Patent ID: 8308452

Claim:
A valveless micro-electro-mechanical micropump comprising: a plurality of chambers having a side length of 10 mm or less; a deformable pump membrane separating the plurality of chambers, the deformable pump membrane including an intermediate layer disposed between two piezoelectric discs, each piezoelectric disc including a layer of piezoelectric material disposed between two layers of conducting material, and a nonconducting cover covering a top and a bottom face of the deformable pump membrane; and an inlet diffuser element and an outlet diffuser element disposed in each of the plurality of chambers, the inlet and outlet diffuser elements providing a fluid connection between an interior of the chamber and an exterior of the chamber, each of the inlet and outlet diffuser elements including a chamber end opening proximate to the interior of the chamber and an exterior end opening connected by a fluid channel, the chamber end opening and the exterior end opening having different sized cross-sections, the fluid channel be tampered between the chamber end opening and the exterior end opening, wherein the fluid channel of the inlet diffuser element is largest at the chamber end opening and smallest at the exterior end opening and the fluid channel of the outlet diffuser element is smallest at the chamber end opening and largest at the exterior end opening.