Flexible Specimen Bottle Holder with Curved Planar Plate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing specimen collection kits face challenges in ensuring the integrity and stability of specimens during transfer from one container to another, particularly in maintaining the specimen bottle upright and preventing tampering, while also requiring a compact and transportable solution for packaging and storage.
Innovation Solution
A specimen collection kit with a disposable, flexible specimen bottle holder featuring a planar plate with curvature and living hinges, allowing for secure bottle retention and easy storage, which can be sterilized and made from recyclable materials like ABS, PLA, or polystyrene, and includes a tamper detection packet for ensuring specimen integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rigid specimen bottle holder is used to ensure stable bottle retention, then the reliability of specimen collection is improved, but the device complexity and storage space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible specimen bottle holder made from thin film material that can conform to the contours of specimen bottles. This flexible holder provides stable retention through its ability to adapt to bottle shapes while maintaining a simple, flat structure for compact storage. The flexibility allows the holder to cradle bottles securely during transport without requiring complex rigid frameworks.
Solution Approach 2:
The holder incorporates curved engagement surfaces and arched structural elements that complement the cylindrical shape of specimen bottles. These curved features provide stable retention by distributing contact forces along the bottle surface, preventing rolling or shifting, while the overall holder maintains a planar configuration for easy storage.
2Ease of operation
If a compact flat holder design is used for easy storage and transport, then the ease of operation is improved, but the ability to securely retain bottles during specimen transfer deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible thin film holder can be folded flat for compact storage within the collection kit, yet when deployed, it forms three-dimensional cradling structures that securely hold bottles. The material flexibility allows the flat holder to transform into a stable, contoured support structure that prevents bottle movement during specimen transfer operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The holder transitions from a static flat configuration for storage to a dynamic three-dimensional form during use. The flexible material allows the holder to be manipulated into various stable configurations that adapt to the bottles being held, providing secure retention while maintaining ease of deployment and storage.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple specimen bottles are included in the kit, then the adaptability for different testing requirements is improved, but the volume of the collection container must increase
Solution Approach 1:
The collection kit is designed with nested compartments where multiple specimen bottles can be stacked or arranged vertically within the container. The flexible holder can accommodate multiple bottles in a compact arrangement, allowing the kit to include several bottles without proportionally increasing the overall container volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The holder and container utilize vertical space and three-dimensional arrangement to accommodate multiple specimen bottles. By organizing bottles in multiple layers or stacked configurations rather than side-by-side horizontal placement, the kit can include multiple bottles while maintaining a compact overall volume.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for collection of a specimen includes a specimen collection kit. The specimen collection kit includes a collection container adapted to receive the specimen, and a specimen bottle adapted to receive the specimen from the collection container. The kit has a specimen bottle holder having a planar plate with a bottle-receiving opening to receive the specimen bottle. The specimen bottle holder has a curvature such that a pair of edges of the planar plate are adapted to engage a surface therein spacing the bottle-receiving opening from the surface.