Importance

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Abstract

A pinch valve module comprising a housing, a cylindrical cavity formed in the housing, plural passageways leading from the cavity to the exterior of the housing and spaced about the cavity and a coaxial rotor rotatable within said cavity. The rotor has a diameter less than the diameter of the cavity defining a chamber between its outer wall and the inner cavity wall. Plural spaced pins are located within the chamber and are spaced about the rotor periphery. The rotor has unitary outwardly extending radial protrusions in the form of lobes extending into the chamber. Generally cylindrical tubular rollers or rings are loosely seated about selected ones of said pins within the chamber. Flexible conduits are threaded through said passageways and are disposed along arcuate sections of the chamber walls between the pins and the chamber wall. A stepping motor is coupled to said rotor to translate the lobes past the rings forcing selected ones of the rings against the flexible conduit to pinch same preventing fluid passage therethrough. The valve is programmable by prepositioning the pins and the rings placed thereon. Where rings are absent, no compression is exerted on the conduit. The rotor has an exposed outer disc surface carrying plural spaced arrays of recesses cooperative with microswitches or the like which can control functional operation of the testing system with which the module is associated.

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First Claim