Ashcroft Inc.

Pneumatic Tips

As one of the CCEFP’s education and outreach projects, the micro-excavator was built and developed under the direction of Prof. John Lumkes at Purdue University. His project team has included a number of his engineering undergraduate and graduate students, most notably Jose Garcia, now a professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology; high school teachers in Project Lead The Way; and the staff of the Minnesota Science Museum. The National Fluid Power Association assisted the CCEFP in providing financial support.

“Based on our extensive field tests with students in and out of school settings, we know that the micro-excavator is an effective hands-on teaching tool that makes it fun to learn about engineering principles while seeing first-hand how fluid power technology works,” said Lumkes. The accompanying curriculum guide lays out effective strategies for maximizing the teaching power of the micro-excavator.

Fortunately, it’s easily replicated. A complete, working micro-excavator, either water hydraulics or pneumatics, can be built and readied for classrooms and hands-on displays for approximately $800. The kit includes a water pump, necessary power supplies, hardware (nuts, bolts, etc.), cylinders, valves, tubing, fittings, an excavator arm and a storage case. No special assembly tools are needed; the demonstrator is built using common shop tools (wrenches, screwdrivers, hacksaw and drill). A construction manual, bill of materials and curriculum guide for students in grades 8-12 are all posted at the CCEFP website (www.ccefp.org).

Electronically-controlled portable fluid power demonstrator.
Professor Lumkes and his team are interested in helping teachers incorporate micro-excavator models and the accompanying curriculum into their STEM programs. They would also welcome the opportunity to work with companies that could serve as donors/mentors in helping their local school districts acquire and use this new resource. For further information, e-mail Dr. Stelson, CCEFP Director (kstelson@umn.edu) or Dr. Lumkes at (lumkes@purdue.edu).

CCEFP

Pneumatic Tips

ROSS, headquartered in Troy, Mich., designs and manufactures precision pneumatic valves, control systems and related products. Since 1921, ROSS has offered these products to the general fluid power industry and industries as diverse as metal forming, aluminum, glass container, steel and safety.

DECCO, with a history dating to 1912, manufactures coils and solenoids for a broad range of industry-specific applications. DECCO maintains offices in Ferndale, Mich. and operates a coil winding facility in Frankfort, Mich. and a screw machining facility in Benzonia, Mich.

Growth and opportunity lie ahead. DECCO expands ROSS’ product portfolio and provides additional avenues for expansion into electronics. For DECCO, the ROSS group provides access to new and untapped global markets.

Over the next several months, teams will be working to optimize the collective strengths of the two companies.

ROSS Controls

DECCO

Pneumatic Tips

Safe, reliable and efficient pneumatic systems — Using ISO 4414 to design better pneumatic systems
Presenter: Gary Baumgardner, Chief Engineer, Parker Hannifin Corp.
The safety of those who work with and around machines is of ever-increasing importance in today’s business environment, as are the reliability and efficiency of those machines. ISO 4414, Pneumatic fluid power – General rules and safety requirements for systems and their components, provides guidance on how to design and build pneumatic systems that enhance a machine’s safety, reliability and efficiency. This is the first in a series of six webinars scheduled for 2012 to help people learn how to use standards to design and build better fluid power systems, presented by leading experts on those standards. These webinars will focus on key issues facing the fluid power industry today:

• increasing energy efficiency
• improving reliability
• reducing environmental impact
• ensuring system safety

These webinars are free to employees of NFPA members. For those from companies that are not members of NFPA, there is a $50 charge per webinar, or $200 charge for the series of six presentations.

National Fluid Power Association

Pneumatic Tips

In November, the NFPA, IFPS and FPDA all co-sponsored the first-ever Energy Efficient Hydraulics and Pneumatics Conference, a two-day event that dealt with this critical topic. Given that CCEFP research shows that between 2.3% and 3.0% of the energy consumed in the U.S. is transmitted through fluid power systems, and that the average efficiency of those systems is a mere 21%, it’s clear that there is work to be done. And that work could have drastic consequences. A 5% improvement in system efficiency over the next 5 years would mean a savings of between 9 and 11 BILLION dollars. That shows why the industry needs to focus on continual improvement in efficienct, from both the component design and the system design level. Hopefully, funding for critical programs like the CCEFP and the Compressed Air Challenge, will continue—and even increase.

I was also impressed with 2011’s unveiling of the Altair BUSolutions prototype, a series hydraulic bus that achieves 6.9 mpg compared to 3.3 mpg for a same class diesel bus. With companies like Parker Hannifin and Eaton heavy into refuse trucks and UPS delivery vehicles, the techology has been proven, and it seems logical for city buses to become the next big target. A lot of further improvements have to be made to consider such systems for larger SUVs, but the idea that they could someday make their way into the consumer vehicle market is not as farfetched as it was even a few years ago.

Beyond that, it has been interesting the watch how fluid power continues to grow online. iPad and iPhone apps, from our own Design World magazine, as well as companies like Trelleborg and Bosch Rexroth, continue to sprout. And websites are being redesigned outright or adding great functionality—Bimba, Peter Paul, Control Air and Norgren, just to name a few.

Looking forward to a great 2012—and continuing to bring you all the latest fluid power news, technology, training and more.

Pneumatic Tips

SimpleCAD President Erik Zetterberg said, “This fluid power and electrical symbol library is one of our more popular libraries. Customers have been really surprised with how extensive this block library is.”

Included with the electrical block collection is an integrated pull-down menu within AutoCAD comprising of various block libraries all which are now compatible with AutoCAD 2013.

Each symbol is accurately drawn on Layer 0 so that current layer standards can be implemented. Both Imperial (US) and Metric are also provided with each library.

The AutoCAD 2013 compatible industrial libraries within CADSYM consist of the following:

Electrical ANSI Y32.2 & IEC 617—contains symbols including bells, buzzers, horns, signal lights, capacitors, resistors, disconnects, fuses and circuit breakers.

Hydraulic—includes solenoids, actuators, filters, heat exchangers, relief valves, cylinders, pumps, motors, check valves and other regulating valves.

Pneumatic—ships with valve outlines, solenoids, actuators, fixed and variable flow controls and over 100 center spool configurations.

Steel Shapes—predrawn W,S,C,MC, H and L shapes with appropriate AISI, AISC or ANSI standards.

Combined Electrical and Fluid Power libraries consists of more than 2,750 symbols. In addition, other combined libraries include Pneumatic and Hydraulic and contain more than 1,450 blocks. A Steel Shape library with roughly 1,050 is also available.

SimpleCAD

Pneumatic Tips

The website is easy to use. The valve specification processes provide our customers with information fast. And to complement the site; a real-time valve configurator will be launching in phases throughout 2012.

“At PeterPaul we have embraced lean as a growth strategy to continually improve our business so we can provide high performance and quality product solutions to our customers fast; our future is speed,” said Michael Mangiafico II, VP Sales, Marketing and Operations.

In conjunction with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc., we have developed an online valve training program. The program begins with the basics continuing thru advanced valve training modules. “The online valve training program is the result of a great collaboration between CCAT and Peter Paul.” said Elliot A. Ginsberg, President and CEO of CCAT, “The use of state-of-the-art technology provides the significant opportunity to establish new techniques for learning. This platform allows manufacturers such as PPE to differentiate themselves within the manufacturing industry.”

Forty employees are certified to date and we are in the beta phase with a large distributor. Rollout will continue throughout 2012.

Peter Paul Electronics

Pneumatic Tips

Scope: This International Standard specifies information on the nominal outside diameters of rigid or semi-rigid tubing and nominal hose sizes to be used with hydraulic and pneumatic fluid power connectors and associated components:

a) nominal outside diameters for rigid or semi-rigid tubes, irrespective of material composition, used in fluid power; and
b) a list of nominal sizes for hoses made of rubber or plastic used in fluid power.

Benefits: ISO 4397 helps designers of fluid power connectors and conductors by providing a selected number of preferred nominal sizes. This makes it easier for manufacturers to produce components for use at a limited number of sizes, which reduces costs for users.

NFPA list price: $54.00
NFPA member price: $43.00
ISO 15524:2011: Pneumatic fluid power – Cylinders – Single-rod short-stroke cylinders, 1 000 kPa (10 bar) series, bores from 20 mm to 100 mm

Scope: This International Standard establishes a metric series of single-rod pneumatic short-stroke cylinders with bores from 20 mm to 100 mm (inclusive) for use of at maximum working pressure of 1 000 kPa [10 bar1)] with and without magnetic function. They are not equipped with adjustable cushioning, so their application is restricted to those systems where adjustable cushioning is not required.

Benefits: This dimensional interchangeability standard benefits users by allowing them to purchase single-rod short-stroke pneumatic cylinders from multiple suppliers, and manufacturers of these valves to benefit from economies of scale afforded by the standard.

NFPA list price: $54.00
NFPA member price: $43.00
ISO 16873:2011 (supersedes ISO 16873:2002): Hydraulic fluid power – Pressure switches – Mounting surfaces (second edition)

Scope: This International Standard specifies the mounting surfaces for pressure switches and gives guidelines for the standardized arrangement of the connections for pressure switches and for the mounting of plates and hydraulic valves.

Benefits: This dimensional interchangeability standard benefits users by allowing them to purchase hydraulic pressure switches from multiple suppliers, and manufacturers of these components to benefit from economies of scale afforded by the standard. ISO 16873 also helps in the safer application of these components by providing means on the mounting surface to correctly orient the mating pressure switch.

NFPA list price: $54.00
NFPA member price: $43.00

National Fluid Power Association 

Pneumatic Tips

· increase energy efficiency
· improve reliability
· reduce environmental impact
· ensure system safety

A series of six webcasts will be presented by leading experts in the standards that can help you apply fluid power more effectively and efficiently. Each 60-minute presentation will include at least 15 minutes of questions and answers; here is your chance to talk with the people who know these important standards the best. Join NFPA for as many of the six presentations you would like.

Price: NFPA members – Free

Non-members – $50 per webcast, or $200 for all six presentations.

The 2012 line-up features:

January 26, 2012 – 2:00 p.m. Eastern / 1:00 p.m. Central
Safe, reliable and efficient pneumatic systems
Using ISO 4414 to design better pneumatic systems
Presenter: Gary Baumgardner, Chief Engineer, Parker Hannifin Corp.

March 29, 2012 (Thursday) – 2:00 p.m. Eastern / 1:00 p.m. Central
A clean system is a happy (and more reliable) system
Using ISO standards in the selection and application of hydraulic filters
Presenter: Leonard Bensch, Consultant, Pall Corporation

May 17, 2012 (Thursday) – 2:00 p.m. Eastern / 1:00 p.m. Central
Safe, reliable and efficient hydraulic systems
Using ISO 4413 to design better hydraulic systems
Presenter: Jerry Carlin, Chief Engineer, Eaton Corp.

July 19, 2012 (Thursday) – 2:00 p.m. Eastern / 1:00 p.m. Central
Improving performance and protecting the environment through better system design
Using ISO and NFPA standards to prevent leakage in hydraulic systems
Presenter: Phil Robinson, Consultant, Parker Hannifin Corp.

September 18, 2012 (Tuesday) – 2:00 p.m. Eastern / 1:00 p.m. Central
Unlocking the mysteries of pneumatic flow rating
Using ISO 6358-1 and -2 to measure flow rating and improve pneumatic component and system performance
Presenter: John Berninger, Consultant, Parker Hannifin Corp.

November 7, 2012 (Wednesday) – 2:00 p.m. Eastern / 1:00 p.m. Central
Better contamination control through better contamination measurement
Using ISO 11500 to get more accurate data on hydraulic system contamination
Presenter: Barry Verdegan, Research Fellow, Cummins Filtration, Inc.

NFPA

Pneumatic Tips

Enhanced CAD drawing functionality and interactivity leads the suite of new features on the website, changing the way users can view and download CAD drawings. Now CAD drawings are integrated within each respective product page where a tabbed menu provides the option to download drawings, view product dimensions, materials and a 3D preview—all in one place. CAD models can also be downloaded with the mates and constraints intact, so customers don’t have to take the extra time to reconfigure this information.

“Research shows CAD accessibility has a big impact on the way design engineers choose partners, and can save them two to four hours per project,” said Scott Meldeau, Bimba’s VP of Sales and Marketing. “With that in mind, we want to make sure our CAD modeling is extremely user-friendly.”

Navigating Bimba’s extensive product breadth will also be easier with a streamlined product menu organized into five logical categories. The website utilizes accordion technology, a web control that allows users to view multiple panes and display them one at a time within the same page.

“Our goal is to enable our customers to find, size and order the products they need as easily as possible,” said Bimba Marketing Manager, Tom Wood. “This tool simplifies navigation and eliminates the need to click back and forth between pages.”

A new product category, BimbaBreakthroughs, highlights products that got their start in the Bimba Design Center, where customers submit design requests for Bimba’s expert engineers. These solutions are now available to all customers and featured in this new product section.

Bimba Manufacturing

Pneumatic Tips