Nikola Tesla was one genius dude ahead of his time. Among his 278 known patents is this gem called a “Valvular Conduit” that is s simple one-way valve with no moving parts. Issued in 1920, US Patent #1,329,559 was recreated thanks to a 3D printer to show just how this magic valve works.
The premise is simple and works. Looking at the original patent drawing above, the flow from right to left is unimpeded but flow against the valve’s bias, is impeded by breaking up the stream and diverting it into circular paths that interfere with each other stopping the flow in that direction.
The video above was uploaded by YouTube user LimitlessInd and is either inspired by or is the same person as Shapeways user imperator. The quick demo above was just using air, but if this valve was fashioned out of a more durable and fluid-friendly material, we can see some impressive uses in aquaria.
First off, imagine this being used in any device where you don’t want water backflowing and using it for a safety valve, such as an automatic top off, calcium reactor or ozone generator. We can see the upside in this since with saltwater we know the less moving parts, the better.
This 3D printer version might not be good for high-pressure situations, but we’d be interested in seeing if anyone had the hankering to build one and try it out.
[via Make Blog]
