Valve assemblies for liquid containers

A valve assembly for a container containing a liquid, said valve assembly comprising:

• a housing sealably attachable to the container and having a passageway therein extending between an upper opening and a lower opening, said housing having an upper stop disposed in the passageway;
• a plug having an upper portion having a first peripherally-extending recess, and a lower portion defining a lower stop and at least one passageway extending past said lower portion;
• a seal disposed partially in said first annular recess of said plug, said seal sized to correspond to the peripheral edge of said upper opening;
• a compression spring disposed between said upper stop and said lower stop to bias said upper portion of said plug downwardly to engage said seal with said upper opening;
• and
• wherein said valve assembly has a normal self-closing position in which said seal sealably engages said upper opening to prevent the liquid from passing through said passageway in said housing, and a open position upon a force being applied to said bottom portion of said plug to move said upper portion of said plug upwardly so that said seal is disposed away from said upper opening to allow liquid to pass through said passageway in said housing and through said at least one passageway in said lower portion of said plug.