– for shorter actuating times of a cylinder
In many applications, small 2/2- or 3/2-way valves are used to extend and retract cylinders. Practical implementations are often as shown in the two illustrations below.
The positioning and reset speed depend on the pressure and the smallest cross-section in the line system. With the correct design, the largest bottleneck is the nozzle in the actuating valve, whereby larger nominal widths enable a larger flow rate and higher actuating speeds of a cylinder. However, the nominal size of the valve can only be increased to an extent that allows the pressure range of the valve to be sufficient for the supply pressure of the cylinder.
In order to enable the cylinder to be retracted more quickly, a quick vent valve can be installed so that the time required to retract the cylinder is no longer determined by the nozzle size of the valve, but by the venting capacity of the vent valve, which significantly accelerates the actuating speed of a cylinder. In practice, we implement such circuits in form of individual components (valve and quick vent valve separately) or in integrated circuits (valve and quick vent valve in one valve block). The combination of a 3/2-way solenoid valve and a quick vent valve enables a very simple and space- and cost-saving realization. This circuit can also be extended with sound absorbers to reduce noise.
