Patent ID: 8162633

Claim:
A pump, comprising: a surface; a driving mechanism comprising a rotatable shaft and a plurality of haptics operably coupled to the shaft; a channel disposed along the surface, the channel configured to have a closed portion when compressed between the surface and one of the haptics, the closed portion having a thickness defined by a distance between the surface and the haptic that closes the channel; a circular path defined about the rotatable shaft and traversed by the haptics during operation of the pump; and a shaft path traversed by the shaft during operation of the pump; the surface having a radius of curvature in the vicinity of the channel that is greater than the sum of a radius of the circular path and the thickness of the closed portion; wherein at least one haptic of the plurality of haptics is configured to draw a fluid through the channel when the shaft simultaneously rotates the at least one haptic along the circular path and traverses the shaft path, and wherein a length from a center of the rotatable shaft to a distal end of one of the haptics is greater than the distance between the surface and the center of the rotatable shaft when the channel is in its least compressed state during rotation of the shaft.