Patent ID: 7722573

Claim:
An enteral feeding pump for use with a feeding set having a conduit to deliver a supply of liquid nutrient to a patient and a safety interlock device associated with the conduit, the enteral feeding pump comprising: a pumping device operable to act on the feeding set to drive flow of the fluid in the feeding set; a control system for controlling operation of the pumping device; a source of infrared radiation operatively connected to the control system of the pump, the control system being configured to intermittently energize the source of infrared radiation to emit infrared radiation in a direction for striking the safety interlock device of the feeding set when mounted on the pump, the propagation of infrared radiation being capable of being affected by the safety interlock device; a first detector mounted on the pump in an alcove formed by the pump to shield the first detector from ambient electromagnetic radiation, the first detector being located relative to the source of infrared radiation so that infrared radiation emitted from the first source will not impinge upon the first detector unless propagation of the infrared radiation emitted from the source is affected by the safety interlock device, the first detector being operatively connected to the control system and arranged for receiving said infrared radiation when its propagation from the source of infrared radiation is affected by the safety interlock device, the first detector providing an indication to the control system that the pump set conduit is property positioned in the pump; a source of visible light operatively connected to the control system of the pump, the control system being configured to intermittently energize the source of visible light for emitting visible light in a direction for striking the safety interlock device of the feeding set, the visible light being capable of being filtered out by the safety interlock device; a second, visible light detector mounted on the pump in an alcove formed by the pump to shield the second detector from ambient electromagnetic radiation, the second detector being operatively connected to the control system and arranged for receiving visible light from the source of visible light when the feeding set is not properly positioned on the pump for use in verifying detection of the feeding set in the proper position by the first detector.