METHOD FOR OPERATING A PERISTALTIC PUMP

摘要

A peristaltic pump comprises a flexible tube, a compression mechanism being actuatable for compressing the flexible tube, an upstream valve mechanism being actuatable to selectively open or close the tube upstream of the compression mechanism and a downstream valve mechanism being actuatable to selectively open or close the tube downstream of the compression mechanism. A drive mechanism actuates the compression mechanism, the upstream and downstream valve mechanisms. A pressure sensor measures a pressure signal indicative of a pressure in the tube between the upstream and downstream valve mechanisms. First and second signal values indicative of a pressure value downstream the downstream valve mechanism and upstream the upstream valve mechanism, respectively, are computed from the measured pressure signal. A threshold value is computed from the first and second signal values, and the measured pressure signal or a derived signal parameter is compared with the threshold value to detect a fault condition.

主权项

1. A method for operating a peristaltic pump, the peristaltic pump comprising:
a flexible tube for guiding a liquid to be pumped, a compression mechanism being actuatable for compressing the flexible tube, an upstream valve mechanism arranged in an upstream direction with respect to the compression mechanism and being actuatable to selectively open or close the flexible tube upstream of the compression mechanism and a downstream valve mechanism arranged in a downstream direction with respect to the compression mechanism and being actuatable to selectively open or close the flexible tube downstream of the compression mechanism, wherein a drive mechanism periodically actuates the compression mechanism, the upstream valve mechanism and the downstream valve mechanism and a pressure sensor measures a pressure signal indicative of a pressure in the flexible tube at a location between the upstream valve mechanism and the downstream valve mechanism,wherein, for detecting a fault condition,
a first signal value indicative of a pressure value downstream the downstream valve mechanism and a second signal value indicative of a pressure value upstream the upstream valve mechanism are computed from the measured pressure signal, a threshold value is computed from the first signal value and the second signal value, and the measured pressure signal or at least one signal parameter derived from the measured pressure signal is compared with the threshold value to detect the fault condition.