Categories of exhibits

Quarter swing butterfly valve

Exhibit no. 966

Butterfly valves are reliable, high conductance vacuum isolation valves whose closing mechanism takes the form of a disk.

They consist of a stainless steel body, O-ring sealed valve plate, and a shaft. Butterfly valves require only one-quarter turn rotation of the handle to go from fully open to the fully closed position. The operation is similar to that of a ball valve, which allows for quick shut off.

The picture shows Model QSB 160 manufactured by Edwards High Vacuum. The valve was a part of the ZAB-EQ spectrometer (manufactured by VG Analytical LTD in 1986), where it served for isolating the ion source housing from the diffusion pump.