acts on the flapper 39 s surface area this pressure force may be as high as 20 000 psig this amount of force is too great for the flow tube 44 to overcome therefore a means of equalizing pressure is required in order for the flapper 18 to open when it becomes necessary to open the scssv the flow tube 44 not shown in this view translates downward and contacts the dart 94 dart 94 includes an opening which permits fluid to bleed through the valve 10 thereby equalizing pressure above and below the flapper 18 when pressure substantially equalizes across the flapper 18 the flow tube 44 translates axially downward and fully opens the scssv fig1 is an exploded isometric view of a safety valve 10 of the present invention shown in the closed position the valve 10 also includes a pressure equalizing means 94 the valve 10 of fig1 utilizes metal to metal contact between the flapper 18 and the seat 50 visible are the flapper mount 60 the flapper pin 70 a leaf spring 96 an equalizing dart 94 and at least one dart spring 100 a hole 102 is machined through the flapper for receiving the dart 98 the at least one dart spring 100 biases the dart 94 to a closed position fig1 is an enlarged isometric view of a flapper 18 a hard seat 50 and a flapper mount 60 this figure illustrates details of the all metal flapper and seat engagement.