Patent ID: 7984728

Claim:
A flow through pressure regulator comprising: a housing having a fuel inlet communicating with a fuel chamber, wherein a flow of fuel through the fuel inlet and the fuel chamber communicates with a valve assembly; the valve assembly comprising a lower valve member wherein a plurality of fuel passages are circumferentially spaced around a top portion of the lower valve member to direct the flow of fuel; the valve assembly regulating the flow of fuel from the fuel inlet through the housing to a fuel outlet wherein an upper valve member rests on a valve seat in a closed position to prohibit the flow of fuel from the fuel inlet to the fuel outlet; a valve biasing member for biasing the upper valve member toward the valve seat in opposition to pressure exerted on the upper valve member by the fuel in the fuel chamber, wherein the valve biasing member includes at least three co-axial, concentric rings joined together by a plurality of bridges in a reticulated network fashion thereby defining a plurality of co-axial, concentric slot openings in the valve biasing member at a plurality of different radii from a center of the valve biasing member, wherein at least two bridges connect adjacent rings; and a fuel cover, separate from the housing, for directing the flow of fuel from the valve biasing member to the fuel outlet, the fuel cover defining a chamber in communication with the valve biasing member, the chamber being constructed and arranged to permit fuel to build therein and to contain the fuel to as to submerge the valve biasing member in the fuel, wherein the valve biasing member has a continuous annular outer edge surface, having a width greater than a width of each of the rings, that is welded, crimped or clipped to the housing, and a portion of the valve biasing member near the center being in non-fixed relation with the upper valve member to be freely movable so as to engage and bias the upper valve member under certain pressure conditions in the pressure regulator.