Valve assembly

A valve assembly for regulating air flow to an internal combustion engine, said valve assembly comprising:

• a valve body having a valve bore forming an induction passage for air flow to the engine;
• a shaft having opposite ends which are journalled for rotation in said valve body, said shaft extending across said valve bore;
• a flat butterfly valve member having a periphery enclosing an area which is smaller than the cross sectional area of said valve bore, said valve member being secured to said shaft rotation between a nonactuating position and a maximum actuating position to vary the flow area around said valve member, the flow area being maximum when said valve member is in said maximum actuating position, said valve member being rotated in excess of 90 degrees between said maximum actuating and nonactuating positions, said valve member passing through a zero degree position when rotated from said maximum actuating position to said nonactuating position, said zero degree position being defined by said valve member being perpendicular to the axis of said valve bore, the flow area around said valve member when in said zero degree position being less than the flow area around said valve member when in said nonactuating position;
• and
• a return means being adapted to urge said valve member toward said nonactuating position when said valve member is rotated away from said nonactuating position.