Patent ID: 8807523

Claim:
A fluid shutoff valve, comprising: a valve assembly comprising: a valve body having a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet and a valve interior, at least a portion of the valve body comprising a non-ferromagnetic material; a valve ball positioned within the valve interior, the valve ball comprising a ferromagnetic material; and a valve seat within the valve interior configured to receive the valve ball when the valve is in a shut configuration, wherein the valve body, valve ball and valve seat are configured to inhibit flow of fluid through the fluid outlet when the valve is in the shut configuration; a valve actuation mechanism comprising a magnet positioned outside the valve interior; a control processor electrically coupled to the valve actuation mechanism; and a wireless transceiver coupled to the control processor, wherein the control processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to send a valve closure signal to the valve actuation mechanism in response to receiving a valve closure command message via the wireless transceiver, and wherein the valve actuation mechanism is configured to: apply a magnetic field from the magnet to the valve ball with sufficient force to hold the valve ball in an open configuration in which the valve ball is removed from the valve seat; and reduce the magnetic force applied to the valve ball sufficient to enable the valve ball to engage the valve seat in response to receiving the valve closure signal from the control processor.