Lancet Coupling Features and Sterility Cap Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lancets often face issues with ease of insertion and ejection, alignment, and sterility maintenance, leading to potential pain and misalignment during use, as well as challenges in disposal and handling due to their design.
Innovation Solution
The lancet design incorporates cantilevered fingers, flexible arches, or resilient coupling members for improved alignment and ejection, along with a sterility cap featuring a handle for easier removal and replacement, ensuring proper engagement with lancing devices and enhancing user safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional lancet designs are used, then manufacturing is simple, but insertion and ejection are difficult and misalignment occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The lancet is divided into distinct functional segments: a shaft portion with coupling members for engagement, a tip portion for lancing, and a handle portion for manipulation. This segmentation allows each part to be optimized for its specific function while maintaining overall simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling members are designed as resilient or flexible elements that can dynamically adapt during insertion and ejection. These members flex during engagement and then snap into place, providing easy insertion while maintaining secure connection. The dynamic nature of these coupling members enables simple ejection through reverse flexing.
2Reliability
If traditional lancet designs are used, then structure is simple, but alignment during use is poor causing pain
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling members are positioned asymmetrically on the lancet shaft, with specific geometric configurations that guide proper alignment during insertion. This asymmetric design ensures the lancet engages correctly with the lancing device, preventing misalignment and associated pain while maintaining structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient coupling members provide tactile feedback during insertion, allowing the user to sense when proper engagement has occurred. This feedback mechanism ensures reliable alignment without requiring complex alignment indicators or mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If traditional lancet designs are used, then sterility is maintained, but handling and disposal are challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The sterility cap is merged with the lancet handle to form an integrated assembly. The cap serves dual functions: maintaining sterility of the tip and providing a gripping surface for safe handling and disposal. This merging eliminates the need for separate cap and handle components, simplifying the overall structure while improving ease of operation.
4Productivity
If resilient coupling members are added, then insertion and ejection improve, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling members are designed with specific material properties and geometric parameters that enable resilient behavior. By carefully selecting material elasticity and cross-sectional dimensions, the members provide easy insertion and ejection while remaining compatible with standard manufacturing processes. The parameters are optimized to balance performance with manufacturability.
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 improved design facilitates smoother insertion and removal, reduces pain by maintaining axial alignment, and simplifies lancet handling and disposal, providing tactile feedback and ensuring sterility through positive engagement mechanisms.
Implementation Method 1
at least one resilient coupling member for releasable engagement with a cooperating coupling member of a lancing device
Data Source
AI summary
Improved lancet configurations and protective lancet endcap configurations are disclosed. In example forms, one or more flexing cantilevers project from the lancet body for coupling with a cooperating receiver of a lancing device. A gripping handle extends from a sterility cap for ease of removal from and replacement over the lancet tip. A lancet body has a smoothly curved wave contour with at least one crest and at least one trough for engagement with a cooperating receiver of a lancing device.