Solenoid valves

What is a solenoid valve and how does it work?

A solenoid valve is an electromechanically actuated valve. The basis of the technology is an electrical coil (the solenoid) with a movable iron core in the middle, also called the plunger or armature.

It works as follows:

1. Electrical activation: As soon as an electric current flows through the coil, a magnetic field is created.
2. Magnetic force: This field pulls the plunger up or pushes it aside, depending on the valve design.
3. Switching the media flow: The movement of the plunger opens or closes ports. This allows air or liquid to flow to a cylinder, actuator or other process component.
4. Return to rest position: When the current is switched off, the magnetic field disappears and a spring (or the system pressure) returns the plunger to its original position.

The advantages of Humphrey solenoid valves

Choosing the right solenoid valves is crucial for the uptime of your system. Humphrey valves stand out in the following ways:

• Exceptional response speed: Thanks to the direct-acting design, our valves switch in milliseconds.
• Long service life: Many of our series have been tested up to 50 million or even 200 million cycles without loss of performance.
• No lubrication required: Thanks to unique materials and poppet technology, the valves work smoothly with dry, unlubricated air.
• Extremely low leak rate: Humphrey is known worldwide for its "bubble tight" technology, which is essential for energy saving and precision applications.

Ontdek ons assortiment

Depending on your specific application, Inacom offers four main categories of solenoid valves:

1. Industrial pneumatic valves

The robust workhorses for general machine building. This category includes the well-known 310/410 and 320/420 series, as well as the innovative Balanced Series that is insensitive to pressure fluctuations.

2. Inert Solenoid Valves

Specially developed for controlling aggressive liquids and gases. In these valves, the internal mechanism is completely separated from the medium, preventing corrosion and guaranteeing the purity of the medium.

3. Miniature Solenoid Operated Valves

When installation space is scarce, our miniature valves offer the solution. This category includes ultra-compact pilot valves, cartridge solutions and energy-efficient piezo technology for the medical and analytical sector.

4. Proportional Solenoid Valves

For applications where a simple on/off function is not enough. Proportional valves make it possible to control flow or pressure continuously and very precisely based on a variable electrical signal.