Pneumatic actuating device

The subject of the invention is a pneumatic actuator with pneumatic receiving devices, in particular working cylinders, whose working spaces are connected via pressure conduits with electrically operated switching elements, which for their part are connected via pressure supply conduits with a common pressure source and via electric conduits signals with a common control unit.

Devices of the aforementioned type are currently widespread, for example in production teams, transport and storage devices and the like, because especially when compared to hydraulic or electric drives, they allow reliably high forces with small dimensions and relatively simple installation

183 208 and, if necessary, also large conversion paths, and due to the flexibility of the working medium, they also have other advantages. Although, for example, when directly comparing a hydraulically actuated cylinder-piston system with a suitable pneumatically actuated system, the latter gives, due to the required connection lines for the working medium, directly the advantage that the discharge of content from any non-pressurized working space can usually be simply into the environment and it does not need to be led back to the pump. However, also in the case of this type of pneumatic working cylinder, there are, in ordinary actuating systems of the said type, a number of connections, which in terms of construction, arrangement, maintenance and so on require relatively large expenditure, and are also potential sources of error.

Along with the required switching elements, which are currently in practice only electrically operated or at least electrically driven, for example, in the case of a pneumatic working cylinder, two pressure hoses are needed to connect both working spaces with the associated switching element, one supply pressure line for connecting the switching element to the pressure source and at least one electrical signal line for controlling the switching element to the control unit. If, as is often the case, at least both end positions of the working cylinder must be monitored or signaled to the control unit, electrical signal cables between the respective sensors and the control unit are also required. All these cables should be laid and connected on both sides with the appropriate connections, which requires a certain amount of additional components and installation costs.

Starting from the recognition of this issue or its negative effects on the use of this type of actuating systems, recently appropriate systems have been developed, in which the switching elements of a series of pneumatic receiving devices, adjacent to each other in the entire assembly, are enclosed in so-called valve blocks. The required switching elements with a common supply air supply and the electric control system are mounted on the common base plate. The electric control system can be combined into a single unit, either by means of a multipole plug, or by means of a complex system, whereby the use of combined systems generally results in the case of actuating systems of the type mentioned at the beginning with the lowest installation costs according to the state of the art. The disadvantage is the relatively high installation costs, because for one pneumatic receiving device, in particular for example a pneumatic working cylinder, two compressed air hoses (as between each working space and the valve block) should be laid as before, and if necessary two electric signal wires (between position sensors and valve block), and connect them on both sides either directly or provide plugs.

The object of the invention is to improve the pneumatic actuator in such a way that installation and maintenance costs can be further reduced while eliminating the disadvantages of known systems.

The pneumatic actuator is characterized according to the invention in that the switching elements together with the pressure hoses to the working spaces are located directly at the receiving devices, at the same time forming a receiving unit, and that the electric signal and supply lines of the pressure lines of each receiving unit, combined in one combined pipe . they run between the receiving unit on one side and the manifold control unit connected to the pressure source - supply air / signal on the other side.

Preferably, the combined hoses comprise on both sides of the combination plugs for joint connection to their associated pressure and electrical connections, and the distributors - the supply air / signal of a series of receiving units are grouped in the shape of a block and are provided with common connections of the supply pressure lines and signal lines.

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Preferably, the connection of the supply air / signal manifold blocks to each other or to a pressure source and control unit is also carried out via combination lines and combination plugs.

The actuator may have functional sensors located at the receiving sets, in particular at the working cylinders, piston position sensors which are connected to the control unit via electrical signal cables, the signal cables of these functional sensors also being routed in combined cables and preferably via combined plugs. .

Preferably, composite nodes for signal cables are arranged at the receiving sets, and the signal cables lying between them and leading to the control unit are made as composite connections, preferably according to the ASI standard.

Thanks to the solution according to the invention, it is now directly achieved that each individual receiving device, e.g. a working cylinder, is connected only via a single combined cable to the remaining system, which in the aspect of laying this cable or creating connections and the like offers great benefits .

The location of the switching valves together with the corresponding pressure hoses into the working spaces directly at the pneumatic working cylinders is already known as such - the new and advantageous in this solution is the creation of the said receiving unit, which is connected via a single combined hose with the assigned distributor - supply air /signal.

A further development of the invention is particularly recommended, according to which the combined lines comprise combined plugs on both sides for joint connection with the pressure and electrical connections assigned to them. Thanks to this, in this type of actuating system, the assembly and disassembly of individual receiving devices or manifolds is significantly simplified, because before removing a damaged working cylinder, only one combined plug must be disconnected or removed.

According to another preferred further development of the invention, the supply air / signal distributors of the series of receiving units are combined in the form of a block and provided with common connections for the supply and signal lines. From the pressure source on the one hand or from the control unit on the other, therefore, only one wire connection to this type of manifold supply air / signal separates, from which, again, only one combined line runs from each manifold to the associated receiving device. A maximally simple overall system is created with significantly reduced assembly and maintenance costs, while sources of error are largely eliminated, e.g. due to swapped plug connections etc.

In the pneumatic actuation system, in which - as already at the outset at the receiving units, especially at the working cylinders - there are functional sensors, especially piston position sensors, which are connected to the control unit by means of electric signal cables, is provided in a further recommended development invention that also the signal cables of these sensors are routed in the combined cables and, in this case, via the combined plugs. The connection of the receiving units solved as described thus takes place, as before, only via only one combined cable, so that also the advantages of the invention described above fully come to the fore.

The invention is explained below on the basis of exemplary embodiments, partly shown schematically in the drawing, in which fig. 1 shows a pneumatic actuator with valve blocks according to the prior art, fig. 2 - in a corresponding schematic view the device according to the invention, fig. 3 - a further variation of the device according to the invention in a detailed axonometric view, Fig. 4 - connection of the supply air / signal distributor with the receiving unit of a further variant of the actuator, in a schematic cross-sectional view, Fig. 5 - partial cross-section along the VV axis in the embodiment according to Fig. 3, figure 6 - enlarged cross section corresponding to figure 5, here

183 208, the subtracted combination plug is shown, and Figure 7 is a partial cross-sectional detail similar to VII in Figure 3.

The pneumatic actuator according to Fig. 1, made according to the prior art, comprises four separate pneumatic receiving devices 1, which here are in the form of working cylinders for performing unspecified tasks e.g. in a production plant, etc. Working spaces, located on both sides of the invisible piston, are connected in each case via separate pressure hoses 2 with electrically actuated switching elements not shown here, which are jointly included in the so-called valve block 3, only schematically marked. In addition, functional sensors 4 are located on the receiving devices 1, which control e.g. inductively piston positions and are also connected to the valve block 3 via electrical signal wires 5.

Valve blocks 3, usually located in the vicinity of the group of receiving devices 1 belonging to them, or switching elements for these receiving devices included therein, also connect in a way not shown here via supply pressure lines with a common pressure source, and via electrical signal cables with a common control unit to which signals of functional sensors are also supplied. 4. The electric control system can be combined together via either a multipole plug or a combined system, which in this type of pneumatic actuating devices has the lowest installation costs according to the current state of the art.

The cost of assembly is still unfavorable, because two pressure lines 2 (between each working space and valve block 3) as well as two electric signal lines 5 (between action sensors 4 and valve block) should be installed on one pneumatic receiving device 1 as before. 3) and either connect them each time directly from both sides, or provide them with plugs.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the device according to the invention corresponding to the functionally known device according to FIG. 1, the switching elements 6, which according to FIG. 1 are located in the valve block 3, are now located directly at the receiving devices 1 together with the lines pressure to workspaces (see items 2 and 7, 8 in Fig. 4), while forming the receiving unit 9. In addition, electrical signal lines 10 (see also the cross-sectional view according to Fig. 4) and the supply pressure line 11 of each receiving unit 9 are included in one combination line 12, which now runs as the only connection between the receiving unit 9 on one side and the manifold - supply air / signal 13 connected in it shown here with a common pressure source and a common control assembly, on the other hand.

As is shown in particular in Figs. 3-7, the combination lines 12 comprise on both sides of the combination plugs 14 for joint connection with the associated pressure and electrical connections, however, if necessary, they could also have separate connectors etc. for these connections. In these combination lines 12, the signal lines 5 of the operation sensors 4 are also routed.

As it results from Fig. 2 on the one hand and Figures 3 and 7 on the other hand, it is irrelevant whether the supply air / signal distributor 13 has a series of separate connections for a series of receiving devices 1 or (according to Fig. 3. or 7) each time individual distributors - supply air / signal 13 are provided for each receiving device 1, which then e.g. also in a blocked form can be enclosed in supply air / signal manifold blocks and provided with common supply and signal pressure connections. It is important that now each individual receiving device 1 or each receiving unit 9 connects to the remaining system only by means of only one combined wire 12 or during assembly can be brought into a state of connection, which in the aspect of laying wires, creating connections, etc. gives great benefits.

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According to Fig. 3, three separate pneumatic receiving devices 1 or receiving units 9, made again as working cylinders, are each time connected again by means of only one combination line 12 always with one supply air / signal distributor 13. At both ends of the combination line 12 there are mounted again, combination plugs 14 that enable the supply and signal pressure lines to be connected together. The individual supply / signal 13 distributors are combined into one block 15 of these distributors, but the receiving devices supplied by the three upper separate supply / signal 13 distributors are not shown.

On the one hand, the supply air / signal manifold block 15 of Figure 3 is connected to a common pressure source not shown via pressure line 16 and equipment 17 for preparing compressed air (lubricators, pressure regulators, etc.). On the other hand, this supply air / signal manifold block 15 connects via a complex connection 18 to the electric or electronic control unit 19 or is connected to it via plug 20.

In addition, it is also apparent from Fig. 3 that the operating sensors 4, again made as piston end position sensors, also connect to the receiving units 9 via signal cables 5. The corresponding signals are carried out from there via combination plugs 14 and combination cables 12 to supply / signal 13 manifolds, from there are fed to the control unit 19 via the combined connection 18.

In Fig. 4, the separate receiving unit 9, which is functionally fully corresponding to the systems of Figs. 2 or 3, is shown in cross-section in somewhat more detail in connection with the associated supply air / signal 13 distributor. The working spaces 1, 8 of the receiving device 1, located on both sides of the piston 21, connect via pressure lines 2, located directly at the receiving device 1, with the switching element 6, which is here made as a piston-slide valve 23, controlled by solenoid pilot valve 22. On the side of the slider 24, opposite to the pilot valve 22, there is a spring 25, which, when the electromagnetic valve provides power to the working space 7, while with the electrically operated pilot valve 22, the slide 24 is pneumatically moved against the spring force 25 to the second end position, and the work space 8 is connected to the supply pressure line 11. The numbers 28 or 29 indicate the vent connections of both working spaces 1, 8, each of which working space can be directly vented to the environment in the appropriate position of the slide 24.

In the housing of the receiving unit 9, above the switching element 6, a plate 26 with electrical or electronic components 27 is visible. On the one hand, it connects via a combination plug 14 to a cable or 9 signal cables 10 in a combination cable 12, on the other hand, with a signal cable 5 towards the function sensor only shown here individually or in a way not already shown with the electromagnetic pilot valve 22. In the case of electrical signal cables 10 as a composite connection, the respective composite node in which composite signals are received and sent or coded and decoded is also obtained by means of this plate 26 or the structural elements 27 shown on it.

On the side of the combination duct 12, opposite the receiving unit 9, there is also a combined plug 14 which is mounted by means of a gasket 30 onto the respective supply air / signal 13 distributor and sealed. For a more detailed description of the details pertaining to this, reference is made to the following embodiments in Fig. 5-7, which show in detail some at least functionally the same combination of supply air / signal distributor 13 and combination plug 14.

The combination plug 14 according to Figs. 5-7 comprises a housing 31 of lightweight metal cast or of a suitable plastic or the like

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Ί material that can be fastened by means of the central screw 32 at the threaded opening 33 of the supply air / signal 13 manifold, with the required connections being made on one side for compressed air and on the other for signal lines or composite connections. Compressed air supplied to the distributor 13 through the opening 34 (see pressure line 16 in Fig. 3), flows through the opening 35 into the housing 31 of the combination plug, and from there into the interior of the combination conduit 12. The jacket of the supply pressure conduit U of the combined conduit 12 is inserted into the base 36 on the housing 31, it is held by the longitudinally cut holding cone 37 and is sealed behind by means of a seal 38. In addition, the above-mentioned seal 30 is inserted between the combination plug 14 and the distributor 13, which compresses when the screw 32 is tightened.

The signal line 10, which runs inside the combination line 12 or supply pressure line 11, is sealed separately by means of a gasket 39 at the outlet from the compressed air area and is connected in a way not shown to two separate plug-in connections 40, which are inserted into the plug-in sleeves 41 of the distributor

13. These plug-in sleeves 41 are also in contact in a manner not shown in detail with the wires 42 of the composite connection 18, which can be made e.g. according to the known ASI standard. The composite connection cable 18 runs (as shown approximately in particular in Fig. 7) in the appropriate selection 43 by all individual distributors 13, combined into one block of 5 distributors - supply air / signal, the connection with plug sleeves 41 can be obtained during assembly by simply cutting each side of the cable.

In Fig. 7 it is additionally visible that the individual distributors - supply air / signal 13 are sealed to each other by means of seals 44 and combined by means of retaining clamps 45 inserted from below. The end element of the whole block in the drawing located in the front is placed 46 for connection to pressure line 16 or for closing introduction of combined connection 18. A suitable end element without a pressure hose connection can also be provided at the rear end in the drawing.

The connection of individual distributors - supply air / signal 13 together could also take place via screw joints etc., it would also be possible - as shown in Fig. 2 - a continuous housing arrangement for a series of separate distributors. Combined plugs 14 could be connected reliably and tightly to the manifolds also by means of other elements than screws 32. Also the solution of combined plugs and distributors themselves could be changed for various applications in terms of construction. Differently than in the presented embodiment, a pressure and signal connection of a series of supply air / signal manifold blocks could also be realized with each other or with a common control and pressure supply unit via appropriate combination lines and combination plugs.

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UP Department of Publications. Circulation of 60 copies

Price PLN 4.00