Guides

guides [gīdz]

(mechanical engineering)

Pulleys to lead a driving belt or rope in a new direction or to keep it from leaving its desired direction.

Tracks that support and determine the path of a skip bucket and skip bucket bail.

Tracks guiding the chain or buckets of a bucket elevator.

The runway paralleling the path of the conveyor which limits the conveyor or parts of a conveyor to movement in a defined path.

(mining engineering)

Steel, wood, or steel-wire rope conductors in a mine shaft to guide the movement of the cages.

Timber, rope, or metal tracks in a hoisting shaft, which are engaged by shoes on the cage or skip so as to steady it in transit.

The holes in a crossbeam through which the stems of the stamps in a stamp mill rise and fall.

---

Guides 

parts of machine tools, usually bearing surfaces, that by interacting with the surfaces of the parts that are in contact provide precise motion of moving parts (such as machine tables or rests) along a predetermined straight or circular path. A distinction is made between sliding and rolling guides.

Guides must be precisely machined and must have high wear resistance, rigidity, and vibration resistance. The durability of guides is ensured by the hardness and low degree of roughness of the working surfaces, by reliable lubrication, and by meticulous care during use. Guides are usually equipped with devices for periodic adjustments of the clearances between contact surfaces and for periodic compensation for wear. Components that perform analogous functions in other machines, mechanisms, and instruments are also called guides.