Peristaltic pumps have been devised to provide a steady flow of fluid through a conduit by pressing a member along the length of the conduit. In the past, moveable members have been rolled along the length of the conduit to squeeze fluid from the same in aliquot amounts. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,064,358 and 5,620,313 describe this type of peristaltic pump. Unfortunately, such peristaltic pumps have suffered from low pressure outputs and pulses or surges which render such pumps as unsuitable for analytical, preparatory or other uses.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,365,943 and 5,033,943 show peristaltic pumps having low flow rates which utilize a rotating shaft to turn a cam that either directly or indirectly contacts a plurality of flexible conduits sequentially. In either case a relatively small portion of such flexible conduits are deformed to produce the flow.
A peristaltic pump which exhibits high flow rate characteristics and eliminates surge would be a notable advance in the field of mass transport.