Hoerbiger Origa is launching extreme stroke rodless cylinders in response to increasing demand from a wider variety of potential users.
Based on the company's standard OSP range, the new Long-Stroke models can be up to 41m long and will typically be used in materials handling duties and as transfer mechanisms for transporting items from one work station, machine or assembly line to another.
The Long-Stroke Cylinders are available in 40, 50, 63 and 80mm bore options and use the same barrel extrusion as other OSP units. Similarly, they use the same componentry - pistons, seals etc - and can be fitted with the optional extras, including end stops, brakes and displacement measuring system.
Therefore they provide all the advantages of the conventional OSP actuators, such as the same driving power in each direction, minimum space requirement, high load capability and maximum action force with optimum rigidity. In addition, a major benefit of pneumatic technology is that control of the actuating force and operating speed is readily achieved by simple adjustments to the air supply.
Ray Barnes, Managing Director of Hoerbiger Origa UK, comments: “The Long-Stroke Cylinders are an absolutely seamless extension to the OSP range, the world's best-selling rodless actuator. The company's philosophy is to keep all products completely modular and interchangeable so that systems design and build in the field is as efficient as possible.”
It is not practical to produce barrel extrusions of such great lengths as are required for the Long-Stroke Cylinders, so research and development engineers at Hoerbiger Origa developed joining technology that enables the actuator to be modular in length. While, theoretically, any length of stroke is possible, the maximum stroke length possible for the exhaustive tests necessary for the development was limited by the available 45m length at the company's research and development facility situated near Stuttgart, Germany.
Hoerbiger Origa has long been aware of a latent market demand for long-stroke actuators and has produced a great many over the years with stroke lengths of 6-12m. However, transportation of such long lengths has always been a practical problem when reviewing potential applications. In recent years there have been increasing requests for extreme stroke cylinders, mainly from manufacturers who want to integrate two or more processes that, due to shop floor space constraints, are separated by a notable distance.
The new Long-Stroke Cylinder has been designed to address this emerging need and to capitalise on the existing market for simple fully integrated transport devices. The concept is extremely forgiving in respect to the linearity of the installation and will tolerate a relatively high degree of curvature.
Barnes states: “Compared to alternative conveyors and other conventional materials handling solutions (eg chain drives), a Long-Stroke Cylinder is going to have obvious size, cost and maintenance advantages. Significantly they are also going to be easier to integrate into machine/plant control systems, as they are, in effect, just another axis of motion rather than being another separate system, which is typical of conveyor installations.”
Further non-traditional markets for the Long-Stroke Cylinder include stage sets, special effects for film studios, models for museums and visitor attractions, retail displays and municipal art installations.
"
