PERISTALTIC PUMP DEVICE AND FLUID DELIVERY SYSTEM THEREOF

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a peristaltic pump device and a fluid delivery system thereof, and more specifically, to a peristaltic pump device utilizing an actuating rod to move downward for interfering with a holder structure to make a roller mechanism compress a flexible tube by a lateral, rotational, or tilted movement of the holder structure and a fluid delivery system thereof.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A peristaltic pump device is commonly used for fluid transfer. A conventional design of the peristaltic pump device involves installing a flexible tube onto a pump head with an appropriate squeezing mechanism. The pump head usually consists of one or more rollers for continuously rolling over the flexible tube via rotation of the pump head, causing the flexible tube to be compressed. As the roller compresses the flexible tube, the pressure inside the tube increases, pushing the fluid forward. When the roller rotates to the next position, the pressure decreases, allowing new fluid to enter the flexible tube. By repeatedly performing the aforesaid process, fluid is continuously drawn or pushed from one end to another end of the flexible tube, achieving the fluid transfer purpose.

However, permanent deformation of the flexible tube may occur easily due to the aforesaid continuous compression by the roller when the peristaltic pump device is in a fully assembled state, so as to reduce the product life and operational reliability of the peristaltic pump device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a peristaltic pump device including a casing, a flexible tube, and a roller module. The casing has an accommodating space. The flexible tube is disposed within the accommodating space and has a curved tube portion. The roller module is rotatably disposed within the accommodating space and surrounded by the flexible tube. The roller module includes a holder structure, a roller mechanism, and an actuating rod. The holder structure is movable relative to the curved tube portion. The roller mechanism is rotatably mounted on the holder structure. The actuating rod is movable upward and downward relative to the curved tube portion. A protruding structure protrudes laterally from at least one of the holder structure and the actuating rod. When the actuating rod moves downward, the protruding structure interferes with another of the holder structure and the actuating rod for moving the holder structure to make the roller mechanism compress the curved tube portion by a lateral, rotational, or tilted movement of the holder structure.

The present invention further provides a fluid delivery system including a peristaltic pump device, a fluid source, and an output component. The peristaltic pump device includes a casing, a flexible tube, and a roller module. The casing has an accommodating space. The flexible tube is disposed within the accommodating space and has a curved tube portion, an inlet tube portion, and an outlet tube portion. The roller module is rotatably disposed within the accommodating space and surrounded by the flexible tube. The roller module includes a holder structure, a roller module, and an actuating rod. The holder structure is movable relative to the curved tube portion. The roller mechanism is rotatably mounted on the holder structure. The actuating rod is movable upward and downward relative to the curved tube portion. A protruding structure protrudes laterally from at least one of the holder structure and the actuating rod. The fluid source is connected to the inlet tube portion for providing a fluid. The output component is connected to the outlet tube portion for outputting the fluid. When the actuating rod moves downward, the protruding structure interferes with another of the holder structure and the actuating rod for moving the holder structure to make the roller mechanism compress the curved tube portion by a lateral, rotational, or tilted movement of the holder structure. The fluid flows from the inlet tube portion to the outlet tube portion through the curved tube portion via compression of the roller mechanism upon the curved tube portion.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a fluid delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a peristaltic pump device in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the peristaltic pump device when an actuating rod in FIG. 2 moves downward.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing that the actuating rod moves downward to make a roller mechanism compress a curved tube portion in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a peristaltic pump device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a peristaltic pump device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a top view showing that the actuating rod moves downward to make the roller mechanism in FIG. 6 compress the curved tube portion.

FIG. 8 is a top view of a peristaltic pump device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a diagram of a fluid delivery system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. For clearly showing the design of a peristaltic pump device 12, other components of the fluid delivery system 10 are simply represented by dotted outlines in FIG. 1. The fluid delivery system 10 could be preferably applied to equipment that requires fluid transfer, such as glue dispensers, drip equipment, or leaf membrane devices (but not limited thereto). As shown in FIG. 1, the fluid delivery system 10 includes the peristaltic pump device 12, a fluid source 14, and an output component 16. The peristaltic pump device 12 includes a casing 18 (simply represented by dotted outlines in FIG. 1), a flexible tube 20, and a roller module 22. The casing 18 has an accommodating space 19. The flexible tube 20 is disposed within the accommodating space 19 and could have a curved tube portion 24 (preferably circular, but not limited thereto), an inlet tube portion 26, and an outlet tube portion 28. The roller module 22 is rotatably disposed within the accommodating space 19 and surrounded by the flexible tube 20 and includes a holder structure 30, a roller mechanism 32, and an actuating rod 34. The holder structure 30 is movable relative to the curved tube portion 24. The roller mechanism 32 is rotatably mounted on the holder structure 30. The actuating rod 34 could move upward and downward relative to the curved tube portion 24, wherein the up and down movement of the actuating rod 34 could be achieved by a manual or mechanical driving method and the related description is commonly seen in the prior art and omitted herein for simplicity. A protruding structure 36 could protrude laterally from the holder structure 30 for interfering with the actuating rod 34 when the actuating rod 34 moves downward, but the present invention is not limited thereto, meaning that the present invention could adopt the design in which the protruding structure 36 could protrude laterally from the actuating rod 34 for interfering with the holder structure 30 in another embodiment and the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to this embodiment.

Furthermore, the fluid source 14 is connected to the inlet tube portion 26 for providing a fluid (e.g., glue or drug). The output component 16 could be preferably used in the aforesaid fluid transfer equipment for fluid output, such as a glue outlet tube of the glue dispenser or an output needle of the drip equipment. The output component 16 is connected to the outlet tube portion 28 for outputting the fluid out of the fluid delivery system 10.

Via the aforesaid design, when a user wants to use the peristaltic pump device 12 for fluid transfer, the user just needs to operate the actuating rod 34 to move downward, so that the protruding structure 36 can interfere with the actuating rod 34 for moving the holder structure 30 to make the roller mechanism 32 compress the curved tube portion 24 by a lateral movement of the holder structure 30. Subsequently, when the roller module 22 rotates (e.g., by a motor, but not limited thereto) relative to the curved tube portion 24 to continuously roll over the curved tube portion 24, causing the flexible tube 20 to be compressed. As the roller module 22 compresses the flexible tube 20, the pressure inside the flexible tube 20 increases to push the fluid forward. When the roller module 22 rotates to the next position, the pressure decreases to allow another fluid in the fluid source 14 to enter the flexible tube 20. By repeatedly performing the aforesaid process, the fluid in the fluid source 14 can flow from the inlet tube portion 26 to the outlet tube portion 28 through the curved tube portion 24 via compression of the roller mechanism 32 upon the curved tube portion 24, so as to achieve the fluid transfer effect.

To be more specific, in this embodiment, the present invention could adopt the two-roller design and the inclined-surface guiding design. For example, please refer to FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4. FIG. 2 is a front view of the peristaltic pump device 12 in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a front view of the peristaltic pump device 12 when the actuating rod 34 in FIG. 2 moves downward. FIG. 4 is a top view showing that the actuating rod 34 moves downward to make the roller mechanism 32 compress the curved tube portion 24 in FIG. 3. As shown in FIGS. 2-4, the holder structure 30 could include a first holder 38 and a second holder 40 disposed symmetrically relative to the first holder 38, and the roller mechanism 32 could include a first roller 42 rotatably mounted on the first holder 38 and a second roller 44 rotatably mounted on the second holder 40. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the protruding structure 36 could protrude laterally from the first holder 38 and the second holder 40, respectively, and each protruding structure 36 could have an inclined surface 37 formed thereon. In such a manner, when the actuating rod 34 moves from a position as shown in FIG. 2 downward to a position as shown in FIG. 3, the actuating rod 34 slides along the inclined surface 37 on the first holder 38 and the inclined surface 37 on the second holder 40 to move the first holder 38 and the second holder 40 from a position as shown in FIG. 4(a) to a position as shown in FIG. 4(b). As such, the first roller 42 and the second roller 44 can compress the curved tube portion 24 respectively by the lateral movements of the first holder 38 and the second holder 40 for subsequent the fluid transfer operations.

On the other hand, when the peristaltic pump device 12 is not in use, the user could just operate the actuating rod 34 to move upward to release interference between the protruding structure 36 and the actuating rod 34. At this time, the curved tube portion 24 can provide a resilient force to return the holder structure 30 to its original position as shown in FIG. 4(a), so that the roller mechanism 32 can stop compressing the curved tube portion 24.

In summary, compared with the prior art adopting the design in which the roller always compresses the flexible tube no matter the peristaltic pump device is in use or not, the present invention adopts the design in which the roller mechanism only compresses the flexible tube when the actuating rod is operated to move downward. Furthermore, the present invention also allows the roller mechanism to stop compressing the flexible tube by moving the actuating rod upward when the peristaltic pump device is not in use. In such a manner, the present invention can efficiently solve the prior art problem that permanent deformation of the flexible tube may occur easily due to the continuous compression by the roller, so as to improve the product life and operational reliability of the peristaltic pump device.

In the practical application, the present invention could adopt the design in which there are two inclined surfaces respectively formed on the actuating rod and the holder structure for guiding the movement of the holder structure more smoothly. To be brief, the protruding structure could include a first protruding portion protruding from the actuating rod and a second protruding portion protruding from the holder structure, the first protruding portion has a first inclined surface formed thereon, and the second protruding portion has a second inclined surface formed thereon corresponding to the first inclined surface. Accordingly, when the actuating rod moves downward, the first inclined surface slides along the second inclined surface for making the roller mechanism compress the curved tube portion by the lateral movement of the holder structure. As for other related description for this embodiment, it could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiment and omitted herein.

It should be mentioned that the present invention could adopt the design in which the roller mechanism compresses the curved tube portion by a rotational or tilted movement of the holder structure instead of the aforesaid lateral movement. For example, please refer to FIG. 5, which is a front view of a peristaltic pump device 12′ according to another embodiment of the present invention. Components both mentioned in this embodiment and the aforesaid embodiments represent components with similar structures or functions, and the related description is omitted herein. As shown in FIG. 5, the peristaltic pump device 12′ includes the casing 18, the flexible tube 20, and a roller module 22′, and the roller module 22′ is rotatably disposed within the accommodating space 19 and surrounded by the flexible tube 20 and includes a holder structure 30′, the roller mechanism 32, and the actuating rod 34. In this embodiment, the holder structure 30′ includes a first holder 38′ and a second holder 40′ respectively tilted against the curved tube portion 24, and the first roller 42 and the second roller 44 are rotatably mounted on the first holder 38′ and the second holder 40′, respectively. Furthermore, the protruding structure 36 protrudes laterally from the first holder 38′ and the second holder 40′ with the inclined surface 37, respectively. In such a manner, when the actuating rod 34 moves downward from a position as shown in FIG. 5, the actuating rod 34 slides along the inclined surfaces 37 on the first holder 38′ and the second holder 40′, so as to rotate the first holder 38′ and the second holder 40′ from a position as shown in FIG. 5 to a position where the first roller 42 and the second roller 44 respectively compress the curved tube portion 24 (e.g., the position as shown in FIG. 3) by rotational or tilted movements of the first holder 38′ and the second holder 40′. As for the other derived designs of the peristaltic pump device 12′ (e.g., the design in which there are two inclined surfaces respectively formed on the actuating rod and the holder structure), the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiments and omitted herein.

Furthermore, the present invention could adopt the integral forming holder design in another embodiment. For example, please refer to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. FIG. 6 is a front view of a peristaltic pump device 12″ according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a top view showing that the actuating rod 34 moves downward to make the roller mechanism 32 in FIG. 6 compress the curved tube portion 24. Components both mentioned in this embodiment and the aforesaid embodiments represent components with similar structures or functions, and the related description is omitted herein. As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the peristaltic pump device 12″ includes the casing 18, the flexible tube 20, and a roller module 22″, and the roller module 22″ is rotatably disposed within the accommodating space 19 and surrounded by the flexible tube 20 and includes a holder structure 30″, the roller mechanism 32, and the actuating rod 34. In this embodiment, the holder structure 30″ includes a first holder 38″ and a second holder 40″ extending from the first holder 38″ (e.g., by an integrated molding process), and the roller mechanism 32 includes the first roller 42 rotatably mounted on the first holder 38″ and the second roller 44 rotatably mounted on the second holder 40″. Furthermore, the protruding structure 36 protrudes laterally from the first holder 38″ with the inclined surface 37. In such a manner, when the actuating rod 34 moves downward from a position as shown in FIG. 7, the actuating rod 34 slides along the inclined surface 37 on the first holder 38″ to move the first holder 38″ and the second holder 40″ from a position as shown in FIG. 7(a) to a position as shown in FIG. 7(b) in the same direction. As such, the first holder 38″ and the second holder 40″ can be positioned symmetrically relative to the actuating rod 34 at the position as shown in FIG. 7(b), so as to make the first roller 42 and the second roller 44 compress the curved tube portion 24 respectively with rotation of the roller module 22″ for subsequent the fluid transfer operations. As for the other derived designs of the peristaltic pump device 12″ (e.g., the design in which there are two inclined surfaces respectively formed on the actuating rod and the holder structure), the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiments and omitted herein.

To be noted, the number of holders and rollers in the roller module is not limited to the aforesaid embodiments, meaning that the present invention could selectively adopt a single-roller design or a three-roller (or more) design according to the practical applications of the present invention. For example, please refer to FIG. 8, which is a top view of a peristaltic pump device 12′″ according to another embodiment of the present invention. Components both mentioned in this embodiment and the aforesaid embodiments represent components with similar structures or functions, and the related description is omitted herein. As shown in FIG. 8, the peristaltic pump device 12′″ includes the casing 18, the flexible tube 20, and a roller module 22′″, and the roller module 22′″ is rotatably disposed within the accommodating space 19 and surrounded by the flexible tube 20 and includes a holder structure 30′″, a roller mechanism 32′, and the actuating rod 34. In this embodiment, the holder structure 30′″ includes the first holder 38, the second holder 40, and at least one third holder 46 (one shown in FIG. 8, but not limited thereto), and the roller mechanism 32′ includes the first roller 42, the second roller 44, and a third roller 48. The third holder 46 is movable relative to the curved tube portion 24 and could be preferably disposed within the accommodating space 19 symmetrically with the first holder 38 and the second holder 40 (but not limited thereto, meaning that the present invention could adopt an asymmetrical arrangement in another embodiment), and the first roller 42, the second roller 44, and the third roller 48 are rotatably mounted on the first holder 38, the second holder 40, and the third holder 46, respectively. Furthermore, the protruding structure 36 protrudes laterally from the first holder 38, the second holder 40, and the third holder 46 with the inclined surface 37, respectively. In such a manner, when the actuating rod 34 moves downward, the actuating rod 34 slides along the inclined surfaces 37 on the first holder 38, the second holder 40, and the third holder 46 to move the first holder 38, the second holder 40 and the third holder 46 to a position where the first roller 42, the second roller 44, and the third roller 48 respectively compress the curved tube portion 24 (e.g., a position as shown in FIG. 8) by lateral movements of the first holder 38, the second holder 40, and the third holder 46. As for the other derived designs of the peristaltic pump device 12′″ (e.g., the design in which there are two inclined surfaces respectively formed on the actuating rod and the holder structure or the design in which the holder structure is tilted against the curved tube portion), the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiments and omitted herein.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.