New Style Bellows Built To Last
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French entrepreneurs are reinventing protective bellows for hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders using origami folding principles. The unique bellows are a circular tube with polygonal faces that allow it to fold by a factor of 10 as the cylinder retracts or unfolds as the cylinder extends.
“In the beginning, we were exploring using the design technology to make pneumatic cylinders,” says Mathieu Cazard, Eclore Actuator. “We saw that the design was very strong and could also be used to make protective bellows.”
Eclore bellows are built to last. The polymer bellows have a projected life of 10 million cycles and are resistant to shock, abrasion, ultraviolet light, hydrocarbons, and solvents. They have a temperature range of -40 to 176 F. They also are two to five times more compact and up to six times lighter than competitive bellows.
According to Cazard, one of the key selling points of the bellows is the length. “Not many manufacturers can offer such stroke length as we do,” he says. “Our largest is 100 mm (4 in.) in diameter and 800 mm (31 1/2 in.) long, although there really isn’t a limit for length. Multiple bellows can be connected.”
Eclore bellows range in diameter from 35 mm (1 1/3 in.) to 100 mm and in length from 100 mm to 800 mm in length. Prices range from 10 to 50 euros ($10.75 to $53.76).
The company is introducing bellows with new materials and new shapes this coming year. The current bellows are round. One new style will be in a U-shape, open on one side.
“We’ll be introducing two other new products in 2024,” says Cazard. “One is a vacuum gripper for use by the robotics industry. The other is for the pneumatic cylinder market we started exploring in 2019. However, we’ll continue to market our bellows.”
Eclore Actuators doesn’t yet have a distributor in North America. Currently, the company is marketing its bellows in Europe through farm and construction equipment manufacturers and machine tool makers. “We sell directly to OEMs to install on their equipment, as well as to cylinder manufacturers,” says Cazard. “Bellows will increase the working life of cylinders, and our bellows are stronger and will last longer than competitive designs.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Eclore Actuators, 2 Rue Robert Le Ricolais, 44300, Nantes, France (ph 02 55 10 42 53; contact@eclore-actuators.com; www.eclore-actuators.com).
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New Style Bellows Built To Last TRACTORS Hydraulics French entrepreneurs are reinventing protective bellows for hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders using origami folding principles The unique bellows are a circular tube with polygonal faces that allow it to fold by a factor of 10 as the cylinder retracts or unfolds as the cylinder extends “In the beginning we were exploring using the design technology to make pneumatic cylinders ” says Mathieu Cazard Eclore Actuator “We saw that the design was very strong and could also be used to make protective bellows ” Eclore bellows are built to last The polymer bellows have a projected life of 10 million cycles and are resistant to shock abrasion ultraviolet light hydrocarbons and solvents They have a temperature range of -40 to 176 F They also are two to five times more compact and up to six times lighter than competitive bellows According to Cazard one of the key selling points of the bellows is the length “Not many manufacturers can offer such stroke length as we do ” he says “Our largest is 100 mm 4 in in diameter and 800 mm 31 1/2 in long although there really isn’t a limit for length Multiple bellows can be connected ” Eclore bellows range in diameter from 35 mm 1 1/3 in to 100 mm and in length from 100 mm to 800 mm in length Prices range from 10 to 50 euros $10 75 to $53 76 The company is introducing bellows with new materials and new shapes this coming year The current bellows are round One new style will be in a U-shape open on one side “We’ll be introducing two other new products in 2024 ” says Cazard “One is a vacuum gripper for use by the robotics industry The other is for the pneumatic cylinder market we started exploring in 2019 However we’ll continue to market our bellows ” Eclore Actuators doesn’t yet have a distributor in North America Currently the company is marketing its bellows in Europe through farm and construction equipment manufacturers and machine tool makers “We sell directly to OEMs to install on their equipment as well as to cylinder manufacturers ” says Cazard “Bellows will increase the working life of cylinders and our bellows are stronger and will last longer than competitive designs ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Eclore Actuators 2 Rue Robert Le Ricolais 44300 Nantes France ph 02 55 10 42 53; contact@eclore-actuators com; www eclore-actuators com
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