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  Tube cassette unit and liquid conveyance device using the sameUSPTO Application #: 20080038129Title: Tube cassette unit and liquid conveyance device using the same Abstract: A tube cassette unit including a flexible conveying tube, a discharge nozzle inserted into one end of the conveying tube and a relay pipe inserted into the other end, a discharge side holding part for coupling and holding the one end of the conveying tube to the discharge nozzle, and an introduction side holding part for coupling and holding the other end of the conveying tube to the relay pipe is used, where the discharge side holding part and the introduction side holding part are removably attached with the conveying tube of the tube cassette wound and extended on at least two rollers of a rotating body arranged with a plurality of rollers at equidistance in the circumferential form, and a closed space is formed in the conveying tube by the roller pressed against the conveying tube, and the closed space is moved to convey the liquid by the rotation of the rotating body. (end of abstract) Agent: Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack L.L.P. - Washington, DC, US Inventor: Akira Higuchi USPTO Applicaton #: 20080038129 - Class: 417477200 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Pumps, Expansible Chamber Type, Elongated Flexible Chamber Wall Progressively Deformed, Deformation By Rolling Or Sliding Engagement Member, Plural Spaced Engagement Members Or Member Portions, Cassette The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080038129. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a liquid conveying device for conveying liquid in a tube by applying a press-rolling action on the flexible tube with a roller, and a tube cassette unit used in a liquid discharging device for discharging liquid in the tube. BACKGROUND ART [0002] Conventionally, a liquid conveying device is known in which an elastic tube is curved and held at an arc-shaped inner peripheral wall surface of a holder, and a rotor including a plurality of pressing rollers on the outer peripheral part is rotatably driven thereby applying the press-rolling action to the tube as the pressing roller rolls and travels on the tube at a predetermined pressure welding force and discharging the liquid in the tube from the distal end. The liquid conveying device is disclosed in for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-131861, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H9-287577, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-218841 and the like. [0003] In such liquid conveying device, the rollers arranged on the peripheral surface of the rotatably driven rotating body are pressed against the flexible tube held in a curved state along a pressing body having an arc-shaped peripheral wall to define a deformed portion where the tube is constricted and squashed by the pressing body and the roller. The device conveys the liquid in the tube with the press-rolling action by rotating the rotating body in a constant direction in the above state and moving the position of the deformed portion of the tube. [0004] The liquid conveying device is used in various apparatuses. For example, use is made in fluid infusion pump, experiment equipments or the like as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-218841. The type of liquid to be conveyed in the tube is sometimes frequently changed due to the property of the apparatus. In order to prevent the problem of contamination and the like of the liquid in the tube, the tube itself is sometimes required to be changed frequently. [0005] [Patent document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-131861 [0006] [Patent document 2] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H9-287577 [0007] [Patent document 3] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-218841 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention [0008] However, in the conventional liquid conveying device, the tube must be removed after the roller or the pressing body is removed to change the tube since the tube is maintained in the constricted state by the pressing body and the roller. Thus, the trouble of changing the tube is large. In particular, the trouble of changing the tube is enormous in the multi-channel apparatus in which the tube is arranged in pluralities since the rollers or the pressing bodies worth the number of tubes must be removed. [0009] In the device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-131861, the removal of the squeezing plate is performed relatively easily since the operation of the squeezing plate for squeezing the tube is performed by driving an electrically operated solenoid, but is still very troublesome since the squeezing plate and the electrically operated solenoid must be coupled, and further, the installing location must be adjusted so that the tube is positioned between the squeezing plate and the roller when attaching the tube. [0010] In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-218841, the pressing body and the tube are integrally configured as a pump cassette, and configured so that the cassette is integrally removed when changing the cassette, but the configuration becomes complicating. In particular, the configuration becomes more complicating when used in the multi-channel device in which the tube is arranged in pluralities. [0011] Since the tube is sandwiched by the roller and the pressing body in both articles, the tube is difficult to check from the outside, and whether the liquid is being conveyed is difficult to check visually. [0012] Furthermore, if discharge nozzles are attached to the discharge side of the conveying tube, the position of the respective discharge nozzle must be set in accordance with the container. Thus, the position of the discharge nozzles must be changed when the discharging container is changed and the respective conveying tube must be attached individually, and thus the trouble in changing the conveying tube becomes enormous. [0013] Therefore, the issue to be solved by the present invention is to provide a tube cassette unit in which the conveying tube of the multi-channel is easily changed, and a liquid conveying device in which the trouble of changing the tube is saved and in which the liquid is conveyed by applying the press-rolling action to the tube. Means for Solving the Problem [0014] The first aspect of the present invention provides liquid conveying device comprising: [0015] a rotating body, configured with a lateral axis as a rotating axis and rotatable with the rotating axis as a center, arranged with at least three rollers at equidistance in a circumferential form with the rotating axis as the center; [0016] a tube cassette unit including a flexible conveying tube, a first pipe body inserted into a liquid introduction side end of the conveying tube, an introduction side holding part for holding the first pipe body, a second pipe body inserted into a liquid discharge side end of the conveying tube, and a discharging side holding part for holding the second pipe body; [0017] a tube cassette attachment unit for removably attaching the introduction side holding part and the discharge side holding part with the conveying tube wound to at least two rollers out of the rollers of the rotating body to extend to an extent a closed space is formed in the conveying tube; and [0018] a rotating body drive mechanism for rotating the rotating body with the rotating axis as the center to change a contacting position of the at least two rollers and the conveying tube and moving the closed space towards a liquid discharge side end side. [0019] The liquid conveying device forms a closed space in the tube without using a pressing body for sandwiching the tube with the rollers by contacting the conveying tube to the rollers of the rotating body in an extended state and pressing the tube using the tension applied to the relevant conveying tube by the roller. When the rotating body is rotated in this state, the contacting positions of the rollers and the tube changes, whereby the closed space move and the liquid present in the tube moves. [0020] The number of rollers wound by the conveying tube only needs to be at least two, but may be more. As long as at least two rollers are contacting the conveying tube at any phase, the number of rollers that contact with the phase of the rotation of the rollers may be changed. That is, three rollers contact the conveying tube at a certain phase and two closed spaces are formed as a result, but the roller at the front may separate from the conveying tube due to the rotation of the rollers thereby releasing the closed space at the front before the next roller contacts the conveying tube and form a new closed space. [0021] The second aspect of the present invention provides the liquid conveying device of the first aspect, wherein a side opposite a side contacting the roller of a position the conveying tube is wound to the roller of the rotating body is released as a conveying tube attachment and detachment space. [0022] The third aspect of the present invention provides the liquid conveying device of the first aspect, wherein the tube cassette attachment unit attaches the tube cassette unit so that the conveying tube is wound to at least three rollers to continuously form a plurality of closed spaces. Continue reading... Full patent description for Tube cassette unit and liquid conveyance device using the same Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Tube cassette unit and liquid conveyance device using the same patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Tube cassette unit and liquid conveyance device using the same or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Fluid delivery device identification and loading system Next Patent Application: Piston pump for thick materials Industry Class: Pumps ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Tube cassette unit and liquid conveyance device using the same patent info. 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