A Pinch Valve is made up of only 3 parts: The body, end connections, and rubber sleeve. The pinch valve sleeves (also known as a rubber membrane, bladder, hose, tube, diaphragm, collar etc), are the most crucial part of the Pinch Valve, and are available in a wide range of different rubber materials.
Depending on your pinch valve application, AKO can advise you on the best suited sleeve to ensure your application works to its full potential.
Below is a list of the pinch valve sleeve materials that AKO supply for different mediums. The maximum temperatures are also indicated for each sleeve material, to help identify which material is required.
Neoprene – 80 degrees c
Natural Rubber Anti Abrasive – 80 degrees c
Natural Rubber Food Quality – 80 degrees c
Natural Rubber High Temp – 90 degrees c
EPDM / EPDM Food Black – 120 degrees c
EPDM Food White – 120 degrees c
Viton – 120 degrees c
Silicon – 130 degrees c
Nitrile – 80 degrees c
Nitrile Food Black – 80 degrees c
Nitrile Food White – 80 degrees c
Hypalon – 80 degrees c
Butyle – 80 degrees c
All food quality sleeves are FDA Approved for the Food & Drug Administration.
Natural Rubber is AKO’s standard pinch valve sleeve stock item due to its high resistance to abrasion, best rebound resilience, and best tear strength – Therefore guaranteeing the longest lifetime and best performance.
Low maintenance costs are maintained in all systems if the pinch valve sleeves are in service for a long period of time. The lifetime of a rubber sleeve will depend on the finer details of each application. It is important that the correct control pressures are adhered to, and if used correctly will prolong the lifetime of the sleeves.
The clear and true bore of AKO Pinch Valves enables the re-sleeving process to be achieved in a few simple steps. A fitting kit may be required for larger Pinch Valve bore sizes from DN80-300.
