Festo recently supplied components to Stopak for the development of an airbag inflation tool. Stopak, a specialist in the design of cargo securing methods, developed the Jumbo Inflator to inflate dunnage bags used to fill the voids between cargo items during transportation.
The function of the dunnage bags is to protect valuable breakable bulk cargo and merchandise during transportation, either by ship, rail or road. However, the bags can easily be under or over-inflated, causing damage.
Stopak developed the patented inflation tool to overcome these shortcomings. It is capable of inflating a dunnage bag automatically, at high speed and to the exact pressure required. The desired pressure is programmed into the device and inflation occurs with a flick of a button. The inflator is fast and as a result of the programmed setpoint, it will not over or under-inflate a bag.
The inflator makes use of a venturi system that gives the device the ability to blow a large volume of air into a bag in a short period of time. The inflator makes use of a Festo SDE3 pressure sensor that monitors and controls the pressure inside the bag. The sensor is also the basis of the inflation tool’s intelligence. Through the programmed setpoint, the sensor ensures that the tool automatically shuts off when the desired bag pressure has been reached.
The inflator is shut off with the help of a Festo CPE18 solenoid valve that is also built into the inflator to control the main air supply. The CPE18 is ideal for this type of application as it is compact and offers low power consumption with high flow rates and excellent performance.
The inflator has since received a design excellence award from the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS).
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