Patent ID: 7871061

Claim:
A pendulum gate valve, comprising: a valve housing defining a flow channel; a valve carriage assembly movable within said valve housing from a fully open position to a position axially aligned with the flow; said valve carriage assembly including an essentially circular valve plate, an actuating member and a tensioning member, said actuating member being positioned between said valve plate and said tensioning member, said valve plate having a valve seat face and an attachment face opposite said valve seat face, said attachment face for attaching to said actuating member by a first plurality of at least four rotatable links, said actuating member further attaching to said tensioning member by a second plurality of at least four rotatable links, said actuating member communicating with a pendulum arm wherein the application of lateral force to said pendulum arm causes said actuating member to travel laterally in a first direction, said travel of said actuating member forcing both said first and second plurality of rotatable links to travel from an offset orientation to a vertically spread orientation, thereby causing said valve plate to travel an axial distance until said valve seat face is sealingly engaged with said valve housing; said actuating member having a first angular orientation in said fully open position and a second angular orientation in said position axially aligned with the flow; wherein said first plurality of rotatable links are located at points around said attachment face so as to provide an even distribution of force transferred from said actuating member to said valve plate; and wherein said tensioning member is attached to said attachment face of said valve plate by a plurality of spring members, said spring members vertically spreading and achieving a tensioned state upon said valve plate traveling axially toward said valve housing, whereby said tensioned state provides an inward force for subsequently drawing the valve plate inward toward the actuating member and away from the valve housing.