Patent ID: 8770223

Claim:
A purge valve comprising: a valve body having a linear primary loop portion having an inner diameter, first and second primary loop ports disposed at respective ends of said primary loop portion, first and second tees extending from said primary loop portion, and first and second purge/fill valve portions disposed in said first and second tees, respectively, said first purge/fill valve portion having a first purge/fill port disposed on an end thereof and said second purge/fill valve portion having a second purge/fill port disposed on an end thereof; said first purge/fill valve portion disposed between said primary loop portion and said first purge/fill port and said second purge/fill valve portion disposed in said second tee between said primary loop portion and said second purge/fill port; said first and second tees having centerlines being spaced apart from each other by a distance less than four times said inner diameter of said linear primary loop portion, thereby allowing hydraulic separation of a flow in the primary loop portion and a flow in the first and second purge/fill portions; a main valve portion disposed in said primary loop portion in alignment with said first tee, said main valve portion having a first position and a second position, said first position adapted to open a flow path without obstruction between said first primary loop port, said second primary loop port, and said first tee, and said second position adapted to close a flow path between said first primary loop port and said second primary loop port and open a flow path between said first primary loop port and said first tee; a main actuator extending from said valve body in said main valve portion and enabling said first and second positions of said main valve portion; and a main flow diversion device connected to a main handle via said main actuator, said main flow diversion device including a main ball portion having a through hole extending centrally there-through and a blind hole extending orthogonally to said through hole from a center of said main ball portion, said main ball portion being rotatable about an axis through said center and normal to a plane of said through hole and said blind hole, said through hole in axial alignment with said linear primary loop portion and said blind hole in axial alignment with said first purge/fill valve portion when said main valve portion is in said first position.