Ball valve with spindle, having parallelepiped-bearing block joint portions

Claim 1

A ball valve comprising a body provided with a flow channel; a generally ball-shaped rigid closing organ; sealing rings fitted into ring-shaped and transverse grooves in the valve body on both sides of said closing organ; a pair of spindles associated with said closing organ and provided extending from opposite sides thereof for receipt by said body, and mounting said organ so that the pressure of fluid on said organ tips said organ into sealing engagement against a said sealing ring; and means for actuating said organ to rotate it with respect to said body to effect opening and closing of said flow channel, said means including one of said spindles extending through said body to the exterior thereof through a sealing mechanism, said one spindle having a joint portion at a first end thereof; a pair of bearing blocks provided on a side of said organ adjacent to said one spindle, said bearing blocks straddling said one spindle joint portion and being spaced from each other and with respect to the dimensions of said joint portion so that a clearance is provided between said joint portion and said bearing blocks sufficient to allow tipping of said organ into sealing engagement with a said sealing ring under the influence of fluid pressure; and means for mounting said one spindle with respect to said bearing blocks so that low-torque turning of said organ is effected by initial rotation of said one spindle so that said joint portion engages said bearing blocks and moves said organ out of tipping engagement with a said sealing ring, and so that continued rotation of said one spindle effects rotation of said organ to a desired position.