A ball valve includes a housing and has an inlet port, an outlet port and a central ball chamber. A ball member is received within the ball chamber and has a shaft connected to a motor such that the ball member can be rotated. The ball member is movable between a closed position at which it blocks fluid connection between the inlet port and the outlet port and to an open position at which a central passage in the ball member communicates the inlet port to the outlet port. A seal is mounted for movement with the ball member to provide a seal against the housing. A ball valve system is also disclosed.

Valves having seats and counterseats that can be moved by fluid within the valve. In one embodiment, a valve includes a flow control assembly inside a body. The flow control assembly includes a ball rotatable between an open position and a closed position to control flow, a seat installed on the ball, and a counterseat installed in the body. The seat and the counterseat can move radially with respect to the ball and have mating surfaces that engage and seal against one another when the ball is in the closed position. The flow control assembly allows pressurized fluid in the body to cause net forces on the seat and the counterseat that push the seat and the counterseat toward each other when the ball is in the closed position. Additional valve systems, devices, and methods are also disclosed.

A valve for connection to a pressurized gas cylinder includes a housing including a gas cylinder aperture which is connectable to a gas cylinder, and a housing conduit which extends through the housing from the gas cylinder aperture to one or more inlet/outlet apertures so that the valve is capable of providing fluid communication between the gas cylinder through the housing conduit and the one or more inlet/outlet apertures. A flow control ball within the housing conduit is movable between open and closed positions. Ball seals have sealing surfaces corresponding to a shape of the flow control ball for substantially sealing the flow control ball in the housing conduit. Other features include components for mounting the ball seals though one of the inlet/outlet apertures; components for mounting a stem to the flow control ball including bearings; live ports; a tube which can be removably connectable from the rest of the housing; provision for receiving an EFV and/or a PRD in the valve housing; and at least one of the ball seals and stem bearings comprising polyetherimide or polyaryletherketone.

A rotary valve and a quick exhaust valve for a railway vehicle in which high sealability and operability at the time of valve opening and closing are ensured. Outflow/inflow ports (10, 11) and a discharge port (12) are formed in a valve body accommodating part having a spherical surface part or a tapered surface part formed on part of an inner periphery in a body (2), and a valve body (3) is rotatably inserted from an opening which is open from the valve body accommodating part. A spherically-shaped surface part or a tapered-shaped surface part is formed at a position opposing the spherical surface part or the tapered surface part, a plurality of through ports communicating the outflow/inflow ports or the discharge port and an attachment groove opposing the outflow/inflow ports in a direction crossing the through ports are formed, and a seal member is attached to the attachment groove.

Valves having seats and counterseats with various contours are provided. In one embodiment, a valve includes a body and a flow control assembly inside the body. The flow control assembly includes a ball, a seat installed on the ball, and a counterseat. The ball is rotatable between open and closed positions to control flow through the body and the seat and counterseat include mating surfaces that engage when the ball is in the closed position such that the seat seals against the counterseat along the mating surfaces. Further, the flow control assembly allows pressurized fluid in the body to enter a region between the seat and the ball and a region between the counterseat and the body so as to cause a net force on the seat from the pressurized fluid that pushes the seat away from the ball and against the counterseat when the ball is in the closed position and a net force on the counterseat from the pressurized fluid that pushes the counterseat toward the ball and against the seat when the ball is in the closed position.

Disclosed embodiments include ball valves with an asymmetric seal and seat, to minimize seal wear. In embodiments, a seal is disposed upon a ball with a first and second section, where the first section of the seal is disposed at a different angle from the second section. A seat has a first and second section at different angles that correspond to angles of the first and second section of the seal, respectively, such that the seal fully contacts the seat when the ball is in a closed position. When the ball is rotated to an open position, the different angles of the first and second sections allow the second section of the seal to clear the first section of the seat without contact.

A multifunction valve includes a valve body defining an inlet, and outlet and an interior chamber. A flow control gate may be disposed within the interior chamber and comprises one or more protrusions configured to provide a high level of precision control of a fluid flow rate through the multifunction valve as the flow control gate is rotated through an arcuate range of positions. The protrusions may comprise a cut-out portion, wherein the size and/or shape of the cut-out may be configured to modify the fluid flow rate through the multifunction valve. A method of modulating a fluid flow rate includes directing fluid flow through a multifunction valve from an inlet to an outlet, the multifunction valve including a flow control gate, adjusting the flow rate through the multifunction valve by rotating a control shaft to position the flow control gate to variably occlude the outlet of the multifunction valve.

A ball valve with a ball rotatably mounted within the housing. The ball is rotatable between an opened configuration, in which fluid flows through the ball, and a closed configuration, in which a ball seat engages a housing seat to prevent fluid from flowing through the ball valve. The ball may include one or more biasing members that urge the ball seat away from the ball and toward the housing seat. An engaging face of the ball seat may have a spherical or toroidal shape and an engaging face of the housing seat may have a conical shape. The ball seat may have up to six degrees of freedom related to the ball when the ball is in the closed configuration and the ball valve under pressure.

A ball valve is disclosed herein. The ball valve can include a non-planar seal disposed upon a rotating ball, the ball and seal contained within a housing, wherein the seal includes a first section and a second section, the first section oriented at a different angle than the second section. The ball valve can further include a mating surface disposed within the housing adjacent to the ball, the mating surface arranged to fully contact the seal when the ball valve is in a closed position, the mating surface including a first section and a second section, the first section oriented at a different angle than the second section. The seal and mating surface can be oriented so that the first section of the seal does not contact the second section of the mating surface when the ball is rotated between a closed position and an open position.

Valves having seats and counterseats with various contours are provided. In one embodiment, a valve includes a body and a flow control assembly inside the body. The flow control assembly includes a ball, a seat installed on the ball, and a counterseat. The ball is rotatable between open and closed positions to control flow through the body and the seat and counterseat include mating surfaces that engage when the ball is in the closed position such that the seat seals against the counterseat along the mating surfaces. Further, the mating surface of the counterseat can be a concave surface, the mating surface of the seat can be a convex surface, and at least one of the mating surfaces can have a toroidal contour.