Tube-Like Wiper With Break-Off Seal for Aseptic Use
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wiping appliances, such as cotton swabs and medicine-containing cotton swabs, face issues with aseptic manipulation, fragile packaging, inconvenient use, and volatile medicine due to poor sealing and complex structures, leading to contamination and high manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A wiper design featuring a tube-like container with both ends sealed permanently and an easy break-off mark, combined with an elastic rod, allowing for airtight and easy opening, facilitating aseptic manipulation and convenient use while satisfying production technology requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the cotton swab is packed in a plastic film bag, then the packaging is simple and low cost, but the package is fragile and the cotton swab is susceptible to contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a compound film package consisting of multiple layers with different properties (inner layer for sealing, middle layer for strength, outer layer for protection) to create a package that is both strong and sealable, resolving the contradiction between simple packaging and package integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The package is divided into functional segments with easy tear-off lines that allow controlled opening, separating the sealing function from the opening function to maintain integrity while enabling convenient access
2Reliability
If the cotton swab is held in a test-tube-like container with a plug cap, then the sealing is improved, but the use convenience deteriorates due to difficult opening
Solution Approach 1:
The package is pre-designed with easy tear-off lines and opening structures during manufacturing, allowing users to open it conveniently without requiring complex cap removal actions, thus resolving the contradiction between sealing reliability and opening convenience
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a cap that needs to be removed, the patent inverts the approach by using a sealed package that is opened by tearing along predetermined lines, making the opening action simpler while maintaining sealing integrity
3Reliability
If the working fluid is filled into the rod body, then the medicine containment is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases and sterilization becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the working fluid filling process with the package sealing process, filling the fluid into the package before final sealing, thereby containing the medicine effectively while avoiding complex post-sterilization filling operations
Solution Approach 2:
The working fluid is filled into the package before sterilization and sealing operations, allowing the package to be sterilized in a closed state and then sealed, simplifying the manufacturing process while ensuring medicine containment
4Reliability
If the cotton swab is sterilized after packing, then the sterilization effectiveness is improved, but the package must be opened again for filling working fluid, compromising sterility
Solution Approach 1:
The package is sterilized in a closed state before filling with working fluid, and the filling operation is performed through sealed connections, eliminating the need to open the package after sterilization and maintaining sterility throughout the process
Data Source
AI summary
A wiper comprises a rod (20), a wiping body (30) provided at one end of the rod and an outer packing; the rod (20) is of elasticity, the outer packing is a tube-like container (10) having both ends closed permanently and an easy break-off mark (13) provided on the tube wall; the wiper is firm, airtight and capable of being opened easily, and can be used conveniently and rapidly; the rod and the tube-like container are made from thermoplastic materials by technologies such as extruding, injection-molding and the like, both ends of the tube-like container are closed through fusion, mechanical seal and other manners, and the wiper has a simple production technology and is suitable for mass production and wide application.