Rotatable Tube Clip Locking for Repositionable Breathing Tubes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical breathing tubes require effective positioning and support to prevent weight exertion on patients or associated medical devices, and existing solutions fail to provide efficient re-positioning and re-locating capabilities without causing strain.
Innovation Solution
A component with a body engageable with external surface recesses of medical tubes, featuring a pair of jaws that can move along the tube in one orientation and resist movement in another, allowing for secure gripping and positioning of the tube and its accessories, such as temperature probe cables, using projections and grips for secure engagement with various items.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the tube is supported at fixed positions, then the tube weight is borne, but the tube cannot be re-positioned without causing strain
Solution Approach 1:
The component enables dynamic positioning by allowing the tube to be moved between different locked positions along its length. The locking mechanism transitions from a static fixed-position support to a dynamic system where the tube can be repositioned and secured at multiple locations, resolving the contradiction between re-positioning capability and strain prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The tube support system is segmented into multiple discrete locking positions along the tube length. Rather than a single fixed support point, the component divides the support function into multiple segments, allowing the tube to be secured at different locations while maintaining reliability at each position.
2Ease of operation
If the component is fixed in orientation, then engagement with tube recesses is secure, but movement along the tube is prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The component incorporates dynamic orientation capability, allowing it to rotate between orientations. In the first orientation, the component engages with tube recesses and allows movement along the tube. In the second orientation, the component resists movement along the tube while maintaining secure engagement, thus enabling both movability and stability as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The component changes its engagement parameters by rotating between two distinct orientations. This parameter change allows the system to switch between allowing movement along the tube and resisting movement, while maintaining secure engagement with the tube recesses in both states.
3Strength
If the jaws are always gripping, then secure attachment is achieved, but adjustment and re-positioning become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The jaws are designed with dynamic gripping capability, transitioning between open and closed states. The jaws can be opened to allow adjustment and re-positioning of the component along the tube, then closed to provide secure attachment. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction between maintaining constant gripping force and enabling easy adjustment.
Data Source
AI summary
A component useable with one or more tube comprises a body engageable with one or more external surface recesses of the one or more tubes. The component has a pair of jaws extending from the body for gripping an item. The component is configured, such that, in use, in a first orientation of the body relative to the respective tube(s) recesses, the component is movable along a length of the tube(s); and, in a second orientation of the body relative to the respective tube(s) recesses, the component is resistive to movement along a length of the tube(s).