Elastomeric Syringe Needle Cap with Segmented Grooves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Syringe-needle protection devices with elastomeric caps face issues during sterilization in autoclaves due to pressure changes, leading to potential deformation and loss of sterility, as the caps may separate from the syringe body, causing leaks and risking contamination.
Innovation Solution
An elastomeric needle cap with an annular bead and axial grooves, along with a rigid shell, is designed to maintain sterility by providing mechanical retention and allowing gas passage during sterilization, preventing cap separation and ensuring sealed microbiological sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an elastomeric needle cap is used during autoclave sterilization, then the needle is protected and retained in the housing, but pressure changes cause the cap to deform and separate from the syringe body, leading to loss of sterility
Solution Approach 1:
The elastomeric cap is segmented with longitudinal slots that allow the material to flex and deform during pressure changes without causing the entire cap to detach. The slots divide the cap into segments that can move independently, accommodating pressure variations while maintaining overall structural integrity and retention on the syringe body.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastomeric cap incorporates a porous or slotted structure that allows pressure equalization between the interior and exterior of the cap during autoclave sterilization. This porous design prevents pressure buildup that would otherwise cause the cap to deform and separate, while still maintaining the barrier function for sterility protection.
2Reliability
If the elastomeric cap is made gas-tight to maintain sterility, then microbial sealing is improved, but pressure balancing during autoclave sterilization becomes impossible, causing deformation and separation
Solution Approach 1:
The cap employs a porous elastomeric material or slotted structure that permits gas permeation for pressure equalization during autoclave sterilization. This porous design allows the cap to maintain microbiological sealing by blocking microorganisms while permitting pressure balancing through the porous walls, resolving the contradiction between gas-tight sealing and pressure adaptation.
3Ease of operation
If the lateral wall of the elastomeric cap is made thin and flexible for easy mounting, then ease of operation is improved, but the wall deforms under residual pressure during sterilization, causing cap separation
Solution Approach 1:
The thin and flexible lateral wall is divided into segments by longitudinal slots, allowing the wall to flex during mounting while the segmented structure prevents catastrophic deformation under pressure. The slots enable controlled flexibility for easy mounting while distributing stress to maintain structural integrity during sterilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The thin lateral wall incorporates a porous structure that maintains flexibility for easy mounting while the porous walls allow pressure equalization that prevents deformation. The porous material provides both the flexibility needed for mounting and the pressure-balancing capability to prevent separation during sterilization.
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 solution effectively maintains the needle in a sterile environment during sterilization, reducing the risk of cap separation and leakage, ensuring the syringe remains sterile and functional.
Implementation Method 1
While in an autoclave, as a result of the elastomeric needle cap being made of a material that is not gas tight (generally rubber), it is possible for pressures to balance between the outside of the elastomeric cap, i.e. the chamber of the autoclave, and the inside of the elastomeric cap, i.e. the housing receiving the needle of the syringe.
Implementation Method 2
In some circumstances, in particular when the lateral wall of the elastomeric cap is not strong enough, the residual pressure present inside the housing generates a deformation of the lateral wall that can lead to the elastomeric cap moving relative to the distal portion of the syringe body on which the cap is mounted.
Data Source
AI summary
A protection device for a syringe needle, having an elastomeric cap. The cap defining a housing receiving the distal portion of the body of a needle syringe. An end wall of the cap perforatable over a fraction of its thickness by the free end of the needle. The housing having a first segment of frustoconical or cylindrical shape; a cylindrical second segment for housing the distal portion of the syringe body that carries the needle, and a third segment that tapers from the second segment towards the end wall of the housing, the lateral wall provided with an annular bead arranged in the housing, at least one slot extending in a longitudinal direction across the annular bead. The second segment includes at least one axial groove that extends longitudinally over a fraction of the height of the second segment.