This particular valve was designed as an alternative to a previously existing solution to control a cylinder and a hydraulic motor, built out of pipe fittings. It combines two modes of operation, selected by a lever. In its main mode the valve functions as a one-way pressure compensated flow control to a motor. When the lever is engaged, the input flow is redirected to a cylinder with a hydraulic locking mechanism. To build this system out of pipe fittings the customer used 35 components, some of which required manual work beforehand. In comparison to this our designed solution comprised of 1 block, 2 bolts and 7 fittings, matched the system functionality exactly, and took up significantly less space when installed on the machine. This is one of the clearest examples how a “system in block” solution saves room, time and expenses to the machine builders who use them.
