Compressed air delivery via modular interfaces: thousands of mating cycles
HARTING has developed a new compressed air module to meet the increased demands on interfaces for flexible production processes – the Han® Pneumatic Module Metal. It employs robust, durable high mating cycle contacts made of metal that can be plugged and unplugged at least 10,000 times.
The new module means that users can see the benefits of compressed air technology in frequently converted production facilities, too – in order to supply drive units, control units, brakes, holding and unloading units, for example. The new interface operates at a high maximum pressure: instead of the previous upper limit of 8 bars (for the Han® Pneumatic module with plastic contacts), contacts can now withstand pressure up to 10 bars – permanently.
This means that the Han® Pneumatic Module Metal now covers the entire low pressure range, extending the possible applications for pluggable compressed air Systems.
HARTING has used flow simulations to minimise contact pressure loss. Pressure loss in the socket contacts with internal valves is now half that of conventional pneumatic interfaces. This innovation also opens up new combination possibilities for pneumatics in modular connectors for high connection cycles (HMC). Electrical contacts for the transfer of signal and power can now be combined with contacts for the transfer of light waves and compressed air in HMC connectors for the first time – saving users valuable build space and assembly time.
