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Manifold Technology for Scientific Instruments

Best-Fit Solutions for Scientific Instruments

Manufacturers can accelerate time to market while reducing assembly costs by using a custom-designed manifold from a company with decades of experience in the industry. Manifold designs from The Lee Company offer several advantages, such as fewer leak points, lower internal volume, optimized performance for your application, and greater reliability – all from a single source.

A pre-assembled manifold that’s already been integrated with fluid control components saves on assembly costs. Meanwhile, you’ll conserve space by harnessing our design expertise to fit more components into a smaller envelope. The Lee Company doesn’t just incorporate multiple valves into a single manifold – we also incorporate decades of design, manufacturing, and problem-solving expertise.

Conventional Manifolds

These structures are used when the valve count is minimal and the flow paths are straightforward. Drilled passages enable you to locate valves as desired, with some limitations because the drilled passages must be straight and superfluous construction passageways must be plugged. Integrating miniature valves into a common fluid manifold using conventional cross-drilled machining is a major step in the direction of simplifying otherwise complex valve and fluid passage configurations that once required numerous tubes from point to point.

Multi-Layered Manifolds

The Lee Company offers multi-layered manifolds when functional requirements are more complex, usually involving a higher valve count. This type of manifold design involves stacking together multiple layers of plates containing different machined or milled passages. The different plates are then bonded (using epoxy, diffusion, or solvent weld) together, which allows the valves, pumps, and other fluidic sub-components to be located where appropriate for a specific application.

Ant Farm Manifolds

Like their namesake, ant farm manifolds involve machining a series of intricate flow paths or channels into the face of the manifold. After the machining operation, a plate is bonded over the flow passages to complete the circuit. In complex applications, the channels can be milled into more than one face of the manifold block. This manifold machining technique further reduces the overall manifold size compared to the other technologies.

Combination Manifolds

These manifolds are designed to incorporate discrete components into a single unit. Lee variable volume pumps, for example, have a port head that can be customized to incorporate solenoid valves, connections, and sensors into a single package. This technique reduces the number of connections, the need for a second manifold, and the overall package size. Combining several discrete components into a single package also reduces assembly time during instrument production.

Injection Manifolds

These assemblies use Lee injection valves to minimize the fluid between the valve seat and the flow stream. This, in turn, minimizes carry-over volumes. Staggering the valves on a multi-face manifold allows closer spacing and further reduces the length and volume of the main flow passage.

Support & Resources

Support & Resources from a Team that Speaks Your Language

Partner with The Lee Company and get much more than just a supplier of top-quality fluid control products. Our reliable technical support team is available every step of the way to help you find solutions, maximize productivity, and drive efficiency across your operations. Check out these resources specific to scientific instrument applications to learn more.