System for increasing flow uniformity
First Claim
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1. A system for increasing the uniformity of flow of fluid through a conduit comprising:
- a drive device that moves in movement increments;
a pumping mechanism coupled to the drive device that pumps fluid through the conduit in volume increments in response to movement increments of the drive device, each volume increment corresponding to a respective movement increment of the drive device, at least some of the volume increments differing from other volume increments; and
a processor configured to control the drive device to space the movement increments by an amount of time directly proportional to the volume increments corresponding to the respective movement increments.
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Abstract
A pumping mechanism moving in movement increments is controlled to space those movement increments in direct proportion to the volume resulting from each movement increment. In a further aspect, movement increments are grouped to result in approximately equal volumes per group. The mechanism moves continuously through the movement increments in each group. Groups are spaced to result in approximately equal flow volumes per group. The number of groups decreases as the flow rate increases. The number of movement increments in each group and the volume of each group increase as the flow rate increases.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for increasing the uniformity of flow of fluid through a conduit comprising:
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a drive device that moves in movement increments; a pumping mechanism coupled to the drive device that pumps fluid through the conduit in volume increments in response to movement increments of the drive device, each volume increment corresponding to a respective movement increment of the drive device, at least some of the volume increments differing from other volume increments; and a processor configured to control the drive device to space the movement increments by an amount of time directly proportional to the volume increments corresponding to the respective movement increments. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for controlling the flow of fluid through a conduit in response to a selected flow rate to provide more uniform flow, the system comprising:
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a pumping mechanism acting on the conduit to move fluid through the conduit, the mechanism acting in movement increments wherein each movement increment causes a respective volume increment of fluid to flow in the conduit; a processor configured to control the pumping mechanism to move through a number of movement increments to from groups of movement increments with the sum of the volume increments of each group of movement increments being approximately the same as the sum of volume increments of the other groups of movement increments. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20)
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15. A method for providing more uniform flow of fluid through a conduit acted on by a pumping mechanism, the pumping mechanism moving in movement increments with each movement increment causing a particular volume increment of fluid flow through the conduit, the pumping mechanism having a pumping cycle and being responsive to a selected flow rate, the method comprising:
controlling the pumping mechanism to space the movement increments by an amount of time directly proportional to the volume increments corresponding to the respective movement increments. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 23)
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19. A method for providing more uniform flow of fluid through a conduit acted on by a pumping mechanism, the pumping mechanism moving in movement increments with each movement increment causing a particular volume increment of fluid flow through the conduit, the pumping mechanism having a pumping cycle and being responsive to a selected flow rate, the method comprising:
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controlling the pumping mechanism to space the movement increments by an amount of time directly proportional to the volume increments corresponding to the respective movement increments; controlling the pumping mechanism to move continuously through predetermined numbers of movement increments to form a plurality of groups of movement increments; and controlling the pumping mechanism to space movement between groups of movement increments by an amount of time directly proportional to the sum of the volume increments corresponding to the respective group of movement increments. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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24. A parenteral fluid delivery system comprising:
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a fluid delivery conduit; a linear peristaltic pump, said pump having a plurality of peristaltic elements movable into and out of engagement with the conduit to control the flow of fluid through the conduit; a drive device having a plurality of positions through which the drive device may move in incremental movements, said drive device coupled to the peristaltic elements of the pump, wherein the peristaltic elements pump fluid through the conduit in volume increments in response to incremental movements of the drive device, each volume increment corresponding to a respective incremental movement; a position sensor that monitors the position of the drive device; a memory that is configured to store data representing the volume increment of fluid flow corresponding to each incremental movement of the motor; a processor in communication with the memory that is configured to receive the drive device position signal and the fluid flow volume data, process the drive device position signal with the fluid flow volume data, and, for volume increments that are positive, control the drive device to vary the timing of the incremental movements of the drive device proportionally to the volume increments corresponding to the respective incremental movements. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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Specification