After reading this cylinder article, I no longer worry about others raising cylinder issues.

What is a cylinder? How to choose? What should you pay attention to when using it? Today we will introduce it to you from three levels: ♪Basic, ♫Advanced, and ♬Advanced. This article has a lot of text. Friends who have a certain understanding of cylinders can slide the page down ☛ to directly read the advanced or advanced chapters.





Basics


What is a cylinder?






The cylinder is a cylindrical metal part that guides the piston to perform linear reciprocating motion. The air expands in the engine cylinder to convert thermal energy into mechanical energy, and the gas is compressed by the piston in the compressor cylinder to increase the pressure.

☛Applications: printing, semiconductors, automation control, robots, etc.

☛Structure: Composed of cylinder barrel, end cover, piston, piston rod and seals.

☛Classification: There are two types of cylinders: reciprocating linear motion and reciprocating swing.

Cylinders that perform reciprocating linear motion are divided into single-acting cylinders (air supply to one side), double-acting cylinders (air supply to both sides alternately), diaphragm cylinders (diaphragm replaces piston), impact cylinders and rodless cylinders.

A cylinder that swings back and forth is called a swing cylinder. The inner cavity is divided into two by blades, and air is supplied to the two cavities alternately. The output shaft swings with a swing angle of less than 280°. In addition, there are rotary cylinders, gas-liquid damping cylinders and stepping cylinders.







Advanced chapter


How to choose cylinder?






When selecting a model, you must first know the model information of the cylinder. Take the AirTAC standard double-acting cylinder model as an example:





(△Please refer to the relevant product samples for specific model descriptions)


☛The specific selection procedure is as follows

01 Select the cylinder inner diameter: Determine the cylinder diameter according to the load size, operating speed and working pressure. The very important selection steps are as follows: ① Determine the load weight (including the weight of the workpiece, fixture, guide rod and other movable parts);② Select Determine the air pressure used (compressed air pressure supplied to the cylinder);③ Determine the direction of the cylinder action.

02 Select the cylinder stroke: The cylinder stroke is related to the use occasion and the stroke ratio of the mechanism. To facilitate installation and debugging, an appropriate margin should be left for the calculated stroke. Use standard itineraries as much as possible to ensure rapid delivery and reduce costs.

03 Select the cylinder series: Select the appropriate cylinder series according to the purpose of use, cylinder diameter and stroke range.

04 Select the installation form: determined by factors such as installation location and purpose of use. Generally, fixed cylinders are used.






05 Select buffer form: Determine whether to use a buffer device based on the speed of the piston. Take AirTAC as an example. AirTAC cylinders are equipped with different buffer devices. Customers can choose according to the actual load movement conditions. If the load and speed are large, it is difficult to absorb the impact capacity only by the cushioning of the cylinder itself, so it must be designed. Snubber loop or use external snubber.

06 Whether the selected cylinder is magnetic: When the pneumatic system adopts electrical control, a cylinder with a magnetic switch can be selected.

07 Selected accessories: such as solenoid valves, throttle valves, connectors and even pipes, which may seem insignificant but affect performance. Of course, as long as the problem of pneumatic selection is solved, the rest can basically be matched according to the table.

08 Other requirements: If the working environment is harsh, a dust cover needs to be installed on the extended end of the piston rod. When no pollution is required, a cylinder without oil supply or oil-free lubrication must be selected.

Cylinder selection is not a skill that can be opportunistic. If you want to master it proficiently, in addition to learning cylinder knowledge and collecting some empirical data to help with selection, you must also not relax the accumulation of basic common sense. For example, under normal circumstances, a single-acting cylinder is equipped with two positions and three positions. Pass solenoid valves, double-acting cylinders equipped with two-position five-way solenoid valves, etc. should be familiar to everyone.







Advanced level


Key points in the use of cylinders






If you are familiar with the selection and use of cylinders, then the time to test you has arrived! Have you noticed the following points during use?

● Pay attention to keep distance between parallel cylinders
The distance between parallel cylinder tubes must be greater than 40mm, otherwise the magnetic switches of the cylinders will interfere with each other and cause malfunctions.

● Keep the auto switch wiring as short as possible
If the wiring is too long, when the switch is turned on