A machine slide comprising a support member having two longitudinally-extending races with outwardly-facing, longitudinally extending grooves at opposite sides thereof, and a carriage movable on the support member. The carriage has two longitudinally-extending races having inwardly facing, longitudinally-extending grooves. When the carriage is placed on the support member, the grooves of the support member and the grooves of the carriage correspond to define two parallel longitudinally-extending raceways for roller bearings. There are two longitudinally-extending slits forming an island in the bottom surface of the carriage above one of the races on the carriage. A longitudinally-extending groove is located along the outside face of the side wall of the carriage nearest the island. A bearing retainer that regulates the spacing of the roller bearings is mounted within each raceway. At least one adjustment screw is disposed in the outside wall of the carriage nearest the island and extends through the race on the support member. Turning the adjustment screw adjusts the size of the raceways and applies a preload to the bearings. The slits and the longitudinally-extending groove on the carriage allow the carriage to flex and absorb irregular forces during sliding. In an alternative embodiment, the carriage is rigid and the support member has a flexible side wall that can absorb irregular forces.

A linear guide apparatus has a guide rail including rolling element rolling grooves formed in the side surfaces thereof so as to extend in the axial direction thereof; a slider including rolling element rolling grooves respectively opposed to the rolling element rolling grooves of the guide rail and mounted on the guide rail so as to be movable in the axial direction with respect to the guide rail; and, a plurality of rolling elements rollably interposed between the rolling element rolling grooves of the guide rail and the rolling element rolling grooves of the slider, wherein each of the portions, where the groove surfaces of the rolling element rolling grooves of either the guide rail or the slider and the outer surfaces thereof cross each other, is formed as a curved surface, whereby the groove surface and the outer surface are allowed to continue smoothly with each other.

A carriage for a linear guiding device, designed to be arranged on a rail. The carriage includes a center section and two legs that each join the center section, thus providing the carriage with an essentially U-shaped design. The carriage further includes a support region as well as two deflector channels that connect the return channel and the support region, sleeve-shaped guiding elements that are arranged in recesses of a basic body of the carriage, in the return channels. Plastic material is poured in part or totally around one of the two ends of at least one sleeve-shaped guiding elements in order to secure it inside the recess. The sleeve-shaped guiding elements are each provided with centering elements on their outside surfaces, which elements are used to determine the position of a guiding element.

A "hybrid" or macrocomposite guideway, wherein the "traditional" or existing guideway material (e.g., hardened steel) is maintained as the wear resistant, low friction surface intended to be in physical contact with one or more bearings, and further wherein this surface is backed up or supported by a substrate comprising a stiff, lightweight material. This macrocomposite guideway combines the desirable friction and wear characteristics of the traditional bearing materials with the stiffness and low mass of advanced materials. Candidate substrate materials include composites having a ceramic and/or a metallic matrix, monolithic ceramics or monolithic light metals. A cladding comprising the hardened steel wear surface layer may be attached to the rigid, lightweight substrate by adhesive bonding, mechanical fasteners or other mechanical fit such as a friction or interference fit. Preferably, though, the attachment is by means of a metallurgical bond. In a particularly preferred embodiment, a silicon carbide particulate reinforced aluminum composite is metallurgically bonded to a tool steel wear surface using an "active" soldering composition. A gib that utilizes such guideways is useful in machines requiring fast and precise movement of one pat relative to another, such as in machines for semiconductor chip fabrication and assembly.