Stephen J Weir

US Patent:

20100207046, Aug 19, 2010

Filed:

Jan 12, 2010

Appl. No.:

12/685865

Inventors:

Thomas Wenchell - Durham CT, US
Michael Ross Kessell - , US
Paul Neville Adams - , US
Stephen Lyle Weir - San Francisco CA, US
Henry Bolanos - Norwalk CT, US

International Classification:

F16K 5/06
F16K 31/44
F16K 27/06

US Classification:

2513151, 251251

Abstract:

A valve assembly that includes a valve housing having an upper body portion and a lower body portion, the upper and lower body portions defining an internal chamber for accommodating a valve member and a central axis for the valve, the housing having axially aligned inlet and outlet ports formed in the upper and lower body portions, respectively. The valve assembly also includes a generally spherical valve member seated within the internal chamber of the valve housing and having first and second bores extending therethrough, the first bore defining a first longitudinal axis and the second bore having a second longitudinal axis offset relative to the first longitudinal axis, the valve member mounted for movement between a first position wherein the first bore of the valve member is axially aligned with the inlet and outlet ports of the valve housing and the second bore of the valve member is axially misaligned with the inlet and outlet ports of the valve housing, and a second position wherein the second bore of the valve member is axially aligned with the inlet and outlet ports of the valve housing and the first bore of the valve member is axially misaligned with the inlet and outlet ports of the valve housing. The valve assembly also includes a camming mechanism for moving the valve member between the first position and the second position, including cam surfaces formed on the exterior surface of the valve member and a cam pin formed on the interior surface of the upper body portion of the housing, wherein the cam surfaces formed on the exterior surface of the valve member are defined by a pair of arcuate cam lobes formed at angles to one another.