Importance

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Abstract

A multiway valve device in which a handle-operated ball member is operatively disposed in a spherical cavity to which a plurality of passages is connected. The ball member is arranged with a single seal ring that encloses a recessed area at one end of the ball that is sized to establish fluid pressure communication between a supply passage and one or the other of a pair of delivery passages depending upon the handle being located in an extreme right- or left-hand position. A vent passage opens into the spherical cavity in the area of the ball opposite the recessed area enclosed by the seal ring to exhaust pressure from whichever delivery passage is cut off from the supply passage. The spherical cavity lies partly in the body of the valve device and partly in a cover portion, which when secured to the body, rotatably supports the ball member. An annular recess or flattened region is formed on the surface of the ball member to increase the flow capacity of the vented delivery passage and to also permit removal of the ball, when the interface between the body and cover is offset from the center of the spherical cavity. By offsetting the body/cover interface, the larger area in which to accommodate all the passages within the body portion is provided without increasing the overall size of the valve device.

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First Claim