What Are Electric Cylinders?

You may know electric cylinder by the term ‘electric actuator’. However, the both of them are the same thing. Electric cylinders are electro mechanic devices. They are basically used to replace the manual functioning such as controlling, positioning, and to replace the functioning done by liquids such as air of hydraulics.

The need for electric cylinders has grown quite a lot since the years. A lot of jobs are replacing manually done functioning with one of the three types of electric cylinders. Of course there exist many different types of electric cylinders and each cylinders fits a particular requirement. However, the three main electric cylinders namely pneumatic linear cylinders, hydraulic linear cylinders and electric linear cylinders are very much preferred.

There is quite a wrong image of pneumatic, hydraulic and electric linear cylinders flowing around. Many of them are even true however, that does not mean that all of them are. Moreover, you may think that your application’s need for an electric cylinder can be done by only one type of specific cylinder. However that is not the case and you may actually get to know of the benefits of 2 or 3 cylinders which may fit your application’s needs. There is never only one cylinder required for use in an application where cylinders are required.

 

How do Pneumatic, Hydraulic and Electric Cylinders Function?

• Pneumatic linear cylinders basically comprise of a piston which is inside a hollow cylinder. To move the piston in the cylinder, pressure is applied to the pump or compressor. As the pressure is increased, the cylinder moves along the piston’s axis and creates the linear force which is required. Once the linear force is produced, the cylinder moves back to its original position by a fluid being supplied to the opposite end of the piston or a springy force.
• Hydraulic linear cylinders are quite similar to pneumatic linear cylinders. However, the only difference is that the motion which causes the cylinder to move around the axis of the piston is provided by an incompressible liquid in the pump or compressor. Whereas in pneumatic linear cylinders, the pressure is applied by pumping the compressor and pressurising the air. A hydraulic linear cylinder is basically made up of two very important parts: a control device such as nozzles with side gates and a actuation component. The actuation component is almost always a piston. In some different types of hydraulic linear cylinders, the actuation component can be made of a controlling valve slide.
• Electric linear cylinders use electrical energy to rotate the cylinder and produce a linear force. It rotates the cylinder’s screw by the rotational force of the motor. This causes the nut to move up and down in a line. This up and down motion produces the push and pull effect for the load.

Each type of linear cylinder has their own advantages an drawbacks. Make sure you do some research before buying them so that you make an informed decision. Check out verin electrique for a range of cylinders.