The New MICO S12 Series Electrohydraulic Brake Valve
The release of the S12 Series Electrohydraulic Brake Valve (EBV) has been announced by innovative braking company MICO. The S12 series EBV offers more than triple flow capacity of a traditional Electrohydraulic Brake Valve. In the large application of spring applied, hydraulic release brake, it has been able to replace two standard electrohydraulic brake valves operating in parallel of an EBV and relay valve. This drastically lowers cost and significantly improves system reliability.
The main difference of the S12 series over the conventional EBV is that it uses the MICO patented auto-relieving feature to get more travel and flow capacity out of the proportional solenoid valve. The brake valve reliably handles high flows with the complexity and orifices associated with pilot-operated fluid power valves. A high force solenoid is combined with a precision fit spool and housing instead of using of a pilot valve with its associated high leakage and contamination sensitivity. The solenoid results in maximum contaminant resistance and minimal leakage.
The successful cross-hole metering set-up of the standard MICO electrohydraulic brake valve also is used in the S12 Series EBV. The S12 incorporates a longer spool to incorporate a second flow path - which runs parallel to the standard path - giving the new series a higher flow capacity from brake to tank. These features make the valve ideal for spring-applied, hydraulic release brake applications requiring high flows such as those found on vehicles with large displacement brakes.
All MICO EBVs are developed specifically for full power brake systems. These applications require rapid and controllable filling, or emptying, of single-acting actuators, and modulating pressure without consuming significant pilot flow from the accumulators used to store energy during “power-off” braking.
Handling systems than previous EBV designs, the S12 series rounds out a complete line of MICO EBVs. The EBV-M is prevalent in hydraulic-applied, spring-release brake applications; the EBV-S works with spring-applied, hydraulically released brakes; and the EBV-A is used to add ABS to full-power brake systems.
Offering cross-hole metering setup, the S12 Series brake valve uses auto-relieving feature to optimize travel and flow capacity of proportional solenoid valve.
MICO, Incorporated works closely with customers to develop and test products for a huge variety of brake applications. Custom EBV designs and prototypes can typically be created within a few weeks. To ensure success, entire brake systems can be configured and tested within the MICO engineering lab prior to implementation on a prototype machine.
Today MICO, Inc. employs hundreds of people and distributes hydraulic and electrohydraulic components and brake systems globally. Corporate headquarters are located at 1911 Lee Boulevard in North Mankato, Minnesota with additional manufacturing facilities in Ontario, California, and Worcestershire, England. The MICO Power Cylinder line has expanded into a broad array of hydraulic and electrohydraulic products that can be combined to form brake systems. Over the years product design and market emphasis has shifted toward heavy-duty, off-road vehicles and equipment used in a wide variety of different markets.