Patent ID: 7546848

Claim:
A valve comprising: a valve housing including a valve housing chamber; a valve tappet positioned within the valve housing chamber; a valve body including a valve body chamber and a wall plate, said wall plate including an opening therethrough and a valve seat provided around the opening, said valve tappet being moveable to be in contact with the valve seat to close the valve and move away from the valve seat to open the valve; and a ring heater positioned within the valve body chamber in contact with the wall plate, said ring heater including an opening that aligns with the opening in the wall plate, said ring heater heating the wall plate to heat the valve seat, wherein the ring heater is outside of and not enclosed by the wall plate, said ring heater being part of a heater assembly including an annular electrical contact in contact with the ring heater and having an opening that aligns with the opening in the wall plate, a spring element positioned against the electrical contact that pushes the ring heater a against the wall plate and a heater cover that encloses the spring element, the electrical contact and the ring heater, said heater cover including a cylindrical portion that extends into the opening in the ring heater.