Safety Syringe Sheath with Aligned Retracted Positions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current safety syringes with protective sheaths lack convenience and safety due to non-aligned retracted positions, requiring backtracking and not providing a clear one-way path for needle protection during use, leading to potential needlestick injuries for healthcare workers.
Innovation Solution
A protective sheath with female means that includes a retracted position before use, during use, and after use, with a one-way path for the hub, featuring primary, secondary, and tertiary transition means for secure locking and unlocking, ensuring the cannula is fully protected and easy to manipulate, and anti-slipping features to prevent dismounting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a protective sheath is added to the syringe to prevent needlestick injuries, then safety is improved, but the syringe becomes more cumbersome and difficult to manipulate
Solution Approach 1:
The protective sheath is designed to be dynamically reconfigurable, transitioning between retracted positions (RBU, RU, RAU) and ejection position (E) based on usage stage. This dynamic capability allows the sheath to provide maximum protection when needed while minimizing interference with manipulation during critical phases.
Solution Approach 2:
The sheath's protection function is segmented into distinct positional states (RBU, RU, RAU, E), each serving specific operational needs. This segmentation allows the system to optimize between safety and ease of manipulation at different stages of use rather than maintaining a single fixed state.
2Reliability
If multiple retracted positions are provided for the sheath, then safety and control are improved, but the device complexity increases due to non-aligned positions requiring backtracking
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple retracted positions (RBU, RU, RAU) are merged into a single longitudinal axis, eliminating the need for backtracking movements. This alignment combines the safety benefits of multiple positions while reducing operational complexity by providing a straightforward one-way path from RBU through RU to RAU.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of allowing random or bidirectional movement between positions, the system inverts the approach by enforcing a unidirectional progression (RBU→RU→RAU→E). This inversion simplifies the interaction model while maintaining the safety advantages of multiple positioned states.
3Ease of operation
If the sheath provides a one-way path with aligned retracted positions, then ease of operation is improved, but the sheath length must be optimized to accommodate all positions
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment of multiple retracted positions along a single longitudinal axis represents a dimensional optimization. By confining all positional variations to one dimension (the axial direction), the sheath achieves compact length while accommodating multiple functional states, avoiding the need for extended lateral or radial dimensions.
Data Source
AI summary
A protective sheath (100) for a cannula (210) arranged on a hub (200) which can be fitted onto a syringe (300), the sheath including female elements intended to cooperate with male elements (201) of the hub (200) for guiding thereof, and characterized in that the female elements include a retracted position before use RBU, a retracted position during use RU, and a retracted position after use RAU, wherein the whole length of the cannula (210) is inside the sheath (100), the female elements further include an ejection position E, wherein whole or part of the cannula (210) protrudes out of the sheath (100), and further characterized in that at least two of the RBU, RU, and RAU positions are substantially transversally aligned.