Encapsulated Ward Trolley Touchscreen for Hygienic Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Monitors with touchscreen functions in healthcare settings pose hygiene risks due to the transmission of pathogens and are difficult to clean without damaging the screen.
Innovation Solution
A fully encapsulated touchscreen monitor design with a transparent cover plate made of glass or plastic, allowing for effective cleaning with standard healthcare agents while maintaining functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a touchscreen monitor is used to eliminate additional input devices, then device complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but hygiene reliability deteriorates due to the risk of pathogen transmission and damage from cleaning agents
Solution Approach 1:
A transparent cover plate is introduced as an intermediary protective layer between the touchscreen and the external environment. This cover plate serves as a mediator that allows touch input to pass through while blocking direct contact with pathogens and cleaning agents, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining touchscreen functionality and ensuring hygiene reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The transparent cover plate functions as a thin film protective shell that encapsulates the touchscreen. This flexible yet protective layer maintains the touchscreen's operational integrity while providing a barrier against contamination and chemical damage from cleaning agents, thereby improving hygiene reliability without sacrificing input functionality
2Ease of operation
If the touchscreen screen surface is made sensitive for touch input, then ease of operation is improved, but resistance to cleaning agents deteriorates, making the screen vulnerable to damage from standard healthcare cleaning procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The transparent cover plate acts as a protective intermediary layer that shields the sensitive touchscreen surface from direct exposure to cleaning agents. This mediator allows touch input to function while providing chemical resistance, thereby maintaining ease of operation while improving the screen's strength against cleaning agents
Solution Approach 2:
The monitor structure is segmented into distinct functional layers: the sensitive touchscreen layer for input, the transparent cover plate layer for protection, and the housing layer for structural support. This segmentation allows each layer to perform its specific function - the touchscreen provides input sensitivity while the cover plate provides chemical resistance, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and strength
3Reliability
If a transparent cover plate is added to protect the touchscreen, then hygiene reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional components and assembly steps
Solution Approach 1:
The transparent cover plate is designed as a thin film or shell structure that provides maximum protection with minimal added complexity. This thin-film approach maintains hygiene reliability while adding minimal structural complexity compared to more substantial protective designs
Solution Approach 2:
The transparent cover plate serves multiple functions simultaneously: it protects against pathogen transmission, shields from cleaning agent damage, maintains touchscreen functionality, and provides structural support. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate protective components, thereby improving hygiene reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity
4Reliability
If the cover plate is made larger than the frame to provide complete encapsulation, then hygiene reliability is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase to ensure proper sealing and alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The encapsulation structure is segmented into modular components: the frame, the transparent cover plate, and sealing elements. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured and assembled separately with standard precision, while the modular design ensures complete encapsulation when assembled, thereby improving hygiene reliability without excessively increasing manufacturing precision requirements
Solution Approach 2:
Sealing elements or gaskets act as intermediary components between the cover plate and frame. These intermediaries compensate for minor dimensional variations and alignment imperfections, ensuring complete encapsulation and hygiene reliability while reducing the stringency of manufacturing precision requirements for the main structural components
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a ward trolley, in particular a visiting and nursing trolley for hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, with a mobile cabinet section (47) that serves to house, among other things, a computer system, and with a monitor (5) that is rotatably mounted on a support tube (6). To provide a ward trolley with a monitor that is particularly suitable for use in hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, the invention proposes that the monitor be characterized by a touchscreen that is fully encapsulated and has a cover plate made of a transparent material on its front.