Suture Package With Oval Winding Channel And Pyramidal Standoffs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional suture packages face issues with suture 'hang-up' during withdrawal, limitations in high-speed packaging processes, and difficulties in facilitating sterilization and antimicrobial coating due to restricted gas flow.
Innovation Solution
A novel tray package design featuring an oval-shaped winding channel with pyramidal standoff members and a flat cover member, allowing for easy suture withdrawal and sterilization, along with a needle park mechanism for secure needle retention using ultrasonic deformation for locking the cover member to the base member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional suture packages use traditional winding channels with doors or friction plates, then suture retention is achieved, but suture withdrawal difficulty (hang-up) occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The winding channel is segmented into multiple sections with varying wall heights. The channel includes an entrance section, a winding section with first walls, and an exit section with second walls that are shorter than the first walls. This segmentation allows the suture to be retained during winding while facilitating easy withdrawal through the exit section.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a dimensional variation in the winding channel wall heights, creating a gradient structure where wall heights transition from taller (first walls) to shorter (second walls). This dimensional change provides a pathway for suture withdrawal without compromising retention during the winding process.
2Reliability
If conventional packages use solid wall structures for winding channels, then suture containment is achieved, but gas flow for sterilization is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The package structure incorporates porous or open-wall sections in the winding channel, particularly in the base member. These porous structures allow gas flow through the package for sterilization while maintaining suture containment through the geometric configuration of the winding channel and cover member.
3Productivity
If high-speed packaging processes are used, then productivity is improved, but suture deformation and package reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The winding channel is designed with pre-formed geometric features including angled entrance sections, winding sections with optimized wall heights, and exit sections with reduced wall heights. These preliminary structural preparations allow high-speed winding without causing suture deformation, as the suture follows the pre-designed path.
4Reliability
If needle parks use vertical cantilevered arms, then needle retention is achieved, but needle release occurs when package is flexed
Solution Approach 1:
The needle park features rounded or curved retention surfaces instead of sharp angular structures. The curved geometry provides stable needle retention while accommodating package flexing without causing needle release, as the curved surfaces allow for slight movements without compromising retention.
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 design enhances suture withdrawal ease, accommodates high-speed packaging, and facilitates sterilization by ensuring gas flow around sutures, while maintaining secure retention of sutures and needles.
Implementation Method 1
An inner plurality of pyramidal shaped standoff members is arranged in an oval shape that defines and captures the suture therefore forming a channel for the suture to lie in
Implementation Method 2
along with a needle park mechanism for secure needle retention using ultrasonic deformation for locking the cover member to the base member
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~7
Figure 4~9
AI summary
A package (10) for surgical sutures (94) comprises a base member (12), an outer wall (30) extending upwardly form the periphery of said base member (12), a plurality of pyramidal shaped standoff members (40) arranged in an oval shape and a flat suture channel cover member (14) having a plurality of precision holes to lock said cover member (14) to the standoff members (40) of the base member (12). The inner surface of the outer wall of the base member (12) is a profiled surface and the outer periphery of the cover member (14) has a profiled surface corresponding the said profiled surface of the outer wall of the base member (12). The profiled surface of the outer wall can consist of a plurality of D shaped vertical members extending from the top surface of the base member (12) to the top of the outer wall.