Thread: Pneumatics Question Help

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I need some help with the pneumatics I am using for a winged prop. The idea is to build a prop that will rise up and when it reaches its max height a pair of wings will unfold. I have bulit the wing mechanism and it uses a pneumatic cylinder to lift the mechanism which casuses the wings to spread open.

The problem is that when the air is applied to the cylinder it rises rapidly. I have tried to use the lowest pressure possible and just crack the valve but it either does nothing or opens quickly. I would like the wings to open slowly.

So, the questions is how is this accomplished and what (parts) do I need?

The correct method of controlling the speed of a pneumatic actuator is to use a FLOW regulator to control the exhaust air from the cylinder.

flow regulators generally only control the flow in one direction, and let the air flow at full rate in the opposite direction, so, to control both the forward and backward strokes of the cylinder, even if you are using single acting cylinders you will need two regulators, one each on both ports of the cylinder, with each one controlling the rate at which the air flows OUT of the cylinder

Flow controls or adjustable mufflers. I use the adjustable muffler method.

Thanks, and what you said make sense, I'm using a double acting cylinder so if I use a flow control or muffler on the exhaust it provides a damping effect.

Now off to ebay to look for some parts...

Again thanks

Here's a few places for mufflers:
http://evilusions.com/shop/product_i...roducts_id=258
http://monsterguts.com/pneumatics/ai...r/prod_94.html
http://www.frightprops.com/frightpro...ct.asp?ID=0580
http://monsterguts.com/prop-pneumati...r/prod_93.html