Asco Valves: True Contromatic Quality
Among the 40 000-some products the multinational Asco corporation has available for online purchase, Asco valves are particularly well known as excellent products, whether they be purposed to the control of water, steam, gas, oil or compressed air. They range from very basic, two-position valves to complex, multi-chambered valves and flow-control solutions incorporating complex computation.
Nearly a century ago, Asco was responsibly for manufacturing the first mass-produced solenoid valves, and so is particularly notable in the commercial evolution of that device.
Solenoid valves are one of the most essential components in automation technology, and consist of a coil of engine wire, arranged in a spiral shape, which, when electrified, produces a magnetic field. This field, depending on the directional flow of the current, will either push or pull an armature or cylindrical slug out of or into its central cavity. Such armatures are used as the prime movers in a great many systems, initiating the flow of gas, fluids or electricity through the system. Though you may be unaware of it, you activate a solenoid every time you turn your key in the ignition in your car – current from your ignition runs to a solenoid, which in turn forces closes two contacts, completing the circuit between you car’s internal combustion engine and the battery.
Asco and Asco Valves’ ensuing global expansion saw the company’s research into and development of micro-miniature solenoid valves, sensors, air operated valves and other forms of sophisticated transduction technology really take off. More recent developments in Asco’s quest to dominate in the field of contromatic valves has seen the introduction to its lines of two-way valves with online configuration capabilities. The company has also broken into fields such as fluid power and pneumatic solutions for the automotive and tire-manufacturing industries. Far from selfishly pursuing any form of market monopoly for Asco valves, the company has fostered the potential of rising stars in the automation and engineering industries with scholarships in amounts as hefty as $5000.
Amongst the many lines of Asco valves, of particular note are the company’s high quality piston actuated valves. Pistons are the cylindrical pieces of metal that move up and down inside the cylinders of a car’s motor, and are generally topped with a hinged arm that connects to the crankshaft. By the mobile action of the piston’s arm, the linear motion of the piston along the cylinder is transmuted into circular motion, allowing the controlled explosion of the vehicle’s internal combustion engine to turn the car’s wheels.
In the case of piston-actuated valves, the release of fluid, gas or air is governed by a valve which gets switched to its secondary position by the action of a piston’s circular motion. This is a mechanical method utilized in a great many common machines, among them the valve-gears of steam locomotives and engines, the gas-control valves in pneumatic cannons, and the air-flow control valves of many brass wind-instruments.
Such valves are often referred to as ‘contromatic valves’. Beginners to the subject may be puzzled by this term, which often lacks any definition even in contemporary dictionaries or encyclopaedias. It’s a neologism used to refer to the entire realm of fluid and gas-control systems – in essence, to any technologies used to bring about motion in a device, or, ultimately, to bring about automation. As such, Asco valves of the contromatic type can be found in just about any industry, from fields such as food and beverage production through to oil and gas mining, aquaculture, pharmaceutical production and the manufacturing of semi-conductors. Very frequently, contromatic valve assemblies contain solenoid valves, though they may also be activated by manual hydraulic or pneumatic means.
