IQS NEWSROOM

Motion Control Products
Products & services news and events ranging from Micro Linear Actuator Manufacturer: Actuonix Motion Devices, Bishop-Wisecarver Group Manufactures, and Cutting Edge Website Design from Cylinders & Valves, Inc.

Valve Actuators, Old and New

The term “valve actuator” is likely to evoke images of automotive components for many people with backgrounds in industry, specifically those who have had experience in the automotive industry as professionals or as hobbyists. However, it may surprise some of those people to hear that actuators are used in the control of valves outside of the context of the automotive world. In these other contexts, valve actuators might not be used to the same extent as they are to close choke valves during an engine cold start, at least not yet. However, especially as automation gains popularity across industrial contexts and disciplines, valve actuators are likely to increase in popularity.

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Shaft Mounted Speed Reducers: Smaller then a Coupling

It often happens that industrial applications can actually employee a couple different types of industrial products to get the job done well. This does not mean that both industrial products are completely alike, but both obviously have enough points in there favor to be chosen part of the time. The automotive industry in particular is constantly trying to develop new parts to contribute to new vehicle models that will then burst onto the market and make the makers lots of money. However, not all of these parts are recognized by the public. Some of them, like shaft mounted speed reducers, are newer alternatives that enable vehicles to run with a few new characteristics not notable enough to impress the general public but still impressive enough to use.

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The Self-Lubricating Slide Bearings

The key to success for a linear bearing design is creating motion without friction, which can cause problems in a large system and deteriorate the materials used to create the parts. Everyone knows that rotating rollers and balls are popular forms of motion control, helping glide a part along a designated path much like a conveyor does. However, these are not the only ways smooth motion can be achieved. Slide bearings do not utilize additional parts to transition a part from point A to point B without friction, but by way of particular materials that guarantee a smooth trip.

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Pneumatic Air Cylinders Explained

A pneumatic cylinder is a type of air cylinder that uses pneumatic air pressure to operate the cylinder. Pneumatic cylinders vary between miniature air cylinders and larger air cylinders, depending on the application. There are two main types of pneumatic miniature air cylinders, the single acting cylinder and the double acting cylinder. In general, the cylinders are used for door opening and closing mechanisms, hoists and jacks, gates, actuator valves, and in certain industrial machines.

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Actuators: Driving Lean Manufacturing

In the industrial world, few concepts are catching on as quickly as lean manufacturing. I constantly read and hear on blogs and radio shows about the importance of “leanness” as industry works to right itself in the wake of the financial crisis. At the heart of lean manufacturing is waste reduction. In modern industry, waste reduction often involves automation. Automation depends on actuators. I suppose one could say, then, that if lean manufacturing is helping to make industry stronger, one could also say that linear actuators are helping to make industry stronger. This may not seem like the most intuitive statement, but many lean manufacturing operations depend on actuators, if indirectly, to become lean.

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Linear Slide Tables

A linear motion bearing is a device that is used to permit the movement of a specific entity in a linear way. Linear slides are devices which are used to provide precision motion along linear planes for many different types of automated machinery for the purposes of pushing, pulling or positioning. Using ball bearings, or cylindrical bearings, linear slides are able to move with low friction and energy expenditure.

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The Benefits of Manual Gear Boxes

For some time now, most vehicle manufacturers have used automatic gear boxes in their vehicles. An automatic transmission and gear box is easier to use than most manual systems and can provide a higher level of safety on the road. However, some luxury retailers are adding manual gear boxes back into production for a variety of reasons. Many luxury vehicles are manufactured for their power and “cool factor.” Manual transmissions are seen as much cooler than automatic transmissions, and it is easier to feel the power of the vehicle when you control it with your own hands.

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Coupling Fluid: Motor Oils and Transmission Fluids

A fluid coupling is used for a number of motorized applications, most notably cars, boats and aviation structures. Because it so often works with transmissions and engines, the fact that coupling fluid is usually specialized for that purpose is no surprise. Motor oils and automatic transmission fluids come in quite a variety, and are fascinating substances.

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The Big Picture of Miniature Linear Actuators

When you think about it, our society is a little strange. We want things to be bigger and better, but still fit into a tiny little package. We want the best technology in every product, but still have it small enough to be able to fit in our purses and pockets. We expect that new products will come out that exceed our every expectation, look and feel thin and are very easy to carry. This double standard is true when talking about most electronics, cell phones, mp3 players and digital cameras. We crave “bigger” technology without “bigger” products.

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Medicine and Micro Linear Actuators

As trends in medicine point more and more toward performance of surgical procedures with robotic equipment, demand increases for microactuators and the other movement control utilities that actuate robotic surgical tools. Micro linear actuators can be found in much of the equipment used in the health care industry to improve people’s health and even save lives. In addition to their widespread use in robotic surgical equipment, microactuators are also put to use in medical scanning devices. Because they are capable of generating precise, controlled movements, microactuators and other small linear actuators are increasing in their importance throughout medicine.

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When Smaller is Better: Mini Air Cylinders

Mini air cylinders are highly useful because they provide the same benefits as larger air cylinders but with a much smaller profile. In today’s world of green living and other environmentally-conscious techniques, smaller and more energy-efficient machines are more popular than ever. In many cases, mini air cylinders can replace the larger units and offer the same services with smaller parts and a higher level of efficiency. If you have the chance to use a mini air cylinder instead of a large air cylinder, switch them for the following benefits:

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Linear Slides Distributors: The Website Design

To keep up with the competition and keep your customers happy, every distribution operation must invest heavily in an excellent website. The internet is our society’s main form of marketing these days, more so then print ads and maybe even more then television. When a person or company is searching for a product, they don’t go to the yellow pages but to the computer for a Google search. Therefore, if a marketing team wants to keep their company relevant then they must invest in a business website. However, excellence in all things is what keeps buyers coming back, so the website must be well organized, attractive and useful or people won’t use it. For linear slides distributors, whose product has so many alternative models and industry specific details, a well organized and navigable site is vital to success.

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The Advantages of Plastic Linear Bearings

The type of material chosen for a product of any kind is a big decision, which is a concept that can be applied in industrial, commercial and residential settings. For example, when I am buying a dress for myself, I know not to be metallic looking fabric because I sweat right through it and it is very static-like. Cottons are always the best bet for me. In commercial and industrial settings, choosing product materials is even more important because it is not just an individual’s comfort level that is at stake. When discussing the type of material for a linear bearing, such as plastic versus a variety of metals, much must be taken into consideration.

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The Mounted Pillow Block Linear Bearings

The motion that linear bearings are utilized for is usually done on a horizontal plane, but sometimes it is necessary on a vertical plane as well, which is why the mountable pillow block linear bearings were created. Although they can also be used on a horizontal plane, their ability to be used vertically is what they are known for. The design is unique from other linear bearing styles because of the additional space around the linear bearing necessary to properly mount it on a wall or machine. Being bolted also means that they have to have holes for bolts or fasteners to securely attach them to whatever surface will be supporting them.

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Screen Doors and Linear Actuators

When I was a child, I remember running in and out of the house via our screen door. I remember the sound of the screen door’s hinges, or what I thought were its hinges, working, and the sound as it shut. My mother could hear it too, and, like so many other parents of children who run in and out of the house, reminded me that I needed to make up my mind whether I wanted to be in or out of the house.

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Winter Safety Risks for Wood Manufacturing

Wood manufacturing plants, like sawmills, paper mills, pallet manufacturers, and plywood manufacturing companies should take extra care to avoid dust explosion risks during cold winter months. Surprisingly enough, winter temperatures can increase the risk of explosions and other problems from dust collection in these factories.

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Speed Ratios

When I think of speed my mind initially forms the image of a car of some sort, but this is not the only sort of machine that requires the speed control provided by mechanisms like gear drives. In fact, a number of large industrial machines must vary their speed according to the work they are doing, and because they are used for mass production, controlling their speed is very important to producing well formed products. Gear drives are installed between the transmission or motor of a machine and the moving part, whether it is a moving ram like those attached to hydraulic presses or a knife sharp die cut mold like those used in die cutting machines. Set up for a variety of speed ratios, these gear drives, which are categorized in the industrial market as speed reducers, are able to control the amount of power being transferred from the power source to the moving part so that the machine is not overwhelmed with power, which is also known as torque.

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Gear Boxes: A Basic Transmission

I recently paid a visit to the auto shop due to some car issues, and was told the next day that I needed a new transmission. This was not happy news, since transmissions are not cheap. In my frustration I researched what exactly a transmission does and why it’s important enough to create such a cash flow issue for me. Ends up, the transmission is pretty interesting, as are the gear boxes that jump started the transmission in its most basic form.

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Pencil Sharpeners, a Variation of Planetary Gearboxs

When I was in high school every classroom was equipped with a mechanical pencil sharpener. Most of the sharpeners worked and were well used but occasionally some kid got the idea it would be funny to stick a tootsie roll in one of them. Mechanical pencils are making pencil sharpeners somewhat obsolete but there will always be a need to sharpen colored pencils or number two pencils for scantrons. Personally, no mechanical pencils will ever replace the Mirado Black Warriors. It was always fun to stand in the corner, interrupting the teacher with the loud grinding noise that pencil sharpeners make while they eat at a pencil.

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