Unlike basic Pneumatic Cylinders, Rodless Cylinders have no piston extending out of the cylinder body. The internal piston is connected to an external carriage with a magnetic or mechanical coupling system.
Rodless Cylinders or Pneumatic Cylinder Slides, are designed to provide power and linear motion while supporting a load. Standalone pneumatic cylinders are suitable for providing power and motion but are not designed to provide support for a load. Many cylinders have no way of holding the position of the piston rod, due to the rod’s ability to rotate. Pneumatic Rodless Cylinders provide the load capability and a stable, non-rotating platform on which to mount tooling or other actuators. This is especially important when a cylinder is moving in a horizontal direction where sideload is a major issue—common in automation devices used for picking and placing parts.
Typical uses for these slides include conveyor stops, part ejection, and positioning, opening and closing safety doors, gates, or curtains. In many of these applications, the need for side load capacity and non-rotating capability is critical.