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Many conventional fluid flow systems such as commercial and residential lawn sprinklers are unable to control the flow of water in the event of a broken sprinkler or missing sprinkler nozzle down stream from the main control valve.  When this type of failure occurs, the water flows uncontrolled through the break in the line or the malfunctioning head creating a geyser of wasted water.   In most cases where automatic systems are employed they are unattended and the failure may go unnoticed for long periods of time.   Not only is water wasted but the remainder of the system receives only a small amount of water, thus allowing the lawn to become dry and even die in some extreme circumstances.

The primary object is to solve this situation by the addition of an automatic valve that permits a small initial flow of water to enter the system.  When the system components are in tact, this flow is able to build up sufficient back pressure to open the valve to a full flow by the use of a piston in a cylinder chamber, with the back pressure working against spring tension.  In the event that a failure in the system occurs, the back pressure on the piston is released and the spring returns the piston to an at rest position which reduces the flow to a predetermined minimum.  Should a failure exist when the system turns on, the valve will never open as the back pressure cannot increase enough to actuate the valve.  If the failure remains uncorrected, the wasted water is minimized since only a small amount flows through the unrestricted port.

The valve operation requires no manual resetting.   After the leak has been repaired the valve automatically restores full fluid flow when sufficient fluid back pressure is reestablished. This feature allows the valve to be located downstream of the main control valve either underground or above ground.  Clogging of the valve is almost eliminated, as its position relative to the main valve would cause the main valve to be clogged first.