Paravalve Principia
How it works
You've come to the right place if you want to get the inside scoop on how the Paravalve achieves a level of performance that no other straw lid can match. The secret is in our patented dual ball valve technology.
Take a look at the diagram above, and notice that there are three spout positions: Closed, Vent, and Open. For each position, the diagram shows two cross-sectional drawings: the left one in the center of the air path, and the right one in the center of the water path. When you move the spout, both ball valves move together. The orange arrow represents air flow, and the blue arrow represents water flow.
Closed Position - Leak proof: Both ball valves are closed and sealed. Neither air or liquid can escape the bottle. Pressure differences between the inside and outside of the bottle can build up in this position due to heat, altitude changes or due to CO2 coming out of a carbonated beverage. In the case of carbonated beverages, you need the pressure build up so that your drink does not go flat.
Vent Position - Smart Vent:
This is where the magic happens. With this position of the spout, air can escape to equalize the pressure, but the water path is still blocked. It's not a discrete position, but spans about 32 degrees. The first 19 degrees of movement from the closed position keeps both valves closed. More than 19 degrees of movement and the vent opens up. At 51 degrees, the liquid valve also opens up. So the vent position spans from 19 degrees to 51 degrees. You don't have to know the degrees of rotation of course; just rotate the spout about half way to open, or until you hear the air escaping, and you're done. It usually only takes a fraction of a second to release the pressure, so if you forget to pause in the vent position, you might still be fine. At worst, you will get a small spurt of water. Carbonation can create a larger pressure buildup, so it may take up to two seconds if the bottle has been shaken.
Open Position - Effortless: Here both valves are open, and there is a free flow of air allowed into the bottle. The diameter of the air opening is 3.2mm, while a Hydro Flask straw lid, and all the lids that copied their design, have a pin hole valve with an opening of just 1mm in diameter. That means the Paravalve has more than 10x the cross-sectional area of their lid, preventing any vacuum build up. You'll never have to suck against a vacuum with the Paravalve lid.
The Straw Connection: For superior flow, we also use an external straw connection. Most straw lids, including Hydro Flask, have a small diameter tube on the bottom of the lid. This tube goes inside the straw to hold the straw in place as shown below:
This creates two problems:
- The flow is restricted due to the narrow inside diameter of the plastic tube.
- The straw must stretch around the tube, and this will lead to the straw stretching, cracking, and needing to be replaced often.
The Paravalve receives the straw into an opening in the lid; the straw is held in place by compression instead of tension, so the straw will not stretch and crack. It also leaves the full inside diameter of the straw available for liquid to flow.
See our explainer video below to find out why our competitors don't suck . . . very well. The explainer video was made for the original Paravalve 1.0 lid. The Paravalve 2.0 lid has a slightly wider air path for even better air flow.