Cylinder design without a piston rod. As a result, these cylinders have an ideal short installation length just greater than the stroke.
With the pistons not having any piston rod, both piston sides are the same size, making it easy to insert the pistons inside a pneumatic spring (Figure K 20).
In this form, the pneumatic cylinder has found favour in a range of new applications.
The oldest rodless cylinder design is the sealing band cylinder whereby a slotted cylinder tube is sealed using steel sealing bands (Figure K 21 c). The cylinder with actuating band or cable (a and b) is based on closed cylinders, which gives it a somewhat thicker design. The magnetic cylinder (d) also has a normal cylinder tube and takes on the load via a permanent magnet.
Figure K 20: Control of a rodless cylinder
Figure K 21: Types of rodless cylinders