Actuator Type?

One suggestion: a ball screw with reversible gearmotor drive.

A hydraulic cylinder with 29" of stroke, and automatic reversing.

only in one direction?

try air operated cylinder with flow control valve

usually this is a two direction operation

or maybe your sheet is moving on a conveyer

I've had great results using Tolo-matic products. The rodless band air cylinders are reasonably priced and you just almost can't kill them, as long as you don't have mechanics going around squirting WD-40 in the air ports. They're also fast and very repetitive. If you're just looking to run an air knife to clear debris, etc. this works great. If you are looking for a high degree of accurate timing / position then a ball screw type of unit is best but cost is greater.

http://www.tolomatic.com/products/product_detail.cfm?tree_id=101

I use alot of the BC2 series on this page:
http://www.tolomatic.com/products/item_detail.cfm?TREE_ID=108

You can use pneumatic cylinder for this application since they are maintanance free. Since your load requirement is very small, choose an actuator with sufficient stroke, small bore size, small outer dimensions, with flow control valve (for consistent speed), and rod eye mounting. I prefer METALWORK cylinder which gives smooth operation.

And, Air knife seems to be set to your application which eliminates cylinder and nozzle. Refer http://www.exair.com/en-US/Primary%20Navigation/Products/Air%20Knives/Pages/Air%20Knives%20Home.aspx

Regards,

RAMARAJ

jsramraj@gmail.com

Hi, I've done this only vertically and the best way we found was to have a carriage to mount what ever you want to use it for,driven by chain with a ball bearing on the chain which locates in a channel on the carriage,the chain is driven by a geared motor with a sprocket & supported at the other end by another sprocket,you can have the the chain drive vertically & the carriage horizontal by mounting the drive channel vertically (better for the chain).

Bazzer