My team has a pneumatic cylinder that has been mounted almost vertically. The problem is that we need more of a lateral push rather than a vertical push. Now I was thinking we could fabricate a metal piece, some type of bracket that we could take that vertical push and transfer it into the direction that we need it. Any suggestions on what we could do? Some time of L shaped aluminum or something of that sort? In case you were wondering it is a pneumatic cyclinder to push out the ramps.
That L-shaped component you are talking about is called a bell crank, and it requires a hinge point upon which it can rotate. Push perpendicularly to one end, and you get a force perpendicular to the other end. Vary the angle between the two arms and you change the directions of the input and output forces. Vary the lengths of the two arms and you change the mechanical advantage of the crank.
An example (two are shown):
http://www.tshc.org/techniques/goldse/goldbellcranks.jpg
awesome thanx a lot