Camcon Binary Actuator Delivers Thousand-Fold Improvement Over Traditional Designs in Laboratory Trials

22 May, 2003 -- Cambridge, UK -- Camcon Technology, the inventor and developer of the Camcon® binary actuator, today announced that a pair of its binary actuators has completed more than 11.5 billion operations in laboratory trials.

Traditional actuator and valve technologies used in the control of liquids and gases typically have a lifetime characteristic of 10 million operations, meaning that the Camcon® binary actuator offers a thousand times lifetime improvement.

Two binary actuators have been undergoing tests at Camcon's research and development facility in Cambridge since January 2002, with each actuator driven at 526 changeovers per second, equivalent to more then 30,000 times per minute. To date neither actuator shows any signs of wear.

The Camcon® binary actuator uses a patented design combining both permanent- and electro-magnets, which minimises stress to the armature - the moving component within a binary actuator or valve that is typically the first component to fail. The armature accelerates on the application of an electrical pulse through a magnetic field created by a pair of permanent magnets and then decelerates as its moves through an opposing magnetic field.

The thousand-fold lifetime improvement achieved by Camcon in its binary actuator design combined with its high-speed and low power characteristics means that it can be targeted at a range of gas and liquid applications where long life is critical, such as in remote locations.

"We are delighted with the result achieved in our laboratory tests. The lifetime performance of the Camcon® binary actuator opens up a range of applications that have previously not been considered," said Wladyslaw Wygnanski, inventor of the Camcon® binary actuator and Managing Director, Camcon Technology.

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About Camcon
Based in Cambridge, UK, Camcon Technology is a small fast growing company focused on the research and development of the Camcon binary actuator. Camcon binary actuating technology has been 15 years in development and is the invention of Camcon founder Wladyslaw Wygnanski.

The high-speed, low energy consumption, low heat dissipation and long life characteristics of the Camcon binary actuator mean that it has applications in a whole new range of areas, as well as being a replacement for existing actuator and valve technologies.

Camcon Technology licenses its technology to customers, typically on a field-of-use basis. The company develops pre-production prototypes for customers on a consultancy basis and then hands over designs either to its customers to manufacture in volume, or to a manufacturing partner.

Camcon is funded by ACUS Management Partners, an active management venture capitalist that specialises in funding early stage technology companies. For further information see: www.acus.co.uk.