Fluid control system for controlling intravenous flow rate

Claim 1

A fluid control system for controlling the flow rate of a parenteral fluid from a parenteral fluid reservoir to means for feeding the parenteral fluid into a patient''s body, comprising: first conduit means for passing parenteral fluid therethrough; second conduit means for passing parenteral fluid therethrough in spaced relation to said first conduit means; third conduit means comprised of a resilient material having an interior opening of non-circular cross section, said interior opening having a shape such that compression of said third conduit means forms a plurality of parallel, longitudinally extending flow passages each of which is in parenteral fluid communication with said first and second conduit means; and a compression clamp in operative relationship with said third conduit means for transaxially compressing said third conduit means to form said plurality of flow passages and for varying the combined cross-sectional area of said flow passages between a maximum and a minimum, said compression clamp having means for manually setting the extent of compression on said third conduit means, said compression clamp further capable of maintaining said compression substantially constant until manually reset, said third conduit means and said compression clamp together forming a valve which is suitably sized for controlling the flow rate of said parenteral fluid and for maintaining said flow rate substantially constant during a predetermined time period.