For the latest information on a variety of pneumatics topics, Pneumatic Tips presents our featured articles. These pneumatics articles were handpicked to provide you with the up-to-date news and information you need. Browse our list of featured articles today and learn more about the exciting world of pneumatic design.
Thermally Actuated Gas Shut-Off Valves Used To Control Flow Of Gases
Assured Automation announced the FireBag – a new line of thermally actuated gas shut-off valves used to control the flow of natural, propane or butane gases.
Many existing emergency gas shut-off devices require manual manipulation – a poor solution in emergency fire situations. The FireBag provides a solution by automatically discontinuing the flow of gas when the ambient temperature reaches 100° C (212° F). With this device, gas is automatically discontinued in fire situations to avert fire escalation and potential gas explosions.
According to the NFPA, the U.S. fire departments face 2,110 home fires a year where natural gas is the first material ignited, and 1,170 home fires a year where LP-gas is involved with the start of a fire. Most home gas fires originate in the kitchen at the stove or gas range.
The FireBag domestic product line includes:
o G4T404 for utility-supplied gas pipes, heating systems with radiant pipes, and hot air generators
o G2T50 for utility-supplied gas meters
o G4T10 for gas boilers and wall heaters
o G2T40 for gas appliances such as stoves ( ranges) and gas radiators
o G4TF for thermal stations
The FireBag industrial product line includes:
o G4T404 for varnishing and paint booths
o TASF for gas motors
o G4TF for commercial ovens
The FireBag has been used throughout the world to provide automatic thermal interruption of gas in paint booth applications, water heaters, stoves and ranges, radiator and gas utilities.
Although US fire codes and certifications for thermally activated shutoff devices currently do not exist, the FireBag conforms to internationally established codes and standards. For example, the European UNI EN 1775 Standard requires all indoor gas pipelines be designed, built and protected to prevent explosions in the case of fire as well as spreading of the fire itself. The FireBag conforms to this standard as well as the European Directive 90/396/CEE, the German Firing System Directive and DVGW TRGI 86/96. It also is certified for the German National Standard DIN 3586.
Clippard Introduces New EW Series Electronic Valves
Clippard Instrument Laboratory, Inc. introduces the new EW Series electronic valves. Featuring wire leads out of the top of the valve, the EW Series is available in 2-way or 3-way, Normally-Closed or fully-ported.
The EW Series utilizes the same operating functions as Clippard’s EV/ET line of electronic valves that have produced billions of cycles of fail-free operation. The EW line offers flexibility in design with it’s offering of either in-line or manifold mount options and several DC voltages. Featuring a fast response time of 5 to 10 milliseconds and a power consumption of just 0.67 watts, the EW series is ideal for unlimited applications.
Clippard Instrument Laboratory, Inc.
www.clippard.com
Bimba Introduces its First Rod-Type Electric Actuator
April 16, 2010 by admin
Filed under Actuators, Equipment, Featured, Industry News
Monee, IL — Bimba announces the introduction of its first ever, rod-type electric actuator, the Original Line Electric (OLE).
OLE actuators are designed, built, and tested to provide the longest life, greatest durability, highest speed, and most thrust per dollar. With speeds up to 22 inches per second, strokes to 18 inches standard, and thrusts up to 350 pounds, these new actuators can address a wide range of applications. The unique modular design can be ordered with or without motors and drivers’ from Bimba, enabling engineers to use their preferred stepper or servo brand.
The OLE product line is available in 1.5, 2, and 3 inch diameters with standard options including trunnion, block front, clevis, pivot, and foot mounts, reverse parallel motor mounts with rear pivot or clevis, step motors, drivers, encoders, brakes, washdown ratings, female rod threads, and switches.
Bimba Manufacturing
www.bimba.com/ole
MV PosiTrap® Vacuum Inlet Traps
Billerica, MA – MV Products offers a line of vacuum pump inlet traps for protecting pumps in small laboratory, production, and R&D applications that can be easily adapted to changing processes.
MV PosiTrap® Vacuum Inlet Traps feature user-selectable filter elements that remove corrosive and abrasive particles from the vacuum stream to protect vacuum pumps in applications up to 50 CFM. Positively sealed at both ends to prevent “blow-by,” the filter elements come in a variety of specialized media which are easy to change and can be tailored to different processes.
Equipped with quick-release clamps, MV PosiTrap® Vacuum Inlet Traps can be changed in-line and come in 4” and 8” dia. straight-through and right-angle models that hold one- and four filter elements each. Filter types include stainless steel- and copper gauze, molecular sieve, activated charcoal, pleated polypropylene in 2-, 5-, and 20mm pore sizes, and Sodasorb®.
MV Products, Division of Mass-Vac, Inc.
www.massvac.com
Humphrey Products 410M Series Manifold
The Humphrey Products 410M Series Manifold is designed to accommodate the standard 310 and 410 inline solenoid valves. This special design enables mounting both 3-way and 4-way valves on the same manifold, with the 310 Series mounting orientation determining the normally closed (NC) or normally open (NO) function. Manifolds are available in 2, 4, 6, 8 or 12 station lengths. The manifold contains two galleys, one is common media supply port and the other is a common vent/exhaust port. Other accessories include manifold station block-off plates, a separate 12-station control board that simplifies electrical connections between valves and/or sensors.
The Humphrey Products 310 and 410 solenoid valves are versatile, robust components for any pneumatic application. This balanced poppet design makes them ideal for low power and high flow applications. The 310 and 410 Series valves are compact 1/8-inch ported 3-way and 4-way direct acting solenoid valves. The short-stroke balanced poppet design permits rapid cycling and requires no lubrication. The 310 series can be plumbed normally open, normally closed or as a selector or diverter.
The 310 Series valves have a 0.12 CV; the 410 Series valves have a 0.14 CV. Both valves are rated for air and inert gas from vacuum at 28-inches Hg to 125 psig. The continuous duty coil has a power consumption of 4.5 Watts, comes with flying leads and is available in a range of AC and DC voltages. A push, non-locking manual override is standard. Options include conduit connectors, plug-in DIN-type connectors, locking override, and built-in flow controls on the 410 Series valves to save space, weight and the additional cost of external flow controls.
Humphrey Products
www.humphrey-products.com
Could This Be The Wheel of the Future?
Most typical males constantly worry about our cars. “Is my oil low?”, “what is that ‘clunk’ing noise?”, “Did my wife put premium unleaded in this like I told her?”, “Why is my ‘check engine’ light on again?”. They even occasionally check the tires to see if they look low on air, and make sure to change them to studded tires for brutal winters. But what if you didn’t have to ever change the tire again dependent on the weather? What if you could buy one tire that would be designed to change to the weather? Yes, there may be a new kid in town in terms of cars and transportation; the Pumplon wheel could be tire of the future.
The Pumplon wheel, which resembles the shape of a pumpkin, or even a melon depending on its shape (hence the name Pumplon), is designed to change shape to whatever the road conditions call for through a rotary mechanism.
Living in a climate where you get to experience the four seasons to their extreme, you can get wet & rainy springs, 100-plus degree summers, chilly and colorful falls, and blistering cold winters. If you were to install the Pumplon on your car, according to Pumplon, you would not need to change them for any weather reason or road condition. Say for instance it was spring-time and there was a heavy rainstorm, by switching the Pumplons to the skinnier shape, it would increase contact pressure, cutting through the water on the road, allowing you to more safely arrive at your destination. Or if the road is flooded, switch the tires to the widest setting to make the car amphibious. In the summer, one may just want to hit the highway and cruise with the top down and feel the find in their hair, and for that they would change the Pumplon to the normal, or “ball”-look setting. For the fall and winter, when you may be trudging through mud or snow (intentionally or not), you will need as much surface area out of my tires as possible. You would consequently set the tire to its “melon” shape to get as much grip and surface area as possible, hopefully getting yourself unstuck in the mountain, or get you through the snow-packed roads to grandma’s house for Christmas.
With the world “going green”, it has brought about some rather interesting, very innovative ideas and concepts, and this one is no exception. The green benefits can be very numerous, from reducing travel times to increasing fuel efficiency.
The Pumplon wheel is the creation of Osmar Vicente Rodriguez, a native of Brazil, also a professor of industrial design at RCA Innovation. His intention for creating the Pumplon was primarily for solving transportation problems for farmers in developing countries where the majority of roads are either unkempt and in very bad condition.
How does it work, you may ask? The secret to the Pumplon is a steel shaft that can expand and retract by means of a rotary mechanism, pneumatic or hydraulic, adjusting rings which makes the wheel deformation wider or narrower.
The material of the tires has been the subject of special consideration. According to Rodriguez, “initially they were steel, but we replaced it with a thermoplastic material, which is easier to produce, lighter and cheaper, and is recyclable. The cover is of vulcanized rubber, similar to that used in tires conventionally, but more flexible to allow changes in size.”
Swagelok Introduces Process Specification for Photovoltaics
September 30, 2009 by Pneumatics Editor
Filed under Featured, Valves
Swagelok Company unveiled a new process
specification designed to meet the needs of the photovoltaic (PV) market, aimed at
helping ensure quality and reduce cost of ownership for the growing industry. The Swagelok
Photovoltaic Process Specification (SC-06) outlines testing, cleaning, and packaging steps for
stainless steel components for use in PV applications. The specification illustrates the
company’s continued leadership in process-specific cleaning, which began in the 1980s with
ultrahigh-purity components.
The baseline requirements include specifying the high-quality surface finish, visual
inspection criteria and particle counts the PV industry needs to maintain reliability and process
control for improved uptime, while identifying areas (such as work area classification, analytics,
and packaging) where costs can be contained.
Swagelok® products are designed to provide reliable, leak-tight performance in critical PV
manufacturing processes, such as Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD)
and diffusion. These and other processes require low leak rates for safety, control of process
gas purity, as well as precise delivery of gases to maintain cell integrity and reduce scrap.
The Swagelok Photovoltaic Process Specification (SC-06) is an available option for many
Swagelok high-purity products, in place of the company’s other specifications: SC-01
(Ultrahigh-purity Process), SC-10 (Standard Cleaning and Packaging), and SC-11 (Special
Cleaning and Packaging).
The products currently available with SC-06 processing include DP and DPH springless
diaphragm valves, HB and BN series bellows valves, CW series check valves, VCR® metal
gasket face seal fittings, and Micro-Fit® miniature tube butt weld fittings. To download the SC-
06 specification, please visit www.swagelok.com/solar.
Swagelok Company
www.swagelok.com
::Design World::
Elektrotechniek a Showcase for BalContact™ Technology
September 30, 2009 by Pneumatics Editor
Filed under Featured, Seals
The biggest attraction at the Elektrotechniek exhibition running this week in Utrecht, Netherlands may turn out to be one of the smallest and simplest products: an electrical contact fashioned from a spring.
The BalContact™, an electrically conductive component that employs precision-engineered canted-coil™ spring technology, is being showcased at Elektrotechniek 2009 by U.S-based manufacturer Bal Seal Engineering, Inc. And according to the company, interest in the simple, versatile Bal Contact is expected to be high among engineers and manufacturers who are seeking a simple, flexible solution to high, mid and low current conducting challenges.
“When we demonstrate how the Bal Contact performs, people immediately recognize it as a solution they can apply quickly and easily,” said Josien Suntjens, a Bal Seal Territory Manager working at Elektrotechniek this week. “They’re consistently impressed with its elegance and simplicity, and they like the fact that it can help them lower manufacturing costs and simplify maintenance.”
According to Suntjens, the Bal Contact is available in a wide variety of wire sizes, coil heights and materials. Its spring is designed to maintain a nearly constant force over a
broad range of working deflections, compensating for large mating tolerances and
temperature changes without significant deviation from its initial force. Each coil in the Bal
Contact works independently, maintaining contact with the mating surface and ensuring
maximum conductivity, Suntjens said.
According to Bal Seal, typical applications for the Bal Contact include busbar connections, gas-insulated switchgear contacts, circuit breakers and industrial fuse boxes. In some environments, the Bal Contact can also be used for EMI shielding/grounding purposes.
Elektrotechniek attendees can learn more about the Bal Contact and other conducting, connecting, sealing and shielding solutions by visiting Bal Seal Engineering’s exhibit in Hall 09BV, Stand B060. A photorealistic animation of the Bal Contact at work in three different gas-insulated switchgear applications can be viewed at http://mediaroom.balseal.com/vod2
Bal Seal Engineering, Inc.
Elektrotechniek
www.elektrotechniek-online.nl
::Design World::
AutomationDirect Extends Pneumatics Line
September 3, 2009 by Pneumatics Editor
Filed under Featured, Fittings, Valves
The NITRA line of pneumatic components now includes additional fittings and valves for use with polyurethane and nylon tubing.
The ME and MS series fittings include two additional male straight and two male elbows with #10-32 thread. Added sizes include 5/32” and ¼” and are sold in packages of five starting at $4.25.
The MEL series includes two additional long male elbow fittings. The 5/32” and ¼” fittings feature #10-32 threads and prices start at $10.00 for a five-pack. The MSR series fittings are push-to-connect male straight round fittings available in ten sizes ranging from 5/32” to ¼” and 4mm to 6mm. These fittings feature a nickel-plated brass body with an internal hex socket, stainless steel gripping claws and pre-applied Teflon thread sealant. Prices start at $4.00 for a pack of five.
The HVU series of three-way hand valves is available in seven sizes ranging from ¼” to ½” and 6mm to 12mm; the valve blocks upstream pressure when closed and vents downstream pressure. Sold in packs of two, prices start at $12.75.
CVU series union check valves have been added ranging from 5/32” to 3/8” and 6mm to 8mm sizes. The check valves allow air flow in one direction and block air flow in the reverse direction. Sold in packages of five, prices start at $28.75. Stop valves are now available in sizes ranging from 5/32” to ½” and 6mm to 12mm diameters. Designed to block upstream air pressure when the downstream tube is removed, union stop valves are sold in packages of five starting at $26.75. A pneumatic tubing cutter designed for use with 1/8” to ½” and 4mm to 12mm flexible plastic tubing is available for $4.25.
See the full line of NITRA pneumatic parts at www.automationdirect.com/pneumatic-fittings.
AutomationDirect
www.automationdirect.com
Clippard Introduces New Push/Pull Valves
July 21, 2009 by Pneumatics Editor
Filed under Featured, Valves
Clippard Instrument Laboratory, Inc., introduces a new line of manually-operated Push/Pull Valves.
These new spool valves are available in both 3- and 4- way configurations. Available in detent or momentary versions, these new valves provide the flexibility for unlimited applications. And, with an operating temperature of 32 to 140°F and an operating pressure of 0 to 115 psig, these new valves offer top notch performance where maximum performance and maximum value are demanded.
Clippard Instrument Laboratory, Inc.
www.clippard.com/pushpull-dw
::Design World::
