Patent ID: 7510545

Claim:
A needleless access port valve comprising a valve body having an interior surface and an exterior surface, the exterior surface further comprising a top wall aligned perpendicular to a central axis of the valve body and a side wall aligned non-perpendicular to the central axis and at an angle to the top wall, the top wall and the side wall both being exposed to ambient atmosphere, said valve body comprising a continuous wall surface along a radial direction, an inlet, an outlet, a main channel about the central axis between the inlet and the outlet, and a plug disposed in the main channel defined by the interior surface of the valve body and has sections that contact sections of the interior surface of the valve body, all of said sections of the plug that contact the interior surface of the valve body being slidable inside the main channel and movable relative to the sections of the interior surface of the valve body that they contact in sliding from between a first position and a second position for controlling fluid communication between the inlet and the outlet, the plug comprising an upper end and a lower end comprising a tapered section; wherein the continuous wall surface, including the exterior surface of the valve body, flexibly bends inwardly towards the central axis when the plug is in the first position such that a cross-sectional dimension of the valve body is less than a cross-sectional dimension of the inlet; and wherein the continuous wall surface, including the exterior surface of the valve body, flexibly bends outwardly away from the central axis and contacting the tapered section when the plug is in the second position.