ULTRASOUND DEVICE INCLUDING DISPENSER
An ultrasound device, comprising: a housing; an ultrasound transducer disposed within the housing, the transducer having a wear layer; at least one port formed in the housing; a lubricant reservoir operably connected to the at least one port; and a pump in fluid connection with the lubricant reservoir, the pump dispensing lubricant from the reservoir through the at least one port.
1 . An ultrasound device, comprising:
a housing;
an ultrasound transducer disposed within the housing and having a wear layer;
at least one lubricant dispensing port formed on the housing;
a lubricant reservoir operably connected to the at least one lubricant dispensing port;
a pump in fluid connection with the lubricant reservoir, the pump dispensing lubricant from the reservoir through the at least one dispensing port; and
a pump actuator operably connected to the pump and controlling the pump.
2 . The ultrasound device according to claim 1 , further comprising a manifold in fluid connection with the pump, and the manifold distributes lubricant among the at least one dispensing port.
3 . The ultrasound device according to claim 1 , wherein the pump actuator is a foot switch for controlling operation of the pump.
4 . The ultrasound device according to claim 1 , wherein the pump actuator is a switch mounted on the housing for controlling operation of the pump.
5 . The ultrasound device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one port is formed along a periphery of the wear layer.
6 . The ultrasound device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one dispensing port comprises at least two dispensing ports.
7 . The ultrasound device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one dispensing port is formed in the wear layer.
8 . The ultrasound device according to claim 1 , wherein the ultrasound transducer includes a plurality of transducer elements and at least one port is formed between the transducer elements.
9 . The ultrasound device according to claim 1 , further comprising a degassing unit in fluid communication with the lubricant reservoir.
10 . The ultrasound device according to claim 1 , further comprising a degassing means in fluid communication with the lubricant reservoir.
11 . The ultrasound device according to claim 1 , wherein
the lubricant reservoir includes at least two lubricant reservoirs; and
a valve is interposed between the pump and the at least two reservoir for selecting a desired one of the at least two lubricant reservoir.
12 . The ultrasound device according to claim 11 , wherein the valve is electronically controlled by the pump actuator.