Patent ID: 7813678

Claim:
A ball valve device for filling pressurized hoppers comprising: (a) a valve housing for mounting over a refill opening into a pressurized hopper, said valve housing having a wall defining a chamber, a first port and a second port into said chamber; (b) a valve ball rotatable within said chamber and including a through-bore for material flow from a material container through said second port into the pressurized hopper, said valve ball having a horizontal, first hopper sealing position for pressure sealing said second port and the pressurized hopper from said through-bore, and a vertical, second hopper opening position for opening said second port and the pressurized hopper to said through-bore; and (c) a pressure release assembly including (i) a pressure release port formed through said wall of said valve housing and spaced from said first port and said second port; and (ii) a pressure release assembly connected externally to said pressure release port for receiving pressure and remnant carrier particles from said refill container, thereby allowing safe release of pressure within said through-bore and within said refill container after refilling the pressurized hopper.