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Humphrey Products Offers Engineered Solutions Tailored To Your Application |
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For decades, TECO Pneumatic and many of our customers have relied on Humphrey Products for their broad range of pneumatic control components and for intelligently designed modifications to those products. Over the years, a significant fraction of the Humphrey hardware used by our customers has been modified in some way to suit their particular applications.Last month we showed you a clever custom air cylinder with a nonstandard 0.375" bore and a built-in Humphrey SQE series quick exhaust valve to speed retraction time. Pictured (illustration on the right) is a modified Humphrey 320 series solenoid valve. This is one of a pair of valves used in an exceptionally demanding biomedical application. These valves have provided our customer with more than 175 million cycles.Humphrey extensively modified the body of these valves so that each interfaces with two accumulators, one charged with vacuum, the other with pressure. This valve, a critical part of a life support device, is literally part of the structure of the customer’s product.
Clever modification of standard products like this will always be part of the Humphrey product offering, but Humphrey is able to do much more than this for our customers. Their Engineered Solution approach takes a long step beyond the limitations of catalog-based hardware and applies Humphrey’s broad experience in many industries and thousands of applications to meet your exact needs and requirements.
The goal of the Engineered Solution process is to find an application specific answer to your requirement. Often this begins as a result of space restrictions, or reliability issues due to the "phantom leak" effect when a number of components are tubed together. Illustrated is an integrated package that virtually eliminates tube connection issues in a package that consists of a pair of air pressure regulators and gauges, an Off/ON valve and two control valves. A completely integrated control valve assembly greatly reduces leak point problems, a desirable end in itself; but the Engineered Solution process looks for further opportunities.
A manufacturer of gas analyzer products wanted to reduce the size of the pneumatic control package in their device and enhance field serviceability. The original package consisted of several solenoid valves, a pressure switch, a temperature transducer and a flow control valve. The Engineered Solution Team developed the manifold assembly shown below.
This assembly, which incorporates manifold mounted, space efficient, Humphrey HK-5 solenoid valves, is about a third of the size of the original package. In addition, Humphrey designed a compact docking station for the manifold, which makes the unit field replaceable in minutes. The customer was able to reduce the envelope of the complete product from desktop to briefcase size. Also, Humphrey manufactures the unit to meet the customers’ stringent cleanliness and testing requirements. Humphrey's Engineered Solutions Team provided the necessary pneumatic design capability, which allowed the customer’s engineers to focus on their core competence. The result was a successful product that met all requirements and exceeded expectations. Another manufacturer, who produces oxygen concentrators for in-home O2 therapy, wanted the next generation of their product to both supply O2 to the patient on demand and also allows for simultaneous filling of portable oxygen bottles. Functionally, a fraction of the O2 produced by the concentrator had to be diverted to a pump, which would boost the pressure in the bottle. With this desirable feature added, the new package could not be larger than the existing unit.
The manufacturer already used a Humphrey custom valve manifold in its existing oxygen concentrator, but the additional function, extra hardware and weight restrictions meant that a complete redesign was necessary. The Engineered Solutions product (illustration above) incorporates a proven Humphrey 250 series poppet valve, modified to operate at 5 – 7 psi, along with Humphrey B3E1 Mini-Mizer solenoid valves. This tightly designed manifold met the customers weight and size design criteria and provided 20% higher flow than the original design. Humphrey succeeded in this application by providing a high-performance engineered solution that added value to the customers' product. As an ISO 9001 registered manufacturer, Humphrey was able to apply state-of-the-art manufacturing methodologies, which met this challenge in a cost-effective manner.
Another point covered in our last newsletter was the Baumer Electric line of non-contact liquid level sensors. While non-contact liquid level sensors are best in some applications, a float valve assembly is still best for others. A supplier of petro-chemical processing equipment experienced success with a Humphrey 125 series valves in this application, but wanted a design that could withstand exposure to corrosive "sour" gas and be sturdy enough to withstand damage if accidentally used by workers as a step. The Engineered Solutions Team at Humphrey began with the requirement for a more environmentally robust valve body and developed a custom black anodized NiTuf coated body that withstood the chemical exposure. In addition the redesigned liquid level sensor (see illustrations below) reduced assembly costs and improved performance in the field.
Often it takes a fresh eye, an organization with outside expertise, to examine a problem and find the ideal solution. Through the Engineered Solutions program, Humphrey Products and TECO Pneumatic offer you a powerful tool to meet difficult pneumatic and fluid control challenges. If you have not been able to find the hardware you need, contact your TECO Pneumatic salesperson and let us help you address your issues in development, procurement, manufacturing and assembly.
Monnier Custom Air Pressure Regulator In keeping with our winter theme of special products, shown below is a very special pressure regulator that is manufactured by Monnier, Inc. For many years, TECO Pneumatic has relied on Monnier for reliable air preparation hardware. Machined aluminum bar stock has always been the solid core of Monnier products. Because there is no
possibility of porosity in machined parts, Monnier components are stronger and lighter than their industry standard counterparts made from die cast zinc. In addition to their broad range of standard air preparation hardware, Monnier does an outstanding job on special requirements. Recently a customer asked TECO Pneumatic for an air pressure regulator capable of accepting a 1500-PSI primary pressure. This is five times the maximum allowable pressure for standard industrial pressure regulators. As shown in the photo, Monnier developed a special miniature regulator tailored to the space available. The unit accepts primary pressure through a 1/8" port in the bottom, has gauge ports for both primary and secondary pressures, has a single 1/8" NPT output port and is factory set to 100-PSI working pressure. It is unlikely that you need something as unusual as a 1500-PSI pressure regulator. But if you do have a requirement for an air preparation product specifically designed for your specific application, please contact your TECO Pneumatic representative about Monnier.
of the worms." - T. W. Connor - - Ambrose Bierce - "Angling? Impaling worms to torture fish!" "In heaven an angel is nobody in particular." "Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as
wisdom." "You can’t escape responsibility of tomorrow by evading it
today." "The pursuit of truth shall set you free — even if you never
catch up with it." "Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind
your own business." "The wise man will want to be ever with him who is better than
himself." "Marriage is a community consisting of a master, a mistress
and two slaves, making in all, two." "Great geniuses have the shortest biographies."
TECO Pneumatic will participate in two of our favorite trade shows in March. The American Vacuum Society’s Vacuum Show will be at the Santa Clara Convention center on March 4th & 5th. We always enjoy the chance to meet with some of the many long term customers in this important industry.The following week, on the 12th & 13th of March, we will be in booths 304 & 306 at the Central Valley Plant Engineering Show in Modesto. At 9 a.m. on the morning of the 12th we will present a talk on Baumer Electric position sensors at one of the technical sessions offered during this show. If you plan to be in Modesto and need a ticket, please contact your TECO sales person or call our office.
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TECO
Pneumatic Inc., Box 1809, Pleasanton, CA 94566 |
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