Cryopreservation Canister Cap With Nested Handle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cryogenic storage devices lack efficient mechanisms for maintaining sample integrity during temporary removal from cryogenic environments, as they are sensitive to temperature fluctuations, and existing caps do not facilitate proper cooling and handling of canisters within these devices.
Innovation Solution
A cap design featuring a receptacle and handle that allows for nested engagement with the canister, enabling disengagement from the cryogenic storage dewar while maintaining contact with cryogenic substances, thus preventing rapid warming and providing additional time for sample retrieval, along with adaptable shapes for improved packing efficiency and thermal management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional cryogenic storage devices are used, then storage capacity is provided, but sample integrity cannot be maintained during temporary removal from cryogenic environments
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into two functional components: a canister for holding samples and a cap for providing cryogenic contact. This segmentation allows the cap to specifically address temperature protection during removal while the canister maintains storage capacity, resolving the contradiction between storage function and sample integrity protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The cap acts as an intermediary element between the cryogenic environment and the samples. It maintains thermal contact with cryogenic substances during temporary removal, mediating the temperature exposure and preventing direct harmful thermal effects on the samples, thus preserving sample integrity.
2Ease of operation
If samples are removed from cryogenic storage for retrieval, then access is enabled, but rapid warming occurs causing sample damage
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is pre-configured with features (slots for hooks, nested engagement structure) that enable quick attachment and detachment. This preliminary design allows operators to rapidly secure or release samples during retrieval operations, facilitating easy operation while the cap simultaneously maintains cryogenic contact to prevent rapid warming.
Solution Approach 2:
The cap maintains continuous cryogenic contact with the samples throughout the retrieval process. By keeping the cryogenic substance in contact with the cap during removal and transfer operations, the useful cooling action continues uninterrupted, preventing the warming rate from increasing even as samples are being accessed.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional cap designs are used, then simple closure is provided, but proper cooling and handling during removal is not facilitated
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is designed to nest over the canister in a simple, straightforward manner. This nested structure provides ease of manufacture and assembly while simultaneously creating a configuration that maintains cryogenic contact, thus achieving both manufacturing simplicity and reliable cooling maintenance during handling.
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 design ensures proper cooling and extended handling time for cryopreserved samples by maintaining cryogenic contact during removal, reduces storage costs through efficient packing, and enhances thermal efficiency during identification and retrieval.
Implementation Method 1
maintaining contact with cryogenic substances, thus preventing rapid warming
Data Source
AI summary
A cap for closing a canister includes a receptacle including a bottom wall, and one or more walls extending upward from the bottom wall and defining an opening of the receptacle that is configured to receive a body of the canister, and a handle extending upward from the receptacle and defining vertical slots that are configured to receive respective hooks of the canister.