Pneumatic cylinders are components that carry out a movement using compressed air, which is why they are also known as compressed air cylinders. Pneumatic drives are an especially cost-effective solution for a number of application areas – even in extremely tough ambient conditions – and stand out for being really simple to commission. Speeds of between 10 mm/s and 3 m/s can be achieved. Pneumatic cylinders are sturdy and flexible thanks to the compressibility of the air, which also makes them resistant to high external forces.
Pneumatic cylinders are used in numerous applications in automation technology/factory automation. Typical application areas for pneumatic drives are clamping, lifting, countersinking, pushing, pulling, feeding, turning, gripping, clamping and holding, joining, stopping, stamping, embossing and many others.
The range of pneumatic cylinders drives at Festo includes piston rod and rodless cylinders (linear drive), rotary cylinders, tandem, multi-position and stopper cylinders, as well as clamping cylinders, drives with linear guides, and bellows and diaphragm cylinders. As part of the range, we offer many standards-based cylinders with standardised dimensions and mounting interfaces. Cylinders that comply with a specific standard have identical dimensions. There are standards for piston rod cylinders with round design (ISO 6432), compact design (ISO 21287) and for profile and tie rod cylinders (ISO 15552).
Festo piston rod cylinders are pneumatic drives for executing linear movements. The energy applied to the piston is transferred by a piston rod to the parts to be moved. Piston rod cylinders are available as round cylinders, profile cylinders, compact cylinders, short-stroke cylinders, flat cylinders, miniature cylinders, cartridge cylinders or stainless-steel cylinders.
Rodless cylinders are pneumatic cylinders and – as the name suggests – do not have a piston rod. But even without a piston rod they execute linear movements, which is why they are also known as linear drives. Rodless cylinders are primarily used in applications with longer travel distances, e.g. as a basic drive in a multi-axis gantry or for feeding tasks.
Pneumatic semi-rotary drives/rotary drives from Festo enable rotary movements with a swivel angle of up to 270°. Both rotary vane drives and rack-and pinion drives typically achieve maximum precision while also offering excellent performance and great versatility. As a result, our pneumatic drives are used in factory automation across a wide range of industries.
Tandem cylinders are two identical profile-barrel cylinders connected in series to double the thrust force in both directions of movement. A high-force cylinder is a cylinder design that is characterised by pneumatic compact cylinders connected in series. Pneumatic multi-position drives are available in a version that has two separate cylinders and in a version that has two to five cylinders connected in series.
Festo guided cylinders – drives with guide rods and linear guides – are pneumatic drives and are one of the "workhorses" of industrial automation. They are used in a wide range of applications such as lifting, pressing, pulling, pushing, clamping, stopping, holding, cutting, separating and much more. Both types of guided cylinders combine the benefits of linear movement with those of guided motion and stand out thanks to their extremely high stability.
With its feed separators, Festo provides handling technology solutions worldwide. Feed separators simplify the process of feeding in workpieces and are used whenever a continuous flow of workpieces has to be separated and transferred separately to a downstream device. Stopper cylinders are pneumatic cylinders that are used to stop movements, either with or without cushioning, in machines or workpiece carriers on transport systems. Stopper cylinders with cushioning can stop loads of up to approx. 800 kg on transport systems.
Clamping cylinders hold or clamp workpieces either directly with a pneumatically operated clamping element or through kinematics. The clamping element is swivelled out of the working area when it is inactive. They can realise very high holding forces with low energy input thanks to kinematics.