
Peristaltic pumps are ideal in cases where liquids or gases are to be dosed not only accurately, but at the same time as evenly and with as little pulsing as possible. Compact piezo-driven diaphragm pumps here can accurately dose the lubricants and coolants required "on the spot", for example, and thus usually make it possible to reduce consumption. Possible uses range from laboratory technology and medical engineering, chemistry and pharmaceutical applications to mechanical engineering. The micro-diaphragm pumps which are often used for dosing applications are suitable for both liquids and gases. High delivery rates can thus be realized by varying the switching frequencies or the amplitude of the piezo displacement. Highly dynamic disk-shaped piezo elements make a miniaturized drive for this type of pump. The drive therefore cannot exert any adverse effects on the media pumped. In micro-diaphragm pumps the transported medium is separated from the drive by a diaphragm (Fig. Piezo Actuators for Micro-Diaphragm Pumps. PI Ceramic, Lederhose, (see text box) offers a wide range of piezoelectric components in a wide variety of shapes, standard as well as custom-made, and also piezo actuators with and without preloading in different sizes (Fig. Furthermore, piezo actuators are maintenance-free, because they have no moving parts in the conventional sense. Since they are very compact and require little power they can also be used in drives for mobile devices or lab-on-a-chip technology. The variable strokes and high stiffness allow to precisely control the dosing processes, and the durability of piezoelectric drive solutions is convincing. 1) which are ideally suited for use in micro-dosing pumps: They provide (high) speeds and operate with short response times, thus allowing high pumping frequencies and flow rates. Piezoelectric materials can be used in the manufacture of powerful drive solutions (Fig.

Piezo elements and piezo actuators are ideally suited for this task they generate the linear motions required in a very precise and direct way and can also be perfectly matched to the relevant application environment.

An important requirement for this is the choice of the appropriate pump drive, however. they supply defined volumes per stroke or per time interval, allowing for very accurate dosing. The devices of choice are micro-dosing pumps, also known as micro-dispensers. It is no trivial matter to automatically and accurately dose tiny quantities or volumes in the microliter or even nanoliter range, especially since the demands placed on the components are constantly increasing as miniaturization moves on.
