Bellows

About: Bellows is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 15312 publications have been published within this topic receiving 73914 citations.

Apparatus for determining the volume of a bellows reservoir for medication in an implantable infusion system

Abstract: In a method and apparatus for determining the volume of a bellows reservoir for medication in an infusion system which is implantable in a patient, the pressure in the reservoir is measured and the corresponding volume is determined from a predetermined relationship between pressure and volume. A pressure gauge is disposed for measuring the pressure in the bellows reservoir, and a signal corresponding to the measured pressure is supplied to a memory unit wherein a corresponding volume is determined from the measured pressure value by means of the predetermined relationship between pressure and volume being stored in the memory unit.

Heater for heating fluid in a body cavity

Abstract: A heater for heating fluid within a body cavity of an animal say for heating tumours by irrigation, comprises a container having inlet and outlet ports through which fluid in the cavity is passed by an external pump, and a heating element in the container to heat at least some of the fluid that passes through the container. Pumping can be achieved by a fluid filled pipe coupled to the container, either directly by or by way of a diaphragm, and to a bellows or like arrangement for cyclicly varying the pressure of the fluid in the pipe and container.

Multimodal displacement pump and dissolution system using same

Abstract: Disclosed is a pneumatically-driven volume controlled bellows pump apparatus for oscillating liquid into a localized area of the human body, preferably methyl-tertiary butyl ether or another solvent, into the gallbladder. The pump includes a fluid reservoir (17) in the form of an inverted syringe attached via a stopcock (14) to the bellows (7). The bellows is attached via a second stopcock (11) to a catheter (3) also attached to a priming syringe (10). An inlet pinch valve (13) is disposed between the bellows (7) and the fluid reservoir (17) and an outlet pinch valve (12) between the bellows (7) and the fluid receiver (4). To use the pump, a pigtail catheter (3) with outlets in the pigtail is inserted into the desired area of the body, preferably a receptacle such as the gallbladder (4), to introduce a selected volume of liquid for gallstone dissolution. Liquid is infused into the receptacle by decompression of the bellows (7) with the inlet (13) but not the outlet (12) valve open and then by compression of the bellows with the outlet (12) but not the inlet (13) valve open. Repeated infusion and aspiration is automatically accomplished by decompression and compression of the bellows with the inlet valve closed and the outlet valve open, or by compression and decompression of the bellows while the inlet valve is open and the outlet valve is closed alternated with compression and decompression while the inlet valve is closed and the outlet valve is open. Complete aspiration is accomplished by the use of a vacuum pump attached to the fluid reservoir. Also disclosed are syringe units and a transfer cap for use with the pump, together with a method for dissolving gallstones.

Design, characterization, and manufacturing of circular bellows pneumatic soft actuator

Abstract: In the present study, the performance of silicone rubber-based bellows-structured pneumatic actuator was analyzed in terms of output bending motion and bending force with relation to input pressure. To perform the analysis, the structural parameters of length, diameter, and wall thickness were characterized and tested with two different silicone materials. The simulation analysis revealed that the stiffness of the silicone materials selected for the bellows actuator imposes strong effects on its bending motion and pneumatic input pressure requirement. Furthermore, the characterization of material-S-based bellows actuator having lengths 84, 126, and 168 mm, with a maximum diameter and a wall thickness of 14 and 1.4 mm, respectively, resulted in maximum output bending angles of 142.4°, 137.5°, and 117° at minimum pneumatic input pressures of 85.5, 66.5, and 85.5 kPa, respectively. Hence, the bellows actuator that simulated in a maximum bending angle of 142.4° was fabricated for validation and experimentally resulted in an average bending force of 9 N.

Development and evaluation of an experimental undulating-fin device using the parallel bellows actuator

Abstract: To investigate the undulating median fin propulsion and its potential for implementation in man-made underwater vehicles, a "fin actuator" has been developed. The device consists of eight parallel bellows actuators or PBAs (fin rays) arranged in a series and interconnected via a flexible material (fin membrane). The PBAs are pneumatically driven and allow for bending movements in any orientation plane. Position data are provided by flexible electrogoniometers. The forces generated from the fin actuator undulations are measured by a pair of tri-axial force sensors. Initial testing has concentrated on 2D fin ray motions, whereby each PBA moves laterally, with the deflection angle performing a sinusoidal variation. Preliminary measurements, for a range of the propulsive waveform parameters, demonstrate reversible thrust generation and good agreement with the theoretical predictions of a momentum-based model.