Active Control of a Pneumatic Vibration Isolation Table using a Newly Developed Precise and High Response Pressure Regulator

The pressure regulator is a substantial element in a pneumatic system. A relief-type precision pressure regulator is commonly used in order to control the supply pressure of actively controlled pneumatic vibration isolator. In this paper, firstly, we propose a pneumatic pressure regulator that achieves precise pressure control and quick response. The regulator consists of an isothermal chamber, a servo valve, a pressure sensor, a quick response laminar flow sensor (QFS), and a pressure differentiator (PD sensor) which we have developed. Slight changes of pressure in the chamber can be detected by the PD sensor and it is fed back to the servo valve to maintain the pressure at a desired value. The effectiveness of the developed regulator was confirmed experimentally in comparison with commercially available pressure regulators. Then, the developed regulator was applied to an actively controlled pneumatic vibration isolation table, in order to regulate the supply pressure. The effectiveness of the developed regulator is also shown in the experiment, especially in terms of avoiding affection from the disturbance given upstream of the regulator.