Penile Prosthesis Pump Valve With Pressure Relief Slots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing penile prostheses with inflatable cylinders are prone to malfunction due to exposure of valve components to high pressure, leading to potential failure of the pump mechanism.
Innovation Solution
A pump assembly with a valve body featuring a movable valve element and a biasing member, which includes a pressure relief mechanism through slots or grooves to manage excessive pressure, ensuring the valve remains functional during inflation and deflation cycles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If valve components are exposed to high pressure during inflation, then the pump can achieve effective erection, but the valve may become dislodged or malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
A biasing member (spring) is introduced as an intermediary element between the valve and the high-pressure fluid environment. The spring applies a constant biasing force to keep the valve engaged with the sealing surface, mediating between the high inflation pressure and the valve component to prevent dislodgement while allowing functional operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The biasing member provides a counteracting force (biasing force) that opposes the high pressure forces acting on the valve during inflation. This counterforce ensures the valve remains securely positioned on the sealing surface even when exposed to significant inflation pressures, preventing malfunction.
2Reliability
If a biasing member is added to maintain valve engagement, then valve reliability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The biasing member is integrated within the existing valve body structure, merging the spring mechanism with the valve assembly rather than adding a separate external component. This combination approach maintains valve reliability while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity by utilizing existing structural space.
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 pressure relief mechanism prevents the valve from becoming dislodged or nonfunctional, maintaining the pump's efficiency and reliability by reducing pressure on the movable valve element, thus ensuring consistent operation.
Implementation Method 1
the pump assembly includes a biasing member configured to bias the valve towards the sealing surface
Data Source
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AI summary
According to an aspect, an inflatable penile prosthesis (200) includes a fluid reservoir (202) configured to hold fluid, an inflatable member (210), and a pump assembly (206) configured to transfer the fluid between the fluid reservoir and the inflatable member, the pump assembly including a pump bulb (208), a valve body (270), a valve (240) disposed within the valve body, a first fluid port (114) configured to be fluidly coupled to the fluid reservoir, and a second fluid port (115) configured to be fluidly coupled to the inflatable member, the valve being configured to move between an inflation position and a deflation position, wherein the valve body includes a sealing surface (272) configured to engage the valve to form seal, the valve body includes a slot (274) disposed adjacent the sealing surface.