Converging Tube Clamp Geometry for Low-Stress Peristaltic Pump Feed
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Solution Overview
Problem
Peristaltic pumps exert high stress on both the fluid being pumped and the tubing, particularly at the inlet and outlet, which is challenging to address without modifying the rotor or stator, and medical hoses face high hygiene and cost pressures.
Innovation Solution
A clamping element with guides that converge towards each other, allowing the hose to be inserted at an angle of less than 120° to the rotor, ensuring a tangential feed, reducing abrupt force application and shear forces, and eliminating the need for adhesive or push-fit connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the hose is fed directly into the pump inlet and outlet, then the pump can operate, but high stress is exerted on the hose and fluid particularly at inlet and outlet
Solution Approach 1:
The pump structure is segmented by adding separate clamping elements at the inlet and outlet positions. These clamping elements independently manage the hose routing and reduce stress concentrations at critical points, allowing the main pump body to remain unchanged while addressing the stress issue locally.
Solution Approach 2:
Clamping elements serve as intermediary components between the hose and the pump housing. These intermediaries provide a transition zone that reduces abrupt force application to the hose, thereby reducing stress on both the hose and the fluid while maintaining the existing pump structure.
2Reliability
If the rotor or stator is modified to reduce stress on the hose, then hose stress is reduced, but significant design effort is required
Solution Approach 1:
The stress reduction function is extracted from the main pump body (rotor and stator) and placed into separate, removable clamping elements. This allows the core pump components to remain unchanged, avoiding significant design effort while still achieving the stress reduction goal through the added clamping elements.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of modifying the entire pump structure, local quality improvement is achieved by adding clamping elements only at the critical inlet and outlet positions where stress concentration occurs. This targeted approach reduces hose stress without requiring comprehensive redesign of the pump system.
3Strength
If reinforcement elements are applied to the hose, then hose strength is improved, but hygiene and safety standards are compromised and cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The clamping elements provide preliminary support and stress distribution at the hose inlet and outlet before the hose enters the high-stress pump environment. This preliminary action reduces the need for additional reinforcement on the hose itself, thereby maintaining hygiene and safety standards while still providing necessary strength.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a clamping element for fixing a tube, comprising the following: a first guide and a second guide for holding a tube, wherein the two guides taper towards one another, and the clamping element is designed such that it can be connected to a pump device so that a tube guide can be formed by the two guides at the pump intake and the pump outlet.