What are Rolling Diaphragm Air Cylinders?
Because they do not exhibit sliding friction and operate with zero leakage, rolling-diaphragm air cylinders offer advantages not found in other linear actuators.
Rolling Diaphragm Air Cylinders are made from fabric reinforced elastomer diaphragms which seal the space between the piston and the cylinder I.D. Due to the rolling action, the seal is accomplished without creating friction.

Why use Rolling Diaphragm Cylinders?
Piston and rod seal friction in conventional air cylinders can cause positioning from stick-slip motion at low speeds or pressures. These seals also wear over time, which makes it difficult to hold position without drift. Both of these conditions can be avoided by specifying rolling-diaphragm air cylinders, which have no dynamic seals to cause friction, wear, and leakage.
Rolling Diaphragm cylinders provide virtually frictionless conversion of pneumatic pressure to linear force and offer the following features:
High Sensitivity
No Line Lubrication
Low Hysteresis
No Blow-By Leakage
Wide Temperature Variations

Common Applications and Solutions
Rolling Diaphragm Air Cylinders are replacing conventionally sealed cylinders and actuators where low friction and reliability are requirements.
They are designed for use with dry filtered non-lubricated pressure systems.
The low friction characteristics of diaphragm cylinders make them ideally suited to web tensioning, positioning, braking, valve actuation, and other engineered applications.
Web Tension Control
Braking Applications
Valve Actuation
Precise Force Control Applications
Printing
Packaging
Animation & Robotics