- the internal gas delivery passageways being aligned such that when the upper and lower horizontal carriers are attached to the left and right vertical carriers, one continuous passageway is formed such that each gas bearing in each respective carrier may be pressurized from a single external gas supply port;
- and
- fasteners for attaching the upper and lower bearing carriers to the left and right bearing carriers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.