Sleeve Clamp With Elastic Clamping Element for Secure Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sleeve clamps fail to securely hold elongated elements like wires or sleeves without affecting their position or orientation, as they can be displaced by soft tissue structures, leading to issues during screw insertion, such as tilting of Kirschner wires within sleeves.
Innovation Solution
A sleeve clamp with an elastically deformable clamping element that protrudes into the lumen initially, but upon sleeve insertion, deflects and engages the sleeve's outer surface, providing a restoring force to maintain axial alignment and prevent movement, featuring a leaf spring design and a push button for manual operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a clamping element is used to hold the sleeve, then the sleeve is securely held in place, but the position and orientation of the sleeve may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
The clamping element is designed to be movable between a neutral position (where it does not protrude into the lumen) and a deflected position (where it engages the sleeve). This dynamic capability allows the system to adapt: during insertion, the element remains neutral to preserve alignment, and after insertion, it deflects to provide secure holding without compromising the previously established position and orientation.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamping element is positioned in advance at the body so that it is ready to engage the sleeve upon insertion. The element is pre-configured to deflect when the sleeve is inserted, automatically providing the holding force needed to prevent displacement by soft tissue structures without requiring additional adjustment steps that could affect sleeve alignment.
2Reliability
If the clamping element protrudes into the lumen to hold the sleeve, then the sleeve is secured, but the sleeve cannot be easily inserted or removed
Solution Approach 1:
The clamping element's ability to move between neutral and deflected positions enables easy insertion and removal. During insertion, the element can be deflected to clear the lumen path, allowing the sleeve to pass freely. Once inserted, the element returns to its neutral position and engages the sleeve for secure holding. For removal, the element is again deflected to release the sleeve, making the operation simple and intuitive.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamping element changes its positional parameter (from neutral to deflected) to control the engagement state. This parameter change allows the system to transition between holding and releasing states, facilitating easy insertion and removal while maintaining secure holding when engaged. The elastic deformation of the element provides a mechanical parameter change that is both controllable and reversible.
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 sleeve clamp effectively holds the sleeve in place without altering its orientation, ensuring secure alignment during insertion, even against external forces, and allows for easy release by deflecting the clamping element, thus addressing the displacement issues in existing technologies.
Implementation Method 1
The clamping element may be elastically deformable resulting in a restoring force which may press a clamping edge of the clamping element against the outer surface of the sleeve
Implementation Method 2
The deflection of the clamping element further provides an axial force component which prevents an axial movement of the sleeve, in particular in a direction opposite to the sleeve inserting direction, even against any forces acting on the sleeve
Data Source
AI summary
A sleeve clamp has a body with a through bore for receiving a sleeve, and a clamping element. The clamping element includes a clamping edge and may be arranged at the body so as to be movable between two positions, i.e. a neutral position and a deflected position. In the neural position, the clamping edge protrudes laterally into a lumen which is occupied by the sleeve when the sleeve is received in the through bore. In the deflected position, the clamping element may be elastically deformed and the clamping edge does not protrude into the lumen which is occupied by the sleeve when the sleeve is received in the through bore.