Pneumatic Valve Terminal

Overview

A pneumatic valve terminal is a modular solenoid-piloted directional control valve system designed for automated production machinery. The Manifold Base forms the pressure cavity; individual Valve Slices snap into the base, each containing a proportional or on-off solenoid-piloted spool. A centralized Pilot Supply Unit generates 3–5 bar pilot air from the main supply, eliminating the need for external pilot lines. The Fieldbus Node Module integrates digital control, converting CANopen or PROFIBUS commands into solenoid switching signals and monitoring pressure transducers for diagnostics.

How it works

System pressure enters the Manifold Base through a single main supply port. The Pilot Supply Unit taps off a controlled fraction of this air and reduces it to pilot pressure for the solenoid valves. When the Fieldbus Node Module energizes a Solenoid Coil, the Plunger Armature moves, opening a pilot passage to one end of the Spool Assembly. Pilot pressure floods that end, shifting the Spool Body against the Return Spring. The spool's Spool Lands now block one work cavity and open another, switching the load's control port.

Each Valve Slice occupies a standardized cavity in the base block. The cavity walls contain the Spool Ports, which connect to customer hose fittings. De-energizing the coil allows the return spring to center the spool; the Damping Nut prevents rapid hunting by metering the spool's return speed.

Pressure transducers mounted in the base signal supply and pilot pressure via 4–20 mA analogue lines (or fieldbus-native digital values). Technicians can verify static pressure at any moment using the Test Port Assembly, which are threaded manometer taps.

Modularity and scaling

Standard ISO 4401 cavity patterns allow customers to configure the terminal by quantity: a 4-slice base suits small systems, while 8- or 16-slice blocks serve large plants. Slices are often mixed, some solenoid pilot-open, some proportional, some mechanical, on a single manifold. The Fieldbus Node Module scales its driver count to match slice count, and expansion cards can multiplex additional slice control.

Maintenance and diagnostics

The Pilot Supply Unit includes a removable Pilot Filter Bowl element (10 μm) requiring replacement at service intervals. Solenoid coils are replaceable field units, field-replaceable in minutes. Because the terminal consolidates all logic and pilot pressure internally, installation footprint is minimal: only main supply, a single return line, four work ports per slice, and one fieldbus cable are needed.