Patent ID: 7431049

Claim:
A valve for withdrawing a flowable product from a container containing a supply of the flowable product, the valve comprising: a housing defining a cylindrical bore having a longitudinal axis, the bore extending only partially through the housing, first and second bottom ports in the housing communicating with the bore, and first and second side ports in the housing communicating with the bore, a cylindrical valve spool received in the bore and axially moveable along the longitudinal axis of the bore, the valve spool comprising an outer cylindrical surface, first and second annular grooves in the outer cylindrical surface and distributed axially therealong, a bypass within the valve spool extending from the second annular groove to a port on the end of the valve spool, the first annular groove being located axially on the spool between the second annular groove and said one end of the valve spool; and a valve spool actuator for selectively sliding the valve spool within the bore between a first position and a second position, wherein when the spool is in the first position the first bottom port communicates with the first side port via the first annular groove and the second bottom port communicates with the second side port via the second annular groove, and wherein when the spool is in the second position the first and second bottom ports communicate with each other through the first annular groove and the first and second side ports communicate with each other through the bypass and the second annular groove.