Bosch Rexroth redesigns hydraulic linear drives

Bosch Rexroth redesigns hydraulic linear drives

Bosch Rexroth’s new CytroForce, introduced at this week’s Hannover Fair, takes hydraulic linear drives to a whole new level, said company officials. The evolutionary concept manages to squeeze previously bulky structures into a smart compact axis for power, movement and positioning tasks. The out-of-the-box system consisting of flow-optimized standard modules reportedly sets new benchmarks in terms of power density, energy efficiency and quiet operations. It is supplied as a plug-and-produce system, meaning that even machine manufacturers who do not possess expertise in hydraulics can benefit from the optimized overall costs involved.

CytroForce axes, which are robustly designed to meet IP65 protection class criteria, will help redefine many potential fields of application, according to the company. Depending on the configuration, the CytroForce-M, which was the first to be launched, covers forces of up to 1,200 kN, distances of up to 1.0 m and speeds of up to 0.8 m/sec. Positioning accuracy is 10 µm and the repeatability is 5 µm.

To enable highly productive and economic operation in critical applications like presses, machine tools and industry-specific operations, the CytroForce has been designed to ensure efficiency, availability and usability at every junction of its life cycle: suitable product documentation is available to support the 2D or 3D CAD model. The axes are already pre-configured in the factory and — after mechanical installation — only need to be electrically connected.

Maintenance is also quite simple: with the help of a service kit, even non-specialist service technicians can take fluid samples for laboratory analyses. Even the refilling process, which needs to be carried out from time to time, does not require any specific expertise. The service kits are available for all Bosch Rexroth servo-hydraulic axes (SHAs), including CytroForce. Condition monitoring and/or predictive analytics can also be conducted by combining the system with Rexroth’s ODiN service, helping to further increase the machine’s availability.

The modular CytroForce is based on the tried-and-tested, variable-speed energy-on-demand drive Sytronix. In the case of CytroForce, a manifold and a differential or tandem cylinder are connected to this energy-efficient unit, consisting of servodrive and hydraulic fixed or variable displacement pump. All hydraulic components and interfaces have been flow-optimized with the latest cutting-edge processes. This reduces noise emissions and increases performance whilst minimizing dimensions. Together with the tank, safety valves and sensors, the CytroForce modules form a highly compact and efficient servo-hydraulic axis with a closed fluid circuit and an energy-on-demand and standardized drive and control concept.

“Our evolutionary solution, available from a single source, is pushing the boundaries in terms of potential applications for hydraulic linear axes,” says Stefan Thienen, Product Manager CytroForce at Bosch Rexroth. “The cross-industry advantages provide machine and system manufacturers from practically all sectors with new and exciting prospects and the potential to implement improvements with regard to presses, machine tools and many other applications.”