Valve assembly with removable packing

Claim 1

A valve assembly including: a) a valve body defining a fluid chamber; b) a valve seat formed in the fluid chamber; c) a valve engageable with said valve seat to close the fluid chamber; d) a valve stem connected at one end to said valve member for supporting said valve member, said valve stem including an upper end portion, an intermediate portion, and a lower end portion; e) means for axially displacing said valve stem to selectively open and close said opening in the valve body by seating and unseating said valve member; f) a bonnet mounted on said valve body and including a packing chamber through which an intermediate portion of the valve stem extends; g) a removable valve packing assembly disposed in said packing chamber and around said valve stem to prevent fluid leakage around said valve stem, said valve packing assembly including one or more valve packing rings; h) packing removal means for removing said packing assembly without disassembly of the valve stem from the valve assembly, said packing removal means including: 1) a radially displaccable lifting element disposed within said valve stem and movable between a retracted position in which said lifting element is retracted into said valve stem and an extended position in which said lifting element extends radially outward from said valve stem; and 2) actuating means for moving said lifting element to the extended position, so that upon the raising of the valve stem, the lifting element engages said packing assembly from underneath and lifts the packing assembly upwardly from the packing chamber.