Blood Plasma Storage Bottle Locking Cap Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blood plasma storage containers face issues with brittle plastic tube stubs breaking during freezing and the cap being easily dislodged, especially during transport and storage, which compromises the aseptic integrity and handling of plasma bottles.
Innovation Solution
A container design featuring a rotatable cap with interlocking mechanisms and vanes to secure tube stubs, allowing for longitudinal wrapping and protection, preventing damage and ensuring aseptic integrity by locking in two rotational positions to safeguard the stubs and maintain sterility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a protective cap with slots is used to cover tube stubs, then the stubs are protected from impact, but the cap can be easily dislodged during transport and storage
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is pre-formed with radial slots and resilient ribs positioned to receive tube stubs before the stubs are inserted. The stop elements are pre-positioned to engage with the bottle neck, establishing the protective function and retention mechanism in advance
Solution Approach 2:
The cap incorporates resilient ribs that can flex to accommodate tube stubs of varying positions and orientations. The dynamic resilience allows the cap to maintain protection while adapting to different stub configurations, and the stop elements provide mechanical engagement that prevents dislodgment during transport
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the cap is made resilient with ribs and tabs to protect stubs, then stub protection is improved, but the stop mechanism is easily overcome
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is divided into functional segments: resilient ribs for stub protection, stop elements for retention, and radial slots for access. This segmentation allows each element to perform its specific function optimally - the ribs flex independently to protect stubs while the stop elements provide robust mechanical engagement that cannot be easily overcome
3Ease of operation
If tube stubs project from the bottle neck, then fluid communication is maintained, but the stubs become brittle and break when frozen
Solution Approach 1:
The tube stubs are nested within the cap structure, with the resilient ribs providing internal protection. The cap acts as a container within the bottle system, creating a nested arrangement where the stubs are housed inside the protective cap environment, shielding them from freezing conditions while maintaining fluid communication pathways
Data Source
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AI summary
A container (100) for storing donated blood plasma has a neck and an attachable locking cap (106). The cap may be rotatably attached to the neck. The cap and the neck are configured to lock the cap in at least one, and preferably two, rotational positions. In one position, tubes (110) connected to the container are accessible. After the plasma has been collected and the tubes have been cut off and sealed, in the other position, the tube stubs are protected by the cap. The bottle and the cap may define structures that facilitate storing and protecting tubing wrapped longitudinally around the container, until the container is used to collect and store plasma.