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US 10,519,946 B2Granted
Peristaltic pump and method of transporting material with a peristaltic pump
AssigneeSanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH
InventorsPhilippe Nzike, Michael Schabbach, Olaf Zeckai, Meinolf Werner, Ole Simonowsky
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A peristaltic pump comprises a tube to transport a material in a transport direction and one or more piezoelements, which are configured to cause a squeezing of the tube. Furthermore, a method of transporting material comprises the step of successively actuating the piezoelements along the transport direction of the material and thereby causing a squeezing of the tube.
Claims28
A peristaltic pump, comprising:
- a tube to transport a material in a transport direction;
- a plurality of piezoelements arranged in a row along the tube, the plurality of piezoelements being configured to expand when they are actuated to cause a squeezing of the tube;
- a holder having an expansion end and a blocking end, at least one of the plurality of piezoelements being held by the holder, the holder being configured to permit each held piezoelement to expand along an expansion direction toward the expansion end of the holder and configured to block movement of the piezoelement at the blocking end of the holder when the piezoelement is expanding;
- and
- a plurality of levers, each lever being arranged between a corresponding at least one of the piezoelements and the tube, and each lever having a rotation axis located at a first end of the lever, a second end that is at an opposite longitudinal end of the lever from the first end, and a contact area being configured to interact with the corresponding at least one of the piezoelements, the contact area of the lever being closer to the rotation axis of the lever than to the second end of the lever;
- wherein an expansion of the corresponding at least one of the piezoelements causes a tangential displacement of the corresponding contact area about the rotation axis of the lever, that in turn causes a movement of the lever;
- and
- wherein each lever is configured to contact the tube at a location at the second end of the lever that is further from the rotation axis of the lever than the contact area is from the rotation axis of the lever.
5 more elements
A peristaltic pump, comprising:
- a tube to transport a material in a transport direction;
- a plurality of piezoelements arranged in a row along the tube, the plurality of piezoelements being configured to expand when they are actuated to cause a squeezing of the tube;
- a holder having an expansion end and a blocking end, at least one of the plurality of piezoelements being held by the holder, the holder being configured to permit each held piezoelement to expand along an expansion direction toward the expansion end of the holder and configured to block movement of the piezoelement at the blocking end of the holder when the piezoelement is expanding;
- and
- a plurality of levers, each lever being arranged between a corresponding at least one of the piezoelements and the tube with the corresponding at least one of the piezoelements acting on the lever via a contact position on the lever located proximal to a rotation axis such that expansion of the at least one of the piezoelements causes a tangential displacement of the contact position and consequently a rotation of the lever about the rotation axis, and each lever being configured to convert movement of at least one of the piezoelements into amplified movement against the tube with a distance between the rotation axis and a location on the lever where the lever moves against the tube being greater than a distance between the rotation axis and the contact position.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.