Pneumatic Cylinders and Actuators

Pneumatic cylinders and actuators move a load using pressurized air stored within a piston or diaphragm. Depending on the direction of the load, you’ll either need an air cylinder or rotary actuator.

Air Cylinders
Air cylinders move a load in a straight line using a piston rod. Compressed air either pushes or pulls the piston rod in and out of the cylinder barrel. Two key parameters for air cylinders include stroke and bore size. Stroke refers the distance the cylinder piston or rod extends when it is actuated. Bore refers to the diameter of the pneumatic cylinder. The larger the bore size, the more pressure or force the cylinder can exert.

Types of air cylinders:

Single acting air cylinders use one compressed air port to either push or pull the rod in a single direction. The rod then returns via spring action.
Double acting air cylinders use compressed air ports on both ends of the cylinder to extend and retract the rod.
There are a few options when shopping for air cylinders that allow you to further customize it for your application. For example, cushions allow for quieter piston operation. Also, many of the cylinder models on our site have various mounting options available.

Rotary Actuators
Rotary actuators rotate objects around an axis. They use compressed air that produces continuous torque.

Many rotary actuators have a double rack-and-pinion design. Air enters through a port that pushes the piston linearly, which causes the connected rack’s gear teeth to engage with the teeth of the circular pinion and rotate the pinion shaft up to 360 degrees.

Rotary actuators also come with cushioning which allows for quieter operation.

Pneumatic Control Valves
Pneumatic valves, also known as air valves, help stop and start the flow of air in industrial pneumatics. These can be manual like a foot valve or they can be electrical like a solenoid valve.

Pneumatic Solenoid Valves

solenoid air valveThese electric directional control valves stop, start or change the direction of air flow by applying electricity to the solenoid. To learn more about the different types of solenoid valves head on over to our Solenoid Valves 101 blog post.
Types of solenoid valves:

Direct acting valves “directly” use the power supply from the electromagnet to open and close the valve.
Pilot operated valves use the electromagnetic power combined with the pressure of the flowing air/liquid/gas to open and close the valve.