Josh Cosford

The use of hydraulic symbols must be comprehensive in your efforts to detail the workings of a complete hydraulic system. Hydraulic machines consist of more than pumps, valves and actuators, of course, even though they are often the stars of the show. Those stars would quickly fall into the other side of fame without components […]

Hydraulics goes a long way to improve the function, power, controllability and safety of material handling equipment. By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Material handling involves the moving, transporting, lifting, and dumping of products, components or bulk ingredients, and mostly within the production and distribution of finished goods. Much of the equipment used for material handling […]

I’ve explained other compound symbols in previous Symbology lessons, although not from the specific perspective of intentionally using two or more combined symbols to make one complete, functional component. The detailed version of the pressure compensated pump symbol combines tiny cylinders with 3-way, 2-position regulators and a smattering of other small symbols to make one…

Hydraulic cylinders and valves are common on refuse machinery, as they bring the rugged power for controlling, lifting, filling, compacting and dumping in the many types of refuse vehicles used. By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Waste management is an industry considered best operating in the wings, leaving the main stage orderly and immaculate. Sure, everyone […]

It was 20° here in Burlington, Ontario yesterday. No, not 20° Fahrenheit, but 20° Celsius … equating to something like 68° F. Nevertheless, it was warm enough to have our entire family outside playing basketball in the driveway. Because of the weather and the lack of human gatherings, I’m seeing a number of walkers, runners […]

Mobile machinery design has its challenges, but it has many benefits as well. A hydraulic pump need not mount near a hydraulic reservoir, and in fact, could be many feet away. A pump may be near the transmission of the vehicle or at a PTO shaft near the truck’s front bumper. As well, valves and […]

Let me start with by saying I will not be attending the 2020 IFPE Show this March 10-14. When the show begins, I’ll just be returning from my trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I will have been just married on the sunny beach to my beautiful soul mate, Caryes Allan. Three weeks out of […]

When you think hydraulic plumbing, what comes to mind is usually either hoses or tubes. Hoses are easy to make and provide a forgivable installation option. Tubing takes more forethought but is relatively straightforward if you have the proper bending and flaring equipment. What’s less popular but no less effective, especially for large diameter conduits, […]

The need for lower weight, size and costs mean that mobile machinery often sets the stage for power density improvements in fluid power. All hydraulic machinery should be similar in scope and design, one would think. After all, the point of fluid power is to transmit force. Why should any given mobile machine be vastly […]

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Hydraulic fittings and couplings get taken for granted, especially with mobile machinery, where profit margin can overshadow design. The reality is that fittings and couplers are as crucial to the design of a machine as are the pumps, valves and actuators. Let’s consider what makes a hydraulic fitting functional: it […]

Pneumatic safety valves, including bleed-and-block designs and 3/2 valves, are essential in manufacturing. By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Pneumatic systems are known for their ability to rapidly employ compressed gas to achieve work, and in fact, it’s this element that makes pneumatics the top choice for high-speed actuation of machinery. The pneumatic press, for example, […]

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor If you’ve spent any reasonable amount of time working on or around mobile machinery, you’re very familiar with PTO-driven machinery, including the hydraulic pump. The PTO shaft exiting the rear of a farm tractor is used to power mechanical implements through a drive shaft, such as bailers or mowers, themselves […]

The base symbol for the hydraulic pump (Figure 1) is actually quite simple. It starts with the standard circle and a directional arrow pointing out one end from within that circle. The solid-filled triangle makes this a hydraulic pump while pneumatic pumps (and most pneumatic symbols) are outlines only. There exist no other options for…

These are exciting times for the Canadian Fluid Power Association. There aren’t necessarily any extraordinary economic conditions to report, although association members describe the current climate as either stable or growing, for the most part. The excitement surrounds the general atmosphere of the association itself, as it currently rides a spirited wave of prosperity and…

Contributed by Josh Cosford Telescopic cylinders are a unique type of actuator able to extend far longer than a traditional rod-style cylinder. Telescopic cylinders are manufactured using two or more nested tubes inside one another, and these tubes act as both the rod and barrel. Telescopic cylinders have as many as seven stages or more, […]

In Hydraulic Symbology 101 (read it here first), I covered the basic square used for pressure valves and also showed the most stripped-down versions of the two most commonly used pressure valve symbols, the relief valve and the pressure reducing valve. In this edition of Hydraulic Symbology, I’m going to cover the four primary pressure…

In Hydraulic Symbology 201, I discussed directional valve symbols from basic construction to valve transitions. For the most part, these symbols pertain to industrial stack valves, although cartridge valve symbology is similar. When the stack valve — aka CETOP, ISO or “D-something” valve — is drawn in a circuit, however, it looks much different. Shown…

This article is the third in my series on hydraulic symbology, this time going beyond the basics to discuss symbols in higher detail. If you haven’t read Hydraulic Symbology 101 and Hydraulic Symbology 102, please click the links and read them first to gain the basics required for this article. If your basics are sound,…

Electrohydraulic or hydroelectric? It’s odd how similar those two compound words are, yet they’re obviously entirely different in meaning. Hydroelectric refers to the production of electricity by way of converting the potential kinetic energy found in conjoined bodies of water of varying height, into electrical energy used by everyone and their hamster. Electrohydraulic is the […]

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor In a recent fluid power webinar, while presenting on Selecting & Sizing the Proper Fitting, I was asked a question by an attendee I had no good answer to. Near the latter portion of the webinar, I had been discussing pressure drop through fittings. Ensuring you provide a healthy, unimpeded […]

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor I once had a walk-in customer bring with him an old, rusty spin-on filter, which I believe was originally coloured white below the now orange and brown soup of rust and oil. He needed a replacement filter for his vacuum truck, a machine he said he bought used eight years […]

The history of labor unions dates to the late 1800s when employees worked in often wretched conditions with little or no regard paid by employers for safety, fair wages and reasonable workaday hours. It’s hard to argue the level of productivity achieved prior to the amelioration of unions, and some would wager the great railroads…

By Josh Cosford Compared to many of you reading this, I am young in this industry, and as such, my fluid power career is sophomoric at best. Depending on your perspective, I am lucky (cursed) enough to experience the slow movement of time. Time does not fly for me, so the year 2006 seems a […]

Efficient– (of a system or machine) achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense. “Efficient.” en.oxfordictionaries.com. 2017. Sometimes a simple dictionary reference can explain better in a few words what may take me a paragraph or more. I think we can all agree on the definition of efficient, especially in this day and age, where cars,…