Patent ID: 8616586

Claim:
A subsea valve, comprising: a first valve part comprising a first female sealing member and an internal bore extending through the valve part and the female sealing member; a second valve part comprising a second female sealing member; and a sealing element interposed between the first female sealing member and the second female sealing member, the sealing element comprising a hollow body of metallic material including a first male sealing member formed at a first end of the body and a second male sealing member formed at a second end of the body opposite said first end, a respective male sealing member having an external spherical contact surface; wherein an internal bore extends through the body and through the first and second male sealing members, wherein the spherical contact surface of the respective male sealing member surrounds said internal bore, wherein the first female sealing member comprises an internal conical contact surface of metallic material for engagement with the spherical contact surface of the first male sealing member, the spherical contact surface of the first male sealing member and a corresponding conical contact surface of the first female sealing member forming a fluid-tight seal between the sealing element and the first valve part when said contact surfaces are pressed against each other, wherein the second female sealing member comprises an internal conical contact surface of metallic material for engaging the spherical contact surface of the second male sealing member, wherein the spherical contact surface of the second male sealing member and the corresponding conical contact surface of the second female sealing member form a fluid-tight seal between the sealing element and the second valve part when said contact surfaces are pressed against each other, wherein the first valve part and the second valve part are displaceable in relation to each other in an axial direction of the body of the sealing element between a first position constituting a closed state of the subsea valve, in which the contact surface of both male sealing members is pressed against its said corresponding contact surface of the female sealing members, and a second position constituting an open state of the subsea valve, in which the contact surface of at least one of the male sealing members is out of engagement with its said corresponding contact surface of the female sealing members, and wherein the subsea valve comprises a flow channel, which is connected to the internal bore of the first valve part via a space between the first female sealing member and the second female sealing member, and wherein said flow channel is in fluid communication with the internal bore of the first valve part when the first and second valve parts are in said second position, whereas said flow channel is not in fluid communication with the internal bore of the first valve part when the first and second valve parts are in said first position.