Pump chamber having at least one spacer for inhibiting the pumping of a gas
First Claim
1. A pump chamber, comprising:
- a volumetric container;
a flexible membrane comprising at least a portion of a wall of said container in contact with a fluid contained within the container;
at least one spacer positioned within said container to contact at least a portion of the flexible membrane in contact with the fluid so as to inhibit contact between the flexible membrane and an internal surface of said container.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Pump chambers are disclosed that include at least one spacer element therein to prevent any gas in the pump chamber from being pumped from the pump chamber during pumping. In some embodiments, the pump chambers are included in removable pumping cartridges that are constructed and configured for coupling with reusable pump drives. Some embodiments of pump chambers including spacer elements therein comprise a substantially rigid component forming a wall of the pump chamber with a flexible or movable membrane disposed on the wall to form the chamber. Spacer elements in such pump chambers are, in some embodiments, attached to a wall of the substantially rigid component so as to prevent the movable/flexible membrane from contacting the wall during pumping.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A pump chamber, comprising:
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a volumetric container;
a flexible membrane comprising at least a portion of a wall of said container in contact with a fluid contained within the container;
at least one spacer positioned within said container to contact at least a portion of the flexible membrane in contact with the fluid so as to inhibit contact between the flexible membrane and an internal surface of said container. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A pump chamber comprising:
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a first movable wall of said pump chamber the movable wall comprising a flexible membrane;
a second wall of said pump chamber; and
at least one elongate spacer attached to said second wall and projecting towards said first movable wall and being positioned to contact the flexible membrane during operation of the pump chamber. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of pumping a fluid, comprising steps of:
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providing a pump chamber, the chamber including a flexible membrane; and
preventing any gas contained within said pump chamber from being pumped from said pump chamber by providing at least one spacer element within said pump chamber, which spacer element prevents said flexible membrane from contacting an internal surface of said pump chamber. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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Specification