Medical Tube Connector Catch Release for Secure Fluid Coupling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing connector systems for medical tubing lack secure and easy-to-use designs that prevent accidental disconnection and ensure fluid flow integrity, particularly in biomedical environments.
Innovation Solution
A connector system featuring a female coupler with a catch and catch-receiving element, along with a release element that travels along the coupler's surface to engage and disengage the catch, ensuring secure connection and easy disconnection, and includes external valve-biasing members to maintain fluid flow integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a secure connection mechanism is implemented to prevent accidental disconnection, then connection reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is divided into distinct functional components: a female coupler with a catch mechanism, a male coupler with a catch-receiving element, and a separate release element. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while keeping the overall design manageable and not overly complex.
Solution Approach 2:
The catch mechanism automatically engages with the catch-receiving element upon axial coupling of the male and female couplers, providing self-securing functionality without requiring additional actions from the user. The system serves itself by automatically establishing the secure connection state.
2Ease of operation
If a release mechanism is added to enable easy disconnection, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The release element acts as an intermediary component that mediates between the user's action and the catch mechanism. By traveling along the female coupler outer surface, it provides a simple user interface that translates user input into the disengagement of the catch from the catch-receiving element, enabling easy disconnection without directly complicating the core locking mechanism.
3Reliability
If valve-biasing members are placed external to the fluid flow path, then fluid flow integrity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The valve-biasing members are extracted from the fluid flow path and positioned external to it. This separation removes the potential source of contamination and flow impediments from the sterile fluid path, thereby improving fluid flow integrity and reducing the risk of biofilm growth while keeping the valve functionality intact.
Solution Approach 2:
By placing the valve-biasing members outside the fluid path, what could have been a harmful element (potential contamination source) is converted into a beneficial arrangement. The external positioning eliminates the harm of potential contamination while maintaining the valve's operational benefit of controlling fluid flow.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are embodiments of a connector system for releasably connecting together tubes, for example medical tubing, and methods of making and using such a connector system, whereby the connector system includes a female coupler having a first passageway, a male coupler having a second passageway, a catch movably coupled to the female coupler, and a catch-receiving element coupled to the male coupler. The connector system further includes a release element movably coupled to the female coupler, whereby travel of the release element along or over a female coupler outer surface of the female coupler disengages the catch from the catch-receiving element to achieve a disconnected condition of the connector system. Further disclosed herein are embodiments of a connector system for releasably connecting together tubes, whereby the connector system includes at least one valve biased by a valve-biasing member disposed external to or outside of the fluid flow path.