ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,638,085, issued on May 26, was assigned to Buti Research S.r.L. (Cenate Sotto, Italy).
"Pressure-balanced valve with improved sealing properties" was invented by Stefano Lecchi (Bolgare, Italy) and Pierangelo Scaglia (Voghera, Italy).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A pressure-balanced valve is disclosed, which can be used both as a control valve and as an ON-OFF valve, whose sealing system is marked by a longer service life as compared to that of prior art solutions. The longer service life derives from the fact that the sealing elements are energized when the valve is closed, whereas they maintain a non-energized condition during valve reg...