Symmetrical Ball Check-Valve Based Rotation-Sensitive Pump

In this work an electromagnetically actuated membrane pump, which allows flow reversion with a simple rotation of its valve system, is presented as a proof of concept. The valve system combines two symmetrical ball check-valves (SBCV), fabricated using laser machining techniques on PMMA (poly-methyl methacrylate) and PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane). The best efficiencies were achieved using glass balls within the SBCVs. This configuration provides flow rates from 0.2 to 6.0 ml/min with pressures up to 7 kPa. We also present a model which allows simulating the pumping behavior qualitatively, including the reversion after the rotation. The main advantages of the presented pump are wide range flow rates, low driving voltage (below 30 V), same pressure and flow rate in both direct and reverse pumping modes, and easily scalable to both bigger and smaller dimensions.