Pneumatic Manifold

Pneumatic manifolds enable installation of multiple pneumatic solenoid valves in a centralized location where a single air supply and exhaust port is shared among all valves. The compact design of manifolds lowers the costs of valve installation by eliminating a large portion of tubing in the system, which results in minimal system complexity, quicker dismantling, less leakage and overall less maintenance costs. The shorter path flows resulted from using manifolds reduces pressure drops and overall system energy consumption. Pneumatic manifolds are used for applications that require numerous valves, such as, mobile machinery and heavy industrial equipment. Manifolds come in different pressure ratings, number of stations, port sizes, flow rates, functions and housing materials. Some manifolds can also be brand specific, meaning they can only be used with that specific brand’s valves.

Single-Piece Manifolds

Most common, is a drilled metal-block made out of steel, aluminum, or cast iron to create the required flow paths and ports. Since they are single-piece designs, they have minimal leakage paths making them a robust solution even for high pressure applications. However, due to them being drilled, they do have design limitations as the flow path must be straight. Typically, you can mount between 2-10 pneumatic solenoid valves on a single-piece manifold. They need to be specified for how many ports (for example, for a 3/2-way or 5/2-way valve) and how many valves. Blanking plates are available to close off ports. Single-piece manifolds can also be body ported or manifold ported. A body ported manifold, has the valve outlets on top of the valve. For a manifold ported manifold, the valve outlet is on the bottom so the manifold has another media route through the side of the manifold.