HYDRAULIC CYLINDER SLASHES POWER CONSUMPTION

Called ECO Cylinder, the unit is manufactured by Kitagawa, Japan, and will be launched on the company's stand, A53, in hall 5 at EMO 2011, Hannover, 19th - 24th September. Availability in the UK is through Kitagawa Europe, Salisbury.

The open-centre cylinder achieves its massive, 24-fold efficiency advantage by allowing the electrically driven pump to cut the hydraulic oil supply once the chuck is clamped. Holding pressure is maintained using an internal locking mechanism which is only released during the chuck unclamp process. This is in contrast to conventional cylinders, which deliver the hydraulic supply constantly to maintain holding force.

Another advantage of Kitagawa's new design is that thermal distortion of the lathe spindle is minimised, as less heat is generated in the rotating elements of the cylinder. A further consequence is that oil temperature is reduced. Early figures released from Japan indicate that in a normal workshop environment, a maximum temperature of less than 47ºC is reached by ECO Cylinder, compared with a norm of 80ºC.

Moreover, the rise to maximum temperature takes typically twice as long, around four hours, giving more thermal stability during warm-up so that component accuracy and repeatability can be maintained.

The specification of ECO Cylinder is designed to match the popular 8-inch BB series chuck and includes 278 mm outside diameter, 160 mm length, 66 mm diameter through-hole, 20 mm piston stroke, 50.5/48.3 kN drawbar push/pull and 3.5 MPa maximum operating pressure.