Haptic Sliding Trigger for Blind Bolus Injection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing infusion devices require visual access and manipulation for bolus injection, which is inconvenient for patients, especially those with impaired vision or mobility issues, and can lead to inadvertent triggering.
Innovation Solution
A trigger arrangement with a haptic structure and touch-sensitive sensor system that allows for blind bolus injection by detecting a sliding motion along a predefined haptic track, preventing inadvertent activation through geometric design and sensor detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional button or switch is used for bolus injection, then the device is easy to manufacture and simple in structure, but it requires visual access and can be inadvertently triggered
Solution Approach 1:
A haptic structure serves as an intermediary element between the user's finger and the trigger mechanism. This mediator provides tactile guidance through a defined track, ensuring intentional activation while preventing accidental triggering. The haptic structure translates arbitrary finger movements into a controlled sliding motion along the designated path.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical buttons or switches with a touch-sensitive sensor system guided by haptic structures. This substitution eliminates the need for visual confirmation and physical pressing actions, allowing blind operation while maintaining reliable trigger detection through electronic sensing of sliding motion.
2Ease of operation
If visual access is required for triggering, then the activation can be precisely controlled, but it is inconvenient for patients with impaired vision or when the device is covered by clothing
Solution Approach 1:
The haptic structure acts as a mediator that provides tactile feedback and guidance, enabling visually impaired users to locate and operate the trigger through touch alone. The defined track physically guides the finger, while the touch-sensitive sensor detects the sliding motion, combining haptic and electronic intermediaries to achieve blind operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The touch-sensitive sensor arrangement provides real-time detection of finger position and sliding motion along the haptic track. This feedback mechanism confirms intentional activation through the pattern and direction of sliding, distinguishing deliberate user actions from random touches while enabling operation without visual confirmation.
3Reliability
If a simple trigger mechanism is used, then the device is easy to use, but it cannot distinguish between intentional and accidental touches
Solution Approach 1:
The touch-sensitive sensor arrangement monitors the haptic track for sliding motion patterns characteristic of intentional activation. By detecting the direction, distance, and continuity of finger movement along the defined track, the system distinguishes deliberate user actions from accidental touches, providing reliable activation detection while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The trigger mechanism transitions from a static button press to a dynamic sliding motion detection system. The haptic structure enables controlled finger movement along a defined path, and the sensor system detects the dynamic characteristics of this sliding motion, allowing the device to differentiate between intentional activation and accidental contact based on motion patterns.
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
Enables intuitive and secure bolus injection without visual inspection, ensuring accurate and intentional triggering even when the device is covered by clothing.
Implementation Method 1
The trigger arrangement includes a touch sensitive sensor arrangement extending from the first end section of the haptic track to the second end section of the haptic track and configured to detect a sliding motion of an object, in particular a finger of a person, along the haptic track
Implementation Method 2
The trigger arrangement includes a touch sensitive sensor arrangement extending from the first end section of the haptic track to the second end section of the haptic track and configured to detect a sliding motion of an object
Data Source
AI summary
A trigger arrangement for an infusion device is disclosed, the trigger arrangement being configured to trigger a bolus injection of the infusion device and including: a body having an outside surface, a haptic structure arranged on the outside surface or integrated into the outside surface, wherein the haptic structure includes a first end section and a second end section and wherein the haptic structure includes a haptic track extending from the first end section to the second end section, a touch sensitive sensor arrangement extending along the haptic track and configured to detect a sliding motion of an object along the haptic track.