Reinventing the industrial shock absorber

ACE Magnum Group shock absorbers, which include adjustable and self-compensating models, offer up to 3.9 times the effective weight capacity of standard models without increasing size or cost. Adjustable shock absorbers are widely used because they provide an economical way to decelerate loads, prevent impact damage, dampen noise, and increase equipment speeds. They're also simple to apply. One need only approximate the correct size shock from a few different models and then tune it on the machine for best performance. But ever since William J. Chorkey patented the first adjustable industrial shock absorber in 1963, there have been relatively few major innovations. One was the introduction of self-compensating shock absorbers in the 1970s. These devices operate across a relatively wide range of input conditions without the need for adjustment. Compared with adjustable shocks, however, self-compensating units have slightly lower energy ratings and require more models to cover a given range. Other styles were introduced over the years to accommodate specific markets, including crane bumpers, stacker-crane shocks, and soft-contact and heavy-duty units. Nonetheless, adjustable versions remain the "bread-and-butter" shocks of industrial automation. This increasingly presents a problem for today's users. Competitive pressures demand machines that run faster and maximize throughput which, in turn, requires shocks with higher cycle rates and wider operating ranges. At the same time, there is a trend toward smaller, lighter equipment and lower costs. So simply specifying a larger shock is often not an option. Despite the fact that shock-absorber manufacturers have continuously refined their products, the nearly 40-yr-old design has nonetheless been pushed to its practical limits. Ace Controls Inc., Farmington Hills, Mich., addressed this problem by fundamentally redesigning the basic industrial shock absorber. The resulting range of products, called the Magnum Group, features 50% more energy capacity without increasing size or cost. At the same time,