Actuators or actuators are mechanisms that convert internal energy into mechanical energy. They are used everywhere: in household appliances, in construction equipment, in electronics. All of them have both common design features and differences in size and principles of operation.
Design features
There are many design options for actuators. The simplest actuators consist of a lead screw, vise, clamp and levers. Such systems can be found in various mechanisms, from juicers to stone crushers.
More advanced linear actuators include compressed air cylinders, which are used to provide more power to machine parts. They are used in hydraulic cylinders and are often part of construction equipment such as jackhammers, hoists and jacks.
There is also a third type of drives - electric. They are made up of coils of wire that rotate under the influence of an electromagnetic force. Electric linear actuators are most commonly used to open or close doors in cars. They can also be found inside electric vehicle engines or on conveyors.
Specialized drives
Specialized linear actuators are used for a narrow range of important tasks. These could be hydraulic parts for flight control on large airplanes, which must move with precision in tenths of a millimeter. They are also used for machine tools with tiny servo motors and toothed belts. Even the inexpensive linear drive stepper motors used in home computer printers have steps of up to one millimeter.
Design features depending on the application
Engineers integrating linear actuators into equipment must have a detailed understanding of their operating conditions in order to determine which design to use in a given situation. This is done for economic reasons, as the shorter the drive cycle travel, the more expensive it is.
For example, the print head in a printer must be positioned very precisely over the sheet of paper. In contrast, brake cylinders in a car must absorb a large amount of energy in order to reduce the braking time and the distance to a standstill.
The hydraulic cylinders on large excavators used in construction must be able to move hundreds of kilograms of load with relatively little error.
Electronically controlled linear actuators used in the assembly of small parts move at blinding speeds and assemble hundreds of microchips in a short time.
As can be seen from the above, linear drives, although they have common design features, are very different from each other in application. This is due to many factors: the load on the device, size, speed of operation and many others.
