Pressure and Time Switch
Pressure and Time Switch
(OP)
Dear Experts
I have a machine that has one double effect cylinder and I need the cylinder to go forward. Then the cylinder will reach a load that has to be compacted. So I need the cylinder to maintain certain value of pressure for 5 seconds and then retract
My question is: Is there a pressure switch that can be installed on the forward pipe of the cylinder that can detect once the desire pressure is reached and also has a timer function?
Thanks in advance
I have a machine that has one double effect cylinder and I need the cylinder to go forward. Then the cylinder will reach a load that has to be compacted. So I need the cylinder to maintain certain value of pressure for 5 seconds and then retract
My question is: Is there a pressure switch that can be installed on the forward pipe of the cylinder that can detect once the desire pressure is reached and also has a timer function?
Thanks in advance
RE: Pressure and Time Switch
Typically a pressure switch's electrical contacts would be used to trigger an electrical off-delay timer module and when the timer times-out at a setting of 5 seconds, its output would change state and provide that change-of-state electrical signal to your control system.
RE: Pressure and Time Switch
You can set the compaction load by regulating the supply pressure. You start your time delay when the exhaust side pressure reaches close to zero, so you use a pressure switch set at close to zero pressure. Pneumatic timers are simply a chamber with a needle valve that restricts flow in or out. Pneumatic timers are commercially available, or you can make your own. You can do what you want entirely pneumatically.
The supply pressure and timer adjustments do interact somewhat in this scheme.
RE: Pressure and Time Switch
I forgot to specified that the cylinder is an hydraulic cylinder, compact pressure should be around 700 psi. The machine already has an adjustable pressure switch at the high pressure side so I am thinking that using an on-delay as suggested by danw2 is the best way to do it
RE: Pressure and Time Switch
Normally you want to know the differential force.
Another problem is response time. The pressures/force can increase rapidly when contact is made. It is easy to overshoot the desired force by a significant amount. Gauges are not fast enough.
I had a customer that used only pressure on the cap side to use a as a process variable for their press. They couldn't understand why they had so many defects. It took me about 4 hours of explaining and demonstrating that the pressure on the rod side was not 0 as they had assumed. It was much higher so the amount of force they were applying was much less than they thought.
Peter Nachtwey
Delta Computer Systems
http://www.deltamotion.com
http://forum.deltamotion.com/
IFPE Hall of Fame Member
RE: Pressure and Time Switch
RE: Pressure and Time Switch
RE: Pressure and Time Switch
I suppose the cylinder is controlled with a regular 4/3 directional control valve.
I would problably use a pressure reducing valve set on the desired pressure (700psi) on the "pressing" side of the cylinder and just actuate the directional control valve for as long as you like, maybe with a pressure switch and a programmed timer if the time is important. The cylinder will then stop when a load pressure of 700psi is reached and you will hold this pressure for a certain amount of time.
However you will problably need a small PLC to achieve this task.
RE: Pressure and Time Switch
RE: Pressure and Time Switch
Likewise there must be a pressure controlled switch that trips at the right pressure and starts a timed relay to run the hydraulic valves.
Anymore and I think people toss a PLC / microcontroller on it with the pressure switch and maybe some other safety interrupts and call it a day.
RE: Pressure and Time Switch