An embodiment system and method for dispensing multiple dairy products includes a dispenser which houses two or more dairy product bases with different formulations, which may be combined with or without water to create a multitude of homogenous dairy beverages. The two or more dairy product bases may be mixed together first and then separately mixed with water, mixed together simultaneously with water, or mixed together without adding water. They may be mixed together with or without additional flavoring, ingredients, mineral or nutritional additives. The dispenser comprises a pump with a quick-release mechanism to allow for quick and clean maintenance of the system.

An embodiment system and method for dispensing multiple dairy products includes a dispenser which houses two or more dairy product bases with different formulations, which may be combined with or without water to create a multitude of homogenous dairy beverages. The two or more dairy product bases may be mixed together first and then separately mixed with water, mixed together simultaneously with water, or mixed together without adding water. They may be mixed together with or without additional flavoring, ingredients, mineral or nutritional additives. The dispenser comprises a pump with a quick-release mechanism to allow for quick and clean maintenance of the system.

Features relating to a pumping mechanism of a peristaltic infusion pump are provided. Stabilizing protrusions are provided for one or more pumping fingers of the pumping mechanism, where the one or more pumping fingers move in a coordinated and synchronized fashion with respect to one another to provide a controlled peristaltic action against a flexible tube for delivery of a fluid to a patient. The protrusions extend outward from one or more side regions of the pumping fingers to create points of contact on a side-wall of a recess in a chassis in which the pumping mechanism is positioned. The points of contact serve to stabilize the fingers to prevent vibration and/or movement of the fingers against the sidewall.

Features relating to a pumping mechanism of a peristaltic infusion pump are provided. Stabilizing protrusions are provided for one or more pumping fingers of the pumping mechanism, where the one or more pumping fingers move in a coordinated and synchronized fashion with respect to one another to provide a controlled peristaltic action against a flexible tube for delivery of a fluid to a patient. The protrusions extend outward from one or more side regions of the pumping fingers to create points of contact on a side-wall of a recess in a chassis in which the pumping mechanism is positioned. The points of contact serve to stabilize the fingers to prevent vibration and/or movement of the fingers against the sidewall.

A peristaltic pump includes a conduit having a first end tor receiving a fluid from a reservoir and a second end for delivering the fluid. A plurality of fingers are disposed at respective locations along a segment of the conduit and are configured to alternately compress and release the conduit at the locations. A cyclical pump mechanism is coupled to move the fingers between respective compressed and released positions in a spatio-temporal pattern so as to drive a predetermined quantity of the fluid through the segment of the conduit in each pump cycle. A motor is coupled to drive the pump mechanism. A controller is coupled to activate and deactivate the motor in alternation during each pump cycle with a duty cycle that varies within the pump cycle.

A bellows pump device includes first and second bellows mounted on a pump head so as to be expandable/contractible independently of each other and configured to suck a fluid from a suction passage thereinto by expansion thereof and discharge the fluid therefrom to a discharge passage by contraction thereof. First and second air cylinder portions are configured to respectively cause the first and second bellows to perform expansion/contraction operation. First and second detection devices are configured to detect expanded/contracted states of the first and second bellows, respectively. A control unit is configured to control drive of the first and second air cylinder portions on the basis of each of detection signals of the first and second detection devices such that, before one bellows comes into a most contracted state, the other bellows is caused to contract from a most expanded state.

A piezoelectric cooling chamber and method for providing the cooling system are described. The cooling chamber includes a piezoelectric cooling element, an array of orifices and a valve. A vibrational motion of the piezoelectric cooling element causes an increase or decrease in a chamber volume as the piezoelectric cooling element is deformed. The array of orifices is distributed on at least one surface of the chamber. The orifices allow escape of fluid from within the chamber during the decrease in the chamber volume in response to the vibration of the piezoelectric element. The valve is configured to admit fluid into the chamber when the chamber volume increases and to substantially prevent fluid from exiting the chamber through the valve when the chamber volume decreases.

The present invention provides such pumping apparatuses that have very little deviation and high stability in pumping flow. A pumping apparatus comprises two members that are set along a longitudinal direction of a tube made of an elastic material with a relation that the space formed by grooves made in the two members holds the tube. The two members have reciprocal motion such that at least one of the two opposing members shuttles in parallel with the other opposing member and has a move-in motion such that at least one of the two opposing members vertically moves to the opposing surfaces of the other opposing member so that surrounding part of the groove thereof moves into an inner space of the groove of the other opposing member, by which motion the liquid in the tube is discharged from the tube by the deformation of tube cross sectional shape.

A medical infusion fluid handling system, such as an automated peritoneal dialysis system, may be arranged to de-cap and connect one or more lines (such as solution lines) with one or more spikes or other connection ports on a fluid handling cassette. This feature may reduce a likelihood of contamination since no human interaction is required to de-cap and connect the one or more lines and the one or more spikes. For example, the automated peritoneal dialysis system may include a carriage arranged to receive the one or more lines each having a connector end and a cap. The carriage may move along a first direction so as to move the connector ends of the one or more lines along the first direction, and a cap stripper may be arranged to engage with the caps on the the one or more lines on the carriage. The cap stripper may move in a second direction transverse to the first direction, as well as to move with the carriage along the first direction.

Disclosed is an embodiment that introduces a novel system to pump fluids, or, gases or, semi-solids, or, solids, from one place to another. Conventionally, a motorized pump systems are used to pump any given fluid from one position to another, nonetheless, in this invention not only a new system of pumping fluids is so introduced, but, existing functions of a conventional motorized pumping systems are saliently augmented by the pipe pump system. The pipe pump functions basically, by a series of electromagnets, that are placed around a flexible and resilient tube, (a rubber tube, for instance), and when these said electromagnet arrangements are actuated, then, that causes the pipe pump to pump out fluids, by squeezing on the fluids, or gases, contained within.