Double-Surface Cap for Disposable Lancet Safety
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing disposable lancets with thin needle tips face challenges in safe and convenient capping, especially in domestic settings where dedicated disposal is absent, as the needle tip may be exposed and difficult to pierce into the cap, posing a risk of contamination and injury.
Innovation Solution
A disposable blood-taking needle with a double-surface cap featuring a block structure with opposing flat faces and blind holes, ensuring the cap remains insertion-ready and prevents accidental orientation, allowing safe and easy one-handed insertion of the needle tip into the cap when placed on a work table.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the needle tip is made thinner to reduce pain and blood sampling volume, then patient comfort is improved, but the needle tip becomes weak and easily bent, making it difficult to pierce into the cap for protection
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring the needle tip to pierce the cap from the outside, the invention inverts the capping mechanism by providing a blind hole in the cap through which the needle tip is inserted. This reversal eliminates the difficulty of piercing the cap while still achieving secure coverage and protection of the needle tip.
Solution Approach 2:
The cap is pre-formed with a blind hole during manufacturing, preparing the capping structure in advance. This preliminary action eliminates the need for the user to pierce the cap during the capping process, making the operation easier and safer for thin needle tips.
2Device complexity
If the lancet cap is designed with a single opening for capping, then the structure is simple, but the cap may be accidentally placed in wrong orientation on a work table, requiring manual adjustment and reducing safety
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces asymmetry by providing two opposite flat surfaces on the cap while the rest of the cap surface remains curved. This asymmetric design creates a stable orientation when the cap is placed on a work table, as the flat surfaces provide a stable base, eliminating the risk of accidental misorientation while maintaining structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a dimensional feature by incorporating two opposite flat surfaces to the otherwise curved cap geometry. This dimensional change provides a stable orientation reference that prevents accidental wrong placement, as the flat surfaces naturally orient the cap correctly when resting on a surface.
3Quantity of substance
If the needle tip is made thinner to reduce blood sampling volume, then the required blood sampling volume is reduced, but the risk of needle stick injury and contamination increases when the cap is removed
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is pre-formed with a blind hole that accepts the needle tip, creating a secure covering mechanism before use. After blood sampling, the needle tip can be easily reinserted into the pre-prepared blind hole, ensuring immediate protection and eliminating exposure time, thus reducing the risk of needle stick injury and contamination.
Data Source
AI summary
A disposable blood-taking needle with double-surface cap includes a lancet body with a needle tip, a lancet handle and a lancet cap. The lancet body is fixed inside the lancet handle and the needle tip extends out of the first end of the lancet handle to be inserted into the lancet cap. The body of the lancet cap is a block structure, which includes a first face and a second face. Both the first face and second face are flat and opposed such that when one face faces upwards, the other face faces downwards and the included angle between them in space is less than 45°; the first face is provided with a first blind hole and the second face is provided with a second blind hole and both the first blind hole and the second blind hole match the first end of the lancet handle in respect of connection relationship. In the block structure, except the first face and the second face, the other external surfaces are arcuate faces protruding outward and/or angular faces protruding outward.