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US 11,306,834 B1Granted
Flapper valve
AssigneeEssex Industries, Inc.
InventorsRyan Chase, Phil Hampton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flapper valve comprising a generally rigid flap which is mounted within a flexible body coating. The hinge in the flexible body is formed by using an internal reinforcement material having a permeated structure which allows for the body material to penetrate through the reinforcement material during the valve formation. This provides for a more sturdy hinge which better resists wear.
Claims11
A flapper valve comprising:
- a flapper;
- a sheet of reinforcement material, said reinforcement material having a permeable structure;
- and
- a body, the body enclosing said reinforcement material and a portion of said flapper around a periphery of said flapper, said body forming a ring which extends over a portion of each major surface of said flapper, said body material permeating through said permeable structure of said reinforcement material;
- wherein, said body extending around said periphery of said flapper forms a connector portion spaced from said flapper, said body also forming a trough between said periphery of said flapper and said connector portion which extends across the sheet of reinforcement material;
- and
- wherein said trough forms a natural hinge for said flapper to rotate relative to said connector portion of said body.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.