Patent ID: 7249751

Claim:
A valve comprising: a valve body with an axial fluid flow bore therethrough and a flow control element residing therein rotatable between open and closed positions; a bracket formed integral with the valve body and spaced laterally therefrom on an integral support defining an open access area between the bracket and the valve body; a valve stem having a first end engaging the flow control element and extending through a stem bore in the valve body to a second end centered in a bore in the bracket; a packing gland secured around the stem in the open access area for securing packing rings around the valve stem in the stem bore; a shoulder with an enlarged outer diameter formed on the stem in the open access area adjacent the bracket, wherein the outside diameter of the shoulder is less than an inside diameter of the bracket bore in the bracket; a contiguous shear bushing disposed between the stem shoulder and the bracket, wherein the shear bushing has an outside diameter larger than the inside diameter of the bracket bore and an inside diameter less than the outer diameter of the stem shoulder; and wherein the stem has an overall length less than a distance from a bottom of the fluid flow bore to a bottom of the bracket to allow insertion or removal of the contiguous shear bushing about the stem in the access area laterally between the second end of the stem and the bracket only when the flow control element is not present in the fluid flow bore.