AU3895201A - Improved peristaltic pump - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 28/5/91 Regulation 3.2(2)

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: IMPROVED PERISTALTIC PUMP The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us IMPROVED PERISTALTIC PUMP FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved peristaltic pumping system and, in particular, a peristaltic pump capable of safely pumping bulk explosive emulsions (explosive slurry).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The need for a pumping system capable of safely pumping explosive slurry into a required position is well known within the mining industry. The commonly used pump in these situations is the Mono Pump. The Mono Pump has been designed such that the fluid, or slurry, to be pumped through the pump actually reduces the frictional loading between the rotor and stator of the pump. However, if the fluid, or slurry ceases to flow between the rotor and stator and the pump continues to operate, the pump will overheat. Obviously, overheating of the pump could lead to ignition of any explosive product remaining in the pump at the time 15 which, in turn, could initiate the explosive product in the bulk container from which the pump was drawing explosive product. It is because of this potentially fatal occurrence that such pumps can only be Operated by specialised, trained personnel supplied by the explosive supplier.

Unfortunately, the cost to own such a system is prohibitive to most mine sites and therefore the usual practice is to rent or hire both the system and the specialised, trained personnel supplied by the explosive supplier to run the pump.

However, the cost to rent the system is still quite high, and many small to medium mine sites, and remote mine sites, cannot justify this expense, and therefore resort to using ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO) and/or packaged explosives.

Further, it will be understood that specialised personnel hired to operate the bulk explosive pumping system which incorporates the mono pumps will not be operating continuously, but rather will operate on and off throughout a week. This means that the resources can be used very inefficiently. In order to reduce the cost of using this pumping system the larger mines share the pumping system between mine sites with the result that the loading of the explosives is carried out when the pump is available and not when required by the mine.

On the larger mine sites where large quantities of explosive products are consumed the cost per tonne of product pumped averages out and covers the cost of the bulk explosive pumping system and specialised, trained personnel supplied by the explosive supplier. On small, medium and remote mine sites because of the small quantities of explosives consumed the cost of operating the bulk explosive pumping system is very high and cannot be covered by the volume sales of explosives. The bulk explosive pumping system incorporating the mono pump is used on the larger mine sites where economics make it viable, because these systems pump bulk explosive emulsions (explosive slurry), which are more effective than other explosive products available. Explosive slurries have a much higher velocity of detonation and higher energy than ANFO and are a lot safer, easier and cheaper to handle than packaged explosives. The higher velocity of detonation provides better control of vibration and direction of energy control, which are of paramount importance in blasting particularly when personnel work S-around and under the remaining rock infrastructure. The higher velocity of detonation and higher energy produces better rock breakage within the blast area, but causes less damage to the surrounding rock infrastructure.

ANFO is not as effective as explosive slurries as the lower velocity of detonation and lower energy requires more blast holes to do the same work than would be required with explosive slurries. ANFO also results in more damage being done to the surrounding rock infrastructure, mainly due to the lower speed 20 of vibrations transmitted through the surrounding rock infrastructure. The system for loading ANFO uses compressed air to blow and pack ANFO into the blast holes. The escaping air from the loading process contains a large amount of airborne particles of both ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel oil, which are an S• extreme health hazard to the people loading the blast holes. The explosive effect of ANFO is lost when water is present within the blast holes, in which case the mine would use packaged explosives.

Due to the excessive cost, packaged explosives are usually only used when water is present in the blast holes. Packaged explosives are difficult to load particularly in overhead and long blast holes. The difficulty associated with using packaged explosives is ensuring a continuous explosive column when loading numerous packages over the length of the blast hole. If a large air or water gap exists anywhere within the explosive column, the initiation of the explosive will not continue through this gap. This will create an interruption in the initiation of the explosive column, and only part of the packaged explosives will react leaving unexploded explosives within the rock that is to be mined.

Another pump which may have been trialed and/or used on a small scale in the mining industry to pump unsensitised explosive product, is the peristaltic pump. The slurry or fluid to be pumped is forced through the peristaltic pump hose and does not come into contact with any moving parts. The peristaltic pump differs greatly from the Mono Pump, in that the peristaltic pump does not require the flow of fluid, or slurry through the pump to prevent heat generation from frictional loading. The unsensitised explosive product is not an explosive slurry agent until it has been mixed with a gassing solution, after it has been pumped through the peristaltic pump. After a period of time the gassing agents cause a chemical reaction, which reduces the density and sensitises the unsensitised explosive product, and causes it to expand in the blast hole. A sufficient expansion factor is required to take place within the unsensitised explosive 15 product before it becomes sensitised explosive slurry that will initiate when a detonator-activated booster is exploded.

Whilst the peristaltic pump does provide very accurate metering, the hoses have a limited life due to continued stressing of the hose during operation. If the o hose was to fail, explosive slurry could escape from the hose and enter the bearing housing of the pump, and if the peristaltic pump continued to operate the explosive slurry would replace the bearing lubricant and would result in metal on metal contact which would ignite the sensitised explosive slurry. Unsensitised i explosive product will also ignite with metal on metal contact due to the heat S-generated from the frictional loading reducing the density of the unsensitised explosive product, causing it to become highly sensitised explosive slurry.

Accordingly, it would again be necessary for a specialised, trained person supplied by the explosive supplier to supply and operate the peristaltic pump to pump explosive slurry. Accordingly, whilst the peristaltic pump offers improved metering and potential cost savings, it is unable to become an industry standard due to safety concerns.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved peristaltic pump which does not require specialist operators supplied by the explosive supplier, and improves the safety features of existing peristaltic pumps.

More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved peristaltic pump which is capable of safely pumping both sensitised explosive slurries and unsensitised explosive product and is an economically viable option in small to medium mine sites and remote mine sites.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With the above object in mind, the present invention provides in one aspect a peristaltic pump including: a tube or hose located within a hose housing, wherein said hose has inlet and outlet ends extending outside said hose housing, and said hose is capable of carrying fluid and/or material to be pumped or transported by said peristaltic pump; a plurality of pressing shoes, rollers or cams and a rotor means operatively connected to said pressing shoes, said pressing shoes adapted to compress said hose to effect peristaltic pumping of said fluid; a bearing housing to accommodate the bearings of said peristaltic pump; a bearing seal means located between said hose housing and said bearing o housing to restrict fluid flow between said hose and bearing housing; wherein said a peristaltic pump further includes a hose housing seal means located between said hose housing and said bearing seal means to limit fluid flow from said hose housing to said bearing seal means.

The addition of the hose housing seal means will ideally create a chamber between said hose housing seal means and said bearing seal means. In the preferred embodiment, this chamber will further include an outlet port capable of venting fluid to the exterior of said peristaltic pump. It will be understood that the outlet part could include a plurality of openings each of which is capable of venting fluid to the exterior of the pump. A further embodiment may also include an oil slinger located between said hose housing seal means and said bearing seal means. Conveniently, the oil slinger may be formed by a concave circular disc located on a shaft, such that as the shaft rotates the circular disc deflects fluid away from the bearing seal means. The preferred embodiment will include all these safety features, namely a hose housing seal means located between said hose housing and said bearing seal means so as to form a chamber, an outlet port or opening located in said chamber, and an oil slinger located between said hose housing seal means and said bearing seal means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES AND DRAWINGS The present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be appreciated by the person skilled in the art that other embodiments of the present invention are possible, and therefore the particularity of the accompanying drawings is not to be understood as superseding the generality of the preceding description of the invention.

Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a typical peristaltic pump currently available.

Figure 2 show an improved peristaltic pump in accordance with the present invention.

Figures 3 and 4 shows the complete pumping system, which incorporates the improved peristaltic pump in accordance with the present invention.

15 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In a typical peristaltic pump system, a length of tubing is progressively compressed by a plurality of pressing shoes that rotate in a substantially circular path. The pressing shoes progressively compress the tube at spaced intervals oo o against a housing. As the tube is progressively compressed, the fluid being transported through the tube is forced along the tube, and as the pressing shoes continue along the tube, the previously compressed portions expand and return to their original cross-section.

Referring now to Figure 1, there can be seen a typical existing peristaltic pump including a hose housing 43 to accommodate the tube (not shown), an end plate 42 and a rotor 32. Connected to the rotor 32 is a series of pressing shoes 38 which progressively engage the tube. The tube will have an inlet and an outlet end and sits within the hose housing 43. In the diagram as shown in Figure 1, the hose would be located between the hose housing 42 and pressing shoes 38 in the area marked 44.

As the rotor 32 forces the pressing shoes 38 to rotate, the pressing shoes 38 compress the tube against the hose housing 43. As the tube is compressed, the fluid to be pumped, or transported, is forced along the tube thereby effecting pumping of the fluid.

A well known deficiency of peristaltic pumps is the life cycle of the tube which carries the fluid to be pumped. It is not uncommon for these tubes to deteriorate, such that the fluid to be pumped does escape from the tube into the hose housing 43. Disregarding the potential loss in efficiency, and accuracy in pumping, the escape of fluid into the hose housing 43 is generally not of itself a dangerous event. However, if the fluid was to make its way to the bearings 40 of the pump, or those areas of the pump which are capable of generating heat due to their operation, then serious consequences may arise. For example, if explosive slurry was to be pumped by the pump, then escape of the slurry into the bearings 40 of the pump could lead to a catastrophic result.

In order to limit this possibility, a bearing housing seal 37 is placed between the hose housing 43 and the bearings 40 or operational components of :the pump. This bearing housing seal 37 is designed to prevent escape of the fluid, or slurry, to the bearings 40, and enable the operator time to shut down the system and replace the hose or tube.

Unfortunately, it has been known for these bearing housing seals 37 to fail during operation, and thereby enable the fluid, or slurry, to enter into the bearings and operational components of the pump. It is for these reasons, that highly skilled personnel supplied by the explosive supplier would still be required to operate the peristaltic pump if the peristaltic pump was to be used for the 0:***pumping of explosive slurry.

The present invention has made some further modifications to further i improve the safety of the peristaltic pump, and thereby enable operation by nonspecialist technicians. Referring now to Figure 2, the preferred embodiment of the present invention can be seen. The end plate 42, and tubular housing 43, is designed to receive a tube or hose 39. The tube 39 is located about a rotor 32 operatively connected to a plurality of pressing shoes 38. The basic operation of this improved peristaltic pump includes additional safety features to prevent fluid escaping into the bearings 40 of the pump.

As for prior art peristaltic pumps, the improved pump does include a bearing housing seal 37. This bearing housing seal 37 may be held in place by a bearing housing seal carrier 34.

7 In order to prevent the possibility of fluid escaping from the hose housing 43 into the bearings 40, a further seal may be located between the hose housing 43 and the bearing housing seal 37. This hose housing seal 36 may be held in place by a hose housing seal carrier 33. It will be appreciated that if the hose 39 was to deteriorate such that the fluid, or slurry, being pumped by the peristaltic pump was able to escape, the hose housing seal 36 would prevent the fluid from coming into contact with the bearing housing seal 37, let alone the bearings A further feature to prevent or limit fluid contacting the bearings 40 of the pump, is the addition of a leak off porting vent 35. This porting vent 35 is located between the hose housing seal carrier 33 and bearing housing seal carrier 34. If the tube 39 deteriorates, such that fluid will be able to escape from the tube 39 and enter the hose housing 43, and the hose housing seal 36 fails, then this fluid :.will be vented through the porting vent 35 to the exterior of the pump.

Conveniently, this porting vent 35 will be located such that gravity will assist the venting of the fluid to ground outside of the pump. Accordingly, if the operator had not detected a fault in the system, the escape of fluid to the ground outside of the pump should alert the operator to the problem.

A further feature to prevent or limit fluid contacting the bearings 40 of the pump, is an oil slinger 46 mounted on the rotor shaft 47 and installed within the 20 open cavity 45 between the hose housing seal carrier 33 and adjacent to the bearing housing seal carrier 34. The oil slinger 46 may be formed by a concave circular disc which is mounted on the shaft 47, and as the shaft 47 rotates the oil slinger deflects or flings fluid away from itself, thereby further reducing the chances of fluid from accessing the bearing housing seal and/or bearings.

In the preferred embodiment as shown in Figure 2, both the hose housing seal 36 and leak off porting vent 35 and the oil slinger 46 will be included. In this way, it is not possible for fluid escaping from the hose 39 to contaminate the bearings 40. It is possible to include the hose housing seal 36 without the porting vent 35 and without the oil slinger 46, but is not possible to include the porting vent 35 without the hose housing seal 36. The hose lubricant is contained by the hose housing 43 and without the hose housing seal 36; the hose lubricant would leak through the porting vent 35. It is possible to include the oil slinger 46 without 8 the hose housing seal 36, but it would not serve any purpose to include the oil slinger 46 without the porting vent The main safety feature of this improved peristaltic pump is the addition of an open chamber 45 with a leak off porting vent 35 located between the bearing housing seal carrier 34 and the hose housing seal carrier 33. An oil slinger 46 may also be included to further prevent fluid from the hose housing contacting the bearing housing seal 37. This arrangement prevents the possibility of explosive products from entering the bearing housing 41. The safety of this system may be further enhanced with a high-level lubricant shut-down system that would activate if explosive product increased the lubricant level by leaking into the pump housing in the event of a pump hose failure.

In order for the slurry to enter the pump bearings, ALL of the following must occur simultaneously: 1. Firstly, the pump hose must fail 15 2. The lubricant level monitoring system must fail 3. The hose housing breather must be blocked 4. The housing must become pressurised 5. The hose housing seal must fail 6. The leak off porting vent in the open chamber must be blocked 7. The bearing housing seal must fail will be appreciated by the person skilled in the art that the addition of the improved safety features of this peristaltic pump will mean that it is not realistically possible for the fluid to escape into the bearing housing to make contact with the bearings.

Peristaltic pumps have the ability to accurately meter the quantity of product being pumped, with the added benefit of the pumped product not coming into contact with any moving parts. Unlike existing pumps which are commonly used within the mining industry, the peristaltic pump does not rely on the flow of product through the pump to assist with cooling, as the pumped product is not required to be in contact with moving parts to reduce friction.

An additional safety feature of the improved peristaltic pump is the incorporation of a hose housing low level lubricant monitoring system that has the capabilities of shutting the peristaltic pump down if the peristaltic pump was 9 operated at higher speeds than recommended. In an underground or field situation the power source for this improved peristaltic pumping system will be air or hydraulic because of the inherent dangers of using an electrical power source with explosives, and because of this the maximum speed of the drive motor must be governed. Also, with an air or a hydraulic power source it is necessary to use motors that are powerful enough to overcome the starting torque to start the peristaltic pump rotating, and because of this it is very easy to cause the peristaltic pump to exceed the designed revolutions per minute. Exceeding the designed revolutions per minute would cause excessive flexing of the drive shaft and its possible failure, and possible overheating and failure of the pump bearings. It is therefore necessary for a low-level lubricant monitoring system to be incorporated if air or hydraulic are the power source. The lubricant within the hose housing is very viscous and if the rotor and pressing shoes fling the lubricant onto the walls of the hose housing it is too slow to return to the oil 15 reservoir to maintain the correct lubricant level if the pump is operated above the designated maximum operating revolutions per minute. To govern the maximum revolutions per minute a low level fluid sensing valve or switch is incorporated to oo monitor this reduction in fluid level which will cause the low level or switch to slow

U

shut the peristaltic pumping system down by restricting air or hydraulic flow to the driving motor.

When a peristaltic pump is powered by electricity, which is the usual source of power for peristaltic pumps, the electric drive motor would operate the peristaltic pump at a predetermined speed. Due to the depth of the pump S-housing lubricating oil reservoir, the viscous nature of the lubricant, and the low operating speed of the peristaltic pump a low level lubricant monitoring system would not required.

In order to further improve the life and safety of this pump, it is proposed that the improved pump will be operated at a fraction of its full capacity. The standard pump can run at 90 revolutions per minute delivering product at 15 bar.

It will be preferred that the improved peristaltic pump is run at a speed of revolutions per minute, delivering product at a maximum of 10 bar, which is well below the maximum capacity.

When pumping bulk explosive emulsions in a normal charge-up situation the pumping system would only be operated intermittently and this, combined with the reduced revolutions per minute and reduced pressure loading, means the pumping system would not have any problems associated with temperature. The combination of the pumped explosive slurry not contacting any moving parts, very low revolutions per minute, reduced discharge pressure, and no temperature problems, makes this improved peristaltic pump an extremely safe pumping system for the pumping of bulk explosive emulsion.

The simplicity of operation, and improved safety features, allows for mine personnel to use this improved peristaltic pump and eliminates the necessity for the explosive supplier to have their trained personnel on site. The pumping system may be controlled by a single lever or single switch operation with all systems driven to operate simultaneously. The unit may be powered by air, hydraulic, or electric systems. One of the major benefits of this improved S: 15 peristaltic pump is that it allows mines to use bulk explosive emulsions without the added cost of specialised personnel that are only required intermittently and are utilised for a small proportion of their available time. The minimal capital cost involved allows for the economical loading of bulk explosives emulsions as required, without incurring the prohibitive cost of having a bulk explosives system incorporating a mono pump and trained, specialised personnel supplied by the *o*...explosive supplier.

This pumping system has also been designed to allow for its use in confined areas being only a fraction of the size of the bulk explosive systems currently in use for charging blast holes with explosives. It is also highly portable being designed for transport in the back of a one tonne utility or by equipment fitted with forks eg forklift or front-end loader.

Referring now to Figures3 and 4, a complete pumping system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention can be seen.

The explosive product peristaltic pump 1 is designed to pump both sensitised explosive slurry and unsensitised explosive product. The explosive slurry is drawn from an Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) through a supply hose into the peristaltic pump 1 through the lower flange mounted port, and is carried through the pump hose by action of the pressing shoes, is discharged, and passes through the water injection ring 5 at the top of the peristaltic pump and from there through a delivery hose to the required location, for example a blast hole.

The water supply pump 2 draws water from the water storage tank 9, and pumps the water through the water regulating rotameter 14 and through to the water injection ring 5. The function of the water injection ring 5 is to place a thin film of water as a lubricant between the wall of the supply hose and/or pump hose and/or delivery hose and the explosive slurry to facilitate the movement of the explosive slurry through the supply hose and/or pump hose and/or delivery hose.

Excess water pumped is returned to the water tank 9 via the water flow return valve The water storage tank 9 contains an outlet water filter 25 and an inlet water filter 11, which also has the water filler 10 attached. The water filler 10 is fitted with a standard Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) connector (not shown) so that the IBC supply hose to the peristaltic pump 1 can be removed from the IBC and connected to the water tank 9 for the purpose of flushing all explosive slurry completely from the supply and delivery hoses and from the explosive product peristaltic pump hose.

The flow of explosive slurry is measured by a multiple of the peristaltic pump 1 rotor rotation by the use of a pulley 6. This pulley 6 has a magnet(s) attached to its hub, which passes a whisker switch that is activated every time the magnet(s) passes. By changing the pulley 6 ratios the explosive slurry flow can be calibrated to read out in kilograms or litres on the product flow read out indicator 19.

Typically, peristaltic pumps are operated with an electric power source, driving through a gear reduction drive box 3 to supply the correct revolutions per minute for the explosive slurry peristaltic pump 1. The lubricant level monitoring system, which is used to monitor high lubricant levels in the event of a hose failure, is also typically electrically powered. This improved peristaltic pumping system can be powered by a multitude of energy sources including an air powered drive motor, hydraulic powered drive motor or electric powered drive motor. Control of the drive motor 4 could be by a central valve 28 such as an air control valve, a hydraulic control valve or an electric switch depending on the v II Ir- 12 power source chosen. In the case of air or hydraulic an adjustable flow regulator 27 is incorporated to control the speed of the drive motor 4. In the case of air a regulator lubricator filter 26 is incorporated in the air system to regulate the air pressure required, lubricate the air powered drive motor 4 and filter the air that the air powered drive motor 4 consumes. To allow for slight misalignment of the power motor 4 and the peristaltic pump 1 a flexi drive coupling 7 is incorporated.

To increase the safety of this pumping system an automatic shutdown system is incorporated to monitor the lubricant level in the peristaltic pump 1.

The lubricant level monitoring system 22 incorporates magnetic operated control units 23 and 24 that are activated by a magnetic float contained within a tube. If the lubricant is not within the operating range the pumping system either cannot be started or will shut down. If attempts are made to operate the peristaltic pump S. 1 at higher speeds than recommended, the movement of the viscous lubricant 4 within the hose housing away from the storage area in the lower end of the hose housing will activate the low level lubricant magnetic operated control unit 23 and will signal the pilot operated shuttle valve or electric relay switch 31 to shut the pumping system down. Also if the peristaltic pump 1 is overfilled with lubricant to prevent this function from operating the pumping system cannot be started as the high level lubricant magnetic operated control unit 24 will be activated and shut the unit down preventing energy being delivered to the power motor 4.

The hose housing breather 21 doubles as a lubricant filling point for the peristaltic pump 1 and allows for air to enter and exit to maintain atmospheric pressure within the hose housing. The breather 21 is also designed to leak S. excess fluid build up if required. The breather exit is located at the top of the hose housing and would not prevent internal leakage from the pump hose from contacting the bearing seal without the improvements to the peristaltic pump 1 which are the subject of this specification.

This pumping system incorporates an instrument panel 13. An emergency shut down control 30 is installed which when pressed will override the pump control system 28 preventing the pumping system from being started. In the case of any of the emergency or safety systems being activated once the reason has been corrected the emergency shut down reset control 17 can be used to reset this pumping system so the pumping system can be restarted. Also incorporated 13 into the instrument panel 13 is pressure gauge 15 which allows mine supplied air to be monitored, pressure gauge 16 shows the regulated air pressure which is driving the power motor 4, pressure gauge 18 indicates the explosive slurry back pressure at the discharge point on the peristaltic pump 1. The auxiliary air outlet point 29 is for use for cleaning this pumping system or for the operation of auxiliary equipment. This pumping system is mounted on a steel base frame 12 and is protected by a roll cage 8.

Whilst the apparatus of the present invention has been summarised and explained by illustrative examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many widely varying embodiments and applications are within the teaching and scope of the present invention, and that the examples presented herein are by way of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of this invention.

o o .9 9° *oooo 9• were not lodged with this application

Claims (13)

1. A peristaltic pump including: a tube or hose located within a hose housing, wherein said hose has inlet and outlet ends extending outside said hose housing, and said hose is capable of carrying fluid and/or material to be pumped or transported by said peristaltic pump; a plurality of pressing shoes, rollers or cams and a rotor means operatively connected to said pressing shoes, said pressing shoes adapted to compress said hose to effect peristaltic pumping of said fluid; a bearing housing to accommodate the bearings of said peristaltic pump; S•a bearing seal means located between said hose housing and said bearing o, housing to restrict fluid flow between said hose and bearing housing; wherein said peristaltic pump further includes a hose housing seal means located between said hose housing and said bearing seal means to limit fluid flow from said hose housing to said bearing seal means. i

2. A peristaltic pump as claimed in claim 1 wherein said hose housing seal means is located so as to form a chamber between said hose housing seal means and said bearing seal means. e3. A peristaltic pump as claimed in claim 2 wherein said chamber includes an outlet port to allow the egress of fluid and/or material.

4. A peristaltic pump as claimed in claim 3 wherein said outlet port is located to allow egress of fluid and/or material to be effected by gravity. A peristaltic pump as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4 wherein said outlet port includes a plurality of vents. 0 VO 16

6. A peristaltic pump as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 5 further including an oil slinger located between said hose housing seal means and said bearing seal means.

7. A peristaltic pump as claimed in claim 6 wherein said oil slinger is arranged to deflect fluid and/or material away from said bearings and/or towards said outlet port.

8. A peristaltic pump as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 wherein said oil slinger includes a concave circular disc located on a shaft, such that as said shaft rotates said circular disc deflects fluid away from said bearing seal means.

9. A peristaltic pump as claimed in any preceding claim further including a lubricant monitoring means to monitor the level of lubricant in said hose housing.

10. A peristaltic pump as claimed in any preceding claim wherein power to said peristaltic pump is supplied by an electric, hydraulic or air power source.

11. A pumping system including a peristaltic pump as claimed in any preceding claim.

12. A pumping system as claimed in claim 11 when appended to claim 9 further including an automatic shutdown means wherein if said lubricant S-monitoring means detects the level of lubricant is above or below predetermined levels power to said peristaltic pump is cut.

13. A pumping system as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11 wherein power to said peristaltic pump is supplied by an electric, hydraulic or air power source.

14. A pumping system as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 12 wherein said peristaltic pump is not operated at full capacity. S iC 17 A pumping system as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 12 wherein said peristaltic pump is operated at about 50% capacity.

16. A peristaltic pump substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 2 to 5 of the accompanying drawings. SILVERPORT PTY LTD DATED this 2 6 t h day of April 2001 WATERMARK PATENT TRADEMARK ATTORNEYS GPO BOX 2512 PERTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA