Patent ID: 7300336

Claim:
In a media control valve of the type having a valve body having a media inlet and a media outlet for delivering particulate media through the valve; a movable plunger positioned within the valve body for metering the flow of particulate media; a sleeve positioned within the valve body for receiving the plunger; a media opening in the sleeve; a piston positioned within the valve body and connected to the plunger, wherein the plunger is constructed and arranged to be movable by the piston with respect to the media outlet to provide all metering positions from a fully closed position to a fully open position, the sleeve having improvements comprising: an outer jacket positioned within the body, the jacket made of a first material having at least one ID sufficient to accommodate the plunger and having a longitudinal length accommodating the full movement of the piston; a liner placed inside a portion of the jacket and having an ID sufficient to accommodate the plunger, wherein the ID of the liner is smaller that the at least one ID of the jacket, and wherein the jacket is of a longitudinal length longer than the longitudinal length of the liner, and wherein the full movement of the plunger extends along the internal surfaces of both the jacket and the liner, whereby the difference in the ID's of the jacket and the liner creates a gap between the plunger and the jacket permitting particulate media to propagate and accumulate in the gap as particulate media is delivered through the valve.