SC2 Heavyweight II Series shock absorbers from Ace Controls Inc., Farmington Hills, Mich., handle up to 950% of the effective weight and 280% of the energy per cycle of traditional miniature shocks, with no increase in package size. Several innovative features contribute to the increase in performance. Its design combines the piston and inner tube into a single component, the piston tube that both creates and controls pressure. The device's piston rod has a thicker diameter than previous models. And a bladder-type accumulator replaces a conventional foam accumulator. The accumulator and larger rod lets the shock absorber handle higher energy-per-cycle rates and gives it a full effective weight range.
In operation the shocks offer soft-contact decelerations in which the initial impact reaction forces are low. The shocks are also self-compensating and can cope with changes in input energy. Possible applications include rotary actuators, rodless cylinders, conveyors, and pick-and-place operations and slides.