Air motors get into the ‘zone’

12 December 2008

The latest generation of Huco Dynatork piston air motors have been launched across Europe and the USA. The new design features a fully internal air porting system which provides excellent performance in variable temperature situations and ensures the unit is incredibly robust. The non-sparking nature of the air motors means they are ideal for use in low speed stop/start applications under load in hazardous ATEX designated zones in sensitive environments such as hydrocarbon engineering, paint manufacture, paper conversion and wood working.

Because of their exceptionally clean operation, availability with non-lube air supply and smooth, highly corrosion resistant materials and surfaces, these air motors are also ideal for use in food and pharmaceutical production environments. The indexing and positioning operations common in these sectors are particularly well served by a Huco Dynatork piston air motor. According to the company, this is the only air motor on the market capable of precision position control and so can be used in many positional applications, where typically a servo system or inverter driven electric motor would be used.

The air motor is typically lighter and less costly than an ATEX certified electric motor and drive alternative. It also delivers improved wear characteristics over alternative air motor designs that tend to operate using a system of metal pistons and connecting rods that are unable to provide instant stop/start functionality. Not only is controllability compromised, but so too is service life, as these parts tend to wear in other designs.

The floating piston design of the Huco Dynatork air motor transmits the maximum torque on start-up which can be adjusted to fine limits by standard air-flow valves. Pulse counters can be specified to allow programming of direction of rotation, speed and number of revolutions, and even fractions of a revolution. This means the motors can provide near instant stop/start/reversal and drive under load.