Valve assembly

Claim 1

A valve assembly, comprising a housing, means formed at a first end of said housing for detachably securing said housing to an associated structure, outlet conduit means formed in said first end, inlet conduit means formed through a wall of said housing for communication with a source of fluid to be metered by said valve assembly, a valve orifice formed in said housing generally between said inlet conduit means and said outlet conduit means, an axially moveable valve member at least partly received within said housing and moveable toward and away from said valve orifice, said valve member including a contoured metering surface adapted to be received within said orifice, said contoured surface and said valve orifice being effective to cooperatively define therebetween progressively varying effective flow areas between a minimum flow area and a maximum flow area for the metering therethrough of said fluid, the end of said valve member, which is opposite the end thereof received within said orifice, protruding beyond said housing so as to be adapted for actuation by means positioned externally of said housing, first and second abutment means carried respectively by said housing and said valve member, said first and second abutment means being normally effective to at times effect abutting engagement therebetween and thereby establish a predetermined relationship between said contoured surface and said valve orifice in order to define therebetween a predetermined effective flow area, said first and second abutment means being normally fixed but being forcibly movable with respect to each other in order to adjust the distance said valve member can normally be moved toward and away from said orifice, said second abutment means being freely slidably received within said housing, and spring means operative between said housing and said second abutment means for normally resiliently urging said valve member in a direction away from said valve orifice.