An actuator configured to be submerged into a body of water and to activate upon achieving a particular depth. The actuator includes a housing that defines a chamber. The housing has an open end portion in which is located a piston, the piston closing the open end portion to cause the chamber to be watertight. The piston has a first side facing an inner wall of the chamber and a second side opposite the first side that is configured to face the body of water, the piston being translatable in the chamber. A column located inside the chamber has a first end coupled to the first side of the piston and a second end coupled the inner wall of the chamber, the column being configured to buckle upon a predetermined amount of force being applied to the second side of the piston to cause the piston to translate.

In this rod-less cylinder equipped with a guide mechanism (32), the guide mechanism (32) has: a first rail member (34), which is attached to the sidewall of a cylinder tube (2), has an inner rolling groove (34a), and is composed of alloyed steel; a second rail member (36), which is attached to a protrusion (31) of a slider (27), has an outer rolling groove (36a), and is composed of alloyed steel; a guide path (38a) provided in the protrusion of the slider and extending parallel to the second rail member; a connection member (39) having a connection path (39a) that connects the guide path and the inner rolling groove; and a plurality of rolling bodies (43) accommodated within an endless circulation path (42) formed of the inner rolling groove, the outer rolling groove, the guide path, and the connection path.

A control calculation device performs a calculation of compensating for a volume change amount of each pressure chamber caused by a positional change of a pressure receiving plate inside a cylinder chamber for each position command value applied to two servo amplifiers, outputs each of the compensated position command values to the two servo amplifiers, and executes origin positioning for a position of a slider in order to compensate for the volume change amount.

An aircraft actuation system is disclosed that includes a pair of cylinders, a piston movably disposed in each cylinder, and a roller train that extends between the pistons in the two cylinders. A portion of the roller train is disposed beyond the cylinders to engage a pinion. Movement of the pistons in the two cylinders in opposite directions produces a corresponding movement of the roller train to in turn rotate the pinion. The roller train may be maintained in compression between its two ends by fluid pressure exerted on a common face of each of the pistons in the two cylinders. The cylinders may be disposed in non-colinear relation, including in parallel relation to one another. A guide may be used to maintain rollers of the roller train in a proper orientation for entry into a space between an outer race and the pinion.

A control calculation device performs a calculation of compensating for a volume change amount of each pressure chamber caused by a positional change of a pressure receiving plate inside a cylinder chamber for each position command value applied to two servo amplifiers, outputs each of the compensated position command values to the two servo amplifiers, and executes origin positioning for a position of a slider in order to compensate for the volume change amount.

The present invention addresses the technical problem of providing an actuator which is provided to prevent leakage through a rod in a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder-type actuator, and in which an existing sealing member may be used, and in particular, a cable (wire) may be used as a rod for solving the problem regardless of surface roughness thereof. An actuator for solving the above-mentioned problem in accordance with the present invention includes: a cylinder having an inner portion filled with a fluid and a front cover for closing a front end portion thereof; a piston displaced inside the cylinder by the fluid; a sealing member having one end portion fixed to the piston and the other end portion fixed to the front cover; and an operation member inserted in the sealing member and having one end portion fixed to the piston and the other end portion extending out of the front cover. In the present invention, due to the above-mentioned configuration, the sealing of a fluid (f) is already achieved by the sealing member, and thus, the operation member serves a moving function if only slipping relative to the sealing member in the sealing member. Accordingly, a rod or a cable does not need to move while being in close contact with the sealing member. Therefore, as in conventional arts, the present invention has merits in that a remarkable improvement is achieved in terms of wear of the sealing member, and it is not necessary to smoothly and precisely process the rod and to smoothly and hardly coat the cable.

A linear module includes: a base, a slide stage, two support frames, two retaining units and a steel belt. With the pivoting freedom given by the guide portions of the retaining units, when the slide stage moves, the rolling elements can be abutted more closely against the contact surface of the steel belt via the pivoting of the guide portions, so as to reduce the occurrence of deformation and clearance produced by the steel belt, which not only improves the sealing performance of the steel belt and operation smoothness of the linear module, but also produces a dust proof effect, thus achieving the purposes of automatically adjusting contact angle, preventing deformation while extending the life of the steel belt.

An aircraft actuation system is disclosed that includes a pair of cylinders, a piston movably disposed in each cylinder, and a roller train that extends between the pistons in the two cylinders. A portion of the roller train is disposed beyond the cylinders to engage a pinion. Movement of the pistons in the two cylinders in opposite directions produces a corresponding movement of the roller train to in turn rotate the pinion. The roller train may be maintained in compression between its two ends by fluid pressure exerted on a common face of each of the pistons in the two cylinders. The cylinders may be disposed in non-colinear relation, including in parallel relation to one another. A guide may be used to maintain rollers of the roller train in a proper orientation for entry into a space between an outer race and the pinion.

This invention discloses a pneumatic and cable-driven hybrid artificial muscle, comprising pneumatic actuator, pneumatic pressure regulating assembly, and cable drive assembly. The pneumatic pressure regulating assembly is connected to the pneumatic actuator to regulate air pressure in the pneumatic actuator for controlling the pneumatic actuator to extend or contract. The cable actuation assembly comprises a cable fixedly connected to the pneumatic actuator for controlling the pneumatic actuator to contract. In this invention, the artificial muscle employs a dual pneumatic and cable actuation mechanism. By leveraging the inherent stiffness of the pneumatic actuator, it can provide substantial actuation force for joint movement. Simultaneously, the cable actuation assembly can provide significant pulling force, effectively ensuring safety in human-machine interaction and offering sufficient bidirectional aiding force to individuals with disabilities who use the artificial muscle as an aiding actuation device.

A linear module includes: a base, a slide stage, two support frames, two retaining units and a steel belt. With the pivoting freedom given by the guide portions of the retaining units, when the slide stage moves, the rolling elements can be abutted more closely against the contact surface of the steel belt via the pivoting of the guide portions, so as to reduce the occurrence of deformation and clearance produced by the steel belt, which not only improves the sealing performance of the steel belt and operation smoothness of the linear module, but also produces a dust proof effect, thus achieving the purposes of automatically adjusting contact angle, preventing deformation while extending the life of the steel belt.