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Safety Screen Filters for Space

Last-Chance Contamination Control with Lee Safety Screens

Contamination is a very serious problem in any spacecraft, and although manufacturers do their utmost to prevent it, some contamination may still persist even after launch. Lee safety screens have been widely used in spacecraft applications. Our laser drilled screens are designed to resist titanic forces and corrosive fluids and will stand up to the full tank pressure of a rocket.

The Lee Company offers a huge variety of standard designs spanning a wide range of sizes, materials, retention methods, filtration ratings, and even technology. In fact, The Lee Company is the original inventor of drilled screen technology that has provided the industry with a robust, cost-effective, and easily customizable design that withstands burst pressures up to 7500 psid.

Custom Safety Screens for Unique Spacecraft

No two spacecraft models are alike, which means that designers may not be able to source safety screens as commercial off-the-shelf parts. The Lee Company is capable of rapidly designing, fabricating, and scaling the production of space-grade safety screens to any desired specification. We can create custom brazing designed to resist high temperatures or designs milled from a single steel bar without any brazing at all. We’ve created screens that are as wide as a foot across or as small as just an eighth of an inch. The pedigree of our safety screens includes use in crewed spacecraft – if astronauts trust their lives to our products, so can you.

Over 50% of Lee safety screens are special products designed to meet the requirements of a specific application. Our capabilities far exceed our standard product line, including, for example, laser drilled, drilled hole sizes between 25 micron and 1500 micron, a wide variety of materials, higher burst and collapse pressure ratings, or unique envelopes optimized for high flow capacity, custom mounting, or integrated bypass mechanisms.

HI-BAR® Safety Screens

Protect your components with a safety screen drilled from a single bar of metal. The Lee Company was the original inventor of this proprietary process, and its products stand the test of time. The resulting screen is extraordinarily robust, eliminates welds and brazes, and can be produced in custom formats for a wide range of applications.

HI-BAR® Safety Screens are rated to withstand burst and collapse pressures up to 7500 psid. They’re available in flange mount, threaded, boss mounted, and fitting adapter installation options. Standard flange mount options include stainless steel, titanium, brass, PEEK, and MP35N, and our standard hole size ranges from 50 to 500 microns.

Lastly, our capabilities far exceed our standard product line, including, for example, drilled hole sizes between 25 micron and 1500 micron, a wide variety of materials, higher burst and collapse pressure ratings, or unique envelopes optimized for high flow capacity, custom mounting, or integrated bypass mechanisms.

Etched Safety Screens

Lee Etched Screens feature an economical design, incorporating radial or circular convolutions that greatly increase the contamination carrying capacity of the screen. The result is a robust screen design with an optimum amount of protection in a small package. Etched safety screens are available in six installation methods and manufactured out of 304L CRES as well as 17-7PH CRES for increased pressure ratings. Hole sizes range from 75 to 500 microns.

Strainers

The Lee Company’s new Boss Mount Strainers are the latest addition to our line of safety screens, offering coarse level filtration in a compact, low profile design. Manufactured from 304L stainless steel, the boss mount strainers feature a robust design with a single-piece screen element that can withstand differential pressures up to 500 psid without rupture. In addition, the corrugated screen design provides a maximum open area for increased dirt holding capacity. Lee strainers are available in thread diameters from 0.750 to 1.875 inches with hole sizes of 965 and 1575 micron.

Low Micron Wire Mesh

The Lee Series 10 and Series 20 Safety Screens are incredibly robust considering their fine filtration rating. These screens incorporate a rugged, calendered, and sintered 316L stainless steel wire mesh weave for maximum strength. Manufactured using a proprietary process, these screens feature a design that contains radial convolutions that greatly increase the contamination carrying capacity of the screen. The result is a high-strength screen with an optimum amount of protection, in a small package. Available in 10 and 20-micron hole sizes with flange diameters from 0.130 to 0.656 of an inch.

Installation Methods

Available Options to Install and Retain Lee Safety Screen Filters For SPACE

Standard Installation Configurations
Flange Mounting is perhaps the most common installation technique as it is simple and economical.
Boss Mounting involves a threaded installation method that permits easy removal for maintenance. Some form of anti-rotation locking is recommended.
Insert Retention utilizes the proven Lee Insert Principle. This technique is ideal for simple installation directly into a fluid passageway.
Boss access is a convenient mounting technique that permits easy removal for cleaning or inspection.
L-4 installation features three locking fingers that are expanded outward, locking the screen in a fluid passageway. The L-4 technique permits easy removal for inspection or cleaning. This is ideal for creating bidirectional flow.
Spring-Retained installation is an inexpensive mounting technique suitable for unidirectional flow in applications requiring burst pressures below 500 psid. The spring O.D. is slightly larger than the I.D. of the mounting hole. A special tool is used to twist the spring into the hole.
TWIS installation is designed for low pressure applications and provides unidirectional flow. The screen is readily twisted in or out of the bore for inspection or cleaning.
HI-BAR® Screens in Adapters are often used as inlet screens to actuators, optimizing space and weight. These adapters are available in AS-straight thread and ring locked styles complete from The Lee Company.
Support & Resources

Support & Resources from a Team that Speaks Your Language

Learn how The Lee Company created a custom metric designed to standardize the strength and burst rating of safety screens across the industry. Explore the resources below for more information about our screens and our history with space exploration.