Thread: Looking for a electronic cylinder

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Several years ago I designed a Halloween prop which pops up quickly and scares the hell out of everyone. The problem is I am currently ussing a 12" pop-up water sprinker (in place of a air valve) but I have to use an air compressor to make it work. Does anyone know of an electronic cylinder which has an approximately 12 inch range and is reasonable priced?

Thanks

HalloweenTech

I don't think you'll find anything driven electrically that will pop up fast enough to scare anybody like you're thinking. Linear actuators are prettly slow, being driven by gearmotors. You *could* use a solenoid to release an arm that's under tension or compression, but you would have to automate the mechanism being reset somehow (if you didn't want to reset it manually).

Maybe try a cam on a motor. Depends on the weight ,size,speed,etc of the prop you're trying to actuate. Possibly a wiper motor set on high speed?

If your prop is light enough, you could use a parallel 4 bar link with a power door lock actuator.