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AutomationDirect expands tubing and fittings offering in pneumatics line
AutomationDirect has added new models of tubing and fittings to its NITRA line of pneumatic components, as well as blow guns and aluminum manifolds.
Available in 100-and 250-ft lengths, NITRA 16mm polyurethane tubing has a shore A 98 hardness rating, provides tight outside diameter tolerance and has superior kink resistance. The ether-based tubing provides excellent hydrolysis, oil and cold resistance. Available in four colors, 16mm polyurethane tubing starts at $114. A variety of 16mm push-to-connect fittings are also available.
NITRA brass adapter fittings and plugs are available in 10 different styles to meet most pneumatic applications such as air, water, oil, oxygen, nitrogen, and argon. Machined from yellow brass bar stock or forging, the fittings withstand pressure up to 800 psi. Designed with NPT threaded connections, male and female connectors are available in 1/8-to 1/2-in. sizes, in either two-pack or five-pack quantities.
Also added are quick-disconnect fittings which allow easy changing of tools or hose connections. Plugs and couplers, in 1/4.in and 3/8-in. sizes, are available in Industrial Interchange manual or automatic and universal automatic styles. Male and female fittings are NPT threaded and withstand pressure up to 250 psi. Swivel fittings made of chrome-plated steel with maximum pressure of 145 psi are also available.
NITRA aluminum manifolds withstand maximum pressure up to 500 psi and are available in two styles. Round manifolds feature one 3/8-in. NPT threaded input and either two or three 1/4-in. NPT outputs. Rectangular manifolds have 1/2-in. NPT inputs on either end and have either three or five 1/4-in. NPT outputs. Manifold prices start at $6.75.
NITRA blowguns (or nozzles) are available in heavy-duty palm type with safety tip, pistol grips (aluminum and plastic models), pocket, and plastic grip with flexible nozzles in various lengths. The blowguns have a maximum input pressure of 120 psi and start at $4.25. Additional NITRA accessories include 1/2-in. thread sealant tape and a 2-in. tubing cutter.
Gripper series suitable for assembly, handling systems
Hauppage, N.Y.—Standard grippers are the first choice for cost-effective, lightweight and compact construction of handling and assembly systems. The parallel, three-point, radial and angle gripper series DHxS from Festo features optimized gripping force retention and overload protection as well as integrated sensor slots. It offers increased reliability in a range of sizes and stroke lengths.
Precise
A number of forward-looking features ensure reliability and precision. The integrated fixed restrictor provides an effective safety buffer, protecting against overloading during high-speed gripper motions and preventing damage due to excessive forces. The integrated sensor slots in the medium and large sizes offer the advantage of cost-effective stroke sensing via sensors SMx. Their integration has resulted in a slim, compact design without any interference contours caused by external sensors. The new, compression spring-assisted gripping force retention provides more security in the event of a pressure failure. In addition, T-slot guides increase the torque resistance of the gripper jaws.
The double-acting piston drive gives the standard grippers stable kinematics and maximum repetition accuracy. A wide range of mounting options in the form of threaded, fitting and centering holes make the new generation of Festo standard grippers very flexible to mount.
Reliable
The parallel and three-point grippers DHxS have lightweight aluminium housing with integrated receiving hole for the pneumatic piston. The force generated by the linear motion is transferred to the low-backlash gripper jaws by means of lever kinematics. Since the lever is indirectly in mesh with the two gripper jaws via a piston rod, there is no need for additional synchronization.
The pneumatic pistons of the double-acting DHxS radial and angle grippers act on the gripper jaws, mounted on pivots in a gripper jaw guide, by means of a slotted guide system. As with parallel and three-point grippers, this means that there is no need for separate synchronization.
Pneumatic clutches and brakes for presses
The Series 0-406 and 0-420 pneumatically actuated clutch / brake combined units have been designed to meet the ever increasing performance and safety requirements in presses. The series 0-406 offers the optimum in terms of maximum clutch and brake torques with the smallest of dimensions, i.e. high performance compact design. The forerunner to the 0-406 series, the 0-400 is still available today for replacement requirements; in the case of new designs, however, the 0-406 and 0-420 series should be used. These combined units represent the optimum drive component in stamping and forming presses and offer excellent adaptability in the following areas:
• 12-point suspension of the friction plates or two-point suspension with lugs of the same or different lengths, giving flexibility for different applications
• Friction element selection, based on shape and material, to obtain the most effective service life with quiet operation under all conditions. The friction block version is to be recommended for machines with either high dynamic loading or load reversals under continuous operation
• Securing to the shaft or crank shaft can be with the aid of either keys or locking assemblies, these being fitted on the clutch side with series 0-420 and on the brake side with series 0-406
• Friction combination: Cast iron/organic friction lining or cast iron/friction block of organic friction material.
Air intake: Via rotary inlet through the shaft.
Application: On stamping and forming presses, on deepdrawing presses, embossing presses and similar machines.
Shock absorbers for sub-zero environments
For applications that need deceleration performance at sub-zero temperatures, ACE Controls’ MAGNUM 45-LT (Low Temp) Series industrial shock absorbers are suited for the job.
Engineered to perform in the most frigid environments, the 45-LT Series will continue to decelerate loads, prevent impact damage, reduce noise and improve product performance. The fluorosilicone accumulator and MIL5606 fluid help guarantee dependability in the coldest environments.
Technical data
Impact velocity range:
MC: 0.5 to 16.5 ft/sec (0.15 to 5 m/s)
MA: 0.5 to 16.5 ft/sec (0.15 to 5 m/s)
ML: 0.06 to 1.5 ft/sec (0.02 to 0.46 m/s)
Operating temperature range: -60° to 150°F (-50° to 66°C)
Operating fluid: MIL5606
Material: Steel with Weartec Plus finish. Piston rod high tensile steel, hardened and chrome plated. Rod end button hardened steel with black oxide finish. Zinc plated return spring. For optimum heat dissipation, do not paint shock absorber. Available in stainless steel.
Capacity rating: For emergency applications it is sometimes possible to exceed above maximum capacity ratings.
Stepper-controlled pneumatic proportional valve
Cincinnati—Using a robust and powerful linear actuator, the high-flow stepper-controlled 2-way proportional valve features excellent performance and durability.
The bonded elastomeric seat achieves excellent sealing ensuring smooth opening and fine control at low flow for millions of cycles. Also features 2% hysteresis, excellent linearity (2.5% of full scale), and 2 ms reaction time. A flow range of 0 to 300 slpm is standard, however this product is highly modifiable for OEM applications including alternate body materials, flow profiles, cartridge styles, manifold mounting, etc.
This valve is suitable for applications including medical, analytical, and industrial automation requiring high resolution, high flow, and low hysteresis. In addition, the design allows for custom flow profiles when required.
Clippard also provides custom solutions for specific needs, including special configurations, manifolds, and pneumatic products.
Clippard Instrument Laboratory Inc.
All-stainless-steel cylinders now offered in 12 bore sizes
University Park, Ill.—Bimba Manufacturing Co. has announced the expansion of its industry-leading Original Line product series. Previously available in only 4 bore sizes, Bimba extended its All Stainless Original Line series to now include all 12 bore sizes currently available across the product line (5/16- through 3-in. bore).
Featuring stainless steel end caps, standard urethane wipers, PTFE-based rod and pivot bushings and food-grade synthetic grease, this non-repairable actuator is ideal for wash down application environments common in the food processing industry.
“While these cylinders have been designed with the food and beverage industry in mind, their all stainless steel construction makes them ideal for any application that requires corrosion resistance,” said Jerry Scherzinger, Bimba’s Product Marketing Manager. “This is a natural expansion of our line of all stainless steel actuators that will provide a wider range of sizes for our customers requiring corrosion resistant designs.”
Simrit’s piston sealing systems reduce friction
Elgin, Ill.—Simrit, the industrial sealing division of Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies, has developed three new piston seals that reduce friction and lower energy consumption in applications like mechanical transmissions and pneumatic cylinders. The company will showcase its Torque Control Seal (TCS), D-ring with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) enhancement and Friction Piston Seal T-ring (TR) 200 during MDA India (booth #D402 Hall 1) on Dec. 6 to 9 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre in India.
“After recognizing the need for advanced piston sealing solutions, we began a comprehensive benchmark of current products which focused on frictional behavior, assembly, shifting time, efficiency, service life and cost,” said Joel Johnson, global VP of technology, Simrit. “Based on the data gained from this effort, we were able to develop three new seal designs that exceeded current industry offerings.”
With the Low Friction Piston Seal TR 200, Simrit presents a sealing geometry for the smooth operation of pneumatic cylinders with significantly increased efficiency. Reducing friction by up to 50% compared to conventional systems, the Low Friction Piston Seal TR 200 shows minimal wear after 15 million cycles. The dynamic sealing function of the Low Friction Piston Seal TR 200 is achieved by a sealing area with a large radius. The required radial force is created by the design interface and eliminates the radial compression of the seal cross section, which minimizes friction and wear while also eliminating stick-slip effects.
Simrit combined the unique advantages of elastomer and PTFE materials to develop two low-energy seals that reduce initial friction, non-linear behavior and hysteresis in piston sealing systems. The TCS is a friction-optimized bonded piston that was specially developed for translatory motion as a transmission shift piston. This seal combines the superior frictional characteristics of PTFE with the rigidity, centering and lip shape (similar to that of a channel gasket) of the bonded transmission piston seal with the metal carrier that was previously used. The TCS is resistant to high temperatures, allows for the mounting of a single part, has an integral piston and offers excellent centering.
The D-ring was developed as a groove seal with PTFE foil enhancement as a friction-optimized piston seal and also employs the dual-layer enhancement procedure. Developed for use in a reciprocating application, the D-ring with PTFE enhancement is a general-purpose piston seal solution that offers very low coefficient of friction and high heat resistance. Offering a range of designs with different diameters, the seal does not twist, is resistant to gap extrusion and offers simple installation.
Highly scalable valve manifold offers value, performance
Hauppauge, N.Y.—The Festo MPA-L valve manifold offers a mix of value and performance. It is scalable down to a single valve slice, so directional valves can be adapted to any application. This saves costs and reduces size.
The sub-base is made from a rugged polymer design that offers good corrosion resistance and light weight. The valves are electrically connected to an internal printed circuit board, which provides exact coil allocation with no wasted connections. A host of electric multi-pin connector options are available, as well as network interfaces to most common industrial and Ethernet protocols, via Festo’s CPX distributed I/O family.
All standard valve functions are available. These include 5/2, 5/3, and the cost/space saving dual 3/2 types. All valves use Festo’s patented cartridge principle, which has proved extremely durable, and offers outstanding flow rates. There are well over 10 million valves with this technology in service.
The manifold is suited for most pneumatic applications for discrete and process automation. The high flow rate to size ratio makes for universal applications from food and beverage packaging to semiconductor fabrication. The valve can run pressure and vacuum, with multiple zones. Key features include:
• Up to 32 valve locations, max flow rate to 360 Nl/min
• Inch and Metric ports for all markets
• Full range of pneumatic functions and accessories such as pressure regulators D-sub, IDC / Ribbon cable connectors, bus networks, and Ethernet connections
High-tech spider is suitable for hazardous missions
Spiders are very agile, and some can even jump. Researchers have now designed a mobile robot modeled on the same principle that moves spider legs. Created using a 3D printing process, this lightweight robot can explore terrain that is beyond human reach.
Enviably agile and purposeful, the mobile robot makes its way through grounds rendered off-limits to humans as the result of a chemical accident. Depressions, ruts and other obstacles are no match for this eight-legged high-tech journeyman. With a camera and measurement equipment on board, it will provide emergency responders with an image of the situation on the ground, along with any data about poisonous substances. Not an easy task—after all, it must be prevented from tipping over. But this risk seems a minor one as it confidently and reliably picks its way through the area. As a real spider would, it keeps four legs on the ground at all times while the other four turn and ready themselves for the next step.
Even in its appearance, this artificial articulate creature resembles an octopod. And no wonder—the natural specimen provided the model for researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA. This high-tech assistant is still a prototype, but future plans envision its use as an exploratory tool in environments that are too hazardous for humans, or too difficult to get to. After natural catastrophes and industrial or reactor accidents, or in fire department sorties, it can help responders, for instance by broadcasting live images or tracking down hazards or leaking gas.
With its long extremities, the spider has a range of ways to get around. Some models can even jump. This is possible using hydraulically operated bellows drives that serve as joints and keep limbs mobile. With no muscles to stretch their legs, these creatures build up high levels of body pressure that they then use to pump fluid into their limbs. Shooting fluid into the legs extends them. “We took this mobility principle and applied it to our bionic, computer-controlled lightweight robot. Its eight legs and body are also fitted with elastic drive bellows that operate pneumatically to bend and extend its artificial limbs,” said Dipl.-Ing. Ralf Becker, a scientist at IPA.
The components required for locomotion, such as the control unit, valves and compressor pump, are located in the robot‘s body; the body can also carry various measuring devices and sensors, depending on the application at hand. Hinges interoperate with the bellows drives so that the legs can move forward and turn as needed. Diagonally opposed members move simultaneously, too. Bending the front pairs of legs pulls the robotic spider‘s body along, while stretching the rear extremities pushes it.
The special aspect of this high-tech helper: not only very light, it also combines rigid and elastic shapes in a single component; with just a few production steps, it can also be produced at low cost. To date, designs such as the mobile robot have been generated using conventional mechanical-engineering technologies—a time-consuming and costly undertaking. Researchers at IPA, on the other hand, rely on generative production technologies, and specifically on selective laser sintering (SLS) of plastics, a 3D printing process. In this process, step by step thin layers of a fine polyamide powder are applied one at a time and melted in place with the aid of a laser beam. This way, complex geometries, inner structures and lightweight components can be produced – with structures optimized much as if produced by Nature herself. The experts at IPA have a great deal of latitude in the design of their mobile robot; the leg modules, for instance, can be designed with infinitely variable load-bearing characteristics.
“We can use SLS to produce one or even several legs in a single operation; this minimizes assembly effort, saves materials and reduces the time it takes to build a robot. With the modular approach, individual parts can be quickly swapped as well. Our robot is so cheap to produce that it can be discarded after being used just once—like a disposable rubber glove,“ Becker said.
Parallel grippers feature heavy-duty T-slot design
New Hyde Park, N.Y.—A new series of 2-finger parallel grippers from Techno-Omil feature heavy-duty T-slot design. Identified as the OPP2-…. Series, these 9 grippers feature a stroke range of from 12 mm to 72 mm and a gripping force of from 420 N to 8410 N. Their range of operating pressure is from 2 to 8 bar. The housings are made of high tensile hard-coated aluminum alloy, hard anodized, and are completely maintenance-free for the first 1.5 million cycles.
Techno Inc. offers a line of grippers including 2-finger, 3-finger, 4-finger pneumatic grippers, 2-finger angular grippers, swivel units, hydraulic clamping/workholding blocks, linear actuators and more. Omil features a product line of grippers, swivels, linear actuators and hydraulic clamping blocks. Detailed specifications are contained in Catalog H940, available free upon request from Techno-Omil, 2101 Jericho Turnpike, P.O. Box 5416, New Hyde Park, NY 11042-5416.
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