Chicago -The National Design Engineering Show (NDES) 2000 was a show of numbers. And when these were added up, the show equaled a greater range of components available for design projects.
Measuring a mere 8 X 9 X 23 mm, the X-Valve, said to be one of the world's smallest valves, was debuted. "Thinking about how the valve would work in assemblies, solving our own as well as customer challenges of total package efficiency was key to the conceptual development," said David Cross, the head of the engineering department at the developer, Pneutronics (Hollis, NH). The 50-psi valve has only seven components. Its unique electrical terminals permit dense packing of valves and electronics. X-Valve has a unitized solenoid bobbin and valve body as well as a flow-through coil design.
"It's the largest direct-operated D05 flow valve," noted Don Caputto of Parker Hannifin (Cleveland, OH). He was referring to the company's new Series D3 direction control valves on display at the show. The 4-way valves mount to manifolds and conform to the NFPA D05 pattern. "The soft-shift feature allows lower wattage, from a standard 30W down to 18W," said Caputto. The Series 3 valve is available with 22 different spool sizes. Having flow up to 40 gpm and rated at pressures of 345 bar, the devices are suitable for industrial and mobile hydraulic applications.
Also suitable for mobile hydraulic applications is the MRC Series cable carrier from A & A Manufacturing (New Berlin, WI). The carrier protects pneumatic, hydraulic, and electric lines from excess wear and fatigue during operation on aerial devices, construction equipment, and other mobile devices.
Series 300 modular valves and pumps from Smart Products (San Jose, CA) were shown and are designed for low pressure, low flow applications with pressure requirements from 1/10- to 17 psi. "You can mix and match our barbed ends, spring end fittings, and other options to make 16,000 different configurations," says electrical engineer Mark Jernigan, the company's director of operations.
Litton's (Blacksburg, VA) exhibit included through-bore slip rings with diameters from 1.5 to 2.75 inch and unobstructed centers that provide routing space for hydraulics and pneumatics.
The Nash Engineering Company (Trumbull, CT) exhibited Delta Series pumps. The pumps are available in single- and two-stage designs with capacities from 20 to 275 cfm. Delta pumps are suitable for processing applications and available in cast iron, cast iron/bronze rotor, cast iron/stainless rotor, and all stainless construction.
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