Continuous Capping Material Applicator for Sample Tube Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for capping analytical sample tubes are costly, require significant dexterity, and often result in spillage or contamination due to the risk of leaks, especially in high-throughput laboratories where samples are frequently moved and transported, necessitating a more secure and efficient capping solution.
Innovation Solution
An applicator system that uses a dispenser to apply a substantially continuous length of capping material, which is cut and formed into a cap only when positioned on the sample tube, providing a rapid, cost-effective, and secure sealing solution that can be easily integrated with existing sample handling systems and allows for easy re-opening by a sampling needle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If plastic wraps or films are applied over the tube opening, then containment is provided, but the risk of spillage or leaks remains high and personnel contamination risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a flexible membrane or foil that is secured around the circumference of the tube opening, creating a secure barrier that prevents spillage and contamination while allowing for needle penetration. This flexible film approach provides reliable containment without the hazards of precarious wraps.
2Reliability
If screw caps are applied to tubes, then secure containment is achieved, but the process is costly, requires considerable dexterity, and caps must be removed for further sampling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sampling function from the cap structure itself, allowing the membrane to remain in place while enabling needle penetration through it. This eliminates the need to remove caps for further sampling, reducing operational complexity and cost while maintaining secure containment.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible membrane acts as an intermediary between the tube contents and the external environment, providing secure containment while allowing controlled access through needle penetration. This mediator approach simplifies the capping operation compared to screw caps that must be completely removed for sampling.
3Ease of operation
If tubes are transported in non-vertical orientations, then mobility is achieved, but sample loss occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible membrane sealed around the tube opening creates a secure barrier that prevents sample leakage during transport in various orientations. The membrane maintains containment integrity regardless of tube orientation, enabling safe mobility without sample loss.
4Productivity
If multiple screw caps are held and applied in linear arrangement, then batch capping is achieved, but the applicator is costly and requires significant operator dexterity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable membrane caps that can be quickly applied in batch using a simplified applicator. The low cost of individual membrane caps allows for efficient batch processing without requiring complex, expensive applicator systems or high operator dexterity.
Data Source
AI summary
An applicator or applicator system used for handling samples in an analytical laboratory setting. In particular, the invention the applicator or applicator system is capable of capping an analytical sample tube by applying a capping material to an opening of an analytical sample vessel, the applicator or applicator system including g a dispenser configured to dispense a substantially continuous length of a capping material, such that a region of the substantially continuous length of capping material is located on or about an opening of an analytical sample vessel held in a predetermined orientation.