The Double Diaphragm System
The simple, single-headed pump is the first diaphragm pump that KNF develops. It lays the groundwork which KNF has continued to develop, offering new customized technical specifications and materials and enabling the company to gain a foothold in a wide range of markets over the years. The first pump is used in aspiration and suction units for medical applications. KNF’s double-headed diaphragm pump achieves a significantly greater vacuum, succeeding in the laboratory sector by the end of the 1960s.
However, one of the company’s goals is to expand the market for its KNF diaphragm pumps into the industrial sector. But the industrial sector still has major reservations about the pump’s service life and operational reliability at the time, as Erich Becker recalls. “The industrial sector had always taken the view that such a diaphragm wouldn’t withstand anything.” Work therefore continues on the design of the pump until Erich Becker has a flash of inspiration on his summer vacation in 1971. He is on a camping trip with his family in Denmark when he comes up with the idea of installing an additional diaphragm – a safety diaphragm – in the pumps.
His idea is finally put into practice in the testing laboratory: The working diaphragm is affixed to the upper end of the connecting rod as before, and the second diaphragm is then attached below the connecting rod. This creates a safety chamber between the diaphragms, separating the compression chamber from the drive chamber. The double diaphragm system is born, introducing a completely new standard of safety. This provides the ideal solution for conveying valuable, explosive or radioactive substances, or for using the pump in potentially explosive environments and in chemical and pharmaceutical processes. For as soon as a crack develops in the working diaphragm, the transferred gas merely flows into the safety chamber where it triggers an alarm. The pump then continues to operate with a reduced output without any decrease in safety or tightness until the diaphragm is replaced.
The double diaphragm pumps represent a real milestone in the company’s history. After launching them, KNF catches the attention of the first large companies that begin to use the KNF pumps in reactor plants. This in turn inspires confidence in other sectors and markets, paving the way for further growth and many high-tech industrial applications that make KNF what it is today.
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