West Coast Drive: Output "shifting" shaft

[Adam.garcia]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

As Travis touched on, we mechanically limit the motion of the shifting action by limiting how far the external shift block can move (the block threaded onto the cylinder that interfaces to the small internal shaft via bearings).

I have a personal obsession with trying to make things smaller, and doing this allows us to shave the maximum amount of length off the gearbox by reducing the space between the gears (where the dog is), and minimizing how much the cylinder sticks out in the rear.

I have very little experience with pneumatics, so this may be a fairly trivial question. But, from what I gather, when the piston is extended (or retracted) and hits a gear before it completely extends or retracts, the piston will remain locked into that position.

Adam. If the center distance is shorter than the stroke length, will a problem arise of the system jamming or the free spinning dog gears being pushed out of place?

What engineering thought should go into the dimension for those center distances?