Movable Medical Instrument Holder with Ratchet Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional medical instrument holding devices are inefficient for smaller tools due to jostling and require tedious matching of instruments with grommets, and many instruments are not suited for sterilization within these devices.
Innovation Solution
A movable instrument holding apparatus with a housing structure, rail, and depressible arm featuring ratchet teeth that engage with a track, allowing flexible positioning and retention of medical instruments during sterilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional holding containers with specifically-designed areas are used, then instruments can be organized, but smaller tools are prone to being moved around and jostled as the container is moved
Solution Approach 1:
The holder is designed to be movable along a track system, allowing dynamic repositioning of the entire instrument holder to various locations. This dynamic capability enables the holder to be moved to different positions while maintaining internal stability of instruments through the retaining structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional containers with multiple sized grommets are used, then various medical instruments can be held, but it becomes tedious to search for the appropriately sized grommet that matches a particular shaft size
Solution Approach 1:
The holder employs a universal retaining structure that can accommodate medical instruments of various shaft sizes without requiring different sized grommets. The retaining structure is designed to adapt to different instrument dimensions, eliminating the need to search through multiple grommet sizes.
3Reliability
If conventional grommets are used to hold medical instruments, then instruments can be retained, but many instruments are not suited for sterilization while being held in a grommet because the grommet hinders the ability for sterilant to contact all portions
Solution Approach 1:
The design extracts the grommet component from the system and replaces it with an open retaining structure. This removal eliminates the barrier that prevented sterilant contact, allowing sterilants to access all portions of the instrument while the retaining structure maintains instrument security through alternative retention mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A movable instrument holding apparatus and method of retaining a medical instrument with a movable instrument holding apparatus are disclosed. The movable instrument holding apparatus includes a housing structure retaining a gripping structure. A rail is connected to the housing structure. A depressible arm is connected to the rail, the depressible arm having a first quantity of ratchet teeth, wherein the first quantity of ratchet teeth is movable with the depressible arm. A track is sized to receive the rail, wherein the track has a second quantity of ratchet teeth, and wherein the first quantity of ratchet teeth are engagable with the second quantity of ratchet teeth when the rail is positioned at least partially within the track.