Patent ID: 8579256

Claim:
A valve having a flow path for a flow medium, comprising: a housing having a first opening and a through-opening; a rotational body arranged rotatably in the housing and having a through-opening; first and second seat rings spaced apart in the housing, each positioned against an outer surface of the rotational body to seal against leakage of the flow medium; a shaft fixedly linked to the rotational body and extending outwardly through the first opening in the housing, the shaft having a spherical outer surface over at least a part of the shaft; and a sealing element, positioned against the spherical outer surface, comprising a sealing lip and a support ring, the support ring being significantly stiffer than the sealing lip, the support ring having a spherical inner surface with a curvature corresponding to a curvature of the shaft part's spherical outer surface, the shaft being supported on the support ring via the shaft part's spherical outer surface; wherein the flow path is defined by the housing through-opening and the rotational body through-opening and is either one of closed or at least partially open as determined by rotational angle position of the rotational body about a rotational axis; and wherein the rotational body and fixedly linked shaft move in unison to pivot about a pivot axis that is orthogonal to the rotational axis, the pivot axis being associated with the shaft part's spherical outer surface.