Patent Publication Number: US-11035353-B2

Title: Volumetric pump

Description:
The present invention relates to a volumetric pump. 
     Nowadays, for moving liquids, there are several kinds of pump: volumetric, fluid-dynamic, and hydraulic. 
     They impart a motion to a fluid that is directly proportional to the energy applied for their operation. 
     Generally, conventional volumetric pumps have the following principal drawbacks:
         Relatively high electricity consumption in proportion to the work that they are called on to do,   The need for careful maintenance, often owing to friction between components that move relative to each other, or owing to the imperfect seal between such components.       

     In particular, such limitations make the use of conventional volumetric pumps complex when applied in certain fields, such as for example the medical field. 
     The aim of the present invention is to provide a volumetric pump that is capable of improving the known art in one or more of the above mentioned aspects. 
     Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a volumetric pump that offers lower energy consumption than a conventional volumetric pump for the same performance. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a volumetric pump that is simple, compact and safe, therefore which requires less maintenance than a similar, conventional volumetric pump. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a volumetric pump that can also be used in the medical field. 
     Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the known art in a different manner to any existing solutions. 
     This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a volumetric pump according to claim  1 , optionally provided with one or more of the characteristics of the dependent claims. 
    
    
     
       Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of two preferred, but not exclusive, embodiments of the volumetric pump according to the invention, which are illustrated for the purposes of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of a volumetric pump according to the invention in a first embodiment thereof; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional side view of the pump in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a plan view of a volumetric pump according to the invention in a second embodiment thereof; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional side view of the pump in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view of a variation of embodiment of the volumetric pump according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     With reference to the figures, a volumetric pump according to the invention is generally designated by the reference numeral  10 . 
     Such volumetric pump  10 , in a first embodiment thereof shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , comprises:
         a deformable enclosure  11  that defines four variable-volume chambers  12 ,  13 ,  14  and  15 , each one of such chambers  12 ,  13 ,  14  and  15  having an intake passage  17 ,  18 ,  19  and  20  and an outflow passage  18 ,  20 ,  21  and  22 ,   magnetically-actuated means  23 , which act on portions of the deformable enclosure  11  in order to deform that deformable enclosure  11  between an extended configuration, having a larger volume in the variable-volume chambers, and a compressed configuration, having a smaller volume in the variable-volume chambers,   drive means  24  for the actuation of the magnetically-actuated means  23 ,   a load-bearing frame  25  on which the deformable enclosure  11  and the drive means  24  are mounted.       

     In such first embodiment, the deformable enclosure  11  is constituted by a closed bag made of plastic material, inside which the load-bearing frame  25  with the drive means  24  is enclosed. 
     Such closed bag is contoured so as to define those four variable-volume chambers  12 ,  13 ,  14  and  15 , respectively the first chamber  12 , the second chamber  13 , the third chamber  14  and the fourth chamber  15 . 
     The load-bearing frame  25  comprises two walls  26  and  27  which face each other so as to define an interspace  28  that accommodates at least part of the drive means  24 , better described hereinbelow. 
     The load-bearing frame  25  also comprises two intermediate partitions  29  and  30 , which extend transversely to a corresponding wall  26  and  27 . 
     Each one of the variable-volume chambers  12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15  is defined between a portion of the enclosure  11 , a portion of a wall  26  or  27  and an intermediate partition  29  or  30 , which extends from the corresponding wall  26  or  27 . 
     In such embodiment, one variable-volume chamber  12 ,  13 ,  14  and  15  is connected to another of these variable-volume chambers. 
     For example the first chamber  12  is connected to the second chamber  13 , both being defined on the same side of a first wall  26 , while the third chamber  14  is connected to the fourth chamber  15 , both being defined on the same side of the second wall  27 . 
     The first chamber  11  has a first intake passage  17 , which is connected to the outside of the enclosure  11 , and a first outflow passage  18 , which is defined for example on the intermediate partition  29  between the two chambers  12  and  13 . 
     The second chamber  13  therefore has a second intake passage which is constituted by the first outflow passage  18  on the intermediate partition  29 , and a second outflow passage  21 , connected to the outside of the enclosure  11 . 
     Similarly, the third chamber  14  has a third intake passage  19 , which is connected to the outside of the enclosure  11 , and a third outflow passage  20 , which is defined for example on the intermediate partition  30  between the two chambers  14  and  15 . 
     The fourth chamber  15  therefore has a fourth intake passage which is constituted by the third outflow passage  20  on the intermediate partition  30 , and a fourth outflow passage  22 , connected to the outside of the enclosure  11 . 
     The intake and outflow passages  17 ,  19 ,  21  and  22  that are connected to the outside are for example connected to the tubular elements for the inflow and the outflow of a fluid. 
     The passages  18  and  20  between two communicating variable-volume chambers each have a corresponding one-way valve, not shown for the sake of simplicity and which should be understood as being of known type, so as to render the motion of the pumped fluid unidirectional from one chamber to the other. 
     The magnetically-actuated means  23 , in the present embodiment, comprise, for each one of the variable-volume chambers  12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 , two magnetic bodies  32 ,  33 ,  34  and  35 , for example two,  32  and  33 , for the first chamber  12 , and two,  34  and  35 , for the adjacent second chamber  13 , which are preset to attract or repel each other mutually,
         a first magnetic body  32  and  34 , which is moved by the drive means  24  in the interspace  28 ,   a second magnetic body  33  and  35 , which is fixed to the enclosure  11  in such a position as to undergo the magnetic attraction or repulsion of the first magnetic body  32  and  34  when the latter is substantially at the second magnetic body  33  and  35 , i.e. when, in the case of attraction, the second magnetic body  33  and  35 , with the corresponding portion of enclosure  11  in the extended configuration, and not compressed, is at the minimum distance from the first magnetic body  32  and  34 , or, in the case of repulsion, the second magnetic body  33  and  35 , with the corresponding portion of enclosure  11  in the compressed configuration, is in contact with or proximate to the first magnetic body  32  and  34 .       

     For example, in the case of attraction of the first and second magnetic bodies, when the drive means  24  bring a first magnetic body  32  and  34  to the respective second magnetic body  33  and  35 , the attraction between the two produces the movement of the second magnetic body  33  and  35  toward the first magnetic body  32  and  34 , with consequent collapse of the portion of enclosure  11  on which the second magnetic body  33  and  35  is fixed, and consequent decrease in the volume of the corresponding variable-volume chamber, for example  12  and  13 . 
     In a variation of embodiment, not shown for the sake of simplicity, the deformable enclosure  11  is elastically deformable, so that when the first magnetic body  32  and  34  is distanced from the second magnetic body  33  and  35 , and therefore the magnetic attraction decreases, the portion of deformable enclosure  11  returns from the collapsed configuration to the extended configuration, with consequent increase in volume of the corresponding variable-volume chamber. 
     In the example described herein, the second magnetic bodies  33  and  35  for two variable-volume chambers  12  and  13 , the latter arranged on the same side of the load-bearing frame  25  and mutually opposite with respect to an intermediate partition  29 , are supported by a lever  42 , to the opposite ends  40  and  41  of which they are respectively fixed. 
     Similarly, the second magnetic bodies  33   a  and  35   a  for the other two variable-volume chambers  14  and  15 , the latter arranged on the same side of the load-bearing frame  25  and mutually opposite with respect to an intermediate partition  30 , are supported by a lever  42   a , to the opposite ends  40   a  and  41   a  of which they are respectively fixed. 
     Such lever  42  and  42   a  is constituted, for example, by a flat bar. 
     Such lever  42  and  42   a  is positioned across the partition  29  and  30 . 
     Such lever  42  and  42   a  is incorporated, together with the second magnetic bodies  33 ,  33   a ,  35  and  35   a , in the deformable enclosure  11 . 
     The drive means  24  for the actuation of the magnetically-actuated means  23  are adapted to move the first magnetic bodies  32  and  34  according to an alternating translational motion in the two opposite directions of a same line X. 
     Such drive means  24  comprise an electric motor  43  that is adapted to move a rod-and-crank system, which comprises a crank element and two opposing rod elements, the rod elements each supporting a first magnetic body  32  and  34  respectively. 
     In the present, obviously non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the rod-and-crank system comprises a gearwheel  45  as the crank element, eccentrically to which two opposing rods  46  and  47  are pivoted, each of which supports at the end a first magnetic body  32  and  34  respectively. 
     The rods  46  and  47  are pivoted about a same axis Y, parallel to the axis of the rotating shaft of the electric motor  43 . 
     The rods  46  and  47  have a widened head  46   a  and  47   a  which is arranged so as to slide in a corresponding straight guide  48  and  49 . 
     The straight guides  48  and  49  extend along the axis X. 
     The gearwheel  45  is meshed with a pinion  44  which is fixed to the rotating shaft of the electric motor  43 . 
     In a variation of embodiment, not shown for the sake of simplicity, the gearwheel  45  is fixed directly to the rotating shaft of an electric motor, without the interposition of pinions or other elements for transmitting the motor torque. 
     The electric motor  43  is advantageously powered by batteries. 
     Such batteries are arranged proximate to the electric motor, or incorporated in it. 
     In a variation of embodiment of the invention, shown for the purposes of example in  FIG. 5 , the electric motor  43  is powered through cable wires  50  that extend so as to exit from the deformable enclosure  11 , for example at the portion of the enclosure that is positioned so as to affect the interspace  28 . 
     In general, such batteries are conveniently fixed to the load-bearing frame  25 , inside the deformable enclosure  11 ; in this manner the volumetric pump  10  does not require electrical power connections to external sources. 
     Operation of the volumetric pump  10  according to the invention is the following. 
     The electric motor  43  produces the rotation of the gearwheel  45 , which in turn produces the movement of the rods  46  and  47  and the consequent alternating translational motion in the direction defined by the axis X of the first magnetic bodies  32  and  34 . 
     When a first magnetic body  32  and  34  is at a respective second magnetic body  33  and  35 , but also  33   a  and  35   a , fixed to the enclosure  11 , such second magnetic body  33  and  35 , and  33   a  and  35   a , is attracted, making the corresponding variable-volume chamber  12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15  collapse. 
     The alternating translational motion of the two first magnetic bodies  32  and  34  has the result that when a first one of the first magnetic bodies  32  exits from the magnetic field of the respective second magnetic body  33 , the second of those first magnetic bodies  34  will begin to act in the same manner on the other second magnetic body  35 . 
     The rod  42  facilitates and ensures the alternating distancing of the second magnetic body  33  and  35  from the respective first magnetic body  32  and  34 , acting as a form of seesaw pivoted on the partition  29 . 
     In this manner, it is ensured that two mutually connected variable-volume chambers  12  and  13  are never both in the extended configuration, and never both in the compressed configuration. 
     Operation for the other two chambers  14  and  15 , arranged on the other side of the load-bearing frame  25  with respect to the two chambers  12  and  13 , is mirror-symmetrical. 
     In this manner, by taking advantage of the pressure generated by the alternating collapsing of the connected chambers  12  and  13 , and  14  and  15 , a fluid moves for example from outside to the inside of a first chamber  12  and  14 , from there to a connected chamber  13  and  15 , and from there to the outside of the volumetric pump  10 . 
     The non-return valves arranged internally or externally ensure that the pumped fluid goes in the desired direction. 
     Variable-volume chambers and rod elements can be added on the crank as space permits, so as to take maximum advantage of the movement of the electric motor. 
     Such volumetric pump  10  can be provided in different sizes as long as the ratio between the components is maintained. The operation is possible both with the magnetic bodies arranged so as to attract each other, and with them arranged so as to repel each other. 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  show a volumetric pump according to the invention in a second embodiment thereof, generally designated therein with the reference numeral  110 . 
     In such second embodiment shown, such volumetric pump  110  comprises:
         a deformable enclosure  111  that defines eight variable-volume chambers, four upper chambers  112 ,  113 ,  114 ,  115 , and four mirror-symmetrical lower chambers, of which two opposing chambers  112   a  and  114   a  can be seen in  FIG. 4 , each one of such chambers having at least one intake passage, for example  117 ,  118 ,  119  and at least one outflow passage  118 ,  119 , and  120 ,   magnetically-actuated means  123 , which act on portions of the deformable enclosure, in order to deform that deformable enclosure  111  between an extended configuration, having a larger volume in the variable-volume chambers, and a compressed configuration, having a smaller volume in the variable-volume chambers, as described above for the first embodiment,   drive means  124  for the actuation of the magnetically-actuated means  123 ,   a load-bearing frame  125  on which the deformable enclosure  111  and the drive means  124  are mounted.       

     Also in such second embodiment, the deformable enclosure  111  is constituted by a closed bag made of plastic material, inside which the load-bearing frame  125  with the drive means  124  is enclosed. 
     In such embodiment, the outflow passage  118  for the first chamber  112  is also the intake passage for the second chamber  113 , and similarly the outflow passage  119  of the second chamber  113  is the intake passage for the third chamber  214 . 
     In such embodiment, the first chamber  112  has two outflow passages, a first outflow passage  118  to the second chamber  113 , and a second outflow passage  118   a  to the fourth chamber  115 . 
     Similarly, the third chamber  114  has two intake passages, a first intake passage  119  from the second chamber  113  and a second intake passage  119   a  from the fourth chamber  115 . 
     The load-bearing frame  125  comprises two walls  126  and  127  which face each other so as to define an interspace  128  that accommodates at least part of the drive means  124 . 
     The deformable enclosure  111  comprises, for each part of the load-bearing frame  125 , radial partitions, for example  129  and  130 , which extend transversely to a corresponding wall  126  and  127 , and are adapted to divide two laterally adjacent variable-volume chambers, and a central partition  111   a , for example cylindrical or the like, which is adapted to divide the chambers arranged oppositely. 
     Each one of the variable-volume chambers  112 ,  113 ,  114 ,  115 ,  112   a ,  114   a  is defined between a portion of the enclosure  111 , a portion of a wall  126  or  127 , an intermediate partition  129  or  130  and a portion of the central partition  111   a.    
     The magnetically-actuated means  123 , in the present embodiment, comprise, for each one of said variable-volume chambers  112 ,  113 ,  114 ,  115 , two magnetic bodies, for example  132  and  133  for the first chamber  112 , and  134  and  135  for the adjacent second chamber  113 , which are adapted to attract each other mutually,
         a first magnetic body  132  and  134 , which is moved by the drive means  124  in the interspace  128 ,   a second magnetic body  133  and  135 , which is fixed to the enclosure  111  in such a position as to undergo the magnetic attraction of the first magnetic body  132  and  134  when the latter is substantially at the second magnetic body  133  and  135 .       

     The drive means  124  for the actuation of the magnetically-actuated means  123  are adapted to move the first magnetic bodies  132  and  134  according to an alternating translational motion in the two opposite directions of a first line X for a first one  132  of the first magnetic bodies, and of a second line X′, transverse to the first line, for a second one  134  of the first magnetic bodies. 
     Such drive means  124  comprise an electric motor, not shown but as described above for the first embodiment, which is adapted to move a rod-and-crank system, which comprises a crank element and four rod elements, the rod elements each supporting a first magnetic body  132  and  134 ,  132   a  and  134   a.    
     Such four rod elements operate in pairs, two first rod elements in a first direction X and two second rod elements in the second direction X′. 
     In the present, obviously non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the rod-and-crank system comprises a gearwheel  145  as the crank element, eccentrically to which opposing pairs of rods  146  and  147 ,  146   a  and  147   a  are pivoted, each of which supports at the end a first magnetic body. 
     The rods  146  and  147 ,  146   a  and  147   a  are pivoted about a same axis Y, parallel to the axis of the rotating shaft of the electric motor. 
     Similarly to what is described above, the second magnetic bodies  133  and  134  for two opposing variable-volume chambers, for example  112  and  114 , the latter arranged on the same side of the load-bearing frame  125  and mutually opposite with respect to the central partition  111   a , are supported by a lever  142  and  142   a , to the opposite ends of which they are respectively fixed. 
     The two levers  142  and  142   a  which are located on the same side of the load-bearing frame  125  are arranged at right angles to each other. 
     In practice it has been found that the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects. 
     In particular, with the invention a volumetric pump has been devised that offers lower energy consumption than a similar conventional volumetric pump for the same performance, since a small amount of electricity is sufficient in order to produce the movement of the first magnetic bodies, while the pumping action is achieved by the magnetic means which take advantage of the magnetic attraction, or repulsion, between the first and the second magnetic bodies, without therefore consuming any electricity. 
     Furthermore, with the invention a volumetric pump has been devised that is simple, compact and safe, therefore requiring less maintenance than a similar, conventional volumetric pump, since the magnetic actuation means do not produce friction and the risks of wear and therefore breakage are reduced to the minimum for the drive means as well. 
     What is more, with the invention a volumetric pump has been devised that can also be used in the medical field, since for its production non-toxic materials can be used that are compatible with the human body. 
     The invention, thus conceived, is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements. 
     In practice the components and the materials employed, provided they are compatible with the specific use, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art. 
     The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. 102016000114952 (UA2016A008227) from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.