Patent ID: 7156262

Claim:
A sanitary fill valve assembly comprising: a housing having an inlet passage for receiving a viscous flowable material from a viscous flowable material source, an annular chamber for receiving the viscous flowable material from said inlet passage, and an outlet passage from which the viscous flowable material is dispensed; an ON/OFF positive controlled product dispenser including a piston cylinder for dispensing the viscous flowable material from said chamber, said piston cylinder having a main piston body and a piston head disposed at a distal end thereof for dispensing the viscous flowable product from said chamber; and a product flow regulator having a regulator body extending for longitudinal movement substantially perpendicular relative to said product dispenser, said inlet passage and said outlet passage and across the entire flow area at said inlet passage, said regulator body adjustably regulating the rate of flow of the viscous flowable material into said chamber and having a substantially tapered tip portion that combines with a corner sidewall portion of said inlet passage to create a flow passage through which the viscous flowable material flows into said annular chamber, wherein said housing has an annular surface with a tapered wall adjacent said outlet passage which forms a seat for said main piston body.