THK linear guides are a type of rolling guide, where steel balls roll infinitely between the slider and the rail, allowing the load platform to easily move along the rail with high precision. Linear motion . Compared to traditional sliding guides, the coefficient of friction of rolling guides can be reduced to 1/50 of the original. Because of the frictional force is greatly reduced, relatively less ineffective movement occurs, so μm-level feeding and positioning can be easily achieved. In addition, the design of the constraint unit between the slider and the rail makes linear guides capable of simultaneously withstanding loads in various directions such as up, down, left, and right. The characteristics listed above are unmatched by traditional sliding guides; therefore, if the machine is matched with ball screws and linear guides are used for guidance, the equipment's precision and mechanical efficiency 。

(1) High positioning accuracy

Using linear guides as linear guides results in rolling friction, not only reducing the coefficient of friction to 1/50 that of sliding guides, but also making the difference between kinetic and static friction very small. Therefore, when the bed runs, there will be no slippage, and μm-level positioning accuracy can be achieved.

(2) Low consumption and long-term precision maintenance

Traditional sliding guides inevitably suffer from poor platform movement accuracy due to oil film backflow, and insufficient lubrication during movement leads to wear on the running track contact surface, seriously affecting accuracy. However, rolling guides have very little wear, so the machine can maintain accuracy for a long time.

(3) Suitable for high-speed movement and significantly reduces the required drive power of the machine

Since the frictional force is very small when the THK linear guide moves, only a small amount of power is needed to run the bed, especially when the bed operates frequently back and forth, which can significantly reduce the machine's power consumption. And because the heat generated by friction is small, it can be used for high-speed operation.

(4) Can withstand loads in the up, down, left, and right directions simultaneously

Due to the special constraint structure design of the linear guide, it can withstand loads in the up, down, left, and right directions simultaneously, unlike sliding guides, which can only withstand a small amount of lateral load in the parallel contact surface direction, easily causing poor machine running accuracy.

(5) Easy assembly and interchangeability

During assembly, simply mill or grind the mounting surface of the rail on the bed, and fix the rail and slider to the machine with a specific torque according to the recommended steps to reproduce the high precision during processing. For traditional sliding guides, the running track needs to be scraped, which is time-consuming and laborious, and if the machine's accuracy is poor, it must be scraped again. Linear guides are interchangeable, and the slider, rail, or even the linear guide assembly can be replaced individually, allowing the machine to regain high-precision guidance.

(6) Simple lubrication structure

If sliding guides are not lubricated enough, direct metal-to-metal friction will occur on the contact surface, causing wear on the bed, and it is not easy to achieve sufficient lubrication for sliding guides; oil holes need to be drilled in appropriate positions on the bed. THK linear guides have oil nozzles installed on the slider, allowing grease to be directly injected with an oil gun, or a dedicated oil pipe connector can be used to connect the oil supply pipe for automatic lubrication.