Foot Valve Float Guidance for Drip Chamber Closure Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional drip chambers with free-floating ball obturators can experience inaccurate closure when not used vertically, leading to incomplete air blockage at the outlet opening.
Innovation Solution
A foot valve with a containment cage bush having a flat base and elastically deformable axial sectors guides the float obturator's movement, ensuring controlled closure and re-opening, using a soft disk-like membrane for valve seat contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a free-floating ball obturator is used in the foot valve, then the device complexity is reduced and manufacturing is simplified, but the closure precision deteriorates when the drip chamber is not perfectly vertical
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical state and constraints of the float obturator by confining it within a containment cage bush instead of allowing free movement. This structural parameter change ensures the float maintains proper orientation and contact with the valve seat regardless of drip chamber orientation, thereby improving closure accuracy without significantly increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The containment cage bush acts as an intermediary structure between the float obturator and the valve seat. It guides the float's movement and ensures proper alignment, mediating the interaction between the floating element and the sealing surface to achieve reliable closure even when the drip chamber is not vertical
2Ease of operation
If the float obturator movement is completely free, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability of complete closure deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention creates a dynamic balance by allowing the float obturator to move freely within the constraints of the containment cage bush. The float can still respond to liquid level changes and manual re-opening forces, maintaining ease of operation, while the cage structure dynamically guides its movement to ensure reliable closure at the valve seat
3Measurement precision
If a containment cage bush with elastically deformable axial sectors is used, then the closure precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The containment cage bush is segmented into a crown of elastically deformable axial sectors that can independently flex and adapt. This segmentation allows the structure to provide precise guidance and constraint for the float obturator while maintaining manufacturing feasibility and avoiding excessive complexity through modular construction
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 precise and complete closure of the outlet opening, even when the drip chamber is not vertical, and facilitates efficient manual re-opening by applying radial deformation to the deformable lateral wall.
Implementation Method 1
a crown of elastically deformable axial sectors within which the float obturator floats in a guided fashion
Implementation Method 2
The lateral wall of the containment bush and the float have respective mutually facing diverging surfaces whereby a radial deformation of the containment bush applies through said diverging surfaces an axial thrust to the float obturator
Implementation Method 3
the float is provided with a soft disk-like membrane which rests against such base in the valve closure position
Implementation Method 4
a radial thrust applied from outside the float obturator through the lateral wall of the drip chamber, which is radially elastically deformable
Data Source
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AI summary
Foot valve (7) for drip chambers (1) of medical infusion or transfusion apparatuses, having an annular valve seat (15) with which a float obturator (11) axially displaceable between a position for closing and a position for opening the valve seat (15) cooperates. The foot valve (7) comprises a containment cage bush (8) having an elastically deformable lateral wall (9) within which the float obturator (11) floats in a guided fashion, and the lateral wall (9) of the containment bush (8) and the float (11) have respective mutually facing surfaces (14, 18) and configured such that a radial deformation of the containment bush (8) applies an axial thrust to the float obturator (11) in the direction of moving it apart from the annular valve seat (15).