Pressure-regulating peristaltic pump
First Claim
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1. A peristaltic pump having a series of bearing assemblies each with concentric inner and outer bearing members freely rotatable with respect to each other;
- said inner members being eccentrically mounted upon a drive shaft with the centers of said inner members being equidistant from the axis of said drive shaft and spaced at uniform angular distances thereabout to describe a helix about said axis;
means for rotatably supporting said shaft;
power means for rotating said shaft;
a straight, elongated, resilient tube extending along a line parallel with said shaft and sequentially compressed by each of said outer bearing members of said series for pumping fluid through said tube; and
platen means for supporting said tube for sequential compression by said bearing assemblies;
said platen means including a rigid floating plate, a support frame fixed in relation to said axis when said pump is in operation, and compression means interposed between said frame and said plate for supporting said plate to maintain said tube in position for sequential compression by said bearing assemblies;
said compression means having a resistance to compression generally exceeding the force exerted by said bearing members when sequentially compressing said tube to advance fluid therethrough but being compressible to permit movement of said floating plate away from said axis to relieve compression of said tube and permit backflow therethrough when the pressure of fluid within said tube has exceeded a predetermined maximum level.
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Abstract
Controlling maximum fluid pressure at the outlet end of a peristaltic pump of the general type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,347 is achieved by supporting the resilient tubing of the pump in the trough of a rigid but movable platen mounted upon a compression pad or spring arrangement that resists platen movement until a back pressure of predetermined magnitude occurs, at which time the plate is displaced to reduce pumping efficiency and prevent further increases in outlet pressure.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A peristaltic pump having a series of bearing assemblies each with concentric inner and outer bearing members freely rotatable with respect to each other;
- said inner members being eccentrically mounted upon a drive shaft with the centers of said inner members being equidistant from the axis of said drive shaft and spaced at uniform angular distances thereabout to describe a helix about said axis;
means for rotatably supporting said shaft;
power means for rotating said shaft;
a straight, elongated, resilient tube extending along a line parallel with said shaft and sequentially compressed by each of said outer bearing members of said series for pumping fluid through said tube; and
platen means for supporting said tube for sequential compression by said bearing assemblies;
said platen means including a rigid floating plate, a support frame fixed in relation to said axis when said pump is in operation, and compression means interposed between said frame and said plate for supporting said plate to maintain said tube in position for sequential compression by said bearing assemblies;
said compression means having a resistance to compression generally exceeding the force exerted by said bearing members when sequentially compressing said tube to advance fluid therethrough but being compressible to permit movement of said floating plate away from said axis to relieve compression of said tube and permit backflow therethrough when the pressure of fluid within said tube has exceeded a predetermined maximum level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- said inner members being eccentrically mounted upon a drive shaft with the centers of said inner members being equidistant from the axis of said drive shaft and spaced at uniform angular distances thereabout to describe a helix about said axis;
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15. A peristaltic pump having a series of bearing assemblies each with concentric inner and outer bearing members freely rotatable with respect to each other;
- said inner members being eccentrically mounted upon a drive shaft wth the centers of said inner members being equidistant from the axis of said drive shaft and spaced at uniform angular distances thereabout to describe a helix about said axis;
means for rotatably supporting said shaft;
power means for rotating said shaft;
a straight, elongated, resilient tube extending along a line parallel with said shaft and sequentially compressed by each of said outer bearing members of said series for pumping fluid through said tube;
platen means for supporting said tube for sequential compression by said bearing assemblies;
said platen means including an elongated rigid plate extending in a direction parallel with said axis; and
a support frame for supporting said plate in operative relation with respect to said tube;
said plate having a support surface defining an elongated trough of arcuate transverse section facing said tube;
said tube extending along and being retained within the concavity of said support surface. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
- said inner members being eccentrically mounted upon a drive shaft wth the centers of said inner members being equidistant from the axis of said drive shaft and spaced at uniform angular distances thereabout to describe a helix about said axis;
Specification