Syringe Barrel Coding for Automated Dosing Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dosing systems with syringes and scanning devices often lead to incorrect dosing due to defects in sensors, incorrect syringe insertion, or the use of unsuitable syringes, resulting in errors in determining and displaying the set metering volume.
Innovation Solution
A syringe design featuring coding elements and test elements in the form of elevations and depressions on the syringe barrel, which are scanned by a dosing device with a ring-shaped scanning device, ensuring error-free scanning by requiring exactly six elevations to be scanned, thus preventing incorrect dosing. The test elements can also serve as additional coding elements to differentiate syringes based on properties like filling volume or cleanliness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If a scanning device with sensors is used to read syringe coding, then syringe identification is automated, but incorrect dosing occurs due to sensor defects or incorrect syringe insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-arranging a specific pattern of elevations and depressions on the syringe barrel that corresponds to the binary code. This predetermined structure ensures that when the syringe is inserted, the scanning device automatically reads the correct coding without requiring manual intervention or complex sensor calibration, thereby preventing incorrect dosing while maintaining automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanical coding structure (elevations and depressions on the syringe barrel) that mediates between the syringe and the scanning device. This physical intermediary translates syringe identification information into a form that the scanning device can reliably read, eliminating direct dependence on complex sensor systems and reducing errors from sensor defects or misalignment.
2Measurement precision
If coding elements are added to the syringe, then syringe identification accuracy improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by adding coding features (elevations and depressions) only at specific locations on the syringe barrel, rather than modifying the entire syringe structure. This localized approach provides the necessary identification accuracy while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity, as the coding elements are integrated into existing structural features of the syringe.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses parameter changes by varying the presence or absence of elevations and depressions at different angular positions around the syringe barrel to encode different syringe types. This binary coding system allows multiple identification states to be represented by simple geometric variations, achieving high identification accuracy without proportionally increasing structural complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple syringe sizes are used with adjustable dosing, then dosing flexibility improves, but dosing errors occur when changing syringe sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a standardized coding system that works across multiple syringe sizes and types. The same scanning device and coding pattern can identify different syringe sizes (e.g., 1ml, 5ml, 10ml), allowing the dosing device to automatically adjust parameters based on the detected syringe type. This maintains dosing flexibility while preventing errors that occur when manually changing syringe sizes without proper recalibration.
Data Source
Figure 1a~2
Figure 1d
Figure 3a~3c
AI summary
Syringe with a syringe barrel and a syringe plunger for use with a dosing device for dispensing liquids in the laboratory, comprising a receptacle for the syringe barrel and an axially displaceable plunger receptacle for the syringe plunger: - a coding feature on the upper edge of the syringe barrel with coding elements in the form of protrusions and depressions at seven circumferentially uniformly distributed coding positions in an arrangement characteristic of the syringe type; - test elements in the form of further protrusions and further depressions at seven test positions, each of which is arranged between two coding positions on the upper edge of the syringe barrel; - wherein the coding elements and the test elements together have six protrusions; and - a guide structure on the circumference of the syringe barrel having a specific position relative to the coding elements and the test elements.to align the syringe with a further guide structure in the receptacle of the dosing device, which has a specific position relative to a ring-shaped scanning device for scanning the coding with scanning elements of the dosing device evenly distributed around the circumference, with each coding element and with each test element on a scanning element.