Abstract: A ball valve device for controlling fluid flow has a stainless steel ball positioned in the lumen of an I.V. tube. The outer diameter of the ball is equal to the inner diameter of the I.V. tube, so that the outer surface of the ball establishes a fluid seal with the inner surface of the tube. A latex sheath surrounds the tube in the proximity of the ball to provide resilience and memory for the tube. Inserts are positioned in the lumen both upstream and downstream from the ball to hold the ball in position under the sheath. Each insert is formed with a lumen for fluid flow, and has a tapered surface adjacent to the ball, which prevents the ball from forming a seal with the insert.

Abstract: A dual chamber pumping apparatus and method for infusing fluids to a patient includes a disk having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet. Resilient membranes are attached to opposite sides of the disk to establish dual pumping chambers, and a network of one-way valves connects the fluid inlet in alternating fluid communidation with the pumping chambers. A one-way outlet valve connects the pumping chambers alternately in fluid communication with the fluid outlet. The one-way valves utilize a hollow, elastomeric tube fixedly disposed in passageways within the disk for covering and uncovering respective ports in response to fluid pressure differentials on the inner and outer surfaces of the walls of the hollow, elastomeric tube.

Abstract: A disposable IV infusion device for ambulatory patients comprises a disk-shaped cover plate and a disk-shaped impeller plate which are interconnected by a stretched membrane that joins the edge of the cover plate with the edge of the impeller plate. The effect of the membrane is to urge the plates into juxtaposition. A fluid port is formed on the cover plate for fluid communication through the port with a collapsible fluid chamber established between the plates. Fluid, when injected into the chamber between the plates, is subsequently expelled through the port for controlled infusion to a patient as the membrane pulls the plates toward each other to collapse the chamber.