Support Portal

• Use, storage and transport conditions for Festo products
• Standards in pneumatics
• Compressed air preparation
• Operating conditions for valves
• Port designations of pneumatic components to ISO 5599
• Operating conditions for drives
• Pressure/force table and graphBuckling load graph
• Air consumption
• Pneumatics and explosion protection – ATEX
• EC directives/approvals
• Design – Clean room suitability
• Paint-wetting impairment substances and resistance to media
• Corrosion resistance class CRC
• Protection classes according to IEC/EN 60529
• Functional earth – protective earth – PELV
• Spark arresting

Why should you choose your valves carefully?

The increasing demands placed on valve technology in recent years have led to a formidable extension of the range of available technologies and valve types, models, and properties. The most commonly used are poppet valves and piston spool valves. Nowadays, there is hence a much wider choice of customised valve technology to successfully plan a project. However, choosing the right parts for the application at hand requires comprehensive knowledge and an accurate appraisal by the consulting engineer or technician. This White Paper is intended to offer you a brief overview.

This white paper contains information on:

• An introduction to valve technologies
• Poppet valves, piston spool valves and the cartridge principle – what you need to know
• Which valve type suits you best? A valve selection aid

The global market for valves and valve terminals today is so large that it is almost impossible to maintain an overview. Often, price seems the only buying criterion. But it pays to look more closely, particularly with regard to higher productivity and process reliability. Users of Festo's attractively priced and long-lasting high-quality valves benefit in tough everyday practical applications from the meticulous development processes, including numerous simulation tests and the correct choice of technologies and materials.

 This White Paper provides information on:

• Care pays for itself: the development process of valves and valve terminals
• Caution: not all manufacturer data is comparable 1 to 1!
• Small differences with a great impact: how to choose the right valves/valve terminals

Summary:
Due to their bistable characteristics, bistable valves in certain applications present the user with tasks that seem to be difficult to solve. This application example is to show how a solution can be developed systematically taking the various operating states and operating transitions into account. Considering the various hazards in the various operating statuses of the machine appears a sensible approach to finding the solution. They require chronologically successive, different reactions of the safety circuit to implement the required protective measures.

Summary:
Technical Reports 2 and 3 [1-2] and DGUV Information FB HM-076 [3] already explained the circumstances under which bistable valves can be used in safety-related applications. The present report links these reports to the current product portfolio of Festo AG & Co. KG. The suitability of the bistable valves listed for safety-related applications can be confirmed taking the previous series of technical reports and respective technical documentation of the individual components into consideration.