Patent ID: 7571742

Claim:
An outflow valve for controlling pressure in an aircraft cabin, the outflow valve comprising: a redundant dual wall valve housing having a central bore, comprising: an outer housing designed to independently withstand a pressure differential between aircraft cabin pressure and atmospheric pressure outside the aircraft cabin and valve mounting loads of said outflow valve when in use; and an inner sleeve designed to independently withstand the pressure differential and valve mounting loads of said outflow valve when in use disposed within the outer housing, the inner sleeve including first and second apertures therethrough; the outer housing being molded onto the inner sleeve with the inner sleeve not being fused to the outer housing so that the inner sleeve and the outer housing provide redundant protection against pressure and mounting load failure; a butterfly plate assembly rotationally disposed within the central bore; wherein the butterfly plate has at least one planar surface; wherein the butterfly plate is oriented with the at least one planar surface orthogonal to the central bore when the butterfly plate is in a closed position; an angled drive shaft coupled to the butterfly plate assembly with a plurality of fasteners, the angled drive shaft comprising first and second ends rotationally coupled to the dual wall valve housing and configured to rotate the butterfly plate assembly between the closed position and an open position; wherein an axis of the angled drive shaft is oriented non-parallel to the planar surface of the butterfly plate; a first drive shaft reinforcing sleeve mounted around the first end of the angled drive shaft extending through the first aperture and into the central bore; and a second drive shaft reinforcing sleeve mounted around the second end of the angled drive shaft, the second drive shaft reinforcing sleeve extending through the second aperture and into the central bore to form a protrusion that is spaced from the butterfly plate assembly in the closed position and that abuts the butterfly plate assembly in the open position to limit the movement thereof.