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A Pneumatics Constructopedia |
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| Pneumatic valve | ||||||||||||||||
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| The pneumatic valve or switch, is
rather stiff and some force is required to move it. To prevent the force from tearing the
construction apart, the switch has to be reinforced by a 1x2 beam at each end and the
whole assembly is then locked to an adjacent beam. For horizontal mounting, 2 black connector pegs suffice to hold the assembly. Vertical mounting of the valve requires 3 black connector pegs to hold the assembly securely. Note the Lego geometry - the pneumatic valve is 2 1/3 units high. |
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| Motorised pneumatic valve | ||||||||||||||||
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| This design is from the Advanced Pneumatics Set. Note that the pneumatic valve is mounted upside down and the switch is limited at both ends of its travel by the 1x3 liftarms. The drive from the standard motor is taken via a medium pulley and geared down to get the necessary torque to flip the switch. The pulley drive ensures that the motor is not over-driven at the limits of the switch. | ||||||||||||||||
| More motorised pneumatic switch designs | ||||||||||||||||
| Linc's Micromotor actuated pneumatic switch | Wes' Mechanized pneumatic switch (based on Bert Van Dam | |||||||||||||||
| Brian Alano's Pneumatic actuator (based on the one by Linc) | John Matthew: Motor driven pneumatic switch | |||||||||||||||
| Denis Cousineau: Pneumatic control device (switch) | Ralph Hempel: RC servo control of pneumatic switches | |||||||||||||||
| Linear to rotary motion and vice versa | ||||||||||||||||
| One of the uses that the pneumatic cylinder can
be put to and which is not described in the official documentation, is the conversion
of linear to rotary motion. The conversion of rotary to linear motion is the action
used in the motorised air compressor. To transform linear to rotary motion and vice versa using the pneumatic cylinders and pumps, bear in mind the pertinent dimensions listed in the following tables:
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Note: 1 LU ( Lego Unit) = width of a 1x1 brick or distance between 2 consecutive beam holes |
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| Linear to rotary motion using the large cylinder. The cylinder oscillates about the pivot point. | Rotary to linear motion using the large pump | |||||||||||||||
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| Possible linear to rotary motion using the small cylinder. I have tried this but it doesn't seem to work. | Rotary to linear motion using the small pump | |||||||||||||||
Here's another arrangement for converting rotary to linear motion using the small pump. Note the stacking of two 1/3 height plates to get the geometry right. In this arrangement the radius of rotation of the piston head is 1 LU. |
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