Pressure regulator valve

Claim 1

A water pressure regulator comprising a body having a water inlet passageway, a water outlet chamber communicating with the inlet passageway and a water outlet passageway for conveying the water entering the inlet passageway out of the outlet chamber through the water outlet passageway, water valve control means secured in the water inlet passageway for controlling the volume of water flow into the outlet chamber, manually controllable means secured to the body for controlling the water valve control means to thereby control the quantity of water flow into the outlet chamber for controlling the output pressure of the water exiting from the outlet chamber, the manual means being adjusted for normally maintaining a preselected maximum pressure of water flow out the outlet chamber, said water valve control means including a valve body having a stepped bore extending therethrough, a sapphire ring mounted in the larger bore of the valve body, means secured to the stepped bore for securing said ring against the inner wall of the bore, said means having a longitudinal passageway coaxial with the stepped bore for passing water therethrough, a sapphire ball mounted on the opposite side of the inner wall of the bore and engaging the ring for coaction therewith, means mounted in the bore for resiliently urging the sapphire ball against the sapphire ring, and means mounted in the bore and extending through said longitudinal passageway of the securing means for urging the ball away from the ring, said means for urging the ball away from the ring includes an element that engages the ball that is constructed of sapphire, the water to be sampled flows into the water pressure regulator through the valve body from the ball side of the bore, past the ball and through said longitudinal passageway and the bore into the outlet chamber and out through the outlet passageway, said manual adjustable means including diaphragm means positioned in the water outlet chamber for responding to the pressure build-up in the outlet chamber and the changes in pressure for automatically responding thereto for varying the initial adjustment thereof for causing said water valve control means to respond to the changes in the adjustment of the diaphragm means to cause the water valve control means to automatically adjust for maintaining the water pressure downstream of the water pressure regulator essentially constant.