Needle valves can be a blessing for design engineers, because you can easily dial in a required flow. But they can also be a malediction because those settings can be changed in the field by the customer, which can throw off the calibration of the device.
Many engineers therefore opt for a fixed flow valve that can not be tampered with. Bird Precision routinely helps assist designers with flow guides and extremely repeatable sapphire and ruby orifice retrofits in order to achieve the ideal flow solution. Very often the fixed orifice can be installed directly into the manifold thereby reducing the number of fittings required.
Sapphire and Ruby Orifices are not as exotic as they may sound. The material is a man made product which is surprisingly cost effective. Because it is next to diamond in hardness, wear is not an issue. The material is also chemically inert even to acid at elevated temperature, so corrosion is not an issue.
So for medical devices it will stay clean, non reactive and keep its precise calibration even in the harshest environment.
Visit us at Booth 4821 National Manufacturing Week, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont Il, September 23-25, 2008.
