Actuator for Locking Gas Spring
Industrial Gas Springs holds a limited quantity of actuators for locking gas springs in stock. Other manufacturers specialized in cable assemblies (such as CMA Cables) will hold a much wider range of remote actuators designed for your application.
Points to be taken into account when choosing a gas spring actuator:
- The actuator's dimensions must fit the gas spring you have chosen (standard size thread is M10 x 1.0 fine pitch). On medium to large productions of locking gas springs IGS can manufacture different thread types to match your actuator.
- The actuator must be designed to generate the force required to depress the plunger (see note below).
- On standard locking gas springs, the plunger has to be moved 2.5mm in order to fully unlock the spring. If the plunger is only moved halfway the rod may not be fully freed.
- The force required to manually depress the button/lever must be acceptable for the user. For example, on an aircraft seat the force required to unlock the seat back must not exceed 18 Newtons (1.9 kg).
- Always keep in mind when designing your cabling that:
- A flexible locking gas spring must be mounted rod down
- A rigid in tension locking gas spring can be mounted in any position
- A rigid in compression locking gas spring must be mounted rod down
Note about plunger force: On IGS Manufactured gas springs, the maximum plunger force you require is typically 14% of the force of the spring. For example, for a gas spring with a P1 force of 1000 Newtons and a K factor of 1.3, the maximum force of the spring will be 1300 Newtons (+/- 10%). Therefore, in order to depress the plunger when the gas spring is fully compressed, you will need to exert 14% of 1300 Newtons = approximately 182 Newtons.