Select pages from a 175-page market research study Mountain Stream Group conducted to determine a.) the size of the proportional pneumatic control valve segment of the fluid power industry, b.) who the players are, and c.) what the opportunities and challenges a new company might find.
26. PNEUMATIC APPLICATIONS
Doctor Blade Control
Doctor blades are used through-out the paper process to remove water
and contaminants from the roll. The use of a double-acting cylinder (or
bladders or bellows) on each end of the roll, with two T3512’s control-
ling the position of each cylinder, increases the positioning accuracy of
the doctor blade.
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27. PNEUMATIC APPLICATIONS
Tire Molding
During the vulcanization stage of tire making, a green tire is molded
into a finished tire — ready for testing, inspection, and shipment. Tight
control of pressure and temperature is absolutely critical to the making
of high quality tires. This requires valves for steam, cold water, and air
pressure, as well as devices to monitor pressure and temperature. In
the illustration, the T3510P I/P is mounted in the cabinet with the PLC,
to locate all the electronics in a single location. The T79V volume
booster provides the flow capacity to open and close the valve rapidly,
as well as a ‘tunable’ integral needle valve to provide stable operation.
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28. PNEUMATIC APPLICATIONS
Tire Testing
Most manufacturers run finished tires through a battery of tests &
inspections. To minimize total testing time, multiple tires must be
inflated and deflated very rapidly, with pressure held constant during
the testing. In the illustrated example, the PLC begins the test by sending
a setpoint to the T3220 electronic pressure controller. The T20 pre-
amplifies the flow of the T3220, to provide tight responsive control of
pressure delivered to the High Flow Booster. The T3220 and T20 can
be ordered as a single integrated unit.
The High Flow Booster is selected based on the size and number of tires
to be tested. Marsh Bellofram has a full range of flow boosters up to 2"
port size and 2000 scfm.
In order to maintain the highest accuracy, the RPS pressure sensor
is mounted close to the tire. The T3220’s two-loop capability allows it
to close the loop with the downstream sensor, freeing up the PLC for
other things.
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29. PNEUMATIC APPLICATIONS
Tire Sidewall Grinding
A Type 3212 provides pressure control in a tire sidewall grinding appli-
cation. A command signal is channeled through a ZMS15-2 Power
Supply which feeds the command signal as well as the 15 volts DC
supply voltage to the Type 3212. A gauge monitors the downstream
pressure of the Type 3212, with a relief valve to protect against over
pressurization.
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30. ELECTRIC ACTUATOR APPLICATIONS | IAI Electric Actuator
Adhesive Press Equipment for Electronic Parts Assembly
• Manufacturing equipment forces two plastic parts to bond
using adhesive
• Since too much force would damage the plastic parts, the
equipment utilizes RCL-SA actuators to supply a lower
controlled force to act as a press
Aluminum Cutting Machine
• ROBO Cylinder is used to feed aluminum into machine to
be cut
• Touch panel is used to set the size and configuration of the
aluminum to be cut
• Touch panel displays the current data value as communi-
cated from the PCON through the field network
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31. ELECTRIC ACTUATOR APPLICATIONS | IAI Electric Actuator
Automated Inspection System
• Automated inspection system is used on mechanical parts
arranged in an array on a tray.
• Gripper is used in the system to grasp and carry parts to
determine good and bad parts. Good parts are returned to
the tray in their original positions. Bad parts are carried to a
different location.
• Less time is needed with the automated system than a tradi-
tional manual system
Ink Filling
• The ROBO Cylinder is used to squeeze the air out of the
plastic bag so the ink system can then place the cap on.
• The actuator moves fast to get closer to the bag, then it
squeezes the bag slowly to make the ink rise level high
enough for sensors to detect it which then communicates to
the actuator to pause and hold.
• By using ROBO Cylinder, it is possible to easily change
speeds, which eliminated defects such as ink leakage,
opposed to when Air Cylinders were used.
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32. ELECTRIC ACTUATOR APPLICATIONS | IAI Electric Actuator
Baseball Bat Inspection
• ROBO Cylinder has been adopted as an equipment that
measures the shape of a baseball bat
• The equipment scans the bat to get new coordinate data
which is sent through a PLC to a PC via a Gateway Unit
• The collected data is easily sent to a CNC machine for au-
tomated cutting
• As a result, accuracy is improved and processing time is
shortened by 1/3 in comparison to be manually performed
• Many major league baseball players use the bats that are
produced using this technology
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33. ELECTRIC ACTUATOR APPLICATIONS | IAI Electric Actuator
Food Processing
With the introduction of this device the quality of the slices
improved as well as the productivity
• Previously done by hand
• Uniform cutting was difficult
• Large quantities caused physical injury such as tendonitis
• Speed control of the blade is needed to make smooth
consistent slices
• No air source available at this particular facility for an air
cylinder
Manual Labor:
3,000-4,000 slices of cake were made in 15 hours
Automated Machine:
5,000-6,000 slices of cake were made in 7 hours
About 3x as fast!! @16 slices per cake
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