US 12,066,039 B2
Pneumatic actuator
Yuval Hikind, Kiriat Ata (IL); and Rei Shragai, Kibbutz Hazorea (IL)
Assigned to RAFAEL ADVANCED DEFENSE SYSTEMS LTD., Haifa (IL)
Appl. No. 17/912,881
Filed by RAFAEL ADVANCED DEFENSE SYSTEMS LTD., Haifa (IL)
PCT Filed Apr. 26, 2021, PCT No. PCT/IB2021/053409
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 20, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/220129, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 4, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 274262 (IL), filed on Apr. 26, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0078880 A1, Mar. 16, 2023
Int. Cl. F15B 15/16 (2006.01); F15B 1/26 (2006.01); F15B 21/00 (2006.01)
CPC F15B 15/16 (2013.01) [F15B 1/26 (2013.01); F15B 21/008 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A pneumatic actuator for imparting velocity to a resting object, comprising a fixed member and a ram, the ram having two or more generally elongated ram members, each having a first end and a second end, wherein the fixed member is formed with a base plate, and with an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder, fixedly joined to the base plate concentrically about a center axis, the base plate having an inlet hole therethrough, said inlet hole being in fluid communication solely with space inside said inner cylinder, wherein the ram members are disposed concentrically about said center axis so as to lie one within another and within the outer cylinder, the first end of each ram member being disposed closer to the base plate than its second end, and to move parallel to the center axis in a telescopic arrangement, characterized in that the innermost one of said ram members is accommodated within said inner cylinder so that pressurized gas fed into inlet hole acts initially only on said innermost ram member so as to displace innermost ram member independently of the other ram members, said innermost ram member being configured so that its second end drives the object, and
wherein each of the other ram members is deployed externally to said inner cylinder so as to be acted on by the pressurized gas only after displacement of the innermost one of said ram members along said inner cylinder, so as to begin to move only after said innermost ram member is extended;
the actuator being operative, upon the feeding of pressurized gas into the inlet hole, to move said innermost ram member along its entire range of motion and thereby impart velocity to the object.