Medical Injector Cap Remover with Flexible Laminas
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical injectors require operational skill to remove protective caps, posing challenges for self-administration by patients or untrained personnel, especially those with impaired finger skills due to the small size and friction-fit design.
Innovation Solution
A cap remover with a flexible metallic extraction member featuring radially extending laminas that flex to guide and stick into the protective cap, providing a clamping force to facilitate easy removal, designed for use with medical injectors to improve cap removal efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a friction-fit protective cap is used on the injector needle, then the needle protection and sterility are improved, but the ease of cap removal deteriorates for users with impaired finger skills
Solution Approach 1:
The cap remover acts as an intermediary tool between the user and the protective cap. It includes an extraction member with flexible metallic laminas that engage with the cap, a guiding member that centers the cap, and a gripping member that provides user control. This intermediary device transforms the difficult direct manual removal into an easier operated tool-assisted process.
Solution Approach 2:
The extraction member with flexible metallic laminas automatically engages with the protective cap through its own elastic deformation. The laminas present a reduced diameter that allows them to be inserted under the cap rim, then they elastically expand to grip the cap securely without requiring additional fastening actions from the user.
2Volume of moving object
If the protective cap is made of small dimensions, then the injector compactness is improved, but the ease of manipulation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cap remover transforms the manipulation problem from a two-dimensional surface grip issue into a three-dimensional engagement solution. The laminas engage with the cap in radial directions simultaneously, providing secure grip through volumetric engagement rather than surface friction alone. The frustoconical geometry engages the cap rim at multiple points around its circumference.
Solution Approach 2:
The cap remover creates a functional copy or surrogate for the user's fingers. The gripping member with its ergonomic shape and the laminas' engagement geometry replicate and enhance the grasping function, providing leverage and mechanical advantage that small fingers cannot achieve when manipulating tiny caps.
3Manufacturing precision
If the cap removal requires operational skill, then the precision of cap engagement is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates for untrained personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The guiding member performs preliminary action by automatically centering and aligning the protective cap with the extraction member before the user applies removal force. The frustoconical envelope of the laminas and the guiding member's geometry pre-position the cap correctly, eliminating the need for the user to manually align or skillfully engage the cap with the remover.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses parameter changes in the form of elastic deformation of the metallic laminas. The laminas transition from a relaxed state to a deformed engaged state, automatically adapting to the cap's dimensions and providing secure grip. This elastic parameter change enables automatic engagement without requiring precise manual positioning or skill.
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 cap remover enables easy and secure removal of protective caps from medical injectors, enhancing usability for a wide range of users, including those with limited dexterity, by providing a gripping surface and a mechanism to center and axially guide the cap, ensuring sterility and safety.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of flexible metallic laminas extending radially and inwardly from the annular ring toward the central opening, the laminas defining a frustoconical envelope between the annular ring and the central opening... to flex outwardly and slide on the protective cap when the protective cap is inserted into the cap remover; and to stick into the protective cap when the protective cap is removed from the needle
Implementation Method 2
the laminas are configured to exert on the protective cap a clamping force of between 20 N and 300 N, so as to be able to pull the protective cap from the medical injector
Data Source
AI summary
A cap remover for removing a cap covering a needle of a medical injector includes a body having an insertion portion at its proximal end configured to at least partially accommodate the cap, and a grabbing portion at its distal end having an internal cavity which includes an extraction member having a series of laminas extending radially and inwardly from a ring.