Patent ID: 7028703

Claim:
A valve guard, intended to protect a valve operational upon a buried fluid line enclosed by a conventional casing, said guard comprising: an upper portion and a lower portion each possessing an exterior surface substantially continuous with each other; said upper portion possessing a substantially vertical bore with an upward opening at the top in communication with, and substantially perpendicular to, a substantially horizontal longitudinal cavity within said lower portion open to the bottom and two opposed ends of said lower portion extending perpendicularly from said upper portion in two opposed directions and possessing an interior surface defining said longitudinal cavity; said lower portion and said longitudinal cavity being dimensioned to enclose a portion of a cylindrical fluid line with said bottom of said lower portion and said fluid line both resting on the same substantially horizontal surface; said longitudinal cavity and said bore being dimensioned to enclose a valve operative upon said fluid line centered with said bore and oriented upwardly in alignment with said bore perpendicular to said fluid line; said guard being dimensioned to fit inside a conventional casing for said valve providing operational access to said valve after burying of said fluid line with said casing surrounded by earth; whereby said guard, positioned about said valve upon said fluid line facilitates alignment of a casing about and above said valve upon said fluid line, prevents entrance of earth into said casing during filling of an excavated cavity for said fluid line, and facilitates restoration of casing alignment if disturbed from a desired vertical orientation with insertion of the end of a length of conduit into said bore.