As electricity bills continue to rise due to new government mandates, manufacturing plants and other industrial facilities are making reducing energy consumption a priority. No company can afford to waste money by using machines or processes that consume too much energy. Since pneumatic systems are ubiquitous throughout manufacturing and can consume a large share of a plant’s power costs, ensuring they consume only the air required is extremely important.
Just like electricity, natural gas and water, compressed air is often a required utility in manufacturing facilities. Although compressed air is a bit more expensive compared to electricity for industrial machinery applications, it has other advantages and is thus frequently used to drive mechanical motion.
This article focuses on why pneumatics is used to power linear motion, along with some of the basic pneumatic hardware required for these types of applications.
Bulk multi-conductor cable is a convenient way to connect electrical power and signals.
Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about bulk multi-conductor cable:
Why use a shielded cable?
What is the difference between cord and cable?
Why use VFD cable?
What does ‘Exposed Run’ mean?…
This white paper examines pneumatic design best practices, and then presents four basic pneumatic circuits commonly used in machine automation (Air Prep, Double-acting Cylinder, Continuous Cycling and Two-hand Control). While there are many variations, these pneumatic circuits combine basic pneumatic components to create functional and reliable pneumatic circuits.
Proximity sensors, also known as prox sensors or prox switches, are solid-state non-contact devices used to sense the presence of metal. They are a great device to accurately sense physical presence in machine and equipment automation applications.
This article describes the two major prox switch types, and why the inductive type is preferred for machine sensing.
Whether you’re frantically looking for a way to program your PLC, deciding which pneumatic component you need, or looking for a way to impress your boss with some new-found knowledge, look no further than AutomationDirect’s video page. The newly redesigned page is easily accessed from our home page and has all of AutomationDirect’s 1000+ videos at your fingertips.
