1. An apparatus, comprising:
a housing including a belt ingress and a belt egress and a drive apparatus in operative alignment with the belt ingress and the belt egress;
a pivot arm having first and second ends defining a longitudinal axis, the first end pivotally connected to the housing by a pivot connection and operable to pivot about a pivot axis of the pivot connection;
a drive follower in a tensioned slidable engagement with the second end the pivot arm so that the drive follower is in slidable disposition along the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm, the tensioned slidable engagement having an outward bias that causes the drive follower to dispose outwardly from the second end of the pivot arm;
an endless round belting in driving engagement with the driver follower and the drive apparatus through the belt ingress and the belt egress, the endless round belting having a round cross section of a first diameter and having a lengthwise circumference that causes the endless round belting to apply an opposite tension to the drive follower that acts against the outward bias of the tensioned slidable engagement of the drive follower;
a first scraper connected to the housing and having an engagement surface offset from the pivot axis and the belt ingress, the offset such that the engagement surface engages the endless round belting and directs the endless round belting into the belt ingress for substantially an entire operable pivot range of the pivot arm about the pivot axis; and
a second scraper forming a substantially circular interior aperture having an adjustable second diameter and including a tensioned adjuster that adjusts the adjustable second diameter, wherein the endless round belting penetrates interior aperture, and the adjustable second diameter is adjustable to a diameter that is tensioned matched to first diameter of the endless round belting and during actuation of the drive apparatus the tensioned adjuster allows for the adjustable second diameter to adjust to match variations of the first diameter of the endless round belting.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the first scraper comprises an angled extension having a first end connected to the housing and the second end comprising the engagement surface; and
the second scraper is proximate to the first scraper so that skimmed material scrapped from the second scraper discharges onto a top surface of the angled extension.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the drive apparatus comprises a drive wheel having a third diameter and disposed within a drive aperture having a fourth diameter that is larger than the third diameter, and wherein the difference of the fourth diameter and the third diameter is such that the endless round belting engages both an outer surface of the drive wheel and an inner surface of the drive aperture.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the drive wheel is disposed along a plane that is substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm when the pivot arm is at a first end of the operable pivot range and is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm when the pivot arm is at a second end of the operable pivot range.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the ratio of the third diameter of the drive wheel to the first diameter of the endless round belting is within the range of 12:1 to 18:1.
6. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a tensioned disengagement pin proximate to the belt egress and positioned to have its longitudinal axis substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the belt egress, the tensioned disengagement pin in tensioned contact with the outer surface of the drive wheel to facilitate disengagement of the endless round belting from the outer surface of the drive wheel to follow the longitudinal axis of the belt egress.
7. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a support mount attached to a bottom surface of the housing, the support mount defining a receiving opening within the support mount through which material scraped from the first scraper and the second scraper are received, the support mount defining outer edges within which a top opening of a receiving vessel can be received.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:
a receiving vessel having a top opening configured to be received within the outer edges of the support mount and within which material received through the receiving opening are collected;
a receiving vessel return drop pipe having a first opening substantially near a bottom surface of an interior of the receiving vessel and having a second opening in communication with a side opening in a side wall of the receiving vessel, the side opening being below the receiving opening of the support mount when the support mount receives the receiving vessel; and
a gravity return hose connected to the side opening on an exterior of the receiving vessel.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:
a drain valve connected to a side wall of the receiving vessel and position approximately at a depth sufficient to drain only scraped material of liquid that is of less density than a second liquid from which the scraped material of liquid is being separated, and to retain the second liquid.
10. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:
a straining basket mounted below the receiving opening of the support mount and comprising a straining material that passes liquid material received through the receiving opening, and that retains solid material received through the receiving opening.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the endless round belting is an elastomeric round belting.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the drive follower comprises a pulley wheel that engages the elastomeric round belting.
13. An apparatus, comprising:
a housing including a belt ingress and a belt egress and a drive apparatus in operative alignment with the belt ingress and the belt egress;
a pivot arm having first and second ends defining a longitudinal axis, the first end pivotally connected to the housing by a pivot connection and operable to pivot about a pivot axis of the pivot connection;
a drive follower in a tensioned slidable engagement with the second end the pivot arm so that the drive follower is in slidable disposition along the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm, the tensioned slidable engagement having an outward bias that causes the drive follower to dispose outwardly from the second end of the pivot arm;
an endless round belting in driving engagement with the driver follower and the drive apparatus through the belt ingress and the belt egress, the endless round belting having a round cross section of a first diameter and having a lengthwise circumference that causes the endless round belting to apply an opposite tension to the drive follower that acts against the outward bias of the tensioned slidable engagement of the drive follower;
a first scraper connected to the housing and having an engagement surface offset from the pivot axis and the belt ingress, the offset such that the engagement surface engages the endless round belting and directs the endless round belting into the belt ingress for substantially an entire operable pivot range of the pivot arm about the pivot axis;
wherein the drive apparatus comprises a drive wheel having a third diameter and disposed within a drive aperture having a fourth diameter that is larger than the third diameter, and wherein the difference of the fourth diameter and the third diameter is such that the endless round belting engages both an outer surface of the drive wheel and an inner surface of the drive aperture.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the drive wheel is disposed along a plane that is substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm when the pivot arm is at a first end of the operable pivot range and is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm when the pivot arm is at a second end of the operable pivot range.
15. An apparatus, comprising:
a housing including a belt ingress and a belt egress and a drive apparatus in operative alignment with the belt ingress and the belt egress, the drive apparatus defining a drive plane;
a pivot arm having first and second ends defining a longitudinal axis, the first end pivotally connected to the housing by a pivot connection and operable to pivot about a pivot axis of the pivot connection and over a range that includes the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm being substantially parallel to the drive plane to the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm to being substantially perpendicular to the drive plane;
a drive follower in a tensioned slidable engagement with the second end the pivot arm so that the drive follower is in slidable disposition along the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm, the tensioned slidable engagement having an outward bias that causes the drive follower dispose outwardly from the second end of the pivot arm;
an endless round belting in driving engagement with the driver follower and the drive apparatus through the belt ingress and the belt egress, the endless round belting having a round cross section of a first diameter and having a lengthwise circumference that causes the endless round belting to apply an opposite tension to the drive follower that acts against the outward bias of the tensioned slidable engagement of the drive follower;
a first scraper connected to the housing and having an engagement surface offset from the pivot axis and the belt ingress, the offset such that the engagement surface engages the endless round belting and directs the endless round belting into the belt ingress for substantially an entire operable pivot range of the pivot arm about the pivot axis; and
a second scraper forming a substantially circular interior aperture through which the endless round belting penetrates and that engages the outer surface of the endless round belting, wherein the second scraper has an adjustable second diameter and includes a tensioned adjuster that adjusts the adjustable second diameter, wherein the adjustable second diameter is adjustable to a diameter that is tensioned matched to first diameter of the endless round belting and during actuation of the drive apparatus the tensioned adjuster allows for the adjustable second diameter to adjust to match variations of the first diameter of the endless round belting.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a support mount attached to a bottom surface of the housing, the support mount defining a receiving opening within the support mount through which material scraped from the first scraper and the second scraper are received, the support mount defining an outer edges within which a top opening of a receiving vessel can be received.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:
a receiving vessel having a top opening configured to be received within the outer edges of the support mount and within which material received through the receiving opening are collected;
a receiving vessel return drop pipe having a first opening substantially near a bottom surface of an interior of the receiving vessel and having a second opening in communication with a side opening in a side wall of the receiving vessel, the side opening being below the receiving opening of the support mount when the support mount receives the receiving vessel; and
a gravity return hose connected to the side opening on an exterior of the receiving vessel.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the endless round belting is an elastomeric round belting.
19. An apparatus, comprising:
a housing including means for driving an endless round belting into the housing and out of the housing;
a pivot arm having first and second ends defining a longitudinal axis, the first end pivotally connected to the housing by a pivot connection and operable to pivot about a pivot axis of the pivot connection and over a range that includes the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm;
a drive follower;
means for tensioning the drive follower in slidable engagement with the pivot arm in slidable disposition along the longitudinal axis of the pivot arm and causing an outward bias that causes the drive follower dispose outwardly from the second end of the pivot arm;
an endless round belting in driving engagement with the means for driving and the drive follower, the endless round belting having a round cross section of a first diameter and having a lengthwise circumference that causes the endless round belting to apply an opposite tension to the drive follower that acts against the outward bias of the tensioned slidable engagement of the drive follower; and
means for scraping the endless round belting, the means for scraping including means for adjusting a scraping surface to a diameter that is tensioned matched to first diameter of the endless round belting and during actuation of the means for driving matches variations of the first diameter of the endless round belting.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. Discharge device (10) for pharmaceutical media comprising
a housing (14, 16), which at least partly surrounds a receptacle space (12) for receiving a medium store (8),
a discharge opening (17) provided on the housing (14, 16) and serving for administering the medium from the medium store (8), and
an electronic circuit (60) designed for detecting discharge processes,
wherein
the housing (14, 16) has a convexly curved outer form at least in sections,
characterized in that
the electronic circuit (60) is connected to a display device (30) having a display region (32) for representing status information, wherein the display region (32) has a curved shaping corresponding to the convexly curved outer form of the housing (14, 16), andor
the electronic circuit (60) has a plurality of printed circuit boards (61a, 61b) which are arranged in an angled position relative to one another, which are arranged behind a curved outer wall (14b) of the housing (14, 16) and which are in each case oriented approximately parallel to said outer wall (14b), or
the electronic circuit (60) has a curved printed circuit board (61), which is arranged behind a curved outer wall (14b) of the housing (14, 16) and has a curved shaping corresponding to the curved outer wall (14b).
2. Discharge device,
characterized in that
the display device (30) has a substrate (22a), on which display segments (34a, 34b) are provided, which were applied by printing technology or coating technology.
3. Discharge device,
characterized in that
the substrate (22a) is embodied as a plastic substrate (22a) or as a glass substrate.
4. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized in that
the at least one curved printed circuit board (61) is embodied as a flexible printed circuit board (61), in particular as an FPCB printed circuit board, and has a plastic substrate (22a) as a carrier, wherein conductor tracks (24, 25, 26, 27) are provided on said plastic substrate (22a) in the form of metal films or in the form of printed conductor tracks (24, 25, 26, 27).
5. Discharge device according to claim 4,
characterized in that
a microprocessor (62) for detecting discharge processes andor for driving the display device (30) is applied on the plastic substrate by means of printing technology.
6. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized by
a battery (40) for supplying the electronic circuit (60) andor the display device (30) with electrical energy, wherein said battery is embodied as a flat battery and is arranged behind a curved outer wall (14b) of the housing (14, 16), wherein it has a curved shaping corresponding to the curved outer wall.
7. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized by
a sensor (50) for detecting a discharge process, wherein the sensor (50) is preferably embodied as a force sensor or as a capacitive sensor and wherein the sensor is preferably printed on a plastic substrate (22a).
8. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized in that
the housing (14, 16) has an outwardly facing outer shell (14b) and an inner shell (14a) facing the receptacle space (12), which together delimit an intervening electronics space (14d), wherein the display device (30) andor the at least one printed circuit board (61; 61a, 61b) areis arranged in said electronics space (14d).
9. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized in that
the housing has an outwardly facing outer shell (14b), on the inner side of which the at least one printed circuit board (61) or the battery (40) is provided, wherein no further walls of the housing (14, 16) are provided between the printed circuit board (61) or the battery (40), on the one hand, and the receptacle space (12) for receiving the medium store (8).
10. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized in that
a dimensionally flexible structural unit (20\u2032) comprising the display device (30), the electronic circuit (60), the sensor (50) and the battery (40) is applied on the outer side on an outer wall (14b) of the housing, wherein the structural unit (20\u2032) is preferably fixedly adhesively bonded to the outer wall.
11. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized in that
the display device (30) andor the outer wall (14b, 14c), behind which the at least one printed circuit board (61; 61a, 61b) is arranged, areis provided in the region of a cylindrical housing section (14), wherein the cross-sectional form of said cylindrical housing section (14) preferably forms a circular form.
12. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized in that
at least two of the four components from the group comprising the display device (30), the electronic circuit (60), a sensor (50) for detecting a discharge process and a battery (40) are applied on a common and integral plastic substrate (22a).
13. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized in that
at least three of the four components from the group comprising the display device (30), the electronic circuit (60), a sensor (50) for detecting a discharge process and a battery (40) are arranged one behind another along a deformable component strand (20), wherein said component strand (20) is arranged in the housing in a manner following the shaping of the cylindrical housing section.
14. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized in that
at least two of the four components from the group comprising the display device (30), the electronic circuit (60), a sensor (50) for detecting a discharge process and a battery (40) in each case have a curved shaping and constitute adjacent layers of a layer composite assembly (20\u2032; 20\u2033).
15. Discharge device according to claim 1,
characterized in that
the discharge device (10) is embodied as an inhaler (10) having an approximately cylindrical main section (14), wherein a mouthpiece (16) extending radially outward from main section (14) and having a discharge opening (17) is provided at one end of the main section (14), and wherein the main section (14) forms the cylindrical housing section (14) for the arrangement of the display device (30) andor the at least one printed circuit board (61; 61a, 61b).