US 6,341,757 Bl Jan. 29, 2002
(54) FLOW REGULATOR
(76) Inventor: Jovanka Starchevich, 138 Sullivan ST., New York, NY (US) 10012
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
(21) Appl. No.: 09/624,664
(22) Filed: Jul. 25, 2000
Related U.S. Application Data
(63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 09/319,456, filed as application No. PCT/US97/21617 on Nov. 25, 1997, now abandoned, and a continuation-in-part of application No. 08/759,438, filed on Dec. 5, 1996, now Pat. No. 5,718,409
(60) Provisional application No. 60/150,538, filed on Aug. 25, 1999.
(51) Int. C I. F16K 7/06
(52) U.S. C I 251/6
(58) Field of Search 251/6
A flow regulator has a pair of side walls extending generally parallel to one another, a bottom wall connecting the side walls to one another and defining an elongate channel for receiving a compressible tube, a roller rotatably and shiftably mounted to the side walls for rolling along the tube in the channel and compressing the tube against the bottom wall. The bottom wall is provided with a formation which varies from a first end of the channel towards an opposite, second end thereof, whereby compressive force applied to the tube via the roller is different at different longitudinal positions of the roller along the channel. A bracket or bow-shaped bridge is disposed about or between the side walls at one end of the channel. The bracket is in contact with outer surfaces of the side walls only in regions of the side walls spaced from the bottom wall. The bracket or bridge are advantageously made with less inherent stiffness than the assembly defining the elongate channel.
22 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
