Syringe Pump Apparatuses, Systems, and Methods

A syringe pump comprising:

• a main housing;
• a drive head coupled to a tube extending out of the main housing, the drive head comprising:
• an actuator coupled to and rotatable with a threaded shaft;
• a clutch assembly;
• a release body, the clutch assembly being in an engaged state when the release body is in a first position and a disengaged state when the release body is in a second position;
• and
• a carriage engaged with the threaded shaft and configured to displace over a carriage displacement range with rotation of the threaded shaft, a cam surface of the carriage displacing the release body from the first position to the second position when the carriage displaces from a first end to a second end of the carriage displacement range;
• and
• a drive assembly configured to displace the drive head relative to the main housing, the drive assembly including a leadscrew which is free to rotate when clutch assembly is in the disengaged state.

A syringe pump comprising:

• a main housing;
• a drive head coupled to an elongate body extending out of the main housing, the drive head comprising:
• an actuator coupled to and rotatable with a threaded shaft;
• a clutch assembly;
• a release body;
• and
• a carriage engaged with the threaded shaft and displaceable over a carriage displacement range in response to rotation of the threaded shaft, the carriage driving the release body from a first position to a second position upon displacement from a first end to a second end of the carriage displacement range, the clutch transitioning from an engaged state to a disengaged state when the release body is displaced from the first to second position;
• and
• a drive assembly configured to displace the drive head relative to the main housing, the drive assembly including a leadscrew which is free to rotate when clutch assembly is in the disengaged state.

A method of releasing a drive head of a syringe pump for repositioning the drive head relative to a main body of a syringe pump comprising:

• rotating, in a first direction, a threaded shaft via pivotal displacement of an actuator;
• translationally displacing a carriage engaged with the threaded shaft as the threaded shaft is rotated from a first position to second position;
• translationally displacing a cam surface of the carriage over a cam follower of a release fork coupled to a clutch assembly of the drive head to displace the release fork from a resting position;
• freeing a leadscrew of the syringe pump to rotate about an axis of leadscrew by displacing a pressure plate of the clutch assembly away from a clutch plate stack of the clutch assembly as the release fork is displaced;
• repositioning the drive head by displacing the leadscrew relative to a nut of the syringe pump.

A method of repositioning a drive head relative to a main body of a syringe pump comprising:

• rotating a threaded shaft via displacement of an actuator;
• translationally displacing a carriage through a displacement range as the threaded shaft is rotated;
• driving a release body of a clutch assembly from a first position to a second position in response to displacement of the carriage through the displacement range;
• freeing a leadscrew of the syringe pump to rotate about an axis of leadscrew by transitioning the clutch assembly from an engaged state to a disengaged state as the release body is displaced from the first to second position;
• and
• displacing the drive head.