Tweezer Locking Mechanism for Secure Tick Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tick removal devices often fail to securely retain ticks within the device during transport to a laboratory for pathogen analysis, leading to potential escape and loss of samples.
Innovation Solution
A tweezer-like device with a locking mechanism that requires intentional inward pressure to release, ensuring the tick is securely trapped within the sleeve, featuring a resilient tongue and locking lug design that prevents accidental release.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the tweezer halves are held in the outer sleeve in a spread-apart state by spring force, then the tweezers can automatically release the tick after removal, but the tick may escape from the sleeve during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism transitions from a static state to a dynamic state through intentional user action. The resilient tongue remains deformable and can switch between locked and unlocked states, allowing the system to maintain tick containment during transport and then automatically release the tick when needed by pressing the release element.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient tongue acts as an intermediary element between the locking lug and the sleeve wall. It mediates the locking function by engaging with the locking lug to secure the tweezers in the retracted position, while also providing a controlled release mechanism through the deformable tongue that can be activated by pressing the release element.
2Device complexity
If a simple recess and projection locking mechanism is used, then the device structure remains simple, but the locking can be accidentally released during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The resilient tongue is pre-loaded in a deformed state that creates a locking engagement with the locking lug. This preliminary anti-action prevents accidental release during transport, as the spring force continuously maintains the locked position. The lock can only be released by applying intentional force to the release element that overcomes this pre-loaded spring force.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient tongue changes its physical state from a deformed locked position to an undeformed unlocked position when the release element is pressed. This parameter change in the tongue's deformation state controls the locking and releasing of the mechanism, providing reliable containment during transport while allowing intentional release when needed.
3Ease of operation
If the locking lug is always visible and accessible, then the device is easier to operate, but the tick can be accidentally released during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The release element is positioned locally at the rear end of the handle section, making it accessible only when the user intentionally grasps and presses that specific area. The resilient tongue and locking lug are positioned such that they are not continuously accessible but can be engaged or disengaged only through the controlled action of pressing the release element, preventing accidental release during transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The release element serves as an intermediary that the user must intentionally activate to trigger the unlocking action. It mediates between the user's intentional action and the locking mechanism, ensuring that the tick is only released when the user deliberately presses the release element, rather than through accidental contact during transport.
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
Ensures the tick is reliably contained and transported for examination, preventing escape and ensuring accurate pathogen analysis.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient tongue cut out of the wall of the sleeve... which has a locking lug at its free end that, when the web is in the tension-free state, projects beyond the outer contour of the handle section
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The tweezer-like device for removing ticks from the skin, comprising an outer sleeve in which a tweezer is slidably held, the tweezer having two elastically spread tweezer halves formed integrally with a rod-shaped handle section, the end section of which protrudes from the sleeve, wherein the tweezer halves have converging end sections for grasping a tick and the end sections, in a starting position of the tweezer, protrude from the sleeve at a distance from each other, wherein the end sections are forced together by the front edge of the sleeve when the sleeve is pressed against the skin in order to grasp the tick, is characterized in that the tweezer, retracted in the sleeve, is locked by a locking device which can only be released by pushing inwards a spring-loaded tongue cut out from the wall of the sleeve.