pneumatic device

pneumatic device, any of various tools and instruments that generate and utilize compressed air. Examples include rock drills, pavement breakers, riveters, forging presses, paint sprayers, blast cleaners, and atomizers.

Compressed-air power is flexible, economic, and safe. An air device creates no spark hazard in an explosive atmosphere and can be used under wet conditions without electric-shock hazard. A relatively small compressor suffices to fill a storage tank for intermittent use, and no return lines are needed. Other characteristics of a compressed-air system are important in meeting special service requirements. It is relatively easy to connect one device (such as a valve or a cylinder and piston) to another by pipe, tubing, or flexible hose. Many actions can be controlled by a simple manipulation of valves. The motion of an actuating piston in a cylinder can be changed quickly and in small steps with practically no shock. An air system can provide great flexibility in speed and motion control. Relief valves are easily arranged to protect a system and avoid damage. Control of operations is simple, efficient, and centralized. In general, air systems have relatively few moving parts, contributing to high reliability and low maintenance costs.

Development of pneumatic devices

The ordinary hand bellows, used by early smelters and blacksmiths for working iron and other metals, was a simple type of air compressor. The air intake consisted of several holes in a piece of wood, covered with flaps that served as valves. A simple check valve in the discharge prevented air from being drawn back into the bellows during the suction stroke. In the time of Hero (probably 1st century ad), a simple jet-type compressor was used to provide air for smelting and forging.

In the 17th century, the German Otto von Guericke experimented on and significantly improved compressors. In 1829 a stage, or compound, compressor, which involved compressing air in successive cylinders, was patented. Cooling by jets of water sprayed into the cylinder during compression was introduced about 1872; later, a better system of cooling by the use of water-jacketed cylinders was developed. In the United States the first compressor used in large-scale work was a four-cylinder unit for the Hoosac Tunnel, at North Adams, Massachusetts, in 1866.

The 20th century witnessed a large increase in the use of compressed air and of compressed-air devices. The introduction of jet engines for military and passenger aircraft stimulated the use and improvement of centrifugal and axial-flow compressors. The further development of automatic machinery, labour-saving devices, and automatic-control systems led to an increase in the use of pneumatics. In the late 1960s there began a significant development of a new class of compressed-air devices: digital-logic pneumatic-control components, which can be used in various power and control systems.

Major types of pneumatic devices

Air compressors and pneumatic tools constitute the principal classes of pneumatic devices. Other kinds of apparatus that make use of compressed air are paint-spray equipment, pneumatic tubes for conveying materials, and train brake systems.

An air compressor is a power-driven machine for compressing air from some initial intake pressure (usually atmospheric) to a higher pressure. Compressors (as well as other fluid machines) can be classified into two main types, depending on the air or fluid action: (1) the positive-displacement type and (2) the velocity, or dynamic, type.

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In the positive-displacement, or static-pressure, type, the characteristic action is a volumetric change or displacement action. Successive volumes of air are confined within a closed space, and the pressure is increased by reducing the volume of the space. In the simple hand tire pump, pressure is developed by moving a piston in a cylinder. The positive-displacement type may be subdivided into reciprocating (back-and-forth straight-line motion) and rotary (motion in a circular path) compressors. In a positive-displacement machine, neglecting leakage, the volume rate of flow (cubic feet per second) through the compressor is essentially constant over a wide range of discharge pressures.

The dynamic type of compressor may be subdivided into the centrifugal type (with flow through a rotating runner or rotor primarily in a radial direction), the axial-flow type (with flow through a runner primarily in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation), and the fluid-jet type.

Pneumatic tools can be separated into two broad categories on the basis of the driving method: rotor and reciprocating piston. Both kinds are known as air motors. A rotating type of compressor, operating in reverse, serves as one type of motor. Compressed air enters the housing, pushes on the vanes, and rotates a central shaft or spindle. A drill, grinding wheel, or other device is fastened to the spindle. A reciprocating-piston compressor, operating in reverse, also functions as a motor. Compressed air enters the cylinder, expands, and forces the piston to move. The return stroke may be actuated by compressed air on the other side of the piston or by spring action. A tool, such as a riveting hammer, may be connected to the reciprocating piston. Pneumatic tools are normally supplied with compressed air at about 90 psig (pounds per square inch gauge).

With compressed air as the power source, tools have been designed that are relatively lightweight, compact, portable, easy to operate, and free from electrical shock and spark hazards. In underwater operations, compressed air prevents water from entering the air motor.

Pneumatic tools can also be divided into two groups according to the type of tools: portable tools and rock drills. Portable pneumatic tools include abrasive devices (e.g., grinders, buffers, and sanders), drills, reamers, tappers, stud setters, screwdrivers, nutsetters, shears, wrenches, and impact tools. They are normally powered by a rotary-vane type of air motor. Operating speeds can be varied by throttling the air to the motor. Air motors do not become hot when overloaded; they will stand repeated stalling and rapid reversals without damage. Grinders feature air motors, which are typical for this class of device.

Portable tools also include chipping hammers and air hoists. Pneumatic chipping hammers contain an air-operated piston that delivers successive blows to a chisel or forming tool at the end of the hammer. The valve type of tool has a separate mechanism to control the airflow to the piston, thus allowing the operator to control the speed and force of the blows. In a compression riveter the compression, or squeezing action, on the rivet is obtained from an air piston connected to a cam, wedge, or toggle. A yoke riveter has an air-operated clamp or vise that holds the work in place; the yoke absorbs the hammering action and thus reduces operator fatigue. Hoists operated by compressed air are employed in operations requiring accurate control of lifting or lowering speeds. In most cases, they are used outdoors and under conditions in which corrosive fumes, explosive gases, or inflammable fluids are present.

There are also various portable specialty tools, such as concrete vibrators, countersinking tools, spikedrivers, paint mixers, air cranking motors, railway roadbed tampers, valve grinders, reciprocating filing machines, and shank grinders.

Rock drills are used for mining and rock excavation. An example of such a pneumatic tool is the hammer drill, or percussion hammer, which is composed of a piston and a drill made of high-carbon steel. The drill is held loosely in a chuck at the end of the cylinder and is struck by rapid blows from the freely moving piston. For downward-sloping holes, some means must be provided for removing drill cuttings, dust, and sludge. A hollow drill is usually used, and water or air is passed through it to remove the cuttings and cool the drill bit. Another kind of rock drill, called the drifter drill, is used for horizontal holes in mining operations and tunnel driving. It is mounted on some type of rig or frame and is mechanically fed into the work. Stoper drills are used primarily on up-hole or overhead drilling because of the automatic-feed characteristics. The usual stoper is a hammer drill with a self-rotating drill bit and an automatic feed by means of an air piston. Large air-operated earth drills, mounted on motor trucks on trailers, are utilized for digging water wells and blast holes for quarry operations. A high-capacity compressor provides air not only to power the drill tool but also to raise the tools in the hole and to remove drill cuttings from the hole. Such machines are used to advantage in areas where surface water supplies are insufficient to provide the drilling fluid needed for standard rotary and cable-tool well-drilling machines.

Hand-operated pneumatic paving breakers usually use solid steel drills and are not equipped for automatic rotation. One type of tool is valve-actuated, another is valveless. Heavy machines of about 80 pounds (36 kg) are used to break concrete pavement, foundations, and boulders. Medium breakers, weighing about 50 to 70 pounds (23 to 32 kg), are employed when breaking light concrete floors, macadam, and frozen ground. Light tools, weighing less than 50 pounds, are used to break floors, paving, and masonry walls. Heavy and medium-weight breakers can be adapted for driving spikes.

Compressed air is a good vehicle for conveying a paint spray. In a spray gun, the paint (e.g., lacquer, enamel, or plastic coating) is atomized and mixed with compressed air. The principle of operation is similar to that of the jet compressor, with the compressed air serving as the motive fluid to draw the paint into the mixing area. Spray painting usually implies covering relatively large surfaces, such as a building. The term airbrush, by contrast, implies a device for developing a fine, small diameter spray of paint, protective coating, or liquid colour. The airbrush can be a pencil-shaped atomizer used for a variety of much more detailed activities such as shading drawings and retouching photographs.

Pneumatic conveyers are used in various applications for handling materials. In a pressure system the outlet of the compressor leads into the inlet of the conveyer system. In a vacuum system the compressor inlet is at the end of the system. The air-pressure difference across the system depends on the material to be handled. In many places, mail is transferred from one site to another by pneumatic transport capsules in tubes. All sorts of materials may be conveyed by pneumatic systems, from ashes and cement to frozen foods, minerals, nuts, and seeds. Pneumatic handling is safe, fast, clean, automatic, and flexible.

Certain recently developed vehicles are supported by a cushion of air. The most successful of these air-cushion vehicles (ACVs) is the British-made Hovercraft. It is used commercially as a passenger- and car-carrying ferry; a number of them ply the English Channel. Experimental “tracked skimmers” (air-cushion trains) are under development in a number of countries, but they are not yet used commercially to any great extent. In the planning of many city transit systems, consideration is being given to air-cushion vehicles capable of speeds up to 300 miles (480 km) per hour. Other specialized forms of air-cushion vehicles have been designed for use over rough terrain—such as that in Arctic regions—and for other uncommon applications.

Brakes on trains and most buses and large trucks are operated by air pressure. A piston rod from an air cylinder exerts force on the braking device. On railroad cars the air-brake system includes a compressor, pneumatic valves, regulators, piping, reservoir, and other accessories. There are levers, cylinders, and other rigging to apply forces to the brake shoe, which bear directly on the rim of the wheel. Various automatic-control safety arrangements assure a definite braking action should some malfunction develop.