The present invention relates to a membrane-based piston pump (400) for pumping a liquid product. The pump is provided with a device (426) for maintaining a pre-defined hydraulic fluid volume in the pump. The device comprises an axle element (440) and a bushing element (432). The invention further relates to a method for pumping a liquid product in a pump. Furthermore, the invention relates to a homogenizer provided with a membrane-based piston pump.

A pump includes a molded housing configured with a rear endbell portion to receive an armature and bearing, an intermediate motor portion to receive a motor shell and magnets arranged around the armature, and a front endbell portion to receive a diaphragm assembly having a diaphragm support plate supporting a diaphragm, the rear endbell portion, the intermediate motor portion and the front endbell portion being configured as an integrated molded housing unit, the diaphragm having two circumferential diaphragm sealing surfaces. The pump also includes an upper housing configured to assemble and couple to the molded housing so as to form a circumferential fluid-tight sealing arrangement that is configured between the front endbell portion and the upper housing on only one end of the pump.

A fluid handling cassette, such as that useable with an automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) cycler device or other infusion apparatus, may include a generally planar body having at least one pump chamber formed as a depression in a first side of the body and a plurality of flowpaths for a fluid that includes a channel. A patient line port may be arranged for connection to a patient line and be in fluid communication with the at least one pump chamber via at least a first one of said flowpaths, and an optional membrane may be attached to the first side of the body over the at least one pump chamber. In one embodiment, the membrane may have a pump chamber portion with an unstressed shape that generally conforms to the depression of the at least one pump chamber in the body and is arranged to be movable for movement of the fluid in a useable space of the at least one pump chamber. One or more spacers may be provided in the at least one pump chamber to prevent the membrane from contacting an inner wall of the at least one pump chamber. The patient line, a drain line, and/or a heater bag line may be positioned to be separately occludable in relation to one or more solution lines that are connectable to the cassette.

A transmission assembly for a pump head of a six-cylinder opposed balanced diaphragm booster pump, a pump head of a diaphragm booster pump, and a diaphragm booster pump. The transmission assembly includes an eccentric assembly, a balance wheel assembly, a bearing and swing arms fixed to the balance wheel assembly. The eccentric assembly includes a motor shaft and eccentric wheels, wherein the movement of two eccentric wheels with a phase difference of 180° drives balance wheels of the balance wheel assembly to move oppositely. The eccentric assembly includes a first eccentric wheel, a second eccentric wheel and a third eccentric wheel in sequence, wherein the first eccentric wheel and the third eccentric wheel are similarly eccentric, and the second eccentric wheel is eccentric in an opposite manner to the first eccentric wheel and the third eccentric. The embodiments reduce noise caused by vibration of an existing diaphragm pump in operation.

A diaphragm 30 includes a fixed portion 32 to be fixed to a body portion 10, and a flexible thin film portion 33 integrally connected to the fixed portion 32. The fixed portion 32 has a tubular press-fitting portion 34 to be press-fitted into a tubular sealing groove 15 formed on the body portion 10, and a diaphragm-side tapered surface 38 formed on an axis C side with respect to the press-fitting portion 34. In a state where the press-fitting portion 34 is press-fitted into the sealing groove 15, an inclination angle θ1 of the diaphragm-side tapered surface 38 relative to the axis C is smaller than an inclination angle θ2 of a body-side tapered surface 18 formed on the body portion 10 relative to the axis C, and an end portion 38a of the diaphragm-side tapered surface 38 is brought into contact with the body-side tapered surface 18.

An automated computer-controlled sampling system and related methods for collecting, processing, and analyzing agricultural samples for various chemical properties such as plant available nutrients. The sampling system allows multiple samples to be processed and analyzed for different analytes or chemical properties in a simultaneous concurrent or semi-concurrent manner. Advantageously, the system can process soil samples in the “as collected” condition without drying or grinding. The system generally includes a sample preparation sub-system which receives soil samples collected by a probe collection sub-system and produces a slurry (i.e. mixture of soil, vegetation, and/or manure and water), and a chemical analysis sub-system which processes the prepared slurry samples for quantifying multiple analytes and/or chemical properties of the sample. The sample preparation and chemical analysis sub-systems can be used to analyze soil, vegetation, and/or manure samples. A soil collection system is disclosed which captures and directs samples to the sampling system for processing.

Described is a method for manufacturing a diaphragm assembly through the use of injection molding. The method can avoid the use of PTFE as a chemically resistant coating. Further, the method can increase overall adherence of a polymer diaphragm to an insert through the use of an interference surface on at least the surface of a head of the insert.

A rolling diaphragm 5 of a rolling diaphragm pump 1 has a movable portion 31 reciprocatable together with a piston 3, a fixed portion 32 fixed to a housing 2, and a thin film portion 33 connecting the movable portion 31 and the fixed portion 32 and bending due to reciprocation of the piston 3. A rubber layer 6 is overlaid on the thin film portion 33 without being adhered to the thin film portion 33, an end portion 6a on the movable portion 31 side of the rubber layer 6 is fixed to the piston 3, and an end portion 6b on the fixed portion 32 side of the rubber layer 6 is fixed to the housing 2.

An undulatory structure and methods for the fabrication and use thereof. The undulatory structure includes a buckled sheet and one or more work input elements for deforming the buckled sheet in an undulating manner wherein each point in a series of points on a sinuously-shaped profile of the buckled sheet travels at least partially along a figure eight-shaped path. The undulatory structure can be adapted for use as a solid-state transducer wherein the buckled sheet provides mechanical advantage without appreciable opposition from elastic restoring forces, thereby achieving improved force, displacement and efficiency characteristics.

The following description pertains to flexure structures, apparatuses comprising flexure structures, systems comprising flexure structures, methods of using flexure structures, methods of using apparatuses comprising flexure structures, and methods of using systems comprising flexure structures. The following description also pertains to methods, systems, and apparatuses for linear to rotary motion converters.