Infusion Connector Valve Geometry for Leak-Free Reconnection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical infusion system connection devices fail to securely connect and disconnect functional parts without fluid loss or contamination, and often suffer from premature wear due to excessive deformation.
Innovation Solution
A connection device featuring an elastically flexible cup-like valve body with a dimensionally stable base section, a slot arrangement in the head area, and a conical contact surface for secure centering, which allows for reliable opening and closure, and includes design features like an annular counter-shoulder to limit penetration depth and an annular groove for axial compression, ensuring the valve body returns to its initial position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the valve body is made entirely from elastically flexible material to enable easy opening and closing, then the ease of operation is improved, but the durability deteriorates due to excessive deformation and premature wear
Solution Approach 1:
The valve body is divided into two distinct sections: a dimensionally stable base section made from rigid material that provides structural support and durability, and a cup-like valve body made from elastically flexible material that enables easy opening and closing operations. This segmentation allows each part to fulfill its specific function optimally without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the valve body have different material properties tailored to their specific functional requirements. The base section uses rigid material for stability and durability, while the cup-like portion uses flexible material for elastic deformation during operation. This local differentiation of material quality resolves the contradiction between ease of operation and durability.
2Reliability
If the valve body is made entirely from rigid material to ensure dimensional stability, then the reliability is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to difficulty in opening and closing
Solution Approach 1:
The valve body is segmented into a rigid base section for dimensional stability and a flexible cup-like section for ease of operation. The base section maintains its shape and position, while the cup-like section deforms elastically during opening and closing, combining the benefits of both rigid and flexible materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve body exhibits local quality differentiation where the base section is rigid for stability and the cup-like portion is flexible for operation. This spatial variation in material properties allows the structure to be rigid where needed and flexible where required, resolving the contradiction between reliability and ease of operation.
3Ease of operation
If the slot arrangement is made wide to facilitate easy opening, then the ease of operation is improved, but the sealing performance deteriorates due to potential fluid leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The cup-like valve body acts as a flexible shell that deforms elastically during operation. When closed, it forms a tight seal against the connection profile despite the wide slot arrangement. The flexibility of this shell allows it to conform and seal effectively, preventing fluid leakage while maintaining easy opening capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cup-like valve body has a curved, dome-shaped geometry that allows it to deform elastically and conform to the connection profile during closing. This curvature enables the wide slot arrangement to be opened easily while the elastic deformation during closing ensures proper sealing contact, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and sealing performance.
4Ease of operation
If the valve body is made highly flexible to enable easy deformation, then the ease of operation is improved, but the durability deteriorates due to excessive deformation and overload
Solution Approach 1:
The valve body is segmented into a rigid base section that resists excessive deformation and a flexible cup-like section that deforms easily during operation. The rigid base provides structural support that limits overall deformation, protecting the flexible portion from overload while allowing necessary elastic deformation for operation, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve body has local quality differentiation where the base section is rigid for durability and the cup-like portion is flexible for ease of deformation. This spatial variation in material properties allows the flexible portion to deform easily during operation while the rigid base prevents excessive overall deformation, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and durability.
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
The solution enables safe and reliable connection and disconnection of functional parts in medical infusion systems, preventing fluid contamination and extending the service life of the valve body by minimizing overload and maintaining a tight seal.
Implementation Method 1
a cup-like valve body, which is made in one piece from an elastically deformable material... Starting from a cover-shaped head region, the valve body widens essentially continuously towards a base ring... In the event of an axial pressure load from the outside by a tip of a functional part F on the head area 12, the head area 12 and the valve jacket 15 are pressed axially inwards in a substantially undeformed manner, with deformation of the flexure joint in the area of the bottom ring 16
Implementation Method 2
When the tip of the functional part F is pulled out, the valve body returns to the unloaded starting position... After removal of the pressure load, the elastically flexible valve body springs back into the starting position shown in FIG. 7, so that the connecting piece 3 is tightly closed again
Implementation Method 3
a contact surface of the base ring is designed conically at least in sections, and the dimensionally stable base section has a complementary conical design for a planar support of the base ring on the base section. This achieves secure centering and fixing of the base ring of the valve body on the dimensionally stable base section
Implementation Method 4
the dimensionally stable base section has an annular counter-shoulder which protrudes into the base ring of the valve casing in the direction of the head area... an annular groove surrounding the counter-shoulder, into which the valve jacket partially dips during elastic deformation, and which forms a free annular space when the valve body is in the unloaded initial state
Implementation Method 5
The valve body tightly seals the connecting piece in the unloaded initial state... When the tip of the functional part F is pulled out, the valve body returns to the unloaded starting position, in which the connecting piece 3 is tightly closed again
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~6
Figure 7~12
AI summary
Such a connecting device with a connection piece, which has a connection profile for connecting a functional part of the infusion system, and with an elastically flexible, cup-like valve body, which is arranged in the connection piece and has a valve casing and a cover-shaped head area, which is provided with a slot arrangement, and with a dimensionally stable base section on which a base ring of the valve casing is supported and which is firmly connected to the connecting piece is known. According to the invention, the valve jacket has a cambered inner contour in the unloaded initial state, which first widens starting from the cover-shaped head area in the direction of the bottom ring and then narrows again, forming an O-shaped inner longitudinal section. Use for a three-way stopcock of an infusion system.