Angled Support Member for Urine Collection Bag Spout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing urine collection bags face issues with spill-free drainage due to the inward tilting of the discharge valve and spout as the bag fills, making them less accessible and leading to inefficient fluid drainage.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible urine collection bag with an angled support member that positions the discharge valve and spout at an angle between 30° and 60°, specifically 45°, to maintain a vertical orientation even when the bag is filled, ensuring spill-free drainage by compensating for the bag's expansion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the discharge valve and spout are positioned vertically on the collection bag, then drainage efficiency is improved, but the bag expansion causes them to tilt inward making them less accessible and causing spill-free drainage to fail
Solution Approach 1:
The discharge valve and spout are pre-positioned at an angled orientation (30°-60° from vertical) on the collection bag before use. This preliminary angular positioning compensates for the expected inward tilt caused by bag expansion, ensuring that when the bag fills and expands, the valve and spout naturally return to a vertical orientation for optimal drainage while maintaining accessibility.
2Device complexity
If the discharge valve is mounted on a standard vertical support, then the structure is simple, but the bag expansion causes the spout to skew from vertical orientation preventing spill-free drainage
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure for the discharge valve is designed with an asymmetric angular orientation (30°-60° from vertical) rather than a standard vertical alignment. This asymmetric positioning creates a geometric compensation mechanism where the angular offset counteracts the symmetric inward tilt caused by bag expansion, restoring vertical spout orientation and ensuring reliable spill-free drainage without complicating the overall structure.
Data Source
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AI summary
A urine collection bag (102) is provided which includes at least one sheet of flexible material defining a collapsible fluid reservoir and a support member (10) defining a fluid channel (18) and including a spout (24) having an outlet opening (16). The support member is configured such that the longitudinal axis (B) of the spout defines an acute angle with a horizontal axis (H) when the fluid reservoir is empty but moves to a position wherein the longitudinal axis of the spout is substantially parallel to a vertical axis when the fluid reservoir is filled. The support member is configured to support a discharge valve (21) such that the discharge valve is more accessible when the fluid reservoir is filled with fluid.