Claims
- 1. A sensor including:
- a flexible conduit;
- housing means for receiving the flexible conduit and the strain-sensitive film;
- a strain-sensitive film;
- said housing means including film and conduit support means for supporting the film at a location adjacent to the conduit support means wherein at least a portion of the strain-sensitive film will be in contact with the conduit when the housing and conduit are assembled;
- means for permitting sufficient expansion of the conduit to create strain of an amplitude to permit discrimination of signal from noise whereby said strain-sensitive film is partly stretched in the housing means for receiving a flexible conduit;
- electrical connections to the strain-sensitive film adapted to sense periodic strains whereby liquid pumped through the conduit may be detected;
- said conduit support means including first means for receiving a first portion of the conduit and second means for receiving a second portion of the conduit spaced from the first portion of the conduit whereby the conduit support means has a loop of conduit extending from it to cooperate with a peristaltic pump.
- 2. A sensor according to claim 1 wherein said means for permitting sufficient expansion of the conduit in an opening having a depth of at least the thickness of the conduit plus one-thousandth of an inch.
- 3. A sensor according to claim 2 wherein said strain-sensitive film is pre-stretched by the conduit during installation of the conduit into the means for receiving said conduit.
- 4. A sensor according to claim 3 wherein after installation said strain-sensitive film has contact with the conduit of at least one-sixteenth of a square inch.
RELATED CASES
This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/120,724, filed Sep. 13, 1993, now abandoned, which is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/807,200, filed Dec. 16, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,139 which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/474,154 filed Feb. 2, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,801 in the names of Frederick Alan Nabity, Paul George Wright, Raymond Hulinsky and Douglas Timothy Carson for PUMPING SYSTEM and assigned to the same assignee as this application.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2639164 |
Mar 1978 |
DEX |
Divisions (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
807200 |
Dec 1991 |
|
Parent |
474154 |
Feb 1990 |
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Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
120724 |
Sep 1993 |
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