Electrohydraulic valve having a solenoid actuator plunger with an armature and a bearing

An electrohydraulic valve comprising:

• a valve body with a bore and having an inlet port, an outlet port, and a first workport in communication with the bore;
• a spool slideably received within the bore of the valve body and having a passage arrangement therein to connect the first workport selectively to the inlet port and to the outlet port in different positions of the spool in the bore;
• and
• an actuator having a solenoid coil assembly with a coil aperture therein, an armature slideably received in the coil aperture, and a push member projecting from the armature into engagement with the spool, the actuator further includes a cage and a plurality of rollable elements held in the cage;
• wherein the cage is a single piece that comprises a first ring and a second ring spaced apart with a plurality of walls extending there between and forming a plurality of slots between adjacent walls, the walls are resilient to enable the rollable elements to be forced there between and into the plurality of slots during assembly of the actuator and thereafter the plurality of rollable elements being captured in the cage, and
• wherein the cage further comprises a latch that engages the push member to fasten the cage to the push member.