Anesthetic Wick With Vertical Ducts For Manufacturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wicks for anesthetic evaporators, particularly those with helical air flow ducts, are difficult to manufacture due to their geometry and require strict manufacturing tolerances, making them complex and costly to produce.
Innovation Solution
A wick with vertically extending air ducts and deflection chambers that form a simple geometry, allowing for easy manufacturing and assembly, along with recesses for enhanced heat transfer and a larger evaporation surface, is designed. This wick is made from a porous molding material like sintered plastic, metal, or ceramic, which simplifies the construction and operation of the anesthetic evaporator.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a helical air flow duct is used in the wick, then the evaporation function is improved, but the manufacturing difficulty increases and strict tolerances are required
Solution Approach 1:
The wick is divided into multiple separate components: a housing with helical air flow ducts, a porous wick body, and a reservoir. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently using standard processes, avoiding the need to manufacture a complex integrated helical structure while preserving the evaporative function through proper component assembly and fluid communication.
Solution Approach 2:
A fluid communication pathway (intermediary structure) is introduced to connect the reservoir to the helical air flow ducts in the housing. This intermediary allows the liquid anesthetic to flow from the reservoir through the porous wick body and into the helical ducts where evaporation occurs, enabling the evaporation function without requiring the wick itself to form the complex helical shape.
2Reliability
If a helical air flow duct with side wall formed by housing component is used, then the evaporation function is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into independent components with standardized interfaces. The housing containing the helical ducts is manufactured separately from the wick body and reservoir, allowing each to be produced with standard tolerances. The segmentation eliminates the need for high-precision integration while maintaining the helical flow path's evaporative effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing serves multiple functions: it contains the helical air flow ducts for evaporation, provides structural support, and interfaces with the reservoir and wick body through standardized connections. This multi-functionality reduces the need for specialized high-precision features in any single component.
3Ease of manufacture
If a simple porous molding is used, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the evaporation surface area may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The evaporation surface is extended into the third dimension by creating a helical three-dimensional flow path within the housing. Liquid anesthetic rises through the porous wick body and flows along the helical path, maximizing the contact surface area between the liquid and air without requiring a larger or more complex wick structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The helical air flow ducts in the housing act as an intermediary structure that dramatically increases the evaporation surface area. The liquid anesthetic flows through this helical pathway, exposing a large surface area to the air stream for evaporation, while the wick itself remains a simple porous molding that only needs to provide liquid transport.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables a more straightforward manufacturing process, improves evaporation efficiency, extends the operating time without refilling, and ensures effective heat transfer, resulting in a compact and efficient anesthetic evaporator design.
Implementation Method 1
a porous molding with a plurality of air ducts, which extend in the vertical direction and through which a gas flow to be enriched with anesthetic flows
Implementation Method 2
Air flows through a helical air flow duct and absorbs evaporated anesthetic at the wall of the wick
Implementation Method 3
Air flows through a helical air flow duct and absorbs evaporated anesthetic at the wall of the wick
Implementation Method 4
at least one first and one second air duct arranged at least extensively vertically in the installed position of the porous molding are preferably connected in the upper area via a deflection chamber, which is configured as a depression in the molding
Data Source
AI summary
A wick (12) includes a porous molding, which has a plurality of air ducts (26) extending in the vertical direction, a plurality of upper deflection chambers (28), which connect each a first air duct pair (29) of the plurality of air ducts (26) to one another, and a plurality of lower deflection chambers (30), which connect each a second air duct pair (31) of the plurality of air ducts (26) to one another. The two air ducts (26) of the second air duct pairs (31) are each associated with different first air duct pairs (29). An anesthetic evaporator (10) includes a housing (14, 16), which receives the wick (12), so that the vertical air ducts (26) and the upper and lower deflection chambers (28, 30) form an air flow duct between the air inlet (22) and the air outlet (24).