Unlimited sliding ball spline assembly having a support bearing

Claim 1

An unlimited sliding ball spline having a spline bearing, comprising: an outer cylinder; a ball retainer provided on an inner side of said outer cylinder; a plurality of balls held by said ball retainer in a plurality of unlimited passages formed on the inner side of said outer cylinder, such that said balls can be rolled in said passages; a spline shaft supported on said plurality of balls in said spline bearing, said spline shaft and said outer cylinder being linearly movable relative to one another in the axial direction and not movable relative to one another in the rotational direction, such that torque is transmitted from one to the other in rotational movement; and a circumferential support bearing disposed coaxially around said outer cylinder, said support bearing including, a pair of angular contact bearings, each contact bearing having an inner ball-rolling groove disposed on an inner peripheral surface thereof opposite a corresponding outer ball-rolling groove disposed on an outer peripheral surface of said outer cylinder, said ball-rolling grooves extending in the circumferential direction, and a plurality of balls disposed between said inner and outer ball-rolling grooves for rolling therebetween, and a pre-pressure regulating spacer interposed between said angular contact bearings for regulating a predetermined level of pre-pressure applied thereto, and wherein one of said angular contact bearings has a flange portion on an outer race thereof for mounting said support bearing of said ball spline on a house.