Aerosol valve assembly

A valve assembly for an aerosol container, comprising:

• a cup having a hub including an end wall therein, and an opening in the endwall of a predetermined diameter;
• an annular seal with a top surface, being interconnected to a cylindrical valve element by resilient radial ribs extending between the annular seal and an outside diameter of the cylindrical valve element that provide for axial movement of the cylindrical valve element relative to the annular seal, the annular seal and cylindrical valve element being disposed within the hub with said top surface seated against the end wall in the hub, the cylindrical valve element being offset a predetermined distance above said top surface such that when the annular seal is seated with said top surface against said end wall the cylindrical valve element is axially displaced and compressed against the end wall over the opening to provide a minimum pre-load force of at least 1 lb. that is effective for substantially sealing off the opening in the end wall of the hub;
• and
• an actuator having a sleeve disposed over the hub, and a plunger tip projecting eccentrically through the opening for displacing and unseating the cylindrical valve element from the opening;
• wherein the ratio of the outside diameter of the cylindrical valve element to the opening diameter is between about 1.6 to about 2.1, whereby the ratio allows the resilient radial ribs to have sufficient radial length to permit unseating of the cylindrical valve element with less than a predetermined amount of force.

A valve assembly for an aerosol container, comprising:

• a cup having a hub including an end wall therein, and an opening in the endwall of a predetermined diameter, wherein the endwall portion around said opening does project inwardly;
• an annular seal with a top surface, being interconnected to a cylindrical valve element by resilient radial ribs extending between the annular seal and an outside diameter of the cylindrical valve element that provide for axial movement of the cylindrical valve element relative to the annular seal, the annular seal and cylindrical valve element being disposed within the hub with said top surface seated against the end wall in the hub, the cylindrical valve element being offset a predetermined distance above said top surface such that when the annular seal is seated with said top surface against the said end wall the cylindrical valve element is axially displaced and compressed against the end wall over the opening to provide a minimum pre-load force of at least 2.6 pounds that is effective for substantially sealing off the opening in the end wall of the hub;
• and
• an actuator having a sleeve disposed over the hub, and a plunger tip projecting eccentrically through the opening for displacing and unseating the cylindrical valve element from the opening;
• wherein the ratio of the outside diameter of the cylindrical valve element to the opening diameter is between about 1.6 to about 2.1, whereby the ratio allows for the resilient radial ribs to each have a minimum radial length to provide sufficient bending to permit axial movement of the cylindrical valve element relative to the annular seal for unseating the cylindrical valve element with a force of not more than 1.9 pounds.