The ball valve has evolved from a cock valve. It has the same rotation of 90 degrees of motion, and the difference is that the cocks are spheres, with round holes or channels through their axes. The ratio of the sphere and the channel port should be such that when the ball is rotated 90 degrees, the ball should be fully presented in the inlet and outlet, thus cutting off the flow.

The ball valves only need to be rotated 90 degrees and a small rotation moment can be closed. The fully equal body cavity provides a small, straight flow of resistance to the medium. It is generally considered that the ball valve is most suitable for open and closed operation, but the recent development has designed the ball valve to be used for throttling and controlling flow.

Ball valve itself is the main characteristics of compact structure, easy operation and maintenance, and is applicable to water, solvent, acid and gas, such as general work medium, but also is suitable for the working conditions of media, such as oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, methane and ethylene. Ball valve body can be integral, can also be group type.

Now, depending on the needs of consumers, ball valves are given more versatility and more comprehensive classification. According to the connection mode, ball valves are divided into thread - buckle ball valve, PPR ball valve, welding ball valve, flange ball valve, aluminum plastic pipe ball valve. According to function classification, ball valve is divided into temperature ball valve, filter ball valve. The classification is varied and the function is more complete.