Micropumps for Industrial

Disc Pump™ is an ideal choice for many industrial applications owing to its unique attributes, which include ultra-smooth flow, silent operation, highly accurate control, millisecond response and compact size. The following applications highlight examples of where these unique features are enabling our customers to make advances in system design with improved performance and reliability.

  • Eliminate complex pressure distribution infrastructure and place the pump at the location where pressure/vacuum is needed, taking advantage of Disc Pump's silent operation and compact, lightweight form factor.
  • Pulsation-free output enables system architecture to be simplified by eliminating the need for damping hardware.
  • Create high-performance systems with exceptional pressure, vacuum and flow .

Quick Links: Read our Inkjet Meniscus Pressure Control case study | Typical Applications | Request a Quotation

Automotive & Aerospace Seating
Seating systems are growing in complexity as manufacturers look to incorporate additional safety features with improved comfort and performance. Lumbar support and massage systems improve passenger comfort and combat driver fatigue.

Typical systems use a single pump connected to a series of bladders via an array of valves. Due to its large size, the pump is normally mounted beneath the seat and away from the passenger; this also helps to limit the transmission of noise and vibration to the passenger. The pump is then connected to the bladders via a complex system of pipework that is often internally reinforced to prevent kinking.

Owing to its ultrasonic operation, Disc Pump™ is silent and vibration free. This offers a greatly-enhanced user experience and allows the pump to be positioned anywhere in the seat. This opens up the option for a 'distributed pump' architecture, offering improved reliability through redundancy and reduced duty cycle. Each pump can be mounted directly to a corresponding bladder, removing the need for complex interconnecting pipework, simplifying the design process and eliminating a frequent source of leaks.

At just 5g (1/5 oz), Disc Pump's compact and lightweight form factor help to keep the seat weight to a minimum. This is of particular importance in aircraft seating.

Fuel Cells
With an ever increasing need to find cleaner and more sustainable power sources, fuel cell technology that creates electricity from an electrochemical process offers one such solution.

Our gas micropump platform, Disc Pump™, was originally created back in 2005 to address the need for power on the move: consumer electronics giant Casio required a high-performance, silent pump to enable a micro fuel cell product for the business travel market. Subsequent advances in battery technology at that time addressed the immediate need for mobile power, however with mobile phones and portable devices becoming increasingly power hungry, the interest in Micro Fuel Cells (MFC’s) is growing. Disc Pump's silent, precisely-controllable characteristics make it an attractive choice for air delivery within such devices.

Printing — Read case study
Industrial inkjet systems are becoming increasingly complex, with the demand for higher throughput driving increased printhead counts and ever-higher lay-down rates. Such systems require high levels of reproducibility between printheads in order to avoid visual defects in the printed image.

One important factor in achieving this is consistent meniscus pressure – i.e. the small negative air pressure that is critical to positioning the ink meniscus within a printhead. Traditionally a bank of eight or more printheads might be connected to a single air-pump, with a pulse-damper and/or an accumulator used to deliver a stable, consistent meniscus pressure. However, the physical size and complexity of such systems is a disadvantage. Further, their response time is long, and they are unable to provide independent control of the meniscus pressure to individual heads.

Disc Pump™ offers a solution to these problems. Firstly, its pulsation-free flow means that dampers and accumulators are no longer required. Secondly its small size means that it can be integrated directly with an individual printhead, enabling fully independent bias pressure control and optimal printing system performance.

Applications

With its unique set of features, Disc Pump™ enables advances across a broad spectrum of applications, including:

Visit our Products Page to request a quotation and download product documentation.

  • Leak detectors
  • Pilot operated control valves
  • 3D Printing systems
  • Smoke generators
  • Dispense systems