| 摘要 |
<p>An automated, syringe filling apparatus (10) is disclosed for the on-site filling of syringes with a viscoelastic fluid material from a supply reservoir. A housing (16) has a port for receiving the outlet end region of the viscoelastic supply reservoir (14) and a retainer (30) is provided for releasably retaining a conventional syringe (12) to be filled from the viscoelastic supply reservoir. A flexible plastic tube (52), preferably formed as part of the viscoelastic supply reservoir, is used to interconnect the supply reservoir with a filling end of a syringe retained in the syringe retainer. A peristatic pump (60) mounted in the housing has a rotating head (64) with a plurality of rollers (70) which force the viscoelastic material through the tube from the supply reservoir into a retained syringe when the tube is locked between the pump head and a back-up member. Electric pump control (110) includes a time (128) calibrated for causing the automatic filling of the syringe with predetermined amounts of viscoelastic material from the supply reservoir. The controls include a sensor (150) that automatically shuts off the pump when a syringe being filled is filled to a preestablished maximum level. An air pump (92) is provided for pressurizing the viscoelastic supply reservoir to aid in the viscoelastic pumping operation and insure against air voids being formed in a syringe being filled. A corresponding method is disclosed for the on-site filling of a syringe with a viscoelastic fluid from a supply reservoir.</p> |
