Universal Rotary Connector Cap for Medical Fittings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical caps are unable to interface with a comprehensive spectrum of connectors, including male, female, female stopcock, and female hemodialysis threaded fittings, necessitating multiple device types in hospital settings.
Innovation Solution
A universal rotary cap design that incorporates a rotary-activated interface, allowing selective engagement with various connector types through a combination of a rotary base, housing, and slide, featuring protrusions and threads for axial movement, enabling connections with male or female fittings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate cap devices are used for different connector types, then each cap can be optimized for its specific connector type, but the number of device types and logistics complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cap device is designed with a universal interface system that can accommodate multiple connector types (male Luer, female Luer, male threaded, female threaded, stopcock, hemodialysis) through a single device. The rotary base with multiple positional settings and the slide mechanism with varying protrusion lengths enable one cap to perform functions that previously required four or more separate cap types.
Solution Approach 2:
The cap incorporates dynamic elements including a rotary base that can be positioned at different angular orientations and a slide that can extend or retract to different lengths. These dynamic adjustments allow the cap to adapt its interface geometry to match different connector types, transforming a static single-function device into a dynamic multi-function device.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a universal cap design is implemented to interface with all connector types, then device versatility improves, but the structural complexity of the cap increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is divided into distinct functional segments: a rotary base for angular positioning, a slide for axial extension, and a housing that contains both elements. This segmentation allows each component to perform a specific function while working together to achieve universal compatibility, making the complex mechanism more manageable and manufacturable.
Solution Approach 2:
The slide is nested within the housing, and the rotary base is nested within the slide assembly. This nested configuration allows the compact storage of multiple functional elements within a single cap body, reducing overall size while maintaining the complexity needed for universal connector compatibility.
3Device complexity
If a single universal cap replaces multiple cap types, then logistics and inventory management simplify, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The design uses adjustable parameters (rotary base angle, slide extension length) to accommodate different connector types rather than requiring precision-matched fixed geometries for each connector type. This parameter-based adaptation reduces manufacturing precision requirements while maintaining universal compatibility.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
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AI summary
Universal disinfecting connector, connector or cap can interface with male, female, female stopcock, and female hemodialysis threaded fittings, therefore encompassing an entire spectrum of disinfecting connectors. Disinfecting connector or cap includes a configuration of structural elements that provide a universal rotary cap incorporating rotary-activated interfaces and design features allowing the cap to be configured to selectively present any one of a plurality of connection types, or interfaces, for engaging, coupling, or capping, a corresponding type of a male or a female connector or luer.