Micropump with a built-in intermediate part

Details Micropump with a built-in intermediate part Micropump with a built-in intermediate part

1999-06-28

2001-10-30

Walberg, Teresa (Department: 3742)

Pumps

Motor driven

Electric or magnetic motor

Reexamination Certificate

active

06309189

ABSTRACT:

The invention relates to a micropump and to its process of manufacture, this micropump comprising at least one base plate, at least one upper plate and an intermediate plate interposed between the other two plates and made of a material capable of being machined so as to define a pumping chamber, at least one fluid inlet control member for connecting the pumping chamber with at least one inlet of the micropump, and at least one fluid outlet control member for connecting the pumping chamber with at least one outlet of the micropump, the pumping chamber comprising a movable wall machined in the intermediate plate, said movable wall being capable of moving in two opposite directions during suction or delivery of said fluid in the pumping chamber, the upper plate being provided with at least one opening linking a cavity with at least one portion of the movable wall, actuation means fixed on the free face of the upper plate being provided to displace said movable wall in order to bring about a periodic variation of the volume of the pumping chamber.
In certain micropumps of the prior art, which are called “PIN-TYPE”, one of the elements of the actuation means is constituted by an intermediate part which is intended to place the piezoelectric device in contact with the movable wall of the pumping chamber. Manufacture of this intermediate part by micro-machining and its assembly in the micropump device require high precision in order to obtain a micropump which operates reliably and regularly.
Such a micropump is described for example in International Application WO 9518307 to the firm WESTONBRIDGE.
FIG. 1
shows one of the embodiments of the micropump described in the document mentioned above. This micropump comprises a base plate
82
, an intermediate plate
86
, an upper plate
88
, actuation elements
87
intended to cooperate with the piezoelectric device
80
and an intermediate part
84
in the form of a drawing pin connected by its flat head to the actuation elements
87
.
It will be understood that the use of such an intermediate part
84
, necessary for correct operation of the micropump, brings about considerable complications when this micropump is manufactured.
The object of the present invention is to provide a micropump presenting an intermediate part whose manufacture is simplified while making it possible to obtain a micropump functioning reliably and constantly.
In accordance with the invention, this object is attained thanks to the fact that the actuation means are formed by an actuating plate constituted by a material capable of being machined so as to define a movable area and said cavity, an intermediate part obtained from the upper plate being fixed on the actuating plate so as to establish contact with the movable wall.
It will be understood that manufacture of the intermediate part from the upper plate avoids manufacturing the intermediate part independently of all the other elements of the micropump, with the result that this intermediate part is perfectly integrated in the micropump, as will be explained hereinbelow.
The invention will be more readily understood and secondary characteristics and their advantages will appear in the course of the description of two embodiments given hereinafter by way of example.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5085562 (1992-02-01), Van Lintel
patent: 5096388 (1992-03-01), Weinberg
patent: 5180288 (1993-01-01), Richter et al.
patent: 5961298 (1999-10-01), Bar-Cohen et al.
patent: 6116863 (2000-09-01), Ahn et al.
patent: 44 22 972 (1996-01-01), None
patent: 465 229 (1992-01-01), None
patent: WO 95/19502 (1995-07-01), None
patent: WO 95/18307 (1995-07-01), None

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