Design of Valve Blocks Pneumatic Controls

Development of Directional Control Valves

Electrically operated directional control valves continue to develop. This applies both the individual valves and combinations of valves (valve blocks). The main objectives are as follows:

Minimization of size and weight

Shortening switching times

Reducing electrical power consumption

An optimized single valve has the following advantages in particular:

Greater dynamic capacity due to shorter switching times and high flow-rates

Reduced air consumption due to reduced volumes between the valve and cylinder.

Smaller size and lower costs due to reduced power consumption

Smaller size and weight

Valve Blocks

Valve blocks are modular Combinations of several valves consisting of

Directional control valve modules

Pneumatic distribution modules

Electrical patch panels

Compared to individual valves, such valve blocks waste much less air, are much more compact in their dimensions and are well priced. A valve block that gathers all the necessary electrical terminals together is called a valve panel. Such a panel can also include additional capabilities such as in-built PLC control or integrated sensor connection modules.

The block has three monostable 5/2 directional control valves with return spring in the fisrt three slots (0-2) and three bistable 5/2 directional control valves with electrically operated pulse valves on both sides in slots 3-8. The bistable valves each take up two slots due to their design. The final three slots simply contain dummies.

Only the operating inlets/outlets of the valves are free. The compressed air feed and exhaust outlets are already connected to the block as a whole and do not appear at the valves themselves.

When a valve is being actuated, it is indicated on the front panel of the block by an LED. The labeling and display functions of these LEDs is aligned to the various slots.