IV rack

DETAILED DESCRIPTION An objective of the present invention has been to provide an IV rack for pumps and IV containers wherein the combination is greatly simplified and the weight and size reduced.
Another objective of the present invention has been to provide an improved smaller, lighter weight pump.
These objectives of the present invention have been attained by providing an IV rack wherein the electrical conductors from the power supply and contacts for the respective pumps are mounted in and become a permanent part of the IV rack.
Provision is made for connecting the electrical conductors to a single AC power supply and a single DC power supply as contrasted to the multiple conductors required for separate power supplies to each pump.
Further, the pump is provided without any battery and without any conductor suitable for connection to an AC power supply.
Rather, the pump is provided with electrical contacts which will mate with the contacts in the IV rack, thereby connecting the pump to the desired power supply when the pump is inserted into the rack.
In one embodiment of the invention, the auxiliary DC power supply is in the form of a battery mounted in and forming a part of the rack.
In an alternative embodiment, the power supply is mounted on a care cart of the type described in copending application Ser.
No.
07/524,038, and one conductor can make the connection to the IV rack from the power supply in the care cart.
The advantages of the present invention are that the invention eliminates the tangle of electrical conductors coming from a plurality of pumps mounted on the rack, that there is a reduction in the size of the pump, thereby permitting the construction of a rack of a more reasonable size, and finally, that the pump is significantly reduced in weight and hence the assembly of multiple pumps on the single rack is much lighter.