Dyeing and printing of materials

Claim 1

A compact arrangement for valves for controlling fluid flow comprising a plurality of electrically operated solenoid valves, each of said valves having a magnetic coil and a magnetizable valve element mounted on the magnetic axes of the coil for movement therealong to activate the valve, and means supporting said valves in a compact, closely spaced, three dimensional lattice with the magnetic axis of each of the valves of said theee dimensional lattice being substantially parallel, each plane of said three dimensional lattice including therein at least three valves which are nonlinearly arranged therein, said valves of said three dimensional lattice being further characterized in that valves in one plane of said lattice are positioned intermediate the valves in the adjacent parallel plane of said lattice such that a straight line connecting like points on any of said valves to its nearest neighbor valves, either in a common plane or an adjacent plane, forms an angle, with the magnetic axis of such nearest neighbor valve of between 35° to 55° so that the magnetic forces emitted by any nearest neighbor valve crosses the magnetic axes of its nearest neighbor valves at about a right angle.