Adhesive Applicator With Reticulated Foam Tip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing adhesive applicators for cyanoacrylate-based wound closure struggle with consistency due to varying viscosity levels and auto-polymerization, making it difficult for users to apply the correct amount of adhesive effectively, especially across different manufacturers' products.
Innovation Solution
The adhesive applicator employs a reticulated foam felt at the applicator tip, which provides consistent adhesive flow across a wide range of viscosities and pressures, using a tubular body with a deformable wall that fractures a sealed ampoule to release the adhesive, and incorporates a mesh shard barrier to prevent glass shards from reaching the foam.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional applicators with deformable bodies and frangible ampoules are used to dispense cyanoacrylate adhesive, then the adhesive can be delivered through the applicator tip, but the application consistency is difficult to control and adhesive thickness varies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a porous plug made of felt or open-celled foam material positioned at the applicator tip. This porous material provides consistent adhesive flow by capillary action, ensuring uniform adhesive thickness regardless of the squeezing force applied to the wings. The porous structure allows the adhesive to be delivered in a controlled manner, resolving the contradiction between application consistency and ease of operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If cyanoacrylate adhesive formulations with varying viscosity levels are used, then different manufacturers can produce their own formulations, but it becomes difficult to determine the correct application method to achieve consistent adhesive thickness
Solution Approach 1:
The porous plug is specifically designed to work with cyanoacrylate adhesives of varying viscosities. The porous structure's capillary action provides a self-regulating mechanism that delivers consistent adhesive flow rates regardless of the adhesive's viscosity level or the force applied during operation, enabling compatibility with different manufacturers' formulations while maintaining application precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the flow control parameter from mechanical force (squeezing the wings) to material property (porous plug characteristics). This parameter change allows the system to maintain consistent adhesive delivery across varying adhesive viscosities and application conditions, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and precision.
3Reliability
If glass frangible ampoules are used to contain the adhesive, then the adhesive can be sealed and protected, but glass shards may be pushed through the porous pad during use causing potential skin trauma
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mesh barrier as an intermediary layer positioned between the frangible glass ampoule and the porous plug. This mesh barrier intercepts and contains glass shards when the ampoule fractures, preventing them from penetrating through the porous plug and contacting the patient's skin. The mesh acts as a protective mediator that maintains the benefits of glass containment while eliminating the harmful effect of shard injury.
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
This design ensures consistent application of adhesive, regardless of viscosity variations and pressure applied, enhancing the reliability of wound closure and skin protection applications by maintaining a uniform adhesive thickness and preventing potential skin trauma from shard injuries.
Implementation Method 1
The foam material is a reticulated foam felt which provides consistent adhesive flow across a wide range of viscosities and pressures
Implementation Method 2
deformation of the wall in use is capable of fracturing the ampoule to release the adhesive composition contained therein
Implementation Method 3
The applicator also incorporates a mesh shard barrier to prevent glass shards from reaching the foam
Implementation Method 4
Upon contact with surface proteins and moisture in skin or other body tissue, the cyanoacrylate polymerizes such that the resulting polymer bonds strongly to the skin
Data Source
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AI summary
An adhesive applicator (1) comprises a receiver (3) having a tubular body with a closed first end (13) and an opposed second end (15), the tubular body having a deformable wall (11), an adhesive composition contained within the tubular body, and an applicator tip (5) mounted on the tubular body and comprising a foam material (7) having an applicator (7a-7c) external of the applicator (1) for applying said adhesive, the applicator being such that deformation of the tubular body causes the adhesive to be expressed through the applicator tip (5), The foam material is a reticulated foam felt (7) and allows for relatively constant flow of the adhesive through the foam felt and to the applicator surface thereof over a wide range of viscosity conditions of the adhesive and pressure applied to the deformable body of the applicator (1).