INFUSION DEVICE AND PERISTALTIC PUMP THEREOF

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Application No. 18/499,243, filed on November 1st, 2023. The content of the application is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an infusion device and a peristaltic pump thereof, and more specifically, to an infusion 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 movement of the holder structure and a peristaltic pump thereof.

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 an infusion device including a fluid path module and a drive module. The fluid path module includes a first housing and a peristaltic pump. The peristaltic pump is disposed within the first housing and includes a flexible tube and a roller module. The roller module is rotatable relative to the flexible tube and includes a holder structure, a roller mechanism, and an actuating rod. The holder structure has at least one holder movable in a lateral direction relative to the flexible tube. The roller mechanism includes at least one roller rotatably mounted on the at least one holder. The actuating rod drives the roller module to rotate. The drive module includes a second housing, a spinning head, and a power source. The spinning head is disposed within the second housing at a position corresponding to the actuating rod. The power source is disposed within the second housing and connected to the spinning head, for driving the spinning head to rotate. When the actuating rod is at an initial position, the flexible tube is uncompressed by any rollers. When the second housing is assembled with the first housing, the spinning head becomes detachably engaged with the actuating rod and the flexible tube is compressed by the at least one roller for fluid transfer in the flexible tube.

The present invention further provides a peristaltic pump including a flexible tube and a roller module. The roller module is rotatable relative to the flexible tube and includes a holder structure, a roller mechanism, and an actuating rod. The holder structure is movable relative to the flexible tube and includes a first holder and a second holder. The roller mechanism is rotatably mounted on the holder structure and includes at least one first roller rotatably mounted on the first holder and at least one second roller rotatably mounted on the second holder. The actuating rod is movable relative to the flexible tube in a longitudinal direction. A protruding structure protrudes laterally from at least one of the first holder and the actuating rod. Before the actuating rod is moved longitudinally toward the flexible tube, the at least one first roller is facing the flexible tube, and the at least one second roller is not facing the flexible tube. After the actuating rod is moved longitudinally toward the flexible tube by a longitudinal force, the protruding structure drives the first holder to move laterally, for making the at least one first roller compress the flexible tube. Upon rotating the roller module by a rotational force from the actuating rod, the at least one first roller and the at least one second roller compress the flexible tube for fluid transfer in the flexible tube.

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.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a peristaltic pump according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a top view showing that the actuating rod moves downward to make the roller mechanism in FIG. 9 compress the curved tube portion.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of an infusion device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional diagram of the infusion device in FIG. 11 along a cross-sectional line A-A.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional diagram of an actuating rod in FIG. 12 being in an initial position and not engaged with a spinning head.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of the infusion device in FIG. 11 from another viewing angle.

FIG. 15 is a side view of an infusion device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a side view of a second housing rotates to be assembled with a first housing in FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a diagram of an infusion device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of an infusion 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, in another embodiment adopting a single roller design, the holder structure could only include the first holder, and the roller mechanism could only include the first roller. The first holder is movable relative to the curved tube portion, the first roller is rotatably mounted on the first holder, and the protruding structure protrudes laterally from the first holder. In such a manner, when the actuating rod moves downward, the actuating rod interferes with the protruding structure of the first holder to laterally move the first holder. As such, the first roller can compress the curved tube portion by the lateral movement of the first holder for subsequent the fluid transfer operations. As for the other derived designs (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) of the peristaltic pump device according to this embodiment, the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiments and omitted herein.

Alternatively, 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.

Moreover, the present invention could adopt the design of utilizing the actuating rod to only drive one holder. For example, please refer to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. FIG. 9 is a front view of a peristaltic pump 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a top view showing that the actuating rod 34 moves downward to make the roller mechanism 32 in FIG. 9 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. In this embodiment, the peristaltic pump 100 includes the flexible tube 20 and a roller module 102, and the roller module 102 is rotatable relative to the flexible tube 20. The roller module 102 includes a holder structure 104, the roller mechanism 32, and the actuating rod 34. In this embodiment, the roller mechanism 32 includes at least one first roller 42 and at least one second roller 44, and the holder structure 104 is movable relative to the flexible tube 20 and includes a first holder 106 and a second holder 108. The first roller 42 is rotatably mounted on the first holder 106 and the second roller 44 is rotatably mounted on the second holder 108, but the present invention is not limited thereto, meaning that the number of holders and rollers depends on the practical application of the present invention).

Before the actuating rod 34 is moved longitudinally toward the flexible tube 20, the first roller 42 is facing the curved tube portion 24 of the flexible tube 20, and the second roller 44 is not facing the curved tube portion 24 of the flexible tube 20 (e.g., as shown in FIG. 10).

In such a manner, after the actuating rod 34 is moved longitudinally (e.g., the actuating rod 34 moving downward along a Y-axis direction as shown in FIG. 9) toward the flexible tube 20 by exerting a longitudinal force, the actuating rod 34 slides along the inclined surface 37 on the first holder 106 to move the first holder 106 from a position as shown in FIG. 10(a) laterally (that is, the first holder 106 moves closer to the curved tube portion 24, such as moving toward the curved tube portion 24 along an X-axis direction as shown in FIG. 10) to a position as shown in FIG. 10(b) for compressing the curved tube portion 24, without driving the second holder 108 to move.

Upon rotating the roller module 102 by a rotational force exerted from the actuating rod 34, the first roller 42 and the second roller 44 compress the curved tube portion 24 of the flexible tube 20 for fluid transfer in the flexible tube 20. As for the other derived designs of the peristaltic pump 100 (e.g., the design in which there are two inclined surfaces on two protruding portions respectively formed on the actuating rod and the holder structure, the design in which the protruding structure protrudes laterally from the actuating rod and has an inclined surface formed thereon, 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. To be noted, the tube design of the present invention is not limited to the aforesaid curved tube design, meaning that the present invention could adopt a straight tube design in another embodiment and the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiments and omitted herein.

In practical applications, the present invention could further adopt a housing actuating design. For example, please refer to FIG. 11, FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. FIG. 11 is a diagram of an infusion device 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional diagram of the infusion device 200 in FIG. 11 along a cross-sectional line A-A. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional diagram of the actuating rod 222 in FIG. 12 being in an initial position and not engaged with a spinning head 212. Components both mentioned in this embodiment and the aforesaid embodiments represent components with similar structures or functions, and the related description is omitted herein. For clearly showing the inner mechanical design of the infusion device 200, a second housing 210 is depicted by dotted lines in FIG. 11. As shown in FIGS. 11-13, the infusion device 200 includes a fluid path module 202 and a drive module 204. The fluid path module 202 includes a first housing 206 and a peristaltic pump 208, and the drive module 204 includes the second housing 210, the spinning head 212, and a power source 214.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the first housing 206 could preferably have an inlet 203 and an outlet 205. The inlet 203 is communicated with one end of the flexible tube 20 (e.g., the inlet tube portion 26) for receiving the fluid, and the outlet 205 is communicated with another end of the flexible tube 20 (e.g., the outlet tube portion 28) for outputting the fluid.

Furthermore, the first housing 206 could include a top case 207 and a bottom case 209, and the peristaltic pump 208 could be held by the top case 207 and the bottom case 209. In this embodiment, the top case 207 could integrally form the inlet 203 and the outlet 305 (but not limited thereto, meaning that the present invention could adopt the design in which the bottom case 209 integrally forms the inlet 203 and the outlet 205). The inlet 203 could be an adapter structure 211 for receiving a fluid container (e.g., a vial, a cartridge, a syringe, a bag or any form of a reservoir, wherein the related description is commonly seen in the prior art and omitted herein) containing the fluid, and the outlet 205 could be a connector structure 213 for connecting to the output component 16 (e.g., a needle structure, an infusion set or any form of a fluid transfer component)

In practical application, the inlet 203 could be a connector that connects to the fluid container, or could be a specific container adapter having a needle structure that pierces into the fluid container. The output component 16 could be a piecing structure or an infusion set that provides a functional interface and serves as an extension for delivering the fluid. The second housing 210 is detachably assembled with the first housing 206, meaning that the second housing 210 could be a reusable housing to accept the first housing 206 after each use. Similarly, the drive module of the present invention could be a reusable unit to accept the fluid path module of the present invention after each use.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the peristaltic pump 208 is disposed within the first housing 206 and includes the flexible tube 20 and a roller module 216. The roller module 216 is rotatable relative to the flexible tube 20. The roller module 216 includes a holder structure 218, a roller mechanism 220, and an actuating rod 222. The holder structure 218 has a holder 224 movable in a lateral direction relative to the curved tube portion 24, and the roller mechanism 220 includes at least one roller (e.g., a first roller 219 rotatably mounted on the holder 224 and a second roller 221 rotatably mounted on the holder structure 218 as shown in FIG. 12, but not limited thereto). The actuating rod 222 is movable in a longitudinal direction relative to the curved tube portion 24 (e.g., upward and downward relative to the flexible tube 20) and extends from the first housing 206.

To be noted, as shown in FIGS. 12-13, a protruding structure 225 could protrude laterally from the holder 224 and have an inclined surface. As such, when the actuating rod 222 moves downward in the longitudinal direction, the actuating rod 222 slides against the inclined surface of the protruding structure 225 for making the holder 224 compress the flexible tube 20 by the lateral movement of the holder 224. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, meaning that the present invention could adopt the design in which the protruding structure 225 could protrude laterally from the actuating rod 222 for interfering with the holder 224 in another embodiment and the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to the following embodiment.

More specifically, in this embodiment, the present invention could adopt the design in which there are two protruding portions respectively formed on the actuating rod 222 and the holder 224 for guiding the lateral movement of the holder 224 more smoothly. For example, as shown in FIGS. 12-13, the protruding structure 225 could include a first protruding portion 226 protruding from the actuating rod 222 and a second protruding portion 228 protruding from the holder 224, wherein the first protruding portion 226 has a first inclined surface 227 formed thereon and the second protruding portion 228 has a second inclined surface 229 formed thereon corresponding to the first inclined surface 227. Accordingly, when the actuating rod 222 moves downward in the longitudinal direction, the first inclined surface 227 slides along the second inclined surface 229 for making the first roller 219 compress the curved tube portion 24 by the lateral movement of the holder 224 (as shown in FIG. 12).

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the longitudinal movement of the actuating rod 222 could be achieved by a manual driving method. In a preferred scenario, the actuating rod 222 could be moved longitudinally from the initial position to a final position (i.e., the position where the flexible tube 20 becomes compressed) by assembling the first housing 206 and the second housing 210. In another scenario, the actuating rod 222 could also prematurely, accidentally or undesirably be moved manually (e.g., by a finger or a tool), causing the actuating rod 222 to move longitudinally from the initial position to the final position prior to the assembly of the first housing 206 and the second housing 210. In both scenarios, the assembly of the first housing 206 and the second housing 210 ensures the actuating rod 222 move to the final position such that the spinning head 212 becomes engaged with the actuating rod 222 and the roller mechanism 220 compresses the flexible tube 20. In such a manner, the operational reliability of the infusion device provided by the present invention can be greatly improved.

The detailed description for the aforesaid engagement design of the spinning head 212 and the actuating rod 222 is provided as follows. As shown in FIGS. 12-13, the spinning head 212 is disposed within the second housing 210 at a position corresponding to the actuating rod 222, and the power source 214 (e.g., assembly of a motor and a battery with other electronic accessories (e.g., a control circuit board), but not limited thereto) is disposed within the second housing 210 and connected to the spinning head 212 for driving the spinning head 212 to rotate.

To be more specific, the present invention could preferably adopt a patterned interface engagement design to achieve detachable engagement of the spinning head 212 and the actuating rod 222. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, a first patterned interface 230 is formed at an end of the actuating rod 222, and a second patterned interface 232 is formed on the spinning head 212 with a non-keyed torque transmitting coupling pattern (e.g., a multi-leaf star (or polygonal) concave/convex pattern, a ball socket/head pattern, a Hirth-tooth pattern, a spline pattern, or a Torx/hex pattern) that accepts the first patterned interface 230. In this embodiment, the first patterned interface 230 could be preferably a non-keyed torque transmitting coupling convex structure and the second patterned interface 232 could be preferably a non-keyed torque transmitting coupling concave structure (but not limited thereto, meaning that the present invention could adopt the design in which the second patterned interface 232 is formed on the actuating rod 222 with the complimentary pattern that accepts the first patterned interface 230 formed on the spinning head 212).

As such, when the second housing 210 is assembled with the first housing 206, the second patterned interface 232 is detachably engaged with the first patterned interface 230 to make the actuating rod 222 receive both the longitudinal force for moving the holder 224 in the lateral direction and the rotational force for rotating the roller module 216 by the drive module 204 via the aforesaid engagement of the spinning head 212 and the actuating rod 222. To be noted, the aforesaid patterned interface engagement design could be also applied to the aforesaid embodiments as shown in FIGS. 1-10, and the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to this embodiment and omitted herein.

Via the aforesaid design, when the actuating rod 222 is at the initial position as shown in FIG. 13 (i.e., before the second housing 210 is assembled with the first housing 206), the flexible tube 20 is uncompressed by any rollers.

When the user wants to use the infusion device 200 for fluid transfer, the user just needs to assemble the second housing 210 with the first housing 206. During the aforesaid process, as shown in FIG. 12, the spinning head 212 becomes detachably engaged with the actuating rod 222 via the second patterned interface 232 engaged with the first patterned interface 230 for generating the longitudinal force for pushing the actuating rod 222 from the initial position as shown in FIG. 13 downward relative to the curved tube portion 24.

During the longitudinal movement of the actuating rod 222, the first inclined surface 227 of the first protruding portion 226 slides along the second inclined surface 229 of the second protruding portion 228 to move the holder 224 laterally to a position where the first roller 219 can compress the curved tube portion 24 as shown in FIG. 12.

Subsequently, when the power source 214 rotates the roller module 216 via engagement of the spinning head 212 and the actuating rod 222, the first roller 219 and the second roller 221 continuously roll over the curved tube portion 24, causing the flexible tube 20 to be compressed. As the roller module 216 compresses the flexible tube 20, the pressure inside the flexible tube 20 increases to push a fluid forward. When the roller module 216 rotates to the next position, the pressure decreases to allow another fluid in the fluid container to enter the flexible tube 20. By repeatedly performing the aforesaid process, the fluid in the container can flow from the inlet tube portion 26 to the outlet tube portion 28 through the curved tube portion 24 via compression of the first roller 219 and the second roller 221 upon the curved tube portion 24, so as to achieve the fluid transfer effect.

On the other hand, when the infusion device 200 is not in use, the user could just detach the second housing 210 from the first housing 206 for disengaging the spinning head 212 from the actuating rod 222 and releasing interference between the first protruding portion 226 of the actuating rod 222 and the second protruding portion 228 of the holder 224. At this time, the curved tube portion 24 can provide a resilient force to return the holder 224 to its original position for moving the actuating rod 222 upward, so that the roller module 216 can stop compressing the curved tube portion 24.

It should be mentioned that the present invention could adopt a container removing design for convenience of operation. For example, please refer to FIG. 14, which is a diagram of the infusion device 200 in FIG. 11 from another viewing angle. For clearly showing the inner structural design of the second housing 210, the second housing 210 is depicted by perspective dotted lines in FIG. 14. As shown in FIG. 14, the first housing 206 could have at least one through hole 234 (two shown in FIG. 14, but not limited thereto) to allow a tool (e.g., a tool 236 with two pins 237 to push the fluid container out of the second housing 210, but not limited thereto) to physically access the fluid container connected to the fluid path module 202. As such, when the fluid in the fluid container is exhausted, the user could use the tool 236 to pass through the through hole 234 and then remove the fluid container from the fluid path module 202 for subsequent container replacement.

Moreover, the housing actuating design of the present invention is not limited to the aforesaid embodiment. For example, please refer to FIG. 15 and FIG. 16. FIG. 15 is a side view of an infusion device 200’ according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a side view of a second housing 210’ rotates to be assembled with a first housing 206’ in FIG. 15. Components both mentioned in this embodiment and the aforesaid embodiments represent components with similar structures or functions, and the related description is omitted herein. For clearly showing the inner mechanical design of the infusion device 200’, the second housing 210’ is depicted by perspective dotted lines in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16.

As shown in FIGS. 15-16, the infusion device 200’ includes a fluid path module 202’ and a drive module 204’. The fluid path module 202’ includes the first housing 206’ and the peristaltic pump 208. The drive module 204’ includes the second housing 210’, the spinning head 212, and the power source 214. The second housing 210’ is rotatably connected to the first housing 206’ (e.g., by a hinge 215, but not limited thereto), so that the second housing 210’ can rotate to accept the first housing 206’ for making the spinning head 212 engaged with the actuating rod 222 and push the actuating rod 222 downward in the longitudinal direction (e.g., from a position as shown in FIG. 15 to a position as shown in FIG. 16). As for the detailed operation of the infusion device 200’, the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiments and omitted herein.

In another embodiment, the present invention could adopt a cassette design. For example, please refer to FIG. 17, which is a diagram of an infusion device 300 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. 17, the infusion device 300 includes the fluid path module 202 and a drive module 302. In this embodiment, the drive module 302 includes a second housing 304, the spinning head 212, and the power source 214 (not shown in FIG. 17). The second housing 304 has a bottom lid 306 with a socket 307 formed thereon. The bottom lid 306 openably covers the drive module 302, and the socket 307 accepts the fluid path module 202 as a cassette. In such a manner, when the user wants to use the infusion device 300 for fluid transfer, the user just needs to place the fluid path module 202 into the socket 307 and then closes the bottom lid 306 for containing the fluid path module 202 within the drive module 302. As mentioned above, during the aforesaid process, the spinning head 212 becomes detachably engaged with the actuating rod 222 to push the actuating rod 222 in the longitudinal direction for actuating the fluid transfer process. On the other hand, when the infusion device 300 is not in use, the user could just open the bottom lid 306 and then removes the fluid path module 202 from the socket 307 for subsequent operations, such as cassette disposal or replacement. As for the detailed operation of the infusion device 300, the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiments and omitted herein.

Furthermore, the cassette design of the present invention is not limited to the aforesaid embodiment. For example, please refer to FIG. 18, which is a diagram of an infusion device 400 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. 18, the infusion device 400 includes the fluid path module 202 and a drive module 402. In this embodiment, the drive module 402 includes a second housing 404, the spinning head 212, and the power source 214 (not shown in FIG. 18). The second housing 404 has a socket 406 and a bottom lid 408 openably covering the socket 406, and the socket 406 accepts the fluid path module 202 as a cassette. In such a manner, when the user wants to use the infusion device 400 for fluid transfer, the user just needs to place the fluid path module 202 into the socket 406 and then closes the bottom lid 408 for containing the fluid path module 202 within the drive module 402. As mentioned above, during the aforesaid process, the spinning head 212 becomes detachably engaged with the actuating rod 222 to push the actuating rod 222 in the longitudinal direction for actuating the fluid transfer process. On the other hand, when the infusion device 400 is not in use, the user could just open the bottom lid 408 and then removes the fluid path module 202 from the socket 406 for subsequent operations, such as cassette disposal or replacement. As for the detailed operation of the infusion device 400, 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.