Patent ID: 8171950

Claim:
A regulator for regulating the delivery of pressurized gas from a supply of said pressurized gas to a device that utilizes discrete charges of pressure regulated gas comprising: a regulator housing, said regulator housing having proximal and distal ends, said regulator housing having a specially configured bore extending therethrough, said regulator housing having a proximal portion adjacent said proximal end, a distal portion adjacent said distal end, and a body portion extending between said proximal and distal portions, said proximal portion adapted to being gas receivingly connected to said supply, and said distal portion adapted to being gas dischargingly connected to said device; a metering orifice extending within said proximal portion from an inlet to an outlet, an input valve seat generally surrounding said outlet and generally facing towards said distal end, said specially configured bore including a piston receiving bore extending generally within said body portion, said metering orifice and input valve seat being entirely within said proximal portion, said input valve seat being surrounded by a generally conical surface having an angle of from approximately 4 to 15 degrees; an output valve seat member removeably mounted in said distal portion, said output valve seat member having an outlet orifice extending therethrough between a first end and a second end, said second end opening to said distal end, an output valve seat generally surrounding said first end, said output valve seat generally facing toward said proximal end; a poppet member mounted for movement in said outlet orifice between open and closed configurations, said poppet member being adapted to sealingly engage said output valve seat in said closed configuration; and a piston member mounted in sealing engagement with said piston receiving bore, said piston member being adapted to move between gas input, holding, and output configurations and to sealingly engage said input valve seat through a resilient seal in said gas holding and output configurations, said piston member being resiliently biased by a spring member toward said gas input configuration, said piston member sealingly defining pressurized and un-pressurized chambers within said regulator, said un-pressurized chamber generally surrounding a portion of said piston member and being open to an ambient atmospheric pressure, said pressurized chamber extending generally from said input valve seat to said output valve seat, a first surface portion of said piston member generally facing said proximal end and a second surface portion of said piston member generally facing said distal end, said first surface portion having a smaller surface area than said second surface portion, and both said first and second surface portions being within said pressurized chamber, whereby said larger surface area is adapted to allowing gas pressure within said pressurized chamber to overcome the resilient bias of said spring member and move said piston member to sealingly engage said input valve seat.