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Micro-inert valve maximises limited space

A Lee Products product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Dec 14, 2007

Smaller valve facilitates higher packing density, enabling more valves to be positioned in the same area, resulting in smaller manifolds and therefore a smaller footprint.

Smaller components help designers and manufacturers to meet the challenges of producing ever smaller, more compact systems and this is particularly important for portable instruments where size and weight are critical.

The Series 300 LFN two-way micro-inert valve from Lee Products is a good example of "less is more", helping designers to maximise the limited space that is available.

This two-way normally closed micro-inert valve facilitates higher packing density, enabling more valves to be positioned in the same area, resulting in smaller manifolds and therefore a smaller footprint.

The LFN centre-to-centre spacing is 0.30in (compared with 0.50in for the previous LFV two-way valve).

These valves can also contribute to savings on material costs, for example if engineered plastics, such as Peek, are used for the manifold Other benefits include less transport volume thanks to the closer spacing which results in reduced length of the connection passages in the manifold.

This can also reduce the amount of reagent needed, whilst also minimising the transport time of a sample.

The LFN valve has a low internal volume of just 13ul, and so reduces the amount of fluid needed which contributes to lower reagent volume and possibly faster throughput.

The faster response time for the valve of 20ms (compared with 30ms for the LFV) allows for greater throughput and the handling of smaller volumes in dispensing applications.

Finally, many instruments have a thermal and electrical budget whereby designers need to size the power supply to handle all the electrical components in the instrument.

Less power consumption is always more desirable and because more power often means more heat generated this can be a factor where electronic components need to operate within a limited temperature band.

In an enclosed instrument every incoming watt generates work or heat, the more power a valve draws, the more heat it generates, so reducing the power requirement has a cascading benefit.

For example, lower heat output from the valves, smaller power supply which generates lower heat, the possibility of passive cooling (convection) removes the need for a fan, which would also add heat and require power.

This could be particularly important in portable devices where lower power translates directly into longer battery life, or the need for a smaller battery, leading to size and weight savings.

Typical applications for the LFN two-way micro-inert valve include liquids handling systems used in laboratory, medical, analytical, biotechnology, OEM applications or wherever instruments are being developed which would benefit from compact, space and power saving features.

Find out more about this article. Request a brochure, download technical specifications and request samples here.
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