Patent ID: 6892625

Claim:
A double rod end cylinder, comprising: an elongated cylinder body having first and second ends and defining an internal piston chamber; an elongated unitary piston rod moveably disposed within the body and projecting outwardly from both ends of the body, the piston rod including a circumferentially extending first groove in its outer surface along the length of the piston rod; and a piston assembly rigidly coupled to the piston rod in surrounding relation therewith and in sealing engagement with the cylinder body to define first and second fluidly-separated chamber portions at opposite ends of the cylinder body, the piston assembly including a ring-shaped piston, a split ring coupling with predetermined linear expansion properties, and fastening means for securely and rigidly fastening the split ring coupling to the piston; the split ring coupling being initially at a reduced temperature with respect to the piston rod so as to be loosely located in the first groove and then being equalized to the temperature of the piston rod so that the split ring coupling axially expands and has an interference fit within the first groove in the piston rod such that the split ring coupling is rotationally and axially fixed with respect to the piston rod.