Pneumatics - Use

Some examples of everyday pneumatic

systems are shown below. How many do you
recognise?
 Pneumatics - Use
Pneumatics are also used a lot in industry. It can
be used to do lots of different jobs such as
moving, holding or shaping objects.
MOVE HOLD

FORM PROCESS
 Advantages of Pneumatics

Clean: Pneumatic systems are clean because

they use compressed air. If a pneumatic
system develops a leak, it will be
air that escapes and not oil. This
air will not drip or cause a mess
which makes pneumatics suitable for food
production lines.

Safe: Pneumatic systems are very safe

compared to other systems. We
cannot, for example, use electronics
for paint spraying because many
electronic components produce sparks and this
 Advantages of Pneumatics

Reliable: Pneumatic systems are very reliable

and can keep working for a long time.
Many companies invest in
pneumatics because they know they will
not have a lot of breakdowns and that
the equipment will last for a long time.

Economical: If we compare pneumatic systems to

other systems, we find that they are cheaper
to run. This is because the components
last for a long time and because we are
using compressed air.
 Advantages of Pneumatics

Flexible: Once you have bought the basic components,

you can set them up to carry out different tasks.
Pneumatic systems are easy to install
and they do not need to be insulated or
protected like electronic systems.
 Pupil Assignment
 Give three examples of the everyday use of
pneumatics.

 Choose one of your examples from question 1.

Draw a system diagram and describe how it
makes use of compressed air.

 What is compressed air?

 Give two reasons why pneumatic systems are

used in industry.
 Safety Rules

 Never blow compressed air at anyone, not

even yourself.

 Never let compressed air come into contact

with your skin, as this can be very
dangerous.

 Always wear safety goggles when you are

connecting and operating circuits.

 Check that all airlines are connected before

turning on the main air supply.
Safety Rules

 Always turn off the main air supply

before changing a circuit.

 Keep your hands away from moving

parts.

 Avoid having airlines trailing across the

floor or where someone could trip or
become entangled.
 The Compressor

In order to supply pneumatic

systems with compressed air
we use a machine called a
compressor.
A pump that is driven by a
motor, sucks in air from the
room and stores it in a tank
called the receiver. You will
be able to hear the
compressor when it is
running. Sometimes though,
it will stop because the
receiver is full.
 The Manifold

Not everyone in your class could ON

connect directly to the
compressor, as this is not
practical. Instead, a pipe takes
the compressed air from the
receiver to various points around
the room. We would normally OFF

connect a device called a

manifold to these points. The
manifold lets us connect lots of
components to the compressed
air. It also lets us switch our
circuits on and off.
Pupil Assignment

 What machine is used to compress the air?

 How does this machine work?

 Why does it stop occasionally?

 What is the purpose of a manifold?

 Why is it important to follow the safety

rules when using pneumatics?
 Components - Cylinders
Single-acting cylinder

Cylinders are the

components which move,
hold, shape or process work
in pneumatics. positive

A single-acting cylinder
requires only one air supply.
If we supply compressed air
Air in
to a single-acting cylinder,
the air pushes against the
piston inside the cylinder
and causes it to outstroke.
When the piston has fully
outstroked it is said to be
 Components - Cylinders

If we stop the supply

of air then the spring
inside the cylinder
causes the piston to negative
instroke to its starting
position and the
piston is said to be
negative. As this
Air out
happens, the air
inside the cylinder is
pushed back out.
 Components – SAC

PISTON ROD

PORT
SPRING
PISTON
 Components - Valves

Cylinders need additional

components, known as valves, to
operate. The simplest valve we use is
the 3/2 valve shown opposite.

It is known as a 3/2 because it has

3 ports and has 2 operating
positions, on and off.
Components – 3/2 Valves

Actuator (In
Main Air (Port 1) this case a
Symbol PUSH
BUTTON)

Exhaust
Symbol Port 2
Connects to
(Port 3)
subsequent
components
 Pupil Activity
Simple circuits using single-acting
cylinders & 3/2 Valves

A city-centre car park

has a barrier system to
prevent people parking
illegally. The car park
attendant checks all the
cars entering and leaving
the car park. The barrier
is raised and lowered by
a single-acting cylinder.
The attendant pushes a
button to operate the
 Pupil Activity

Systems Diagram

Press 3/2 Valve Cylinder Barrier

button raises

1) Copy down the systems

and circuit diagrams
into your note book.
2) Collect the necessary
components and pipe.
3) Connect up the 4) Connect
components as shown, main air to
(Make sure you connect the circuit
to the correct ports). and push the
button.
 Circuit Operation

When the button is pressed, the valve changes

state and supplies air to the single-acting
cylinder. This causes the piston to outstroke with
enough force to raise the barrier.

When the button is released, the valve returns

to its original state and the piston is able to
instroke ready for the process to begin again.
ACTUATORS

PLUNGER ROLLER
TRIP

PUSH
BUTTON SOLENOID

LEVER DIAPHRAGM

FOOT
ROLLER PEDAL

PILOT AIR SPRING

 Double Acting Cylinder
A double-acting cylinder has no spring inside to return it to its
original position. It needs two air supplies, one to outstroke the
piston and the other to instroke the piston.

To outstroke a double-acting cylinder we need compressed air to

push against the piston inside the cylinder. As this happens, any
air on the other side of the piston is forced out. This causes the
double-acting cylinder to outstroke.

positive

Air in Air out

 Double Acting Cylinder
To instroke a double-acting cylinder we need to reverse this
action. We supply the compressed air to the other side of the
piston. As the air pushes the piston back to its original
position, any air on the other side is again forced out.

negative
Double-acting cylinders are
used more often in
pneumatic systems than
single-acting cylinders. They
are able to produce bigger
Air out Air in forces and we can make use
of the outstroke and instroke
for pushing and pulling.
 Pupil Activity

1) Copy the circuit diagram into

your work book.
2) Collect the necessary
components and pipes.
3) Build the circuit and connect
main air.
4) Press Valve A.
5) Press Valve B.
6) Outstroke the cylinder and push Valve A Valve B
the piston rod in with your
hand.
7) What weakness does this circuit
have?
 Circuit Problems
There are many problems when controlling a double-acting
cylinder with two 3/2 valves. You should have discovered
from the last circuit that it is easy to push or pull the piston.
This is because you do not have a constant supply of air to
keep the piston in place. When you actuate the 3/2 valve, it
outstrokes the piston. When the 3/2 valve is not actuated,
air is free to escape or exhaust back through the valve. This
means that any force or effort placed on the piston will
make it move easily.

A further disadvantage is that the 3/2 valve needs to be

actuated until the double-acting cylinder has fully outstroked
or instroked. Releasing the valve before the stroke is
complete will mean the piston will stop short of its final
position.
 5/2 Valves

Port 4
Connects to Port 2
other Connects to
components other
components

Actuator will
depend on valve
use. In this case
it is a 5/2 Pilot Port 3 Exhaust
Pilot operated
valve. Port 5
Exhaust Port 1 Main Air
 Pupil Activity

1) Copy the
circuit into
your work
book.
Valve B
2) Build the Valve A

circuit and
connect main
air.
3) Actuate valve
A.
4) Try to push
the piston rod
in.
IMPORTANT: PILOT AIR
5) Actuate valve
B.
 PUPIL ASSIGNMENT
A door entry system is controlled
by pneumatics. The system makes
use of a double-acting cylinder.
Part of the circuit diagram is
C
Shown.
1) Name each of the
components A, B and
C.

1) Complete the diagram

A
so that the door
will open and close.
B
2) Describe how the circuit
operates.
 The T Piece
A T-piece or T-connector is a very
simple component that lets us
AIR OUT AIR OUT
split or divide airflow. It can be
very useful if you want two
cylinders to operate at the same
time.

AIR IN

T-piece
 Pupil Activity

A delivery lorry uses a pneumatic braking system. The brakes

operate when the driver presses the foot brake. Two single-
acting cylinders should outstroke at the same time and press
against the wheels.

Design, build and test a circuit which will meet the

requirements of the lorry braking system. (You can use a
push button, spring return 3/2 valve instead of a foot
pedal.)

Explain the purpose of the T-piece.

 Simulation Software

It is often useful to simulate a pneumatic circuit

prior to building it. This can save costly mistakes
and is much quicker than physically building a
pneumatic circuit.

Start the computer program AIRWAYS

Click on the START icon
Select Unit 2 Single Acting Cylinder and 3
Port Valves
Your teacher will now show you how to
connect up the components
 Flow Control Valves
Bi-Directional
You should have noticed in the circuits you have
built so far that the pistons move very quickly.
Sometimes this can be dangerous or it may prevent
the circuit from working properly. To slow down the
speed of a piston we use a flow control valve.

There are 2 types of Flow

Control Restrictor, the 1st is the
BI-DIRECTIONAL or THROTTLE
Restrictor. The symbol is
shown opposite.
 Flow Control Valves

The problem with

this type of
restrictor is that it
always slows down
the speed of the
piston in both
directions. In many
cases, we would
only want either Also, if we study the piston
the outstroke or the movement very carefully,
instroke to be we sometimes find that it
slowed down. is quite jerky not smooth
as we would want it to be.
 Flow Control Valves
Uni-Directional Flow Control
Resrictor
The 2nd type of restrictor is the UNI-DIRECTIONAL
Flow Control Restrictor. This is a much more useful
restrictor as we can restrict the flow of air in one
direction.

1 2
 Flow Control Valves
Uni-Directional

When air flows into port 1 of the restrictor,

some of the air takes the bypass route. A
small ball is blown against a valve and
blocks this path. The air is then forced to go
through the restriction and this slows down
the airflow. 1 2

When air flows into port 2 of the restrictor,

again some of the air takes the bypass route.
This time, the ball is blown away from the
valve and the air passes through unrestricted.
 Pupil Activity

1)Copy the circuit into

your workbook
2)Collect the necessary
components and pipes
3)Build and test the
circuit
4)In your own words,
describe the operation
of the circuit
Valve A Valve B
 Circuit Operation

The restrictor is placed so that it slows down the

exhaust air coming from the cylinder.
When valve A is pressed, the 5/2 valve changes
state and starts to supply the cylinder with air
to make it outstroke.
Air trapped on the other side of the piston
escapes through the restrictor slowly. This
makes the piston outstroke slowly.

We always restrict the exhaust air coming from

a cylinder as this makes the piston move much
more smoothly.
 Pupil Activity
For safety reasons, the entrance door to a
storeroom in a supermarket must open and close
slowly. A double-acting cylinder is used to slide
the door.

An incomplete
circuit is shown.
Complete the
circuit diagram
then build and test
the circuit.
Describe the
operation of the
Valve A Valve B circuit.
 Pupil Activity

Part of a manufacturing process

involves dipping components into a
chemical solution to prepare them
before they are painted.

A double-acting cylinder controls the process

and for safety reasons the cylinder must
outstroke and instroke slowly.

Using Airways computer simulation program,

design a circuit that would solve this problem.

Why is it important that the cylinder operates

slowly?
 AND Control

Although pneumatic circuits are

very safe, it is important to take
safety precautions. AND control
circuits can be used to help
prevent accidents by ensuring SLIDING
that guards are in position DOOR
before machines are switched
on. These circuits can also be
used to stop a machine being
VALVE
switched on accidentally or to POSITION
stop operators placing their
hands in the machine when it is
running.
 Pupil Activity – AND
Control

1) Copy down the

circuit into your
workbook
2) Build and test the
circuit
3) Describe the
operation of the
circuit Valve A Valve B

4) The operation of VALVE A VALVE B CYLINDER

the cylinder can be OFF OFF INSTROKE

described by a ON OFF INSTROKE
TRUTH TABLE OFF ON INSTROKE

ON ON OUTSTROKE
 OR Control

Sometimes we need to control a pneumatic circuit from more

than one position. This can be done using OR control circuits.
These circuits are quite simple but they need another
component called a shuttle valve.
A shuttle valve is used to change the direction of air in a
circuit. It has a small ball inside that gets blown from side to
side. A picture is shown below.
TO CYLINDER

FROM FROM
VALVE A VALVE B
 Shuttle Valve

When air is supplied from a valve , the ball gets blown across
and the air is directed towards the cylinder. When air is
supplied from valve B, the ball is blown to the other side and
again the air flows into the cylinder. If air comes from both
directions, air still manages to reach the cylinder, as this is
the only path it can take.

To Cylinder

Air from valve

 Pupil Activity - OR Control

Shuttle valve

1) Copy down the circuit

into your workbook
2) Build and test the
circuit
3) Describe the operation
of the circuit
4) The operation of the
cylinder can be Valve A Valve B
described by the VALVE A VALVE B CYLINDER
following truth table
OFF OFF INSTROKE

ON OFF OUTSTROKE

OFF ON OUTSTROKE

ON ON OUTSTROKE
 Pupil Activity

A pneumatic circuit has

been devised for use in
operating a sliding door. It
must be possible for the
door to be opened or
closed from both the inside
and outside. The speed of
the door should be
controlled when opening
and closing.
CLOSE (OUTSIDE) OPEN (OUTSIDE)

Design, build and test a

circuit to control the door
CLOSE (INSIDE) OPEN (INSIDE)
movement.
 Time Delays
Sometimes in a circuit we want a pause or delay
before something else happens.

To create a delay we need to use three

components – a unidirectional restrictor, a T-piece
and a reservoir.

A reservoir is simply an empty container, just like

an empty bottle. The bigger the reservoir, the
longer it takes to fill up with air. To make the delay
longer we use a unidirectional restrictor in front of
the reservoir. This slows down the air so that the
reservoir takes even longer to fill. The length of
time it takes to fill creates the delay.
 Time Delays

T-Piece
Air

Uni-Directional Flow
Control Restrictor
Reservoir

We can change the length of a delay by changing the size of the

reservoir or adjusting the restrictor.
 Pupil Activity

Copy the circuit

into
your workbook

Build and test

the circuit
shown.

Adjust the
restrictor to
achieve a time
delay of three
seconds.
 Circuit Operation

When the push button is pressed, the 5/2 valve

changes state and the cylinder outstrokes.
As it outstrokes, it pushes the former together and
the hot plastic sheet is pressed into shape.
As this happens it also actuates the roller. Air now
flows through the restrictor and starts to fill up the
reservoir.
Once the reservoir is full, the 5/2 valve changes state
and the cylinder instrokes, ready for the process to
begin again.
 Pupil Activity

Sand is fed into a hopper

from above. When the
hopper is full, the operator
presses the button and a
double-acting cylinder
slides open the door. This
lets the sand fall into a Valve A Valve B
wagon underneath. The
operator now presses the Which two components are
other push button, but needed to create a time delay?
there must be a short delay Insert these components into
before the hopper door the circuit diagram. Build and
closes to ensure that all the test your solution to ensure that
sand has emptied out. it works properly.
What other improvements would
you make to this circuit?
 Air Bleed / Diaphragm
Valve

Sometimes with pneumatics we find that the

actuators on valves can get in the way of the
circuit. Also, some actuators need a big force to
make them work and this is not always possible.
There are different ways to overcome these
problems and one of the most common is to use
an air bleed.

The diaphragm is a piece of rubber stretched

inside the valve. When air flows into the top of the Diaphragm Valve
valve, the rubber expands much in the same way
as when a balloon is blown up. When the
diaphragm expands, it presses down inside the
valve and changes its state.
 Pupil Activity - Box
Sensor
 Copy the circuit into your
workbook. Air bleed
symbol
 Build and test the circuit.

 Explain why an air bleed

might be used to sense
boxes on a conveyer
belt.

 Someone has noticed that

the cylinder outstrokes so
fast that there is a
risk that the boxes may be
damaged. Alter the circuit
to slow down
the operation of the
single-acting cylinder.
 Automatic Circuits

Automatic circuits
Automatic circuits are commonly found on
production lines. They help to speed up production
and make sure that the goods are all manufactured
to the same standard. There are two types of
automatic circuit: semi-automatic and fully
automatic.

Semi-automatic
A semi-automatic circuit is one that completes a
process once it has been started, usually by a
human operator. We have come across semi-
automatic circuits already in the course.
 Automatic Circuits

Fully automatic
A fully automatic circuit is one that continues to
work, performing a task over and over again. It does
not stop or wait for input from an operator. These
circuits make use of actuators such as a roller trip
and plunger to detect the position of the piston as it
instrokes and outstrokes
 Automatic Circuits

Automatic circuits produce reciprocating motion.

This is motion up and down like the needle on a
sewing machine. It can also be left and right, or
forwards and backwards along a straight line. We
can represent reciprocating motion by arrows like
these.
Pupil Activity - Polisher

Valve A Valve B

 Copy the circuit into

your workbook.

 Build and test the

circuit.
Y X
Pupil Activity - Polisher

 You should have noticed that the only way to stop the
circuit is to turn off the main air supply.

 It would be much better if we could use a lever-

operated 3/2 valve to do this.

 It has been suggested that the valve be placed at

either point X or point Y. Try both positions and record
what happens.

 Which position do you think is better and why?

 Why must a lever-operated 3/2 valve be used?

 Describe in your own words how the circuit works.

 Pupil Activity – Semi
Automatic Circuit
A small company that makes spice racks
wants to automate some of its
DEPTH STOP
production. To begin with, a drilling
operation is to be controlled by a
pneumatic cylinder. An operator will
ROLLER TRIP start the sequence and then the drill will
be lowered automatically into the wood.
DRILL
Once the hole has been drilled to the
correct depth, the cylinder should
WORK PIECE
automatically instroke ready for the
process to start again.
 Design, build and test a pneumatic circuit to perform the drilling
operation.
 Describe in your own words how it operates.
 Name all the components used.
 Sequential Control

Many pneumatic systems and machines are designed to

perform a range of tasks in a certain order or sequence. This
usually involves the use of two or more cylinders working
together to complete the task.
Consider the operation of an industrial
furnace.
A

 An operator pushes a button

to start the process.
 The furnace door is opened.
 The block is pushed into the
furnace and the piston
instrokes.
 The furnace door is closed.
 The sequence stops.
 Sequential Control

Stage 1
Cylinder A instrokes to raise the furnace door.

Stage 2
Cylinder B outstrokes and pushes the metal block into the
furnace.

Stage 3
Cylinder B instrokes.

Stage 4
Cylinder A outstrokes and closes the furnace door.
The pneumatic circuit that carries out this operation is shown
below.
This can be written as A- B+ B- A+
 Pupil Activity

A pneumatic
system is used to Cylinder B
transfer packages
between conveyor
belts as shown.
Cylinder A

The sequence of
operation of the
cylinders is A+ B+ Valve 1
A- B-.
 Pupil Activity
CYLINDER A CYLINDER B

3 4 6

2 5

1
Pupil Activity

 Build and test this circuit.

 Name valves 1, 2 and 4.

 Describe how the circuit operates.

 If the packages were too light to actuate

valve 1, describe another way to detect
the packages.

 The outstroke speed of the cylinders needs

to be slowed down. Describe how you
would do this.
 Forces in Cylinders
The force produced when a single-acting
cylinder outstrokes is calculated using the
formula:

Force = Pressure x Area

Note: This formula is in your data book USE

IT
Pressure = Force
We can also rearrange
these formula to find
Area
other quantities.
Area = Force
Pressure
 Electronic Control
There are many advantages in controlling pneumatic
circuits with electronics. First, electronic signals are
faster than pneumatic signals, so circuits respond
much more quickly. We can also carry electrical
signals over longer distances than pneumatic signals.
Finally, electronic components are much smaller than
pneumatic actuators, which can be bulky and
interfere with the operation of a circuit.
To control a
pneumatic
circuit with
electronics we
need to use a
solenoid-
operated valve
 Computer Control

We can also control the Solenoid valve

through computer control.

However, to achieve this we need to

know some programming language.

We will return to this topic, when we

have completed the Programmable
 Magnetic Cylinder
Piston with magnet attached

Reed
Switch

The Magnetic Cylinder is the same as a

DAC, but uses Reed Switches to
operate additional components such as
valves.
When the piston instrokes, the left hand
reed switch is closed.
Reed Switch &
Magnet When the piston outstrokes, the right