Fluid pump

Claim 2

A fluid pump device for use in conjunction with a chamber having a contained volume which can be reduced elastically and which incorporates or is locatable in circuit with spaced-apart unidirectional valves through which fluid can be passed with cyclic compression and expansion of the chamber; said pump device comprising: a pair of spaced-apart clamp elements between which the pumping chamber is located in use of the device, electrically energisable means operable when energized to move one of the clamp elements relative to the other in an opening direction to permit expansion of the chamber, biasing means for exerting a closing force on the clamp elements whereby the chamber is biased to a compressed condition following de-energisation of the electrically energisable means, timing means for detecting the time duration T incurred in compressing the chamber to a predetermined extent against back pressure exerted by fluid within the chamber, fault indicating means for providing a fault condition indication if during operation of the device the time duration T incurred in compressing the chamber is less than a first predetermined time period T 1 as a result of an excessively low back pressure being present in the chamber or is greater than second predetermined time period T 2 as a result of an excessively high back pressure existing in the chamber, and electrically actuatable adjusting means for adjusting the force exerted by the biasing means so that, when the device is subjected to normal no-fault operating conditions, the terminal end of the time duration T is located within a time slot bounded by the predetermined time periods T 1 >T and T 2 <T.

Claim 3

A fluid pump device for use in conjunction with a chamber having a contained volume which can be reduced elastically and which incorporates or is locatable in circuit with spaced-apart unidirectional valves through which fluid can be passed with cyclic compression and expansion of the chamber; the pump device comprising: a pair of spaced-apart clamp elements between which the pumping chamber is located in use of the device; electrically energizable means operable when energized to move one of the clamp elements relative to the other in an opening direction to permit expansion of the chamber, biasing means for exerting a closing force on the clamp elements whereby the chamber is biased to a compressed condition following de-energization of the electrically energizable means, timing means for detecting the time duration T incurred in compressing the chamber to a predetermined extent against back pressure exerted by fluid within the chamber, fault indicating means for providing a fault condition indication if, during operation of the device, the time duration T incurred in compressing the chamber varies at a rate greater than a predetermined rate over successive operating cycles of the pump device as a result of an excessively low or an excessively high back pressure being present in the chamber, and electrically actuatable adjusting means for adjusting the force exerted by the biasing means so that, when the device is subject to normal, no fault, operating conditions, the terminal end of the time duration T is located within a time slot bounded by first and second predetermined time period T 1 >T and T 2 <T respectively, where the time period T 1 is the time within which the chamber will be biased to a compressed condition if an excessively low back pressure exists within the chamber and the time period T 2 is the minimum time that will be occupied in biasing the chamber to a compressed condition if an excessively high back pressure exists within the chamber.

Claim 4

A fluid pump device for use in conjunction with a chamber having a contained volume which can be reduced elastically and which incorporates or is locatable in circuit with spaced-apart unidirectional valves through which fluid can be passed with cyclic compression and expansion of the chamber; the pump device comprising: a pair of spaced-apart clamp elements between which the pumping chamber is located in use of the device; electrically energizable means operable when energized to move one of the clamp elements relative to the other in an opening direction to permit expansion of the chamber, biasing means for exerting a closing force on the clamp elements whereby the chamber is biased to a compressed condition following de-energization of the electrically energizable means, timing means for detecting the time duration T incurred in compressing the chamber to a predetermined extent against back pressure exerted by fluid within the chamber, fault indicating means for providing a fault condition indication if, during operation of the device, the time duration T incurred in compressing the chamber varies at a rate greater than a predetermined rate over successive operating cycles of the pump device as a result of an excessively low or an excessively high back pressure being present in the chamber, and electrically actuatable adjusting means for adjusting the force exerted by the biasing means so that, when the device is subject to normal, no fault, operating conditions, the terminal end of the time duration T is located within a time slot bounded by first and second predetermined time period T 1 >T and T 2 <T respectively, where the time period T 1 is the time within which the chamber will be biased to a compressed condition if an excessively low back pressure exists within the chamber and the time period T 2 is the minimum time that will be occupied in biasing the chamber to a compressed condition if an excessively high back pressure exists within the chamber.

Claim 5

The fluid pump device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fault indicating means are arranged to provide a fault condition indication only if the detected time duration T is, on average, greater than the time period T 2 or less than the time period T 1 over a predetermined number of operation cycles of the pump device.

Claim 6

The fluid pump device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the electrically actuatable adjusting means adjust the force exerted by the biasing means so that the terminal end of the time duration T is located within a time slot bounded by predetermined time periods T 3 and T 4 which satisfy the relationship T 1 <T 3 <T 4 <T 2 when the pump device is subjected to normal operating conditions.

Claim 7

The pump device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein one of the clamp elements is a fixed clamp and the other is a moveable clamp element.

Claim 8

The pump device as claimed in claim 5 wherein the electrically energizable means comprises a solenoid device.

Claim 9

The pump device as claimed in claim 6 wherein the moveable clamp element is constituted by an extension of an armature portion of the solenoid device, the armature extension being moveable in a direction away from the fixed clamp element when the solenoid is energised.

Claim 10

The pump device as claimed in claim 7 wherein the armature portion is pivotably mounted to a fixed yoke portion of the solenoid.

Claim 11

The pump device as claimed in claim 7 wherein the biasing means comprises a helical spring which acts against the armature in a direction which induces the armature to move to an open condition following de-energisation of the solenoid.

Claim 12

The pump device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the electrically actuated adjusting means comprises an electric motor which is coupled to the spring by way of a motion translating mechanism and which, when energised, imparts translational motion to the spring to thereby change the effective length of the spring and hence the force exerted by the spring on the solenoid armature.

Claim 13

The pump device as claimed in claim 10 wherein the electrically actuated adjusting means further comprises third and fourth timing means for detecting whether, during normal operation of the pump device, the terminal end of time duration T falls within a time slot bounded by third and fourth predetermined time periods T 3 and T 4 which satisfy the relationship T 1 <T 3 <T 4 <T 2 , and means for energising the electric motor so as to decrease the force exerted by the spring if the time duration T is less than time period T 3 or to increase the force exerted by the spring if the time duration T is greater than the time period T 4 .