Peristaltic pump with a removable and deformable carrier

• US 7,704,057 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2004
• Issued: 04/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Athena Innovations
• Original Assignee: Athena Innovations
• Inventors: Malbec, Bertrand, Perrot, Jean-Marie
• Primary Examiner(s): Kramer; Devon C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hamo; Patrick
• Application Number:
  US10/570,149
• Publication Number:
  US 20070020130A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,058 Days
• Field of Search: 417/474, 417/476, 417/477.1, 417/477.9, 417/477.11, 417/477.12
• US Class Current: 417/477.1
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 43/1253 by using two or more rollers as squeezing elements, the rollers moving on an arc of a circle during squeezing
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 43/1284 Means for pushing the backing-plate against the tubular flexible member

Abstract

A peristaltic pump includes a removable carrier against which a flexible tube is pressed by rollers. The carrier includes an intermediate deformable section having an internal cylindrical surface whose axis coincides with the main axis of rotation of the rollers and lateral rigid arms arranged on both sides of the intermediate section. The free ends of the lateral arms include guides. The pump case is provided with paths on which the guides are slidable. The path directions are predefined in order to constrain the displacement of the free ends of the lateral arms and to deform the intermediate section in such a way that the radius of the internal face is modified keeping the axis thereof coinciding with the main axis, thereby making it possible to use a tube having variable characteristics.

Claims

1. A peristaltic pump (100), designed to operate with a deformable flexible pump body tubing (500), comprising:

a shell (200);

a bearing surface (400) forming a casing with said shell; and

a plurality of cylindrical rollers (321, 322, 323) housed inside said casing, said rollers being rotatable about a main axis (A) and able to compress said tubing at least one point on a surface of said bearing surface facing the inside of said casing, called an inner surface,

wherein said bearing surface (400) comprises an intermediate deformable portion (401) with an intermediate inner surface (405) having the shape of a cylinder whose axis (A′

) coincides with said main axis, and first and second rigid side arms (403, 404) on either side of said deformable intermediate portion, first and second free ends (E, F) of said first and second rigid side arms comprising, respectively, first and second guide means (413, 414), and in that said shell comprises upstream and downstream tracks (251, 252) on which said first and second guide means can slide in an assembled position of said pump, said upstream and downstream tracks comprising chamfered lateral surfaces of first and second main walls of said shell and respective predefined paths for limiting the displacement of said first and second free ends of the first and second rigid side arms so as to deform said deformable intermediate portion so that a radius of said intermediate inner surface is modified while leaving said axis of said intermediate inner surface in coincidence with said main axis, so that said peristaltic pump adapts automatically to a tubing having variable physical and geometric properties.

2. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein said bearing surface (400) is removable to allow a pump body tubing (500) to be positioned between at least one roller of said plurality of rollers (321, 322, 323) and said intermediate inner surface (405) of said deformable intermediate section (401) of the bearing surface.

3. The peristaltic pump according to claim 2, wherein said bearing surface (400) is placed on said shell (200) of said peristaltic pump (100) during starting up of said peristaltic pump.

4. The peristaltic pump according to claim 3, wherein said bearing surface is placed on said shell by snapping the first and second guide means (413, 414) onto said upstream and downstream tracks.

5. The peristaltic pump according to claim 2, wherein said shell comprises a combination of an inner component and an outer component (260), said bearing surface being joined to said outer component so as to optionally form an interchangeable subassembly with a pump body tubing, the interchangeable subassembly being placed on said inner component of the shell during starting up of said peristaltic pump.

6. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein said peristaltic pump (100) is symmetrical about a main plane of symmetry (P) defined by said main axis (A) and a bisector of an angle of opening of said intermediate inner surface (405).

7. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein a variation in the radius (Δ

R) of said intermediate inner surface (405) with respect to a radius at rest (R) of the radius of said intermediate inner surface is no more than 10%.

8. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, characterized in that said plurality of rollers (321, 322, 323) comprises three rollers and said intermediate inner surface (405) has an angle of opening of at least 1200 so that, at any time, at least one of said three rollers is opposite said intermediate inner surface, said tubing (500) being compressed at at least one point.

9. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein a length of said first and second side arms (403, 404) is between 0.9 and 1.2 times the value of a radius at rest (R) of said intermediate inner surface (405).

10. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein said predefined path of said upstream and downstream tracks is comparable to first and second line segments lying in a plane perpendicular to said main axis (A), said segments each making an angle of about 45°

with a main plane.

11. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein said predefined path of said upstream and downstream tracks is comparable to arcs of a circle, the centre of which lies in a plane perpendicular to said main axis (A).

12. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein said first and second guide means comprise first and second bosses (413, 414) situated laterally on the respective free ends of each of said first and second side arms (403, 404), and able to slide respectively along said upstream and downstream tracks.

13. A peristaltic pump (100), designed to operate with a deformable flexible pump body tubing (500), comprising:

a shell (200);

a bearing surface (400) forming a casing with said shell; and

a plurality of cylindrical rollers (321, 322, 323) housed inside said casing, said rollers being rotatable about a main axis (A) and able to compress said tubing at least one point on a surface of said bearing surface facing the inside of said casing, called an inner surface,

wherein said bearing surface (400) comprises an intermediate deformable portion (401) with an intermediate inner surface (405) having the shape of a cylinder whose axis (A′

) coincides with said main axis, and first and second rigid side arms (403, 404) on either side of said deformable intermediate portion, first and second free ends (E, F) of said first and second rigid side arms comprising, respectively, first and second guide means (413, 414), and in that said shell comprises upstream and downstream tracks (251, 252) on which said first and second guide means can slide in an assembled position of said pump, said upstream and downstream tracks having respective predefined paths for limiting the displacement of said first and second free ends of the first and second rigid side arms so as to deform said deformable intermediate portion so that a radius of said intermediate inner surface is modified while leaving said axis of said intermediate inner surface in coincidence with said main axis, so that said peristaltic pump adapts automatically to a tubing having variable physical and geometric properties, and wherein said upstream and downstream tracks consist of lateral surfaces of recesses made in the first and second main walls of said shell.

14. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein the upstream and downstream tracks are notched.

15. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein said bearing surface (400) comprises secondary guide means mechanisms located at the apex (B) of said deformable intermediate portion (405) and projecting laterally on either side of the latter, and in that said shell (200) comprises first and second grooves (251, 252) made, in said main plane of symmetry (P), in first and second main walls (203, 204) of said shell, said grooves being designed to cooperate with said secondary guide mechanisms to keep the bearing surface symmetrical about said main plane of symmetry during operation of said peristaltic pump.

16. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein the peristaltic pump further comprises storage means which enable said bearing surface to be held in place on said shell so that said pump body tubing is not stressed during storage of said pump, said storage means allowing the bearing surface to be correctly positioned during use of said pump.

17. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein said shell (200) comprises upstream and downstream fixed counter-bearing surfaces that are placed respectively facing first and second inner surfaces (407, 408) of said first and second side arms (403, 404) to keep the tubing (500) stationary with respect to said bearing surface (400) during use of said peristaltic pump.

18. The peristaltic pump according to claim 1, wherein the peristaltic pump further comprises a removable pre-assembled subassembly consisting at least of a bearing surface (400) and a tubing (500).