Challenge #1: Moving Masses
It’s not always possible to mount your shock absorber in the center of a moving mass—which is often the case in Cartesian robot systems. For one, moving masses have a wide impact surface, which can make it difficult to place your shock absorber exactly in the middle.

ACE tip. To avoid torsion in these types of applications, simply mount two shock absorbers on the left and right of the outer impact area of the mass. Make sure that you mount both dampers at the same height, however, otherwise they won’t be parallel.

Challenge #2: Limited Mounting Space
Sometimes your application might not have enough space to mount a large damper. Again, the solution is to mount several smaller dampers in parallel. This kind of mounting will effectively decelerate your moving mass despite the limited space.

ACE tip. Use self-compensating dampers, which you can size according to the exact stiffness requirements of your application. This ensures every damper of the same model and weight will have the same stiffness and damping characteristics. Adjustable dampers, on the other hand, are too difficult to adjust equally—creating differences in stiffness that can cause the moving mass to impact each damper differently.

Size Your Damper In Minutes
Using our free calculation program and online sizing tool, you can size shock absorbers and gas springs for nearly any load and direction within minutes. For particularly difficult or complex applications, our application engineers are ready to help.

To get started, visit www.acecontrols.com/us/calculations.html.

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Dampening Free Fall
For their project, THM’s graduate engineering students were tasked with designing the control parameters that allow a quadrocopter to maintain a stable position during flight. Because quadrocopters can fly in loops or along tight curves, they also had to account for how the aircraft might fall, potentially making impact with the ground on more than one side. They therefore outfitted their quadrocopters with three shock absorbers from ACE, placing them on the top and bottom of the aircraft.

ACE Technical Features
The students chose ACE miniature shock absorbers (type SC650EUM-0), which are ideal for soft damping thanks to their long, 25.4 mm strokes that produce smooth deceleration and low reaction forces. These maintenance-free, ready-to-install hydraulic machine elements boast several design features and options that appealed to the THM students, including:

• An option to include a linear or progressive braking curve
• Integrated positive stop for use in automation applications
• 73 Nm/stroke energy capacity
• Operating temperature range of 0 to 66°C
• Load range of 1 to 2,000 kg

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From pick-and-place equipment to conveyor belts to linear transfer lines, moving work pieces and finished products from point A to point B is a major part of today’s fast-paced production environments. In many cases, speed and precision are top priorities. So too is safety. Protecting both operators and equipment from destructive impact forces is a critical task—one that is often accomplished with shock absorbers and safety dampers. In the case of linear modules that must endure high speeds and loads, well-designed safety dampers provide reliable insurance against impact damage at an affordable cost.

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