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2007 Winner Entry
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Inline Peristaltic Pump |
Category: Machinery/Equipment |
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Daniel Brunermer
The Ex One Company
Leechburg, PA US
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Entered: 09/08/2007
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The benefits of peristaltic pumps are well known. They can pump fluid precisely while keeping it pure. They are self priming, and they require no special valves to prevent backflow.
Though they have found wide market acceptance and usefulness, they suffer from inherent design limitations that can render them difficult to integrate, expensive to produce, and prone to premature failure. The typical arrangement is a pump-head / motor, which are connected through a bracket. Installation usually requires the entire unit to be disassembled, the bracket to be installed, and then reassembled. The head itself is a complex collection of shafts, brackets, bearings, rollers, and fasteners designed in such a way that it creates a small 'pinch-zone' of tubing that's displaced in an arc around the pump housing. Holding the tube on only one side creates a continuous sideload on the motor and gearbox, shortening life. The connections are often at odd locations, and tubing runs are unnatural. In applications where smoother flow is required, the most common option is to stack multiple heads in parallel with the rollers out of phase. This adds cost, complexity, and size requirements to the final unit.
The proposed pump solves many of these design challenges by creating a new class of hybrid pump. By uniting a 'Screw of Archimedes' design with Peristaltic Principles, this device will revolutionize the way such pumps are deployed.
The pumps will be made using all additive processes in a Manufacturing On Demand environment using the types of equipment provided by ProMetal, ProMetal RCT, 3D Systems, et al., which use layered manufacturing techniques to create parts of arbitrary shape and complexity. These technologies will allow for massive integration of parts, while simultaneously encouraging mass customization for particular applications.
As shown, the inlet and outlet port are designed for one fluid in and out, but six tubes inside the housing provide the peristaltic action. The fittings, manifold, and shaft bearing mount are printed as a single piece, with the manifold tubes embedded in the shell. The ends could, however, have provided distribution of a single fluid to many points, or fluids from many points to a single point; any shape or distribution scheme is possible. If the motor is reversible, the installation configurations double. The fittings depicted are all barbs, but any fitting that can be rendered in CAD could be used. The design depicts 6 tubes for the pump, but this could be expanded or contracted as required. Multiple sizes of tubing could also be designed inside the same pump for applications requiring ratio-metric flow.
Since it's truely Direct Digital Fabrication, the only items required for manufacture are a CAD model and materials for the fabrication machines. The ultimate distribution model would have this scenario. A salesman and customer answer some basic questions about the application. This data is translated into a specificaton that drives an automatic pump-model generator that feeds data straight into the machines. The final pumps are delivered within two weeks or order, customzed for that client.
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Meet the Entrant, Daniel Brunermer
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Association: The Ex One Company |
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Profession: Engineer/Designer |
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My Band's web-site: http://www.myspace.com/discretesignal... |
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Number of times entering contest previously: 0
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Design Tools:
Pencil and Paper
Physical models
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Software used:
Alibre
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Daniel's favorite design tool:
Solidworks and Accurender. Combined, they just let you do whatever you want. I am a visual thinker, and these tools let me do just that. For home use, though, I bought a program called Alibre. It's 3D design, but much cheaper.
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Daniel's hobbies and activities:
My hobby is music - myspace.com/discretesignal. I'm the long-hair
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What role does Daniel believe product design plays in creating a better future?
Great product design combines form, fit, and function in ways that create customer value. From the shape of the handle to how well the head pounds a nail, it's the design that gives the hammer its value.
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