Patent ID: 7810786

Claim:
An external actuator for electrically or manually operating a gate valve for use in association with a recreational vehicle, said gate valve having upper and lower housing members, a flow passageway through said lower housing member, a valve closure member moveable transversely of said flow passageway into said upper housing member to cause said flow passageway to open and into said lower housing member to cause said flow passageway to close, said valve closure member having a connected valve stem and a handle member attached to said valve stem, the external actuator comprising: an electronic control unit, said control unit adapted to be attached to said upper housing member and having a motor, an electrical drive means and a drive shaft with a u-shaped coupling member for engaging said handle member, said u-shaped coupling member having spaced-apart first and second arm members with said first arm member positioned above said second arm member and said handle member positioned in between said first and second arm members, each of said arm members having an end portion forming a slotted opening with spaced-apart clip arms and a retention clip; a switch means electrically connected to said electronic control unit, said switch means having an on position and an off position, adapted in the on position to cause said drive shaft to lift said handle member upwardly and said valve closure member to move linearly in the same direction to open said flow passageway and in the off position to cause said handle member to move downwardly and said valve closure member to move linearly in the same direction to close said flow passageway; a pair of lead wires connected to a power source; and a vertically disposed post member with retaining caps at each end for releasable engagement with said spaced-apart clip arms and said retention clips to enable said gate valve to be electromechanically actuated when said u-shaped coupling member engages said handle member or manually actuated when said handle member disengages from said u-shaped coupling member in rotatable motion.