Patent ID: 8231575

Claim:
A dispensing apparatus for dispensing fluids to a patient comprising: (a) an outer housing having a first, second and third portions; (b) an inner, expandable housing disposed within said outer housing, said inner expandable housing having a fluid reservoir provided with an inlet for permitting fluid flow into said fluid reservoir; (c) stored energy means disposed within said second portion of said outer housing for acting upon said inner expandable housing to cause the fluid contained within said fluid reservoir to controllably flow outwardly toward the patient, said stored energy means comprising a compressively deformable, substantially continuous, semisolid member carried within said second portion of said outer housing, said semisolid member being expandable to cause fluid flow from said fluid reservoir; (d) fill means carried by said outer housing for filling said reservoir with the fluid to be dispensed; (e) flow control means connected to said first portion of said outer housing for controlling fluid flow from said reservoir, said flow control means comprising a flow control assembly including: (i) an ullage defining member having a first portion disposed within said inner, expandable housing and a second portion having a fluid passageway in communication with said outlet of said fluid reservoir; (ii) a fluid flow control member rotatably mounted within said first portion of said ullage defining member, said flow control member having an inlet passageway in communication with said fluid reservoir, a plurality of elongated fluid flow control channels, each of said plurality of elongated fluid flow control channels having an inlet and an outlet and distribution means formed in said flow control member for distributing fluid from said reservoir to each of said plurality of elongated flow control channels; (iii) an outer casing circumscribing said flow control member; (iv) filter means carried by said flow control member for filtering fluid flowing toward said distribution means; (v) selector means rotatably connected to said second portion of said ullage defining member for rotating said fluid flow control member to selectively align an outlet of one of said elongated fluid flow control channels with said fluid passageway in said second portion of said ullage defining member; and (vi) dispensing means for dispensing fluid to the patient, said dispensing means being connected to said second portion of said ullage defining member, and being in communication with said fluid passageway of said second portion of said ullage defining member; and (f) volume indicator means carried by said outer housing for indicating the volume of fluid remaining in said fluid reservoir.