US 12,467,544 B2
Pinch valve including guide rollers
Ethan K. Lange, Painesville, OH (US)
Assigned to American Sterilizer Company, Mentor, OH (US)
Appl. No. 18/836,219
Filed by AMERICAN STERILIZER COMPANY, Mentor, OH (US)
PCT Filed Jan. 9, 2023, PCT No. PCT/US2023/010378
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 6, 2024,
PCT Pub. No. WO2023/154152, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 17, 2023.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/308,216, filed on Feb. 9, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2025/0137537 A1, May 1, 2025
Int. Cl. F16K 7/04 (2006.01); A61M 39/28 (2006.01)
CPC F16K 7/04 (2013.01) [A61M 39/284 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A pinch valve, comprising:
a housing including an opening extending therethrough along a longitudinal axis having an upstream end and a downstream end;
a first pinch bar and a second pinch bar spaced from one another in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;
an actuator configured to linearly translate the first and second pinch bars relative to one another along a translation axis that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the actuator being configured to linearly translate the first and second pinch bars relative to one another along the translation axis to pinch a flexible tube extending through the opening between a partially compressed state in which the flexible tube extending through the opening is partially compressed and a fully compressed state in which the flexible tube extending through the opening is fully compressed; and
a first front roller and a first rear roller spaced from one another in the direction of the longitudinal axis, wherein the first front roller extends transverse the opening and is positioned longitudinally upstream from the first and second pinch bars and the first rear roller extends transverse the opening and is positioned longitudinally downstream from the first and second pinch bars;
wherein the housing includes a first wall bordering the opening, and wherein a first plane lying tangent to the first front roller and the first rear roller is spaced inward from the first wall of the housing.