Vent Tube Stoppering Tool With Rod Centering for Syringe Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vent tube stoppering systems for prefilled syringes risk stopper tilting during installation, particularly with lubricant-free or low lubricant stoppers, leading to improper sealing due to off-center installation rod alignment.
Innovation Solution
A vent tube stoppering system with a guide portion and installation rod featuring guide features that center the rod relative to the vent tube, ensuring proper alignment and minimizing stopper tilting during insertion into the syringe barrel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a separate installation rod is used to push the stopper through the vent tube, then accurate placement of the stopper within the container is achieved, but the stopper may tilt during insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a vent tube with a specific geometry (narrower distal end, wider proximal end) as an intermediary device. The vent tube serves as a guiding structure that constrains the installation rod and stopper alignment, preventing tilting while maintaining accurate placement. The vent tube acts as a mediator between the installation rod and stopper, ensuring proper orientation during the insertion process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the vent tube, specifically creating a diameter gradient along its length (narrower distal end, wider proximal end). This parameter change in the vent tube structure provides natural centering and guidance for the installation rod, ensuring the stopper remains aligned and prevents tilting during insertion while maintaining placement accuracy.
2Productivity
If the installation rod applies pushing force to the center portion of the stopper, then the stopper is pushed through the vent tube, but off-center alignment causes tilting of the stopper
Solution Approach 1:
The vent tube serves as an intermediary guiding structure that ensures proper alignment between the installation rod and stopper. The tapered geometry of the vent tube (narrower distal end, wider proximal end) provides natural centering, acting as a mediator that maintains manufacturing precision during the high-speed insertion process.
Solution Approach 2:
The vent tube is pre-positioned within the syringe barrel before stopper insertion. Its tapered geometry is designed in advance to provide guiding and centering functions, preparing the pathway for the installation rod and stopper to ensure proper alignment before the actual insertion action occurs.
3Reliability
If friction between the stopper and vent tube is increased (lubricant-free stopper), then the stopper can be retained in the vent tube, but the likelihood of stopper tilting is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the vent tube by creating a diameter gradient (narrower distal end, wider proximal end). This parameter change provides natural centering and guidance that counteracts the tilting effect caused by high friction in lubricant-free stoppers, maintaining manufacturing precision while preserving retention capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The vent tube employs asymmetric geometry with different diameters at its proximal and distal ends. This asymmetry creates a tapered guiding structure that provides natural centering and alignment for the stopper during insertion, counteracting the tilting tendency caused by high friction in lubricant-free stoppers while maintaining reliable retention.
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided herein is a vent tube stoppering system for positioning a stopper within a syringe barrel. The system includes a vent tube having an insertion portion and a guide portion. The insertion portion comprises a tube-shaped member sized to be insertable into the syringe barrel and to receive the stopper in a compressed state. The guide portion comprises a tube-shaped member having an inner diameter that is greater than an inner diameter of the insertion portion. An installation rod is moveable inside the vent tube along a longitudinal axis, to enable placement of the stopper into the syringe barrel. The installation rod comprises a distal rod portion that pushes the stopper distally through the insertion portion and into the syringe barrel and a proximal rod portion comprising one or more guide features thereon that interact with the guide portion to center the installation rod relative to the vent tube.