US 12,031,643 B2
Ball valve assembly
Diego Agosti, Voghera (IT); and Federico Ricotti, Voghera (IT)
Assigned to CAMERON INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, Houston, TX (US)
Appl. No. 17/759,565
Filed by Cameron International Corporation, Houston, TX (US)
PCT Filed Feb. 2, 2021, PCT No. PCT/US2021/016178
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jul. 27, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/158524, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 12, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 20425005 (EP), filed on Feb. 3, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0250887 A1, Aug. 10, 2023
Int. Cl. F16K 5/20 (2006.01); F16K 5/06 (2006.01); F16K 27/06 (2006.01)
CPC F16K 5/201 (2013.01) [F16K 5/0605 (2013.01); F16K 27/067 (2013.01); F16K 5/0689 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A ball valve assembly, comprising:
a ball configured to rotate between an open position and a closed position;
an annular seat configured to engage the ball;
a rotatable ring positioned on an opposite side of the annular seat from the ball, wherein the rotatable ring comprises at least one first engagement feature;
a non-rotatable ring positioned adjacent to the rotatable ring;
a drive plate non-rotatably coupled to the ball, wherein the drive plate is configured to rotate with the ball, the drive plate comprises at least one second engagement feature, and the at least one second engagement feature of the drive plate is configured to engage the at least one first engagement feature of the rotatable ring to drive the rotatable ring to rotate in response to rotation of the drive plate;
a second drive plate non-rotatably coupled to the ball, wherein the second drive plate is configured to rotate with the ball, the second drive plate comprises at least one third engagement feature, the at least one first engagement feature of the rotatable ring comprises a plurality of first engagement features, and the at least one third engagement feature of the second drive plate is configured to engage one first engagement feature of the plurality of first engagement features of the rotatable ring to drive the rotatable ring to rotate in response to rotation of the second drive plate; and
at least one bearing element configured to drive the rotatable ring and the non-rotatable ring away from one another to compress the annular seat against the ball in response to rotation of the rotatable ring.