Patent ID: 6893002

Claim:
A lockout valve comprising: a valve body having a housing with an inlet conduit at one end of a central chamber and an outlet conduit at an other end of said central chamber, such that said inlet conduit, central chamber and outlet conduit form a continuous passageway, and a valve slide channel extending transversely therethrough said housing between an upper opening in an upper end of said housing and a lower opening in a lower end of said housing; a slide mechanism slidingly disposed in said valve slide channel to operatively control fluid flow through said passageway between an open position, an intermediate position and a closed position, wherein said slide mechanism is generally planar and includes an upper end and a lower end each having a radially extending flange and two side edges extending therebetween said upper end and said lower end, and having a front side facing toward said inlet conduit and a back side facing toward said outlet conduit, and a plurality of flow apertures extending therethrough said slide mechanism and arranged in a predetermined pattern to restrict flow through said passageway in an intermediate position; wherein said front side of said slide mechanism includes a detent slot having a predetermined length, width and depth, and said back side of said slide mechanism includes a longitudinally extending override slot having an upper portion with a first predetermined length, width and depth positioned opposite said detent slot to form a continuous opening through said slide mechanism, and having a lower portion with a second predetermined length, width and depth extending partially therethrough said slide mechanism; and a detent mechanism for overriding the intermediate position of said slide mechanism including a detent override lever partially disposed in said housing with a finger member extending from an edge of said detent override lever within said housing, a spring member located in a recess in said housing and a ball member located in the housing recess, such that the ball member is positioned between the spring and the detent override lever, wherein said ball is located in an upper portion of said detent slot when said slide mechanism is in a closed position and travels through said detent slot concurrent with said slide mechanism sliding through the valve slide channel until said ball reaches a bottom edge of the detent slot and actuation of said detent override lever engages said override finger within the lower end of said override slot to push said ball into the recessed area of said housing so that said slide mechanism bypasses the intermediate position.