Patent ID: 7425102

Claim:
A fluid flow control valve for use in a fluid applicator tip which is connectable onto an open end of a resiliently squeezable container, comprising: a valve body including a central flow aperture having a sealing seat; a separate sealing ball configured for coaxial alignment and seated retention against said flow aperture and said sealing seat, respectively, within the applicator tip with said sealing ball oriented downstream of fluid flow through said flow aperture; said valve body being normally biased closed by gravity acting against said sealing ball to permit fluid to flow through said flow aperture when the container is at least partially inverted or squeezed to unseat said sealing ball from said sealing seat; said sealing ball automatically re-seating itself against said sealing seat by gravity when the container is righted, thus preventing substantially all air from access into the container to prematurely dry the fluid within the container; a metering cup positioned within the applicator tip and having a metering orifice formed through a bottom of said metering cup, said metering orifice being substantially smaller in diameter than that of said flow aperture wherein maximum fluid flow rate from the container through said fluid control valve is limited substantially by said metering orifice; said sealing ball automatically re-seating itself against said sealing seat when squeezing pressure against the sides of the inverted container is released and fluid within the applicator tip is sucked back into the bottle thus substantially preventing fluid dripping from the inverted container when the container is moved to another work area.