With the IFPE show a little more than a month away (Where has the time gone? Where have the last three years gone?!), it seems like it’s a good time to talk about the history of this major American trade show. Do you know where it came from or what its origins are? IFPE was […]
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Three cheers for multi-function valves
By Josh Cosford Hip hip hooray! Hip hip … okay, I’m over it. Anyhoo, I wanted to write about the multiple methods to control multiple hydraulic functions, each with multiple benefits of their own. Two popular methods are common to either the industrial congregation or the mobile cartel, but I’d like to present a third, […]
Should you take a Caterpillar detour at IFPE?
You’re stoked for the upcoming IFPE show in Las Vegas, we get it. But don’t forget that—along with hundreds of component manufacturers—the show is co-located with CONEXPO-CON/AGG, one of the world’s great construction equipment expos. And Caterpillar will have a pretty impressive presence, with four exhibit areas totaling about 60,000 sq-ft of floor space. So, […]
To Infinity and power beyond
By Josh Cosford There are a couple of methods used in the mobile hydraulic market to control multiple actuators from a common pump supply. The most simple is the monoblock valve, which typically has a cast iron housing and a machined spool operated by a spring centered lever, although solenoid operation is available for nearly […]
Are hydraulic hybrid vehicles the future of driving?
Today, with almost every major country joining the development race, the demand for fuel is on the rise and the need to look for alternative sources of fuel looms large. One area of research taken up by auto companies has been finding practical and efficient solutions to sources of fuel for vehicles. A couple of […]
CCEFP update: Hydraulically actuated patient transfer device
One goal of the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Research Center on Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) is to explore how advanced fluid power technology can be used in a wider range of applications. A significant market need has been identified for an improved mobile device for transferring mobility limited people—particularly bariatric patients. Typical transfers […]
An interesting opportunity for Illinois fluid power manufacturers
I heard about an interesting program that the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is launching. The organization will have a dedicated Illinois Pavilion at the World of Industry (WIN) 2014 trade fair, which be held at the TÜYAP Fair Convention and Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey in March 2014. WIN Turkey, a show I […]
Keep your hydraulic oil clean: Particle city
By Josh Cosford I have a customer who recently experienced a bout with massive ingression of particle contamination. Their ISO 4406 code was in the range of 24/20/19 on a particle machine, which interestingly enough, actually has three filters on it. The only problem was that all three filters were pressure filters. The design of […]
CCEFP update: Hydraulics and free piston engines
Contributed by Ke Li, PhD student, University of Minnesota (Advisor: Professor Zongxuan Sun) A conventional mobile fluid power generation system consists of a internal combustion engine (ICE) and a rotational hydraulic pump. An alternative is the use of a free piston engine (FPE)—this eliminates the crankshaft to enable unconstrained piston motion. With a FPE, linear […]
Testing for leaks without downtime?
Leakage is the bane of any engineer working with a fluid power system. It can easily be avoided by proper system design and setup, as well as the specifying of the proper parts. But in the real world, mistakes happen, maintenance and installation may be shoddy, and a thousand other things can go wrong. This […]