Directional control valves

are one of the most fundamental parts in hydraulic machinery. They allow fluid flow into different paths from one or more sources. They usually consist of a spool inside a cylinder which is mechanically or electrically controlled. The movement of the spool restricts or permits the flow, thus it controls the fluid flow Directional control valve, determines the flow of air between its ports by opening, closing or changing its internal connections.

Illustration of a Directional Control Valve

Mono Stable and Bi Stable Valve:

mono stable is a spring returned valve, they have a defined preferred position to which they can automatically return. bi stable has no preferred position and remains in either position until one of its two impulse signal are operated.

Types of Valves
Poppet valve (also called mushroom valve[1]) is a valve typically used to control the timing and quantity of gas or vapour flow into an engine. It consists of a hole, usually round or oval, and a tapered plug, usually a disk shape on the end of a shaft also called a valve stem. The shaft guides the plug portion by sliding through a valve guide.

In most applications a pressure differential helps to seal the valve and in some applications also open it. A valve that controls the direction of hydraulic fluid flow. A spool valve consists of cylindrical spools that alternately block and open channels in the hydraulic system poppet valves date from at least the 1770s, when Watt used them on his beam engine. Poppet valve is controlled by a disc or plug lifting at right angles to set with a seal

Illustration of Poppet Valve

Slide Valve
A valve that slides back and forth over ports, especially one in the cylinder wall of a steam engine that permits the intake and outflow of steam to move the piston.

Illustration of Slide Valve

Plane Slide Valve

Flow through the ports by the position of a slide made of metal, nylon or other plastic. The slide is moved by an elastomer sealed air operated spool.

Rotary valve
is a type of valve in which the rotation of a passage or passages in a transverse plug regulates the flow of liquid or gas through the attached pipes. The common stopcock is the simplest form of rotary valve. Rotary valves have been applied in numerous applications, including: The rotary valve combustion engine possesses several significant advantages over the conventional assemblies, including

significantly higher compression ratios and rpm, meaning more power, a much more compact and light-weight cylinder head, and reduced complexity, meaning higher reliability and lower cost. As inlet and exhaust are usually combined special attention should be given to valve cooling to avoid engine knocking.

Illustration of Rotary Valve

Non Return Valve

A non return valve alloes free air flow in one direction and seals it off in the opposite. These valve are also referred to as check valves, non return valves re incorporated in speed controllers and self seal fittings.

Quick-exhaust valves
(QEVs for short) are ready-made piston valves or diaphragm valves, designed to quickly exhaust pneumatic cylinders. They work somewhat similarly to pneumatically modifiedsprinkler valves, they are more expensive and harder to find, but also perform better.

Illustration of Quick Exhaust Valve

Shuttle Valve

is like a tube with three openings; one on each end, and one in the middle. A ball or other blocking valve element moves freely within the tube. When pressure from a fluid is exerted through an opening on one end it pushes the ball towards the opposite end. This prevents the fluid from travelling through that opening, but allows it to flow through the middle opening. In this way two different sources can provide pressure without the threat of backflow from one source to the other.

This valve is a three ported valve with two signal pressure inlets and one outlet. The outlet is connected to either signal input, if only one input is pressurized, the shuttle prevents the sinal pressure from escaping through the exhausted signal ports on the opposite side