Dosing System with Machine-Readable Codes for Component Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dosing systems face challenges in ensuring that only permitted and intended system components are connected, leading to potential errors and contamination, especially when multiple components are involved, and they lack effective verification of component allocation and purity maintenance.
Innovation Solution
The dosing system incorporates machine-readable codes on exchangeable components, including dosing valves and containers, which are connected to a communication unit for unique identification and verification, ensuring only permissible components are used, and designing these components as disposable parts for sterilization and reduced contamination risk.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple exchangeable containers and dosing valves are used in a dosing system, then the system can handle diverse dosing requirements, but the risk of connection errors and contamination increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a communication unit that reads machine-readable codes from containers and dosing valves, providing feedback verification to ensure correct matching. This feedback mechanism prevents connection errors by confirming compatibility before dosing operations proceed.
Solution Approach 2:
Machine-readable codes serve as intermediaries between physical components and the control system. These codes enable the dosing control unit to verify and track connections without direct human intervention, reducing connection errors in multi-component systems.
2Reliability
If machine-readable codes are added to exchangeable components for identification, then component verification improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The machine-readable codes serve multiple functions: identification, tracking, and verification of component compatibility. This multi-functionality justifies the added complexity by providing comprehensive component management in a single integrated system.
Solution Approach 2:
The dosing control unit automatically reads and verifies codes without requiring manual intervention. The system performs self-verification of component connections, reducing the operational burden despite the added complexity of code-based identification.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If disposable parts are used for dosing valves and containers, then contamination risk is reduced, but cost and waste increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs disposable dosing valves and containers that are inexpensive enough to justify single-use operation. This approach eliminates contamination risks associated with cleaning and sterilization while the low cost mitigates the economic impact of waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The disposable components are extracted as separate, replaceable elements from the permanent dosing system infrastructure. This extraction allows contaminated parts to be discarded while preserving the investment in the main dosing control unit and permanent components.
4Device complexity
If a common read connection is used for multiple exchangeable components, then communication structure is simplified, but code reading errors increase
Solution Approach 1:
The communication system is segmented to provide individual read connections for each exchangeable component. This segmentation eliminates code reading errors that occur with common connections by dedicating communication resources to each component individually.
Solution Approach 2:
The dosing control unit receives feedback from each component's unique code through dedicated read connections. This feedback mechanism ensures accurate identification and tracking of each component, preventing the errors associated with shared communication channels.
Data Source
AI summary
A dosing system and a method for dosing a medium, having a dosing control unit (4), at least one exchangeable container (2) containing a medium to be dosed, and a dosing valve (3, 3′) that can be connected to the container (2), wherein at least one part of the dosing valve (3, 3′) that comes into contact with the medium is designed as an exchangeable system component (7, 10) and has a machine-readable code for identification purposes, wherein at least one container (2), as an exchangeable system component (2), has a machine-readable code for identification purposes, wherein the exchangeable parts (2, 7, 10, 19) that come into contact with the medium are designed as disposable parts, and wherein the dosing control unit (4) is connected with a communication unit (5) to read the codes, and wherein the communication unit (5) has a unique read connection (22) to each exchangeable system component (2, 7, 10, 19) or its code.