Vial Spiking Device Resilient Fingers Sterilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vial spiking devices face challenges in ensuring consistent evacuation of liquids from vials and reducing user variability, while also requiring gas-permeable materials for sterilization, which increases manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A vial spiking device with a base and side wall that deflects resilient fingers to position a vial for optimal liquid evacuation, allowing gas sterilization through ventilation holes without a gas-permeable spike cover, using a design that includes a spike with a silicone coating for easier piercing and a configuration that ensures a concave seal for efficient liquid withdrawal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If gas-permeable materials are used for the spike cover to allow sterilization, then sterilization effectiveness is improved, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the spike cover component entirely, extracting the sterilization function from a separate gas-permeable cover and integrating it into the base structure itself. The base includes ventilation holes that allow sterilant gas to pass through and contact the spike, eliminating the need for a separate gas-permeable spike cover while maintaining sterilization effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the sterilization function into the base structure by incorporating ventilation holes directly into the base. This combines the base's structural support function with the sterilization access function, eliminating the need for a separate gas-permeable spike cover component.
2Manufacturing precision
If resilient fingers are used to position the vial, then liquid evacuation consistency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The resilient fingers automatically perform the vial positioning function through their elastic deformation and recovery. When the vial is inserted, the fingers deflect outward to accommodate it, then rebound to push the vial into the correct position against the side wall. This self-actuating mechanism eliminates the need for external actuators or complex control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses dynamic resilient fingers that can deform elastically during vial insertion and then rebound to provide positioning force. This dynamic behavior allows the fingers to adapt to the vial's presence and automatically position it correctly, achieving precise liquid evacuation consistency through elastic deformation rather than rigid mechanical constraints.
3Shape
If the side wall extends at an acute angle to force the vial away from the base, then seal concavity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses an angled side wall surface that curves or slopes at an acute angle relative to the base. This curved or inclined surface naturally guides the vial away from the base as it is inserted, creating the desired seal concavity through geometric shape rather than active mechanical forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The angled side wall is pre-configured to automatically force the vial away from the base during the insertion process itself. The geometry of the side wall performs the seal-forming action as a preliminary result of the insertion motion, before the spiking operation begins, eliminating the need for separate seal-forming mechanisms.
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
The device ensures consistent liquid evacuation, reduces user variability, and lowers manufacturing costs by allowing gas sterilization through gas-impermeable materials, while the silicone coating enhances piercing efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a spike with a silicone coating for easier piercing
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of resilient fingers that extend inwardly from the side wall into the recess. The fingers are configured so that as the vial is inserted into the recess of the vial spiking device, the fingers deflect toward the side wall and allow the portion of the vial to move beyond the fingers. The fingers are configured to rebound into the recess after the poltion of the vial has moved beyond the fingers.
Data Source
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AI summary
In some aspects, a vial spiking device includes a base, a spike extending from the base, and a side wall extending from the base and substantially surrounding the spike. The base and the side wall partially define a recess to receive a portion of a vial. Resilient fingers extend inwardly from the side wall into the recess. The fingers are spaced circumferentially around the side wall and are configured so that as the vial is inserted into the recess, the fingers deflect toward the side wall and allow the portion of the vial to move beyond the fingers. The fingers rebound into the recess after the portion of the vial has moved beyond the fingers. The side wall forces the portion of the vial away from the base and into contact with the fingers after the fingers have rebounded into the recess.