Vial Adapter Collar Design for Spike Insertion Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing vial adapters fail to prevent stopper movement relative to the vial during spike insertion, leading to access issues and potential vial breakage due to uneven force distribution.
Innovation Solution
A vial adapter with a collar and spike assembly, where the collar's inner surface matches the vial's crimp ring and shoulder contours, applying forces through a plate to resist stopper movement and distribute pressure across a thicker section of the vial, reducing the risk of breakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the spike is advanced into the stopper to access vial contents, then the vial contents become accessible, but the stopper moves relative to the vial causing access issues and potential breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The collar is pre-positioned on the vial neck before spike insertion, establishing a fixed reference frame. The crimp ring is pre-formed on the vial to provide an initial mechanical constraint. These preliminary structures are in place to guide and control the subsequent stopper movement during spike insertion.
Solution Approach 2:
The collar acts as an intermediary component between the vial and the external environment. It provides a stable mounting surface for the plate and spike assembly, mediating the forces applied during penetration. The collar's rigid structure transfers and distributes these forces to prevent direct stress concentration on the vial glass.
2Ease of operation
If force is applied to advance the spike into the stopper, then access is achieved, but uneven force distribution causes vial breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The crimp ring is pre-formed on the vial neck to create a reinforced structural feature. This preliminary reinforcement is designed to concentrate and distribute insertion forces away from the thinner vial walls, preventing breakage during the subsequent spike insertion process.
Solution Approach 2:
The crimp ring provides localized reinforcement at the vial neck region where forces are applied during spike insertion. This creates a non-uniform structural property where the reinforced area handles the insertion loads while the rest of the vial maintains its original design, optimizing both strength and material usage.
3Reliability
If the collar is designed to match vial contours for stability, then stopper movement is limited, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The collar is designed with a C-shaped cross-section that provides flexibility in assembly while maintaining rigidity during operation. This dynamic design allows the collar to be easily positioned and secured on the vial neck, then provides stable mechanical constraint during spike insertion, achieving both simplicity and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The collar's inner surface features localized contour matching at specific contact points with the vial neck and crimp ring, rather than requiring complete circumferential matching. This selective geometric correspondence provides sufficient stability to limit stopper movement while minimizing the complexity of the overall collar design.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A vial adapter may include first and second sections each having first and second ends joined to form a collar having a central passage in which a neck of a vial may be disposed. Each collar section may have a hook formed at each end, the hooks joined to join the collar sections together. The first ends may have at least one tab depending therefrom and the second ends may have at least one indent formed therein, the tab disposed within the indent with the hooks joined to each other. In addition or instead, the collar may have an inner surface with a groove separating the collar into first and second regions on opposing axial sides of the groove. The first and second regions may be deformable axially into the groove when the collar is acted upon with the neck of the vial in the central passage.