Compression Molded LSR Micro Valve

LSR micro valve called liquid silicone rubber small valve, liquid silicone mini one-way check valve, liquid silicone diaphragm, diaphragm seal, liquid silicone rubber umbrella valve, liquid silicone mini duckbill diaphragm, replacement duckbill valve, silicone membrane, replacement valve gasket, is made from medical grade liquid silicone rubber material, LSR mini diaphragm can be high transparent, also can add pigment to be the color required, commonly be used as a pilot valve, cold gas propulsion valve, petrol injection valve, vitro diagnostics diaphragm, flow control check calve, vacuum grippers valve, etc. Don’t be afraid of high cost of Liquid Silicone rubber injection mold, compression molding also can produce liquid silicone valves if structure of it is not complicated. Cost lower than LIM valve, performs better in details than compression molded solid silicone one-way valve.

What Is A LSR Micro Valve? How to Produce LSR Valve by LIM Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Mold?

LSR Micro valves are extremely small components used in the field of fluidics and microfluidics to control gases or fluids, made from liquid silicone material. External dimensions are usually less than 10 mm. Due to their small size, these valves are relatively lightweight, making them particularly suitable for mobile or portable applications and integrating well into higher-level systems. Liquid silicone micro valve is designed for liquid and gas backflow prevent, generally will be medical grade.

What Is Compression Molded Liquid Silicone One-Way Valve?

Liquid silicone one-way check valve is molded by compression mold, the compression mold is a simplified liquid silicone injection mold, but the liquid silicone material feeding system is similar to liquid silicone rubber injection molding, the liquid silicone material is poured in compression mold cavities then will close the mold plates. Once the compression molds are closed and the liquid silicone is distributed evenly, it is subjected to cure the material and give it its final shape. The process is same solid silicone rubber compression molding, just change the solid silicone rubber material to liquid silicone rubber material.

Why Liquid Silicone Valves Are Produced by Compression Mold?

Based on simple designs for check valve, advantages of liquid silicone diaphragm produced by compression mold:

1) Compared with solid rubber valve compression molding, liquid silicone compression molding does not require mixing, preforming and other operating procedures, which saves manpower, material resources and energy, and reduces equipment investment and floor space. If the original mold is compression tool, don’t need to make a new LSR injection tool, directly use or slightly revise the original compression tools to make it be used for producing liquid silicone parts, sure the condition is liquid silicone parts are simple, not complex. If have more strict requirements for high precision and the best appearance, LIM injection molding is the first choice.

2) Check Valve Liquid silicone compression molding can realize the automatic processing process under liquid silicone material feeding, eliminate manual operation deviation, reduce the influence and pollution of various variable factors in the processing process, and improve the dimensional accuracy and internal quality of the product. It is beneficial to the application of liquid silicone in medical treatment.

3) Due to the low viscosity of liquid silicone (generally in the range of 10-1000Pas), good fluidity and processability, its molding pressure is much lower than that of solid rubber and plastic injection molding. The general compression pressure is 20MPa, a certain in some cases, it can be lower than 1MPa, so it can produce flash-free products, reduce material waste, and reduce equipment and mold wear. In addition, due to the good fluidity of liquid silicone, it is especially suitable for forming large-scale products, products with extremely complex shapes or ultra-thin products, such as ultra-thin products with a thickness of 0.5mm and a length of 100mm. Also performs well in mini micro liquid silicone valves, by liquid silicone material, the micro small umbrella valves are not so easy to deform like compression molded umbrella valves.

4) Fast-short cycle times, the highest batch sizes are possible, from a few thousand to millions of pieces. The vulcanization speed of liquid silicone is very fast. Generally, the vulcanization reaction can be completed after tens of seconds to several minutes at 160-220°C during liquid silicone compression molding, so the liquid compression molding cycle of check valves is short and the production efficiency is higher than solid silicone rubber compression molding.

How to Produce Liquid Silicone Valve Diaphragm by Compression Mold?

The liquid silicone material is mixed by two different components in a ratio of 1:1, and then injected into a hot compression mold valve cavities through a material feeding system. Curing completes within seconds, providing the advantages of fast cycle times and high-volume production.

Besides LSR micro check valve, what liquid silicone parts can be produced by compression molding? LSR bellow, LSR tube, LSR elbow, LSR seal, LSR o-ring, etc.

LSR micro valve processed by compression mold/simplified LSR injection mold: