Patent ID: 8057442

Claim:
A pressure-actuated valve component for use in IV therapy to control fluid flow through a catheter in opposite infusion and aspiration directions, said valve component comprising: a housing including spaced apart intravenous fluid ports and being operable to be fluidly coupled to the catheter, with a fluid passageway extending between the ports to present a passageway axis; and a valve body being disposed within the fluid passageway and including a flexible dome-shaped wall that presents a convex surface and an opposite concave surface, with the convex surface facing the infusion direction and the concave surface facing the aspiration direction, wherein said valve body presents a central axis extending along a generally longitudinal plane through an apex of the dome-shaped wall, said dome-shaped wall including a slit extending between the concave and convex surfaces, said valve body including a rib projecting from the concave surface, such that the rib intersects the slit generally perpendicularly, said slit having first and second ends each terminating at an end wall having a thickness and sidewalls extending circumferentially about said concave and convex surfaces of the wall of said valve, said sidewalls each having a circumferential and axial length, wherein when said slit is at a rest or neutral state, said first and seconds ends are each non-parallel and non-perpendicular to the passageway axis and said sidewalls are in contact with each other at a majority of points along their respective circumferential and axial lengths, said slit intersecting the rib and extending along the dome-shaped wall radially outwardly from the rib relative to the passageway axis so that the slit termination ends are spaced from the rib.