Types of air cylinder / actuators
Here's a list, in alphabetical order:
- Air Muscle; what the heck is that? Not a lot of folks know about this technology, yet it's been around for years now, albeit an unusual type of air actuator - more...
- Diaphragm or Rolling Lobe air cylinders; There are a variety of air actuators available that are designed and built for a more specific reason than just the application of force. One of these is the diaphragm or rolling lobe type air cylinder, more...
- Double-acting air cylinders! These are the work horses of the compressed air circuit, so named, because compressed air is used to both extend and retract the rod - a double action. more...
- Grippers Aptly named. At the end of a cylinder or rotary actuator, or any pick and place application. more...
- Linear Slides
- Non-repairable-air-cylinders: There is a family of lower cost air cylinders that is usually manufactured with aluminum end caps and with a stainless steel tube for a barrel. The end caps are most frequently manufactured by casting, with minimal machining involved, to help keep the cost low. Some non-repairable-air-cylinders have machined plastic or composite end caps more.....
- Repairable Air Cylinders; these are appropriately named simply due to the fact that they can be repaired when a component has failed. The most common type of repairable air cylinders are known as more...
- Rodless, cable, band, magnetically coupled air cylinders; These are selected where a footprint issue prevents the use of a traditional and lower cost rodded type air cylinder - more...
- Rotary-actuators; in the context of this web site, though there are rotary actuators powered by other than compressed air, we are talking specifically about pneumatic variety. The purpose of all rotary actuators is to provide the user the ability to move the tooling in a rotary motion, instead of the linear motion provided by air cylinders. more...
- Single Acting Air Cylinders; what are they and why do we need them? Contrary to what may have been believed for years, compressed air is really quite expensive. If you have an air cylinder that's cycling in one direction under no load, or under low load, you can reduce your compressed air consumption and money by using a single acting air cylinder more....
Standard air cylinders / actuators have traits that are common, regardless of the manufacturer or the specifications to which the cylinder is built.
This diagram shows the parts of a tie-rod type air cylinder. These components will be common to all of this type. The actual dimensions for a specific cylinder will vary depending on the manufacturer’s design, or the standard to which that cylinder is built.
The following provides additional general information about air cylinders and their use along with air cylinder accessories.
- Cushions – definition and use
- Sideloading – how it can destroy your cylinder
- Proximity switches – types and applications
- Lubed or Non-lubed?
- Control cylinder speed – flow controls
- Speed up the cylinder – quick exhausts
- Why you should never sideload
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