Southern African hydraulics engineering company BMG Hydraulics, part of Bearing Man Group, has extended its range of locally manufactured products to include Imperial pneumatic cylinders designed for mining and heavy-duty applications.
“Pneumatic cylinders have been used in the local mining sector for over 50 years. Gold and platinum mines, in particular, have standardised the Imperial range for applications that include chutes and box fronts,” says BMG Hydraulics pneumatics manager Brian Young.
“The company, with an in-house specialist facility for the manufacture, servicing and repair of hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders, is well positioned to become a leading supplier of these components to the mining sector and general industry,” he forecasts.
“BMG’s specialist operation for hydraulic cylinders, which is divided into separate manufacture and repair sections, enhances the company’s design and manufacture service of a range of hydraulic components and systems,” adds Young.
The manufacturing facility offers a design service for hydraulic cylinders, according to exact customer specifications, while the repair section has the specialist skills and machinery to reverse-engineer cylinders to their original-equipment-manufacturer condition.
These new Imperial pneumatic cylinders are available in 6, 8, 10 and 12 inches. Cylinder barrels are standard in hone steel, but are also available in fibre glass and a steel out-covering. The cylinders, when used with nitrile butadiene rubber seals, can withstand operating temperatures of between –20 °C and 80 °C. For higher temperatures, Viton seals are supplied.
The end caps, piston and nose glands are manufactured from aluminium alloy castings and the piston rod is manufactured from chromed steel. Stainless steel grade 304L is used for the manufacture of tie rods.
“Additional features of the cylinders include end-of-stroke cushioning and British Standard Pipe port connections. All regular cylinder mountings are available and include piston rod fork ends and centre trunnions,” states Young.