Integrated pump and check valve apparatus
A pump apparatus is provided which comprises a displacement pump and a check valve apparatus. The displacement pump comprises a reciprocating piston within a housing having an interior wall spaced apart from the piston. The check valve apparatus comprises two check valves that control fluid flow under pressure exerted by the reciprocating piston from a fluid reservoir to a point of use of the fluid.
This invention relates to an integrated pump and check valve apparatus for pumping discrete liquid volumes to points of use of the liquid volumes. More particularly, this invention relates to an integrated displacement pump and check valve apparatus for pumping discrete liquid volumes to points of use.
At the present time, discrete liquid volumes are pumped with a syringe pump comprising a barrel, a face seal which moves within the barrel and a reciprocating plunger attached to the face seal. The syringe pump includes a valve construction formed of a polymeric composition which directs the pumped liquid volumes to a point of use. The valve construction includes a housing (stator) having a hollow, essentially interior surface into which is press fit a mating rotor. The rotor is provided with fluid passageways that control flow of liquid into the syringe pump and flow of liquid from the syringe pump while providing sealing between a pump inlet and a pump outlet. This configuration of syringe pump and rotor-stator valve requires two motors, one to drive the syringe and a second to drive the rotor.
While the available syringe pumps have been useful for their intended purpose, they also have disadvantages. In order to attain a tight fit between the barrel and the face seal, the manufacturing of both the barrel and face seal must be made at tight tolerances. In addition, when utilizing the most commonly used materials comprising a glass barrel and a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) face seal, undesirable shedding of the PTFE occurs which contaminates the liquid being pumped. Furthermore, a tight fit between the barrel and face seal results in chattering of the face seal during its movement within the barrel. This leads to a loss of control of the liquid volume being pumped. In addition, the average useful life of presently available syringe pumps is only about 10 to about 100,000 cycles.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a pump apparatus capable of delivering discrete liquid volumes to a point of use such as different areas of a sample tray in a manner which is repeatable for long time periods of 1,000,000 cycles or more. In addition, it would be desirable to provide such a pump apparatus which avoids shedding of polymeric particles during pumping. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide such a pump which eliminates the need for a motor to activate a seal in order to direct fluid to a desired point of use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a pumping apparatus comprising (a) a displacement pump having a liquid displacement element comprises a piston housed within a barrel, a high pressure seal and means for reciprocating the piston within the barrel and (b) check valves wherein the sealing is effected by activating a movable element under pressure of fluid being pumped without use of a motor. Liquid in the barrel is delivered to a point of use while the piston is traveling toward a check valve positioned between the piston and the point of use and liquid is supplied to the barrel when the piston is traveling away from the check valve positioned between the piston and the point of use. The moving piston is spaced apart from the inside surface of the barrel so that a frictional force between the piston and the barrel is prevented during pumping. By providing check valves between the piston and (a) the point of use and (b) a source reservoir for the liquid, motors for positioning the valves can be eliminated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring to
Motor 16 causes gear box 40 to reciprocate through pulley 41, and gears 42, 44 and 46 and gear track 48. Gear box 40 is positioned within track 47 which causes the piston 34 to move in a repeatable linear path stroke after stroke. As shown in
The piston 34 is positioned within seal 56 which can be formed, for example of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (VHMWPE) or the like and optional roulon guide 58. The roulon guide aligns piston 34 into seal 56. The piston 34 reciprocates within seal 56 and roulon guide 58. The piston 34 is fixedly positioned in ferrule 60 which, in turn, is fixed within arm 62 by knob 64.
As shown in
Referring to
Claims
1. A pump apparatus which comprises:
- a displacement pump for pumping a fluid having a reciprocatable piston positioned within a first housing having an interior wall spaced apart from said piston,
- an interior volume of said first housing being in fluid communication with a fluid inlet to a first check valve and a fluid outlet from a second check valve,
- said first check valve being in fluid communication with a point of use for said fluid,
- said second check valve being in fluid communication with a source of said fluid,
- said first check valve being open and said second check valve being closed when said piston moves toward said first check valve,
- said first check valve being closed and said second check valve being open when said piston moves away from said first check valve.
2. The pump apparatus of claim 1 wherein said housing is formed of a transparent material.
3. The pump apparatus of claim 1 wherein said piston is formed of sapphire.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 12, 2004
Publication Date: Jan 12, 2006
Inventor: Garret Angove (Osterville, MA)
Application Number: 10/887,623
International Classification: F04B 53/10 (20060101); F04B 35/04 (20060101);