Patent ID: 7963339

Claim:
A bearing mounted ball valve comprising: a housing having a throughbore and a valve seat; an apertured ball mounted within the housing in continuous engagement with the valve seat, the apertured ball being rotatable by rotation means, about an axis of rotation, between a throughbore open position and a throughbore closed position, and bearing means coupled between the apertured ball and the housing for constraining the rotation of the apertured ball about the axis of rotation between the throughbore open and the throughbore closed position, wherein in the throughbore closed position, the bearing means is adapted to release the apertured ball from the axis of rotation to permit the apertured ball to float into a sealing engagement with the valve seat; and wherein the bearing means comprises a pair of bearing plates located on diametrically opposite sides of the throughbore, each plate having a plurality of hemispherical pockets, each pocket containing a ball bearing.