High force-gain valve

Claim 1

A high force-gain valve for controlling the flow of fluid therethrough comprising: (a) a housing having first and second openings therein, one of said openings being in fluid communication with a source of said fluid; (b) a substantially hollow fluid diverter fixed in position within said housing and aligned with said second opening and including elongated slots through a wall thereof; (c) a gated disposed within said housing closely surrounding said diverter and having a substantially force balanced configuration, said gate being hollow, the interior thereof being in a fluid communication with the interior of said housing thereby facilitating the force balancing thereof, said gate further being translatable between open and closed positions and including a sealing edge sized and shaped for, when said gate is in said closed position, seating against the portion of said housing adjacent said second opening thereby blocking flow of said fluid therethrough, said diverter being attached to said housing on the gate side of and spaced from said second opening so as to provide an unobstructed fluid flow path through said second opening when said gate is in other than said closed position, said slots in said diverter being aligned to the direction of translation of said gate and said gate further including spokes sized for being received in said slots; and (d) actuation means for effecting translation and positioning of said gate between said open and closed positions.