Syringe plunger driver system
First Claim
1. A syringe plunger driver system for engaging syringe plungers of different sizes, each plunger having a plunger piston, a plunger flange, and a plunger stem interconnecting the piston with the flange, and each plunger forming a part of a syringe, each syringe having a barrel in which the plunger moves, each plunger flange having an inner side facing the syringe barrel and an outer side, the syringe plunger driver system having a plunger driver adapted to move the syringe plunger into the syringe barrel in an operation mode, the syringe plunger driver system comprising:
- a pushing surface located on the plunger driver adapted to press against the outer side of the plunger flange to move the flange toward the barrel during the operation mode;
a plunger retainer located on the plunger driver adapted to capture the plunger of the syringe, the plunger retainer comprising;
a first arm mounted on the plunger driver; and
a second arm mounted on the plunger driver at a location spaced-apart from the first arm, said first and second arms being asymmetric; and
a bias device connected with the first and second arms to bias the arms toward each other to capture the plunger flange between the first and second arms.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A syringe plunger driver system capable of capturing syringes of widely varying sizes comprises a pair of asymmetric plunger retainer arms pivotally mounted to a plunger driver. The system includes a low profile driver having a length that exceeds its width so that it may be mounted adjacent control modules and other operational modules. The arms are biased toward each other and one arm is longer than the other with a notch on an inside edge to receive the tip of the shorter arm when capturing small syringe flanges. A rotation knob mounted to the front surface of the low profile driver forces the arms apart when rotated to a first rotation position. A force sensor is mounted in the driver to detect occlusions in the fluid line. A processor monitors the force sensed by the force sensor and provides an alarm if the force exceeds a threshold. The driver includes a force concentrator that defines a pushing surface adapted to press against a plunger flange so that the force applied to the plunger flange is concentrated at a defined location for more accurate measurement.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A syringe plunger driver system for engaging syringe plungers of different sizes, each plunger having a plunger piston, a plunger flange, and a plunger stem interconnecting the piston with the flange, and each plunger forming a part of a syringe, each syringe having a barrel in which the plunger moves, each plunger flange having an inner side facing the syringe barrel and an outer side, the syringe plunger driver system having a plunger driver adapted to move the syringe plunger into the syringe barrel in an operation mode, the syringe plunger driver system comprising:
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a pushing surface located on the plunger driver adapted to press against the outer side of the plunger flange to move the flange toward the barrel during the operation mode;
a plunger retainer located on the plunger driver adapted to capture the plunger of the syringe, the plunger retainer comprising;
a first arm mounted on the plunger driver; and
a second arm mounted on the plunger driver at a location spaced-apart from the first arm, said first and second arms being asymmetric; and
a bias device connected with the first and second arms to bias the arms toward each other to capture the plunger flange between the first and second arms. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A syringe plunger driver system for accurately detecting force exerted against a syringe plunger, each plunger having a plunger piston, a plunger flange, and a plunger stem interconnecting the piston with the flange, and each plunger forming a part of a syringe, each syringe having a barrel in which the plunger moves, each plunger flange having an inner side facing the syringe barrel and an outer side, the syringe plunger driver system having a plunger driver adapted to move the syringe plunger into the syringe barrel in an operation mode, the syringe plunger driver system comprising:
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a force concentrator located on the plunger driver that defines a pushing surface adapted to press against the outer side of the plunger flange to move the flange toward the barrel during the operation mode, whereby the force exerted against the plunger flange in operation mode is concentrated at the pushing surface of the force concentrator so that the force may be accurately detected;
a force detector located in the plunger driver and adapted to sense force exerted by the pushing surface against the plunger flange, the force detector outputting a force signal representative of the force exerted against the plunger flange;
a plunger retainer located on the plunger driver adapted to capture the plunger of the syringe; and
a bias device connected with the plunger retainer to bias the plunger retainer into contact with the plunger flange. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for capturing syringe plungers of different sizes at a plunger driver, each plunger having a plunger piston, a plunger flange, and a plunger stem interconnecting the piston with the flange, wherein each plunger forms a part of a syringe, each syringe having a barrel in which the plunger moves, each plunger flange having an inner side facing the syringe barrel and an outer side, the plunger driver adapted to move the syringe plunger into the syringe barrel in an operation mode, the method comprising the steps of:
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opening first and second asymmetric arms mounted to the plunger driver away from each other far enough to permit easy loading of a syringe plunger to the plunger driver; and
after a syringe plunger has been properly positioned in relation to the plunger driver, closing the first and second arms inward toward each other to capture the syringe plunger flange between the first and second arms. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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Specification