A ready-to-use valve assembly comprising three component parts, namely, a gasket ring having a valve seat, a ball Check Valves associatively cooperative with the seat and ring, and a coil spring carried by the ring and guidingly encaging the valve. This assembly when installed in standard T-coupling converts the same into a check valve for acceptable use in a new piping system or, alternatively, an equivalent existing system. It permits flow or fluid in one direction and prevents back-flow. Accordingly, the coupling serves not only to unite adjacent pipe sections but also serves as a check valve.

More specifically, the valve-equipped coupling is such in construction and adaptability that it can be used in new piping systems or inserted for practical and helpful use in existing systems. Its utilization in the pipe line between coacting pipe sections permits the flow of fluids, gases or liquid, in one direction but checks and prevents flow of the same in a reverse or back-flow direction. It can be employed to supplant customarily or commonly used self-contained check valves or can be used complementary to and in conjunction with existing type Check Valves . Movement of fluid in the line or conduit seats or unseats the ball valve and permits or stops flow as conditions may require.

A significant aspect of the concept has to do with the conversion or transformation of an ordinary pipe line T-coupling into a simple, practical, economical and accessible ball CHECK VALVES. As will be hereinafter more fully appreciated the spring loaded ball, acted on by an appropriate compression spring, seats itself into the truncated conical valve seat provided therefor in a manner to permit flow of fluids in one direction only. Then, too, fluid pressure acts on and seats the ball which in turn applies the then present pressure to force the gasket ring tightly against the seat provided at a terminal end of a coacting pipe section.

Briefly the conduit or pipe line is characterized by two angularly cooperating pipe sections whose adjacent ends, usually threaded, are interconnected by a fitting, more particularly, a T-coupling. One end of the coupling is threaded for connection to a threaded end of a pipe section. The opposite axially aligned threaded end is provided with an insertable and removable closing plug or cap. The median lateral branch is connected with a second pipe section. The hollow portion of the coupling is equipped with a prefabricated ready-to-install unit, more particularly, a gasket ring which is adapted to be seated on an end of a designated pipe section. This gasket ring has an inner peripheral surface provided with an annulus whose inner peripheral surface is provided with a truncated conical surface constituting a valve seat. A ball check valve proportional in size and associatively cooperable with the seat is provided. In addition, a normally distended compression coil spring of predetermined tension, length and cross-sectional dimension is adapted to encage the ball and has a coil at one end operatively cooperable with the gasket ring.

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