Multi-Compartment Magazine for POC Test Caps
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for manufacturing and assembling point-of-care (POC) test systems face challenges in safely transporting and orderly issuing caps with liquid-filled blisters, leading to damage and incorrect assembly due to inadequate packaging and handling.
Innovation Solution
A multiple magazine design featuring vertically stacked compartments formed by opposing tongues and recesses on the inner surfaces of the magazine, with an inclined counter surface at the head end, ensures safe storage, transport, and easy loading/unloading of caps with forceps arms and liquid-filled blisters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If caps are transported in conventional packaging, then transport simplicity is maintained, but cap damage occurs and handling becomes disordered
Solution Approach 1:
The magazine is divided into multiple compartments, each capable of holding a single cap in a vertical orientation. This segmentation prevents caps from moving freely and colliding with each other, thereby protecting them from damage while maintaining an organized structure for efficient handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The caps are nested vertically within individual compartments of the magazine, with each cap positioned in a dedicated space. This nesting arrangement protects the fragile liquid-filled blisters by preventing external impacts and internal movement, while the entire magazine serves as a protective outer container.
2Ease of operation
If caps are stored in loose arrangement, then access simplicity is maintained, but assembly precision decreases due to incorrect orientation
Solution Approach 1:
Each compartment in the magazine is designed with specific local features including an inclined counter surface and positioning elements that ensure caps are held in a precise vertical orientation. This local quality control at the compartment level guarantees that when caps are removed for assembly, they maintain the correct orientation, thereby ensuring assembly precision while allowing easy access.
3Quantity of substance
If caps are stacked horizontally, then storage density is reduced, but handling ease increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of stacking caps horizontally in a single layer, the invention transitions to vertical stacking within each compartment. The inclined counter surface at the bottom of each compartment facilitates easy vertical removal of caps by allowing them to slide out smoothly, thereby maintaining high storage density while preserving ease of operation.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The invention relates in one aspect to a multi-compartment magazine for transporting, storing, and/or holding a plurality of caps for a point-of-care (POC) test strip, wherein opposing tongues and recesses on the inner surfaces of the front and rear walls form a series of two or more compartments for vertically stacking the caps, and wherein the multi-compartment magazine has an inclined counter-position at one end, which extends across the width of the multi-compartment magazine. The invention further relates to uses of the multi-compartment magazine and a kit comprising a multi-compartment magazine and a plurality of caps for a POC test strip, which are preferably stacked in the multi-compartment magazine. In a further aspect, the invention relates to a method for assembling a POC test system by providing the caps using the multi-compartment magazine.