Parker Hannifin's latest range of P1V-A and P1V-B air motors provide an efficient and cost-effective alternative to conventional AC and DC electric motors. Based on a simple but extremely reliable design, Parker's latest air motors are compact, lightweight and capable of providing an exceptionally long operating life. They have been developed for use in particularly demanding applications, including those where it is impractical or unsafe to use electric motors, and can play an important role in helping to improve the performance, productivity and profitability of a wide range of industrial and process machinery.
The P1V-A and P1V-B air motors use an innovative vane rotor design in which a high-efficiency rotor, enclosed in a steel cylinder, is driven by a controlled flow of compressed air. The air paths are constructed so that the direction of force is always at ninety degrees to the vanes as the rotor turns, thereby producing optimum levels of power and torque. The vanes are spring-mounted into the rotor to ensure that they form a consistent, low-friction seal against the cylinder wall, giving superior start-up, slow-running and high-speed characteristics. The speed of each motor can easily be adjusted using standard pneumatic flow control valves or pressure regulators located in air inlets.
As the rotor turns, the keyed output shaft can either drive the load directly or via a conventional design of planetary, worm or helical gearbox; these are normally mounted to the body of the motor to produce integrated, fully sealed units.
This simple arrangement makes air motors easy to install and control, with high levels of resistance to vibration, impact and prolonged heavy use. In contrast to electric motors, they are considerably lighter, require minimal maintenance, can continuously be stopped and started, and can be safely overloaded to the point at which they stall, without any risk of damage. Additionally, the direction of rotation can be reversed almost instantly by changing the direction of air flow.
Parker's P1V-A and P1V-B air motors have been designed to operate in pneumatic systems running at a maximum pressure of 7bar. With the larger P1V-B motors, this is converted to produce an output power rating of up to 18kW, while the smaller P1V-A motors offer outputs between 1.6kW and 3.6kW. Both versions of the P1V can function at operating temperatures between -30 and +100degC and feature all-steel bodies and rotors with long-life nitrile seals to enable them to be used in tough industrial and process applications.