Thursday, October 31, 2013

The History Of Cylinder Valves And Its Three Main Types

By Marsha Klein


Cylinder valves, also called a rotary gate, are devices that directs, regulate or control the flow of gas, liquid, or loose masses, and does this through piping or apertures. Due to its usually simple design, and huge range of applications, it has been used in vast arrays of works, from home use to heavy duty manufacturing industries. Valves have proven to be one of the very important inventions of this world.

The origins of this gate device can be traced from ancient times where stones, trunks of trees or branches were used to regulate the flow of water. The Romans then constructed aqueducts and canals that delivered water from its source into cities, which needed to be stopped whenever needed. The first fluid gates were then made in a form of plugs and stopcock types.

During the Middle ages there were very small developments in its design. It was during the renaissance where more sophisticated new designs of the fluid gates were seen on canals, irrigation and hydraulic works. It was only when the Industrial Revolution where breakthroughs in valve designs were made, and were made to cope with the pressure that steam trains produced to run them properly.

Different versions have been made through the decades through the help of innovators that found ways to take the original concept of valves and use it to have different ways to control fluids. The differences from each type of gates would be dependent on the back flow prevention, pressure to be handled, protection versus over pressure or over speed of flux, flow rate regulation and the on and off option.

There are a total of three general types of these gates, where the most of common is the multi-turn valve. A threaded steam that is like a long screw, with a handle placed on one end, outside of the membrane, and a rubber seal is on the other end, placed inside the device. Turning the handle for a number of time would either attach the rubber seal and stop the flux or draw the seal away that would have the opposite result. Due to the need to turn that handle many times, this process is slower but instead improves accuracy and stability.

The second type is the quarter-turn gate, also called butterfly valves, where the handle and the stopping member is attached directly to each other. The required angle to fully close or open this member is only up to ninety degrees. This makes it much more easier to use in instances where constant change is applied from time to time, but lacks the accuracy that the first type had.

The last type of gate is called the check or one-way valve, which is mainly used to ensure that the flow of materials would only go in one direction, even if the pressure would be lower from the source of the mass. This was designed in a way where when the direction is going to the desired path, the closing membrane remains open. When the direction becomes inverted, the pressure would push the closing membrane and stop the flow immediately.

Many improvements and developments have been made in cylinder valves that made it so versatile that this is being used by all modern households today. This also gives us an idea that even the simplest tools have very rich history and makes us appreciate that we have these tools available to make our lives easier, as compared to ancient times.




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