Solutions in Motion™

In this video, W.C. Branham’s Chad Randleman demonstrates how to adjust the internal cushion screws on your pneumatic rodless air cylinder. Most cylinders come standard with adjustable internal pneumatic cushions. Cushions can be found at either end of the cylinder and are provided to decelerate the load at end of the stroke and provide a dampening effect.

Once you have decided that pneumatic actuators are the best choice for your industrial automation project, you still have a critical design decision to make: which type? Should you use cable, magnetically coupled, or band type rodless cylinders?

Pneumatic actuators are often the most cost-effective solution when you want to create linear motion. Single-acting or double-acting cylinders can be used to accomplish the task:

In this video, Troy Branham is joined by Tobias Suter, Owner and Managing Director of Lanamatic, as he introduces one of their unique products – a variation of their compact pneumatic rodless cylinder. Lanamatic is a Swiss manufacturer of pneumatic rodless cylinders, which can be found under the W.C. Branham DURATRK label.

Industrial equipment and mobile machines serve a wide variety of purposes, and they work under a wide range of conditions. Regardless of a machine's specific function, however, equipment that moves also has to slow and stop – sometimes repeatedly and frequently. There is a braking system to fit every set of variables. Some are mechanical or pneumatic, but for certain applications, hydraulic brakes are your best choice.

Mechanical brakes are the simplest, requiring no outside power source to operate. Pneumatic brakes can be a convenient, efficient choice, where there is no hydraulic pressure source and the application is sufficient for a pneumatic brake with a pressure source of 100 psi or lower. Hydraulic brakes can be the most effective choice when your application requires high torque stopping, tensioning, or holding.

You cannot successfully customize industrial equipment design unless you have options. Options are particularly important when it comes to industrial caliper brake design, because optimum braking ensures safe, reliable, and efficient equipment operation.

W.C. Branham offers numerous styles of industrial caliper disc brakes, with multiple options for each type. With the right choice, you know your design will deliver optimum performance, whatever your application.

W.C. Branham products are designed and manufactured with the highest quality materials and workmanship. We use proprietary quality techniques that are based on countless hours of testing. And re-testing.

However, it’s the nature of things to wear out. Or break. Continuously moving parts suffer wear and tear over time, and pneumatic cylinders typically function in harsh environments featuring water, oils, dust or other potential challenges.

In this video W.C. Branham’s Chad Randleman answers some of the most common questions we receive regarding right angle gearboxes.

The food and chemical processing industries require specialized equipment as well as highly-controlled working environments. Choosing the right gearbox to keep processing equipment moving smoothly is crucial. But there are other factors you have to consider. With that in mind, we have answers for some of the most frequently asked questions.

Why does the gearbox have to be different for these applications?

Sanitation is everything in industries such as food and beverage processing as well as pharmaceuticals manufacturing. Maintaining a sterile environment is critical to avoid contamination. But machinery needs lubrication in order to function. Both the products being processed and the industrial equipment itself must be protected from contaminants.

In a recent blog article, we listed some questions you should ask when you want to use pneumatic rod cylinders in your mechanical design. For many applications, however, rodless cylinders are a better choice. With this type of pneumatic cylinder, the external carriage itself slides back and forth along the cylinder body, rather than an external rod extending and retracting. This design is particularly useful for applications that require long strokes or high moment loads, thanks to the shorter, enclosed and self-guided configuration.

Mechanical engineers design and build things that work. Tools. Machines. Entire systems such as automated industrial machinery. Many of these mechanical engineering projects are highly complex. And every one of them is different. Yet, choosing the best design and components for each project follows a similar path.