Parker Hannifin, a global leader in motion and control technologies, will be displaying a variety of their products at their booth (#80440) in South Hall 3 at IFPE 2014 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev., March 4-8.
Composite cylinders and piston accumulators
Lightraulics hydraulic cylinders, made from carbon fiber composites and high performance lightweight alloys, typically weigh less than 60% of the weight of a comparable steel cylinder.
With exceptional strength and stiffness relative to their weight, superior fatigue life compared to metal components and high corrosion and chemical resistance, carbon fiber composites allow designs and structures, which only a few years ago, would have seemed impossible.
Parker‘s Lightraulics composite cylinders use a fully composite barrel, instead of a metal liner, to maximize the composites’ properties. This has benefits for applications in which weight is a critical factor, including oil and gas, military, marine, aerospace and others.
The cylinders are available for bore sizes up to 7.9 in. (200 mm) and operating pressures up to 5500 psi (380 bar). Piston accumulators in the same design can be realized for volumes up to 13.2 gal (50 l).
The use of lightweight, high performance cylinders leads to weight savings and higher payloads and also provides high corrosion resistance and therefore prevents cost and time effective maintenance works. In military applications, the low thermal expansion, corrosion resistance and non-magnetic nature of composite materials offer creative solutions for system designers. In sub-sea systems and marine applications, the usage of carbon fiber composite cylinders leads to longer product lives and higher productivity due to increased payload capacity and superior corrosion resistance.
Additionally, Parker offers solutions for special applications, such as Lightraulics hollow-piston and heavy duty tool cylinders. These products have been used in rough environments for more than 18 years – operating with a thin-walled metal liner. They resist forces up to 500 tons and operating pressures up to 10,150 psi (700 bar).
Cylinder coating technology
Global Shieldcoating technology was designed to meet the corrosion, impact, chemical, salt water, and acidic resistance requirements of challenging mobile and industrial environments, while mitigating much of the detrimental environmental impact caused by current plating technologies.
This highly engineered coating exceeds the performance of Engineered Hard Chrome (EHC) or Nitride, while matching or exceeding, the corrosion resistance of more costly, high-performance alternatives. It can be applied during original cylinder manufacture or during after-market cylinder maintenance using a process that is both efficient and environmentally responsible.
Emissions from the coating technology are well below OSHA Personal Exposure Limits (PEL) and are fully compliant with the European market’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, as implemented in July, 2006 and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction (REACH) initiative, as implemented in June, 2007.
Position sensing
The Intellinder Absolute Position Sensor integrates easily into hydraulic cylinders without any exposed external sensors or complex linkages, making it an ideal solution for challenging outdoor environments. Its installation is virtually plug-and-play.
This technology uses position-identifying bar codes on the rod to communicate absolute position directly and precisely to the controller. Position report occurs at power-on with no need for calibration. The sensor’s design combines time-tested, highly engineered optics with a proprietary lens that provides excellent resolution, linearity, repeatability, accuracy, and hysteresis. The resulting sharp bar code imaging translates into consistent and predictable control of critical positioning operations. The sensor provides health monitoring which can detect potential cylinder malfunctions before they can disrupt operations. Multiple sensors can be mounted, allowing for redundancy for high demand applications.
The Intellinder Absolute Position Sensor performs across a wide range of temperatures and provides long stroke capabilities of 20 ft [6,096 mm] or more. It is designed to sustain performance in applications exposed to vibration, dust, gravel, corrosives, chemicals, axial load, side load and immersion.
Parker Hannifin
Filed Under: Cylinders & Actuators