Jiaheng Hydraulic Cylinders Introduction

Hydraulic cylinders are one of the mainstays of industrial and mobile machinery. Quite simply, hydraulic cylinders are energy conversion tools, transforming the energy produced from hydraulic pumps into a linear output to perform useful work.

The basic design of a hydraulic cylinder is a piston or ram that moves through a smooth round cylinder or tube. The tube is sealed to allow the hydraulic liquid to push the piston. The piston is connected to a shaft or piston rod that extends past the cylinder through a cylinder endcap. While designs of pistons vary, the designs can be divided into basic types.

Single-Acting Hydraulic Cylinder

This is the least costly option as hydraulics push the piston in only one direction, depending on gravity and the weight of the load to push back in the opposite direction. Single-acting hydraulic cylinders come with piston cylinders or ram cylinders. Rather than gravity, ram cylinders can also use a spring for the opposing force.

Double-Acting Cylinders

More common than the single-acting cylinder, the double-acting hydraulic cylinder works at any angle for nearly any application where hydraulic power is needed. The double-action design has hydraulic fluid on both sides of the piston, delivering force in both directions. In applications where gravity assists, hydraulic pressure can be applied to control acceleration, meter the rate of travel and cushion stoppage.

Piggyback Cylinders

A piggyback hydraulic cylinder is two cylinders welded or yoked together in opposite directions. It provides twice the stroke length in half the space. This type of cylinder is commonly used where retracted space is limited but long strokes are required.

Telescopic Cylinders

As with piggyback cylinders, telescopic cylinders achieve long strokes but take up small space when collapsed. In this version of the hydraulic cylinder, only one piston and rod is used, but the cylinder is made of two or three tubes of different diameters that collapse inside each other when the piston is retracted.

Available from Best Metal Products

Each of these versions of hydraulic cylinders is available from Best Metal Products. Best Metal manufactures its piggyback hydraulic cylinders from two double-acting cylinders. Best Metal’s telescopic hydraulic cylinders come in single- and double-acting cylinders.

Best Metal can also provide smart cylinder technology for its hydraulic cylinders, using a nonrestrictive-based sensor allowing continuous monitoring of the cylinder rod’s position. A smart cylinder allows programming a machine to precisely instruct the cylinder on what actions to take.