Fluid pump

• US 6,109,889 A
• Filed: 06/03/1998
• Issued: 08/29/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Eppendorf AG
• Original Assignee: Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft für angewandte Forschung e.V.
• Inventors: Messner, Stephan, Zengerle, Roland, Stehr, Manfred
• Primary Examiner(s): Thorpe, Timothy S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gartenberg, Ehud
• Application Number:
  US09/091,030
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• Field of Search: 417/53, 417/413.2
• US Class Current: 417/413.2
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 43/046 with piezoelectric drive

Abstract

A fluid pump has a pump body and a displacer, the displacer and the pump body being implemented such that a pump chamber is defined therebetween, the pump chamber having an inlet opening and an outlet opening, neither the inlet opening nor the outlet opening being provided with a check valve. A drive means is provided which positions the displacer periodically at a first and at a second end position. The displacer closes the outlet opening when it occupies its first end position and leaves the outlet opening free when it occupies its second end position and leaves the inlet opening free at both end positions thereof. The displacer, when moving from the first to the second end position, defines a flow-through gap which opens between the displacer and the pump body in the area of the outlet opening in dependence upon the movement, the flow-through gap being defined such that the flow through the outlet opening depends on the pressure in the pump chamber as well as on the respective opening degree of the flow-through gap.

Claims

1. A fluid pump comprising:

a substantially flat, plate-shaped pump body having an outlet opening and an inlet opening formed therethrough in parallel and adjacent to each other, wherein the outlet opening is arranged on center of said pump body, neither said inlet opening nor said outlet opening being provided with a check valve;

a plate-shaped displacer connected circumferentially to said pump body such that a pump chamber is defined therebetween, said pump chamber being substantially symmetrical with respect to said outlet opening;

drive means for positioning the displacer periodically at a first and at a second position, said drive means having a motive element, said motive element having first and second ends respectively, the first end being attached to the center of the displacer, the second end being attached to a wall of the pump body;

the displacer closing said outlet opening when it occupies its first end position and leaving said outlet opening free when it occupies its second end position and leaving the inlet opening free at both end positions thereof, said displacer, when moving from the first to the second end position, defining a flow-through gap which opens between the displacer and the pump body in the area of the outlet opening in dependence upon said movement, said flow-through gap being defined such that the flow through the outlet opening depends on the pressure in the pump chamber as well as on the respective opening degree of said flow-through gap.

2. A fluid pump according to claim 1, wherein the pump body is implemented in the form of a plate including said inlet and outlet openings, and that the displacer is provided with a recess defining together with the pump body the pump chamber.

3. A fluid pump according to claim 1, wherein the pump body is implemented in the form of a plate having inlet and outlet openings, said pump body being additionally provided with a recess defining together with the displacer the pump chamber.

4. A fluid pump according to claim 1, wherein the pump chamber is implemented as a capillary gap.

5. A fluid pump according to claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional area of the inlet opening is reduced in comparison with the cross-sectional area of the outlet opening.

6. A fluid pump according to claim 1, wherein the drive means is a piezoelectric bending converter, said piezoelectric bending converter bending upwards when voltage is applied, said central portion of said displacer moving upwards and opening said outlet opening, said converter returning to said first end position when voltage is switched off and closing said outlet opening.

7. A fluid pump according to claim 1, wherein the drive means consists of a piezo plate applied to the side of the displacer located opposite the pump body.

8. A fluid pump according to claim 1, wherein the drive means is an electrostatic drive.

9. A fluid pump according to claim 1, wherein the displacer closes the outlet opening passively when the pump has been switched off.

10. A fluid pump according to claim 1, wherein the displacer closes the outlet opening by applying a voltage with opposite sign to the drive means.

11. A fluid pump according to claim 1, wherein a pressure sensor is arranged in or on the pump chamber, said pressure sensor being used for forming a control circuit.