Lane Diverting

Product Family: Electric
Product Used: ERD electric cylinder
Product Type: Standard

Application Requirements:
Stroke: 2 inches
Thrust: 40 lbf

Application Description: 
Product diverter for conveying line

Challenge:
A builder of conveying machinery had utilized pneumatic systems for product diverting but wanted to offer an all-electric conveying system to their customers, so an electric actuator solution was required to replace the pneumatic cylinders. The existing machine design had proprietary controls that operated the pneumatic cylinder in a spring return operation with one digital output to the pneumatic valve. The customer could not redesign the proprietary controls and also needed a solution that could be retrofitted in the field for units already in operation.

Tolomatic Solution:
The ERD electric cylinder was chosen as a low cost pneumatic replacement since it supplied the needed thrust and fit within the space limitations within the conveying machinery. Using “pneumatic mode” in the drive software allowed the ERD electric cylinder to easily mimic the operation of the pneumatic cylinder. This mode allows for 2 and 3 positions based on all the different pneumatic cylinder and valve types previously used.

Customer Benefit:

• Compatibility with existing proprietary controls eliminated need for new design
• Elimination of last air cylinders on machine allowed customer to market an all electric machine
• Flexibility of future expansion with infinite positions through Ethernet/IP option

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