Reduced pressure
In a system with only one pump, reduced pressure for one branch of the circuit can be obtained with a pressure-reducing valve. This circuit is typical for a welder, which requires high clamping force to be set by the relief valve and reduced force on the welding gun to be set by the pressure-reducing valve. Placing the check valve in parallel with the pressure-reducing valve allows free return flow when the weld cylinder retracts.
Remote control
Regulating pump pressure from a remote station can be accomplished by using small, pilot relief valves connected to the systems main pilot-operated relief valve. With the 3-way solenoid valve de-energized, system pressure is limited to 1,500 psi in this circuit. Energizing the 3-way solenoid valve permits venting the relief valve to either 1,000 psi or 500 psi, depending on the position of the 4-way valve, which is determined by the pilot signal it receives.
Two pressures
Pilot-operated relief valves provide two pressures for the mold-close cylinder and the injection cylinder of this plastic molding machine circuit. With the manual valve in neutral, the air-operated valves are actuated to extend the mold-close cylinder at a maximum pressure of 2,000 psi. Operating the manual valve to extend the injection cylinder vents the 400-psi relief to tank and vents the 2,000-psi relief at 400 psi. High-pressure fluid is held by the check valve.
Pressure-control valves are found in virtually every hydraulic system, and they assist in a variety of functions, from keeping system pressures safely below a desired upper limit to maintaining a set pressure in part of a circuit. Types include relief, reducing, sequence, counterbalance, and unloading. All of these are normally closed valves, except for reducing valves, which are normally open. For most of these valves, a restriction is necessary to produce the required pressure control. One exception is the externally piloted unloading valve, which depends on an external signal for its actuation.