An autofeed mechanism for controlling the flow and level of a fluid. The mechanismincludes a body (100) with an inlet chamber (210) and a float chamber (220). A seat(240) permits fluid communication between the two chambers (210, 220). A float(250) and a ball (230) cooperate to permit, or deny, access to the seat (240). Fluidfirst enters the inlet (270) and fills the chamber (210) and then enters the floatchamber (220) by passing through the seat (240) and exiting via the exit (280).Initially, the weight of the float (250) keeps the ball (230) away from the seat(240), but eventually the fluid level rises high enough that the action of thefloat (250) on the ball (230) decreases to a level that is overcome by the buoyantforce of the ball (230) and other fluidic forces resulting in the ball (230) movingaway from the ball support (214). Finally, the ball (230) rises enough to sealagainst the seat (240) thus stopping the flow of fluid.
