Flexible pneumatic Airstroke® air spring actuators from Firestone – including compact and easily installed Style 16 types – adjust to different load requirements simply by varying the air pressure contained within them. These tough rubber-and-fabric bellows (identical in construction to the airbags proven in truck and train suspensions) are suitable for applications requiring flexible force and continuously supple performance to flex with irregular loads.
By preventing material build-up, belt scrapers help keep the belt from drifting off track, prevent erratic loads on the motor, eliminate uneven wear on pulley bearings and damage to return idlers, as well as helping to minimise belt stretching. Suitable for uses as diverse as fine food and pharmaceutical production, through to mineral processing and bulk material handling, air springs also have another major advantage for design engineers: the ability to rotate through an angle without a clevis.
Airstrokes suitable for belt scrapers include the Model 16 single convoluted models, with stroke of 35mm, and low collapsed (starting heights) of just 48mm make them easy and compact to install. Producing up to 6.93kN at 7 BAR, they run off normal factory air. The Style16 Airstroke actuators are part of an extensive range of single, double and triple-convoluted air springs available in force capacities from a few dozen kilograms up to 40,000kg a unit, with strokes up to 350mm.