JP2006080260A - Guide mechanism and work transport device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a guide mechanism and a work transport device capable of reducing a load at maintenance by extending components life, in the configuration where rails are connected to allow a slider to transfer. <P>SOLUTION: Using a guide mechanism consisting of a rail and a slider, two rails are connected to allow the slider to transfer. Additional rails 19 and 21 of flexible material such as resin are attached to the ends of a rails 6 and 17 to provide a buffer part. While the rails are connected, deviation in the widthwise direction of a rail when the slider transits a rail connection is relaxed by deflection of the additional rails 19 and 21, and the impact when the ball of the slider hits the buffer is absorbed by elastic deformation of the additional rails 19 and 21. Thus, the components life of a direct motion guide mechanism is extended to reduce the load at maintenance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a guide mechanism including a rail and a slider, and a workpiece transfer device that transfers a workpiece such as a substrate using the guide mechanism.

2. Description of the Related Art In an electronic component mounting apparatus such as an electronic component mounting apparatus that mounts electronic components on a substrate, a transport mechanism that moves a workpiece such as a substrate linearly by moving a slider along a rail is often used. In such a transport mechanism, a so-called sort operation that switches the transport destination of the workpiece by moving the moving table between two rows of rails arranged at different positions, or a moving table between two rails where the ends are interrupted. In the case of performing a so-called shuttle operation that relays the transfer of the workpiece by making it come and go, it is necessary to transfer the slider that moves integrally with the moving table between the ends of the two rails. In such a case, the two rails are aligned in the width direction and the end surfaces of the two rails are brought close to each other, and the slider is moved as if it were one continuous rail (for example, a patent) Reference 1).
Japanese Patent No. 3116848

  However, in a high-accuracy linear guide mechanism using a rolling guide system such as a ball or a roller, when two rails are connected and the slider is transferred, there is a slight misalignment in the connecting part of the rails. Smooth transfer operation is difficult to achieve. That is, when the rolling member of the slider passes through the stepped portion due to displacement, an impact is applied to the rail and the slider, generating noise and vibration and reducing the life of the component due to abnormal wear. For this reason, when a configuration in which the rails are connected and the sliders are transferred is adopted, the life of the parts may be reduced, and the load of maintenance work such as machine adjustment and parts replacement may be increased.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a guide mechanism and a work transfer device that can extend the life of a part and reduce the load of maintenance work in a configuration in which a rail is connected to transfer a slider.

  The guide mechanism of the present invention is a guide mechanism comprising a rail and a slider guided to the rail via a rolling member, and is provided by attaching an additional rail made of a flexible material to the end of the rail. A rail having an end surface of the second rail close to the end surface of the first rail and the second rail being aligned with the first rail in a substantially straight line. In the connected state, the displacement of the slider when it moves on the rail connecting portion between the first rail and the second rail is alleviated by the bending of the additional rail, and the rolling member contacts the buffer portion. The impact at the time of contact is absorbed by elastic deformation of the additional rail.

A workpiece conveyance device according to the present invention is a workpiece conveyance device using a guide mechanism including a rail and a slider that is guided to the rail via a rolling member. The workpiece conveyance device includes a second rail with respect to the first rail. The rail positioning means for aligning the two in a substantially straight line by moving them relative to each other and bringing the end surface of the second rail close to the end surface of the first rail, and the first rail-connected state The slider that can be transferred between the second rail and the second rail, the workpiece holding portion that is fixedly moved to the slider and moves integrally, and the workpiece holding portion is moved along the first rail and the second rail. A work holding part moving means to be connected, and a first rail and / or an additional rail made of a flexible material at the end of the second rail at a connecting part between the first rail and the second rail. A buffer portion provided by wearing, and the buffer portion relieves positional displacement when the slider moves over the connecting portion by bending the additional rail, and the rolling member is a buffer portion. The impact at the time of abutment is absorbed by elastic deformation of the additional rail.

  According to the present invention, in a configuration in which two rails are connected and the slider is transferred, the slider is provided with a buffer portion provided by attaching an additional rail made of a flexible material to the end portion of the rail. As well as alleviating misalignment when moving between the connecting parts between the rails, it can absorb the impact when the rolling member abuts against the buffer part, extending the service life of parts and reducing the load of maintenance work Can do.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a workpiece transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the workpiece transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a guide mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a position fixing mechanism, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a rail connecting portion in a guide mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are additional rails in the guide mechanism of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the workpiece transfer device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the configuration of the workpiece transfer apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. In the component mounting apparatus for mounting an electronic component on a substrate (work), the workpiece transfer device transfers a substrate supplied from the upstream side (right side in FIG. 1) to the mounting position, and the mounted substrate is downstream. It has the function to carry out to the (left side in FIG. 1). In FIG. 1, the moving table 1 is configured by stacking a Y-axis table 3 on an X-axis table 2 and further arranging a Z-axis table 4 on the Y-axis table 3. The Z-axis table 4 has a structure in which an elevating mechanism 4b is arranged in a vertical posture on a horizontal base plate 4a, and a rail holding portion 5 that is moved up and down by the elevating mechanism 4b is guided by a vertical guide post 4c.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a rail 6 is horizontally disposed on the upper surface of the rail holding portion 5, and a slider 9 is slidably mounted on the rail 6. The rail 6 is a linear motion guide member that ensures high linearity, and the slider 9 is guided along the rail 6 via a ball that is a rolling member. When the slider 9 moves, the ball rolls in the ball rolling groove 6a (see FIG. 4) provided on the rail 6 with the ball preloaded and without a gap. Accordingly, high positional accuracy is realized when the substrate 10 described below is transported.

  A holding plate 8 is bolted to the upper surface of the slider 9 as shown in FIG. 1. The upper surface of the holding plate 8 is a substrate holding surface for holding a substrate 10 on which electronic components are mounted. The plate 8 is fixed to the slider 9 and constitutes a substrate holding part 7 (work holding part) that moves integrally along the rail 6. In the component mounting apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the substrate 10 is conveyed while being held by the substrate holding unit 7. Here, the rail 6 is a mounting rail that guides the substrate holding portion 7 at a mounting position where the electronic component is mounted on the substrate 10.

  A rail 17 is fixedly arranged in the X direction on the upstream side of the rail 6 and a rail 15 is fixed on the downstream side. As will be described later, the rail 6 can be connected to these rails 17 and 15, and each rail 17 functions as a carry-in rail that guides the board holding portion 7 before being carried into the mounting position. It functions as a carry-out rail that guides the substrate holding part 7 carried out from the mounting position.

  By driving the moving table 1, the following operations are performed. By driving the Y-axis table 3 in the state shown in FIG. 1, that is, with the substrate holding unit 7 mounted on the rail 6, the rail 6 and the substrate holding unit 7 on the Z-axis table 4 move in the Y direction, Thereby, the substrate 10 held by the holding plate 8 can be positioned below the mounting head 12. In this state, the substrate 10 is aligned with the mounting head 12, and then the mounting head 12 is lowered, whereby the electronic component 11 held by the mounting head 12 is mounted on the substrate 10.

  Further, in order to move the board holding unit 7 holding the board 10 from the rail 17 as the loading rail to the rail 6, the X-axis table 2, the Y-axis table 3 and the Z-axis table 4 are driven to move the rail 6 to the rail 17. The board holding part 7 is transferred from the rail 17 to the rail 6 by being connected. And when carrying out the board | substrate holding | maintenance part 7 holding the board | substrate 10 after the electronic component 11 was mounted, a board | substrate holding | maintenance is carried out from the rail 6 to the downstream rail 15 by connecting the rail 6 to the rail 15 on the downstream side. Transfer part 7.

  The movement of the substrate holder 7 for transferring the substrate holder 7 from the rail 17 to the rail 6 and from the rail 6 to the rail 15 is performed by the transfer arm 14 shown in FIG. The transfer arm 14 reciprocates horizontally between the rails 17 and 15 and can move up and down. The transfer arm 14 is horizontally moved in the transfer direction with the transfer arm 14 in contact with the side surface of the holding plate 8. By moving, the substrate holding unit 7 is pushed by the transfer arm 14. Accordingly, the transfer arm 14 serves as a work holding unit moving unit that moves the substrate holding unit 7 that is a work holding unit along the first rail and the second rail.

  Position fixing portions 13 and 18 are provided on the rail 6 and the rail 17, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3A, the position fixing portion 13 provided on the rail 6 is fixed to the rail holding portion 5, and the substrate holding portion 7 extends along the rail 6 as shown in FIG. When the positioning recess 9a provided on the slider 9 reaches the position of the position fixing portion 13, the ball 13a urged upward by a spring (not shown) of the position fixing portion 13 is fitted into the positioning recess 9a. Thus, the position of the board holding portion 7 is fixed to the mounting standby position set on the rail 6. The position fixing portion 18 provided on the upstream rail 17 has the same function, and when the positioning recess 9 a reaches the position fixing portion 18, the position of the substrate holding portion 7 is a loading standby position set on the rail 17. Fixed to.

  Next, in the above configuration, a rail connecting part for transferring the substrate holding part 7 between two rails and an additional rail added to the end of the rail 6 or the rails 17 and 15 to form the rail connecting part. explain. Here, an example in which the rail 6 as the first rail and the rail 17 as the second rail are connected is shown, but the same applies to the case where the rail 6 and the rail 15 are connected. As shown in FIG. 4, in the rail connecting portion A (see FIG. 1) that connects the rail 6 and the rail 17, the rail 6 to which the additional rail 19 is mounted and the rail 17 to which the additional rail 21 is mounted are abutted. ing. Thereby, the rail connection state in which the slider 9 can be transferred between the rail 6 and the rail 17 is formed.

  That is, in this rail connection state, as shown in FIG. 4B, the additional rail 19 added to the rail 6 and the additional rail 21 added to the rail 17 are aligned in a substantially straight line, The rail 6 is placed on the upstream rail so that the positional deviation amount d1 is aligned below an allowable value that does not hinder the transfer of the slider 9 and the end surface gap d2 between the additional rail 19 and the additional rail 21 is within the appropriate clearance range. Align with 17.

In the present embodiment, the rail connection state is realized by driving each axis of the moving table 1 and moving the rail 6 relative to the upstream rail 17 or the downstream rail 15. Therefore, the moving table 1 moves the second rail relative to the first rail so as to align both of them in a substantially straight line, and the end surface of the second rail with respect to the end surface of the first rail. Rail positioning means for bringing the rails into close proximity with each other.

  In the above configuration, the combination of any one of the rail 6, the rail 15, and the rail 17 and the slider 9 constitutes a guide mechanism including a rail and a slider guided to the rail via a rolling member. In each combination of the rail 6 and the additional rail 19, the rail 15 and the additional rail 20, the rail 17 and the additional rail 21, the ends of the rail 6, the rail 15 and the rail 17 to which the additional rails 19, 20, and 21 are attached are A buffer portion is provided by attaching an additional rail made of a flexible material to the end portion of the rail.

  In such a configuration, the above-described buffer portion functions as follows when the slider 9 changes over the rail connecting portion A of the two rails. In the rail connection state shown in FIG. 4, the rail 6 and the rail 17 are not necessarily in a completely aligned state with no positional deviation, and are somewhat displaced in the rail width direction. In this state, when the slider 9 moves on the rail connecting portion A, the ball of the slider 9 rolls over the stepped portion of the butted portion of the additional rails 19 and 21.

  At this time, since the additional rails 19 and 21 are made of a flexible material, the additional rails 19 and 21 have a direction in which the step is reduced by an external force when the preloaded ball moves when the ball gets over the step. And the displacement in the rail width direction is mitigated. When the moving slider 9 gets over the step, the impact when the ball moves while contacting the additional rails 19 and 21 is absorbed by the elastic deformation of the additional rails 19 and 21, and this impact is absorbed by the rails 6 and 17. To prevent direct transmission.

  That is, the buffer portion is arranged in a rail connection state in which the rail 17 (second rail) is aligned with the rail 6 (first rail) in a substantially straight line and the end surface of the rail 17 is close to the end surface of the rail 6. In addition, the displacement of the rail 9 in the rail width direction when the slider 9 moves on the rail connecting portion A between the rail 6 and the rail 17 is alleviated by the bending of the additional rails 19 and 21, and the ball of the slider 9 (the rolling member) ) Is absorbed by elastic deformation of the additional rails 19 and 21.

  The additional rail 19 and the additional rails 20 and 21 added for the purpose of the above-described function are manufactured from a resin material having flexibility and excellent wear resistance. As such a resin material, for example, POM (polyacetal), PA (polyamide), PTFE (tetrafluoroethylene resin), PBI (polybenzimidazole), or the like can be used.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, the shape and mounting method of the additional rails 19, 20, and 21 will be described. Although each figure shows an example in which the additional rail 19 is mounted on the rail 6, the same applies to the case where the additional rails 20 and 21 are targeted. As shown in FIG. 5 (a), ball rolling grooves 6 a on which the balls as rolling members roll are provided on both side surfaces of the rail 6 along the rail direction. Is also provided with a ball rolling groove 19a having the same shape. In the state where the additional rail 19 is mounted on the rail 6, the ball rolling groove 6a and the ball rolling groove 19a function as a continuous rolling groove.

The end face of the rail 6 is provided with a screw hole 6b, and the additional rail 19 is provided with a bolt fastening hole 19b penetrating the additional rail 19 in the rail direction corresponding to the position of the screw hole 6b together with a counterbore hole 19c. It has been. The mounting of the additional rail 19 to the rail 6 is performed by inserting the bolt 22 from the counterbore hole 19c side, screwing it into the screw hole 6b, and fastening. At this time, by attaching the alignment plate 23 to the lower surface side of the rail 6 in advance,
The alignment of the additional rail 19 can be performed accurately and easily.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5 (b), the rail 6 described above is provided with a fitting convex portion 6d for alignment in the width direction on the end face to form the rail 6A, and similarly corresponds to the fitting convex portion 6d on the additional rail 19. An additional rail 19A is formed by providing a fitting recess 19d having the shape described above. When the additional rail 19A is mounted on the rail 6A, the bolt 22 (not shown) is fastened in the same manner as in FIG. 5A with the fitting convex portion 6d fitted in the fitting concave portion 19d. At this time, the alignment in the vertical direction is facilitated by using the alignment plate 23 shown in FIG.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5 (c), the rail 6 is provided with a fitting convex portion 6e that can be aligned in the width direction and the vertical direction on the end surface to form a rail 6B, and the additional rail 19 corresponds to the fitting convex portion 6e. A fitting recess 19e having a shape is provided to form an additional rail 19B. In this case as well, the bolts 22 (not shown) are fastened with the fitting projections 6e fitted to the fitting recesses 19e, but in this example, the alignment in the width direction and the vertical direction is performed simultaneously. There are advantages.

  A rail 6 </ b> C shown in FIG. 6A is obtained by providing an alignment surface 6 f for alignment at the corner portion of the end surface of the rail 6. The additional rail 19C is obtained by providing the additional rail 19 with an alignment surface 19f corresponding to the alignment surface 6f. When the additional rail 19C is mounted on the rail 6C, the alignment surface 19f is used as the alignment surface 6f. The bolts are fastened in the same manner as in the example shown in FIG.

  A rail 6D shown in FIG. 6B shows an example in which alignment surfaces 6g for alignment are provided at both corner portions of the end surface of the rail 6. In this case, alignment surfaces 19g corresponding to the alignment surface 6g are provided on both sides of the end surface of the additional rail 19D. When the additional rail 19D is mounted on the rail 6D, the rail 6 is attached from both sides by the alignment surface 19g. By pressing down, highly accurate and stable positioning is possible.

  The example shown in FIG. 6C is an example of mounting when the additional rail 19E having a small thickness in the rail direction is used. In this case, the additional rail 19E is provided with a countersunk countersunk hole 19h, and a countersunk screw 24, the additional rail 19E is pressed against the end surface of the rail 6E. In this example, the additional rail 19E is aligned with the rail 6E by fitting and abutting the countersunk portion of the countersunk screw 24 to the counterbore surface of the counterbore hole 19h.

  As shown in each of the above examples, the buffer portion in which the additional rail is mounted on the end portion of the rail has a form including alignment means for aligning the additional rail with the rail to be mounted. That is, the alignment plate 23 attached to the rail 6 is shown in FIG. 5A, the fitting convex portion 6d and the fitting concave portion 19d in FIG. 5B, and the fitting convex portion in FIG. 5C. 6e and the fitting recess 19e are the alignment means. Similarly, in FIG. 6A, the alignment surface 6f and the alignment surface 19f are alignment means, and in FIG. 6B, the alignment surface 6g and the alignment surface 19g are alignment means. Furthermore, in FIG. 6C, the combination of the counterbore hole 19h and the countersunk machine screw 24 constitutes the aligning means.

In each example, the additional rails 19, 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, and 19E are each provided with a ball rolling groove 19a that is continuously joined to the ball rolling groove 6a of the rail to be mounted. . That is, the additional rail is provided with a rolling guide groove for guiding the rolling of the rolling member. In each example, the additional rails 19, 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, and 19E are provided with bolt fastening holes 19b provided with counterbore holes 19c, and rails are provided by bolts 22 that pass through the bolt fastening holes 19b. 6 is fixed. That is, a bolt fastening hole is provided through the additional rail in the rail connecting direction, and the additional rail is mounted by screwing the bolt inserted through the bolt fastening hole into the female thread portion provided on the end surface of the mounting target rail. Fix to the target rail.

  In each of the above examples, instead of providing the standard-shaped counterbore hole 19c in the additional rail 19, as shown in FIG. 7A, a counterbore portion 19i having a large opening size is provided to provide the ball rolling groove 6a. By reducing the thickness t of the side surface portion 19j provided with the ball rolling groove 19a to be joined together, the following effects are obtained. That is, as described above, when the additional rail 19F is connected to other rails, some positional deviation in the width direction is inevitable, and this positional deviation is mitigated by elastic deformation of the additional rail 19F. It has become.

  At this time, as the rigidity of the additional rail 19F at the portion where the ball rolls is smaller, the range in which the misalignment can be absorbed is expanded. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7B, by providing a counterbore 19i, which is a large notch, like the additional rail 19F, the rigidity against the reaction force received from the ball is reduced, and the positional deviation mitigation function is improved. improves. That is, in the above configuration, the additional rail is formed with a notch for reducing the rigidity against the reaction force received from the rolling member when the slider is transferred.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the operation of transporting the substrate 10 by the work transport device will be described. FIG. 8A shows a state in which the substrate holding part 7 holding the substrate 10 supplied from the upstream side (right side in FIGS. 8 and 9) is stopped at the loading standby position on the rail 17. At this time, the position of the slider 9 is fixed by the position fixing unit 18, and the transfer arm 14 stands by on the upstream side (right side) of the substrate holding unit 7.

  When the transfer operation is started, as shown in FIG. 8B, the moving table 1 is driven to move the rail 6 to the upstream side, and the additional rail 19 attached to the rail 6 is added to the rail 17. The rail 6 and the rail 17 are connected in proximity to the rail 21 (see FIG. 1). At this time, the rail direction position of the rail 6 is adjusted by the X-axis table 2, and the width direction and the vertical direction position of the rail 6 are adjusted by the Y-axis table 3 and the Z-axis table 4, so that the rail connection state shown in FIG. To do. As a result, the board holding portion 7 can be transferred between the rail 17 and the rail 6.

  Next, the substrate holder 7 is moved. That is, as shown in FIG. 9A, the substrate holding portion 7 is transferred to the rail 6 by driving the transfer arm 14 and pushing the end face of the holding plate 8 to the downstream side. Then, when the slider 9 is held by the position fixing unit 13, the substrate holding unit 7 stands by at the mounting standby position. In this movement of the board holding part 7, since the additional rails 19 and 21 are interposed between the rail 17 and the rail 6 and function as a buffer part, the impact when the board holding part 7 is transferred is reduced. In addition, an excessive load does not act on a rolling mechanism such as a ball built in the slider 9, and the parts life of each part of the linear guide mechanism can be extended.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9B, the X-axis table 2 and the Y-axis table 3 are driven to align the position of the substrate holding portion 7 with respect to the mounting head 12, and then the substrate is moved by the Z-axis table 4. After the height position of 10 is adjusted, the electronic component 11 is mounted on the substrate 10 by moving the mounting head 12 up and down. Thereafter, with the rail 6 connected to the downstream rail 15, the substrate holding section 7 is transferred from the rail 6 to the rail 15 by the transfer arm 14, and the transfer operation of the substrate 10 is completed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the configuration in which two rails are connected and the slider is transferred, a buffer provided by attaching an additional rail made of a flexible material to the end of the rail. The guide mechanism is configured to include a portion. As a result, the positional deviation in the rail width direction (all directions orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the rail) when the slider moves between the connecting portions between the rails is alleviated by the flexure of the additional rail, and the rolling member becomes the buffering portion. The impact at the time of contact can be absorbed by the elastic deformation of the additional rail, and the service life of the parts can be extended and the maintenance work load can be reduced.

  In the above example, in the rail connecting portion that connects the two rails, an example in which the additional rails are attached to both of the two rails to make the additional rails close to each other is shown. However, the additional rail is attached to only one of the rails. You may make it wear.

  The guide mechanism and the work transfer device of the present invention have the effect of extending the service life of the parts and reducing the load of maintenance work, and holding the work by connecting the two rails and transferring the slider. This is useful for a work transfer device configured to move a part.

The perspective view of the workpiece conveyance apparatus of one embodiment of this invention The front view of the workpiece conveyance apparatus of one embodiment of this invention Explanatory drawing of the position fixing mechanism in the guide mechanism of one embodiment of this invention Explanatory drawing of the rail connection part in the guide mechanism of one embodiment of this invention Explanatory drawing of the shape and mounting method of an additional rail in the guide mechanism of one embodiment of the present invention Explanatory drawing of the shape and mounting method of an additional rail in the guide mechanism of one embodiment of the present invention Explanatory drawing of the shape and mounting method of an additional rail in the guide mechanism of one embodiment of the present invention Operation | movement explanatory drawing of the workpiece conveyance apparatus of one embodiment of this invention Operation | movement explanatory drawing of the workpiece conveyance apparatus of one embodiment of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Moving table 6,15,17 Rail 6a Ball rolling groove 6b Screw hole 7 Substrate holding part 8 Holding plate 9 Slider 10 Substrate 11 Electronic component 12 Mounting head 13, 18 Position fixing part 19, 20, 21 Additional rail 19a Ball rolling Dynamic groove 19b Bolt fastening hole

Claims (10)

  A guide mechanism comprising a rail and a slider guided to the rail via a rolling member, comprising a buffer portion provided by attaching an additional rail made of a flexible material to the end of the rail; In the rail connection state in which the buffer portion aligns the second rail with the first rail in a substantially straight line and the end surface of the second rail is close to the end surface of the first rail, the slider The positional shift when the rail connecting portion between the first rail and the second rail is transferred is reduced by the additional rail bending, and the impact when the rolling member abuts against the buffer portion is added. A guide mechanism that absorbs by elastic deformation of the rail.   The guide mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the buffer portion includes alignment means for aligning the additional rail with a rail to be mounted.   The guide mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the additional rail is provided with a rolling guide groove for guiding the rolling of the rolling member.   A bolt fastening hole is provided in the additional rail so as to penetrate in the rail connecting direction, and the bolt inserted through the bolt fastening hole is screwed into a female screw portion provided on an end surface of the rail to be mounted, whereby the additional rail is The guide mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the guide mechanism is fixed to a rail to be mounted.   The guide mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the additional rail is formed with a notch for reducing rigidity against a reaction force received from a rolling member when the slider is transferred.   A work transfer device using a guide mechanism including a rail and a slider guided to the rail via a rolling member, and moving the second rail relative to the first rail Between the first rail and the second rail in the rail connection state, the rail positioning means for aligning the first rail and bringing the end surface of the second rail close to the end surface of the first rail. The slider that can be transferred, a workpiece holding unit that is fixedly moved to the slider, and that moves integrally; a workpiece holding unit moving unit that moves the workpiece holding unit along the first rail and the second rail; The first rail and the second rail were provided by attaching the first rail and / or the additional rail made of a flexible material to the end of the second rail at the connecting portion between the first rail and the second rail. And the buffer portion relieves the displacement when the slider moves over the connecting portion by bending the additional rail, and the shock when the rolling member abuts the buffer portion. Absorbing by elastic deformation of the additional rail.   The workpiece transfer apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the buffer section includes alignment means for aligning the additional rail with a rail to be mounted.   The work conveying device according to claim 6, wherein the additional rail is provided with a rolling guide groove that guides the rolling of the rolling member.   A bolt fastening hole is provided through the additional rail in the rail direction, and the additional rail is mounted by screwing a bolt inserted through the bolt fastening hole into an internal thread portion provided on an end surface of the mounting target rail. The workpiece transfer device according to claim 6, wherein the workpiece transfer device is fixed to a target rail. 7. The workpiece conveying device according to claim 6, wherein the additional rail is formed with a notch for reducing rigidity against a reaction force received from a rolling member when the slider is transferred.

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