Patent ID: 6845786

Claim:
A spigot valve comprising a casing member, a valve member and a plunger member, the casing member comprising a hollow inlet tube and a hollow outlet tube extending transversely to the inlet tube, the inlet tube having a side wall about a passageway therethrough from an open inlet end to an open exit end, the outlet tube having a side wall about a passageway therethrough from an open handle end to an open outlet end, the inlet end of the inlet tube adapted for coupling to a source of fluid to be dispensed, the exit end of the inlet tube sealably joined to the side wall of the outlet tube intermediate the handle end and the outlet end with the inlet tube passageway in communication with the outlet tube passageway via an entranceway through the side wall of the outlet tube, the valve member coaxially journalled in the outlet tube passageway for pivoting about a valve axis extending longitudinally of the outlet tube, the valve member having a handle extending out of the handle end of the outlet tube for manipulation to pivot the valve member about the valve axis relative the outlet tube between an open position and a closed position, the valve member having an outer surface which engages an inner surface of the passageway of the outlet tube sealably closing the entranceway against fluid flow therethrough when the valve member is in the closed position and permitting fluid flow from the inlet tube passageway through the entranceway into the outlet tube passageway and out the outlet end when the valve member is in the open position, the plunger member slidably longitudinally disposed within the inlet tube passageway with a first end of the plunger proximate the inlet end and a second end of the plunger member extending through the entranceway into contact with a plunger camming surface carried on the valve member, the plunger camming surface limiting the extent to which the plunger member can slide longitudinally in the inlet tube passageway through the entranceway, the plunger camming surface disposed a radial distance from the valve axis which varies circumferentially such that when the valve member is in the open position the plunger member can slide longitudinally through the entranceway a first distance and when the valve member is in the closed position the plunger member can slide longitudinally through the entranceway a second distance greater than the first distance.