Patent ID: 11933428
Assignee: ONESUBSEA IP UK LIMITED
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  E | IPC E  F

Claim 0:
1. A ball valve assembly, comprising:
a ball configured to rotate between an open position and a closed position; and
a cradle having a ball-facing surface, wherein the ball-facing surface faces the ball and is positioned at an end of a fluid passage through the cradle, the cradle is configured to rotatably support the ball to enable the ball to rotate between the open position and the closed position, and the cradle is configured to block movement of the ball toward the ball-facing surface to establish a separation distance between the ball and the ball-facing surface;
wherein the ball has a contact surface, the cradle has a corresponding contact surface remote from the ball-facing surface, the contact surface of the ball and the corresponding contact surface of the cradle are spaced apart from one another while a force urging the ball toward the cradle is less than or equal to a threshold force, and the corresponding contact surface of the cradle is configured to engage the contact surface of the ball to block movement of the ball toward the cradle while the force is greater than the threshold force to establish the separation distance between the ball and the ball-facing surface of the cradle.