Pinch clamp devices, methods, and systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10195418-B2
Application number	US-201515517909-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 9, 2015
Priority date	Oct 10, 2014
Publication date	Feb 5, 2019
Grant date	Feb 5, 2019

Abstract

A linearly actuated pinch clamp is provided, including a housing, a motor connected to the housing, a mechanical drive unit connected to the motor for converting a rotary motion of the motor to a linear motion and for introducing a mechanical advantage to the motion of the motor, and a pinching element having a body and a pinching surface. The pinching element body is coupled to the mechanical drive unit. In certain versions of the pinch clamp, the pinching element is slidably mounted to the housing such that the pinching element is linearly displaceable by the mechanical drive unit between a first position and a second position where the pinching surface cooperates with a fixed surface to pinch closed a flexible tube.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A linearly actuated pinch clamp, comprising:
a housing;
a motor connected to the housing;
a mechanical drive unit that includes a linear actuator with an output shaft and being connected to the motor for converting a rotary motion of the motor to a linear motion and for introducing a mechanical advantage to the motion of the motor;
a pinching element having a body and a pinching surface, the pinching element body coupled to the mechanical drive unit and slidably mounted to the housing such that the pinching element is linearly displaceable by the mechanical drive unit between a first position and a second position where the pinching surface cooperates with a fixed surface to pinch closed a flexible tube; and
a spring operatively connected between the housing and the pinching element to bias the pinching element toward the second position, thereby reducing a force necessary to move the pinching element from the first position to the second position and pinch closed the flexible tube, wherein
the pinching element body defines a longitudinal bore and a transverse bore, the longitudinal bore partially extending into the pinching element body, the transverse bore extending through the pinching element body and intersecting the longitudinal bore, and
the pinching element further includes a coupling block, slidingly arranged within the longitudinal bore of the pinching element body and coupled to the output shaft of the linear actuator.

2. The pinch clamp according to claim 1 , wherein the motor includes a rotor, and the mechanical drive unit comprises a nut attached to the rotor and a lead screw threadingly engaged with the nut and coupled to the pinching element.

3. The pinch clamp according to claim 1 , wherein the motor comprises a stepper motor and the mechanical drive unit comprises a screw drive.

4. The pinch clamp according to claim 1 , comprising a sensor, connected to the housing, to measure a linear position of the pinching element.

5. The pinch clamp according to claim 4 , wherein the sensor is a magneto-resistive sensor, and the pinching element includes a magnet pole strip for cooperating with the sensor to provide an indication of when the pinching element is in the first or second position.

6. The pinch clamp according to claim 4 , further comprising:
a motor driver coupled to the motor; and
a microcontroller, coupled to the motor driver and the sensor, to command the pinching element to a desired position based on position measurements from the sensor.

7. The pinch clamp according to claim 1 , wherein the pinching element body comprises a shoulder, and the spring is a helical compression spring at least partially surrounding the pinching element body, the spring having a first end abutting the housing and a second end abutting the shoulder to bias the pinching element toward the second position.

8. The pinch clamp according to claim 1 , wherein the coupling block includes:
a coupling block body, connected to the mechanical drive unit, defining a transverse bore; and
a pin, disposed within the transverse bore of the coupling block body, having a length greater than a width of the coupling block body and a diameter smaller than the diameter of the transverse bore of the pinching element body,
wherein when the pinching element is disposed in the first position, each end of the pin contacts an upper surface of the transverse bore of the pinching element body and, when the pinching element is disposed in the second position, neither end of the pin contacts the transverse bore of the pinching element body and the spring maintains the pinching element in the second position.

9. The pinch clamp according to claim 8 , wherein the mechanical drive unit is coupled to the coupling block body via a threaded connector.

10. A linearly actuated pinch clamp, comprising:
a housing having a flange;
a motor connected to the housing;
a mechanical drive unit connected to the motor for converting a rotary motion of the motor to a linear motion and for introducing a mechanical advantage to the motion of the motor;
a coupling block including a cam surface, the coupling block connected to the mechanical drive unit and slidably mounted to the housing; and
a rotationally displaceable pinching element, including:
a body rotatably mounted to the housing,
a pinching surface at a distal end of the body, and
a projection on the body engageable with the coupling block cam surface such that the pinching element is rotationally displaceable by linear motion of the mechanical drive unit and the coupling block between a first position and a second position where the pinching surface cooperates with the housing flange to pinch closed a flexible tube.

11. The pinch clamp according to claim 10 , wherein the motor includes a rotor, and the mechanical drive unit comprises a nut attached to the rotor and a lead screw threadingly engaged with the nut and coupled to the coupling block.

12. The pinch clamp according to claim 10 , wherein the motor comprises a stepper motor and the mechanical drive unit comprises a screw drive.

13. The pinch clamp according to claim 10 , comprising a sensor attached to the housing to measure a linear position of the coupling block.

14. The pinch clamp according to claim 13 , wherein the sensor is a magneto-resistive sensor, and the coupling block includes a magnet pole strip for cooperating with the sensor to provide an indication of when the pinching element is in the first or second position.

15. The pinch clamp according to claim 14 , further comprising:
a motor driver coupled to the motor; and
a microcontroller, coupled to the motor driver and the sensor, to command the pinching element to a desired position based on position measurements from the sensor.

16. The pinch clamp according to claim 15 , wherein the microcontroller converts the coupling block linear position, measured by the magneto-resistive sensor, to a rotational position of the pinching element.

17. The pinch clamp according to claim 10 , further comprising a spring operatively connected between the housing and the pinching element to bias the pinching element toward the second position, thereby reducing a force necessary to move the pinching element from the first position to the second position and pinch closed the flexible tube.

18. The pinch clamp according to claim 17 , wherein the housing includes two support shafts, the pinching element body includes a spring pin, and the spring is a helical torsion spring surrounding the pinching element body, the helical torsion spring having a first end abutting one of the two support shafts and a second end abutting the spring pin.

19. The pinch clamp according to claim 10 , wherein the pinching element comprises a pair of the projections, and the coupling block comprises a pair of the cam surfaces that each cooperate with a respective projection of the pinching element.

20. The pinch clamp according to claim 10 , further comprising:
a spring operatively connected between the housing and the coupling block, wherein the coupling block cam surface is arranged to engage the projection on the body such that the spring biases the pinching element toward the second position, thereby reducing a force necessary to move the pinching element from the first position to the second position and pinch closed the flexible tube.

21. The pinch clamp according to claim 20 , wherein the housing includes two support shafts, and the spring comprises two he

Assignees

• Nxstage Medical Inc

Inventors

• Newell Scott W
• Treu Dennis M
• Buckler Kenneth E

Classifications

• F16K31/5288

  comprising a diaphragm cut-off apparatus · CPC title

• A61M5/16813

  by controlling the degree of opening of the flow line · CPC title

• A61M39/08

  Tubes; Storage means specially adapted therefor · CPC title

• A61M39/283 Primary

  Screw clamps · CPC title

• A61M39/10

  Tube connectors; Tube couplings {(A61M39/02 takes precedence; connecting needles to syringes or hubs A61M5/34; connecting catheter tubes to hubs A61M25/0014)} · CPC title