Externally applied valve for water lines

Claim 1

A valve for installation on a water pipe in a building while the pipe remains in service with water contained therein, said valve comprising: a valve body having a pair of separable body sections applicable to the exterior of the water pipe and cooperating to surround the pipe when applied thereto in an assembled condition, said body presenting a flow passage aligned with the pipe and a valve chamber intersecting with the flow passage; a pair of valve seats on the valve body located on opposite sides of said valve chamber; means for securing said body sections on the pipe in said assembled condition; seal means for sealing said body sections to the pipe and to one another; a bifurcated gate valve element mounted in said valve chamber for reciprocating movement therein between open and closed positions to respectively open and close said flow passage, said gate valve element including a pair of gate sections each having a leading end and a trailing end, said gate sections being spaced apart between said leading and trailing ends and being flexible toward and away from one another; a valve stem supported on said body for rotation; means including a threaded connection for effecting movement of the valve element by threaded action between the open and closed positions in response to rotation of the stem in opposite directions; a sharp edge on the leading end of each gate section for cutting through the pipe, each edge being disposed out of said flow passage in the open position of the valve element and acting to cut through the pipe adjacent the corresponding valve seat when said element is initially moved to the closed position after said body has been applied to the pipe in the assembled condition, thereby shearing a ring of scrap from the pipe; a cavity in the valve body located to receive the leading ends of said gate sections in the closed position of the valve element and to receive and retain said ring of scrap in a crushed condition after same has been severed from the pipe by said edges; and a camming surface on said valve body situated at a base end of said cavity at a location to be engaged by the leading ends of said gate sections as said valve element approaches the closed position thereof, said camming surface having a configuration that receives said scrap ring to force said leading ends away from one another by a camming action between said scrap ring and said leading ends to thereby press the gate sections against the valve seats in the closed position of the valve element.