Pneumatic Side Action Grips

Pneumatic side action grips are the common solution for gripping elastic materials and specimen types that include fibers, sheet, thin films, textiles, rigid and elastic plastics, rubber and elastomers, wires, foils, and products, devices and components. These grips produce repeatable gripping forces and help speed up your testing process.

In dual-acting designs the jaws adjust to handle changes in test sample thickness as the test progresses (due to Poisson’s ratio) and can also be selected to accommodate a wide range of different specimen sizes. The testing task is to ensure that the line of tensile force remains concentric with the grip body. They can also be configured with a selection of interchangeable grip jaws in various widths, lengths, and surfaces including wave type, smooth ground, rubber-coated, and serrated.

Pneumatic side action grips use single or dual air cylinders to open and close the grip jaws. We offer a wide range of solutions in multiple forms including adding single or dual cylinders to a screw action grip and also lever arm models where the air cylinder adjusts both jaw positions simultaneously. Pneumatic grips are operated by a foot switch or by grip mounted air-valves making them quicker and simpler to operate than screw-action grips. The pneumatic clamp force is controlled by adjusting inlet air pressure and remains constant even if the specimen thickness changes significantly during the test. The quick and easy operation of the grips improves productivity and usability compared to other types of gripping techniques.

Dual action grips are recommended if specimen centering is important, especially if test samples vary in thickness from test to test. In repetitive test applications involving small changes in sample thickness, a single cylinder pneumatic grip is adequate. 

For applications where jaw changes are a common occurrence, we recommend jaw inserts to speed your testing process.  Our quick change jaw insert design allows jaws to be changed in seconds without the use of tools or pins. Standard jaw surfaces include rubber-coated, serrated, smooth-ground, line contact, wave action, diamond grit, and V type. 

Applications
Type of loading: tensile, static and tension-tension cyclic tests.
Specimen materials: plastics, metals, textiles, paper, thin sheet, foil, wire, etc.
Specimen shapes: components, round (wires), and flat specimens with or without shoulder