Hydraulic Cylinder Adjustable endstop

[Benny91]

Hey there. I am putting it out there if anyone has a design idea. What we have is a double ended hyrdaulic cylinder used to endform a tube. The problem is we have different lengths of tubes that need to be changed over a lot. We currently use a mild steel tube put around the back rod of the cylinder and it is used as a dead stop... to stop the cylinder from forming any further therefore controlling the final length of the tube. Any ideas for an adjustable one for easy changeover??

 

[micalbrch]

As far as I know Parker has hydraulic cylinders with variable stroke length. Isn't that an option?

 

[MintJulep]

Adjustable means now you need to measure.

Introduces an opportunity for mistakes.

Introduces am amount of variation each time you make an adjustment.

Your current system of fixed-length tubes seems better. Look for opportunities to make changing them faster.

Make them "C" shaped so they can be slipped on? Use a quick-release pin instead of whatever holds them on now?

 

[Benny91]

Thanks! I will consider these ideas.

 

[Benny91]

Link

Would this cylinder be what I'm looking for?

 

[MintJulep]

Not if I understand what you are doing.

That cylinder has a position encoder on it. So it could tell a controller the stroke, then the controller tells a valve to close and the cylinder could stop.

But you probably don't have a controller now.

 

[Benny91]

We need the cylinder to stop at the same place everytime, so I think this is what we could use. There is a lot of force involved in the process so I will have to look into reliablity for repeated uses. Do you have good luck with Parker Cylinder service?