Chromatography Column Plug With Nested Sealing Pipes
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Solution Overview
Problem
In chromatography, the pressure increase within a column can cause the sealing means to detach, leading to a risk of filler or mobile phase leakage, resulting in loss of the test object, especially when filling biocomponents like proteins requires suitable compression.
Innovation Solution
A column design featuring a plug with an outer pipe and inner pipe, where the inner pipe projects from the outer pipe with seals that engage with a rib on the tube, ensuring a secure seal and preventing leakage, along with filters to manage the flow and filling of the stationary phase.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the sealing means is not reliably fixed to the tube, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability deteriorates due to detachment risk under pressure increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing means is divided into multiple functional components: an outer pipe for structural support, an inner pipe for sealing contact, and a projecting seal element for engagement. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally while maintaining overall reliability under pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner pipe is nested within the outer pipe, creating a compact multi-layer sealing structure. The inner pipe provides the primary sealing surface while the outer pipe offers structural reinforcement, and both are integrated into the tube opening without requiring separate mounting operations.
2Reliability
If the sealing means is simplified, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the reliability deteriorates due to leakage risk when pressure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing means integrates multiple functions into a single molded component: the outer pipe structure, the inner pipe sealing surface, and the projecting seal element are all formed as one piece. This merging eliminates the need for separate manufacturing and assembly steps for each sealing component, simplifying production while ensuring reliable leakage prevention.
3Ease of operation
If the inner pipe has a larger opening area, then the ease of operation is improved for filling, but the reliability deteriorates due to increased leakage risk
Solution Approach 1:
The inner pipe is designed with non-uniform cross-sectional area along its length, with a larger opening area at the top for easy filling operations and a progressively smaller area toward the bottom. This local variation in geometry allows the opening to accommodate filler easily while the narrower lower section maintains effective sealing contact with the tube, preventing leakage.
Data Source
AI summary
A column mainly comprises a tube, a plug, a first filter, a second filter, a stopper, and a connector. The tube mainly comprises a bottomed cylindrical storage part, and a cylindrical bottom-side connection part connected to a bottom of the storage part. The storage part and the bottom-side connection part are coaxially provided. The plug mainly comprises an outer pipe coaxially provided, and an inner pipe provided on an inner side of the outer pipe. The first filter and the second filter each are such a filter as not to enable the filler to pass. The stopper mainly comprises a stopper gripping part, and a stopper insertion part. The connector mainly comprises a connector gripping part and a connector insertion part.