bend radii system to avoid any potential interference in any existing tube system infrastructure. Additionally, the location of the carrier pneumatic seals relative to the end of the carrier were determined to be critical to the ability of the carrier to be launched from the send/receive station. The pneumatic seal must be positioned within the inlet of the tube system when the vacuum is applied, for proper lift and launch of the carrier, especially with a heavy payload (say a 2 liter IV bag). The second primary specification required by our client called for the new carrier design to be superior from a user perspective; the carrier should be easier to hold and intuitive to use. Again, in reviewing the state of the art carriers several items were noted. First, the current art carrier was basically cylindrical through the mid-section; actually at a diameter of 5.36 inches it was difficult for all but the largest handed person to grasp without using two hands. Second, the latch mechanisms were easy to use but they were not intuitive and there was no easy indication to recognize if they were fully latched or not. During our user studies, we noted many operators talking or otherwise looking elsewhere while closing and latching the carriers, with absolutely no second look to insure the carriers were indeed latched prior to inserting the carrier in the station to send. This is an important observation because an unlatched carrier flying in a tube system will often become stuck or broken within the system, causing unwanted system downtime and perhaps degradation of the payload (the efficacy of many pharmaceuticals can be time dependent, as can the patient samples sent for pathological evaluation). Another possible risk is leakage, If the carrier is not latched properly the carrier housing seal will not be fully compressed, resulting in a potential leak condition should the payload contents leak. Further, the current art latch mechanisms were known to break within the tube system, sending small bits and pieces through the system which can cause damage to expensive blower units. Figure 1 – CAD Renderings of our Design
bend radii system to avoid any potential interference in any existing tube system infrastructure. Additionally, the location of the carrier pneumatic seals relative to the end of the carrier were determined to be critical to the ability of the carrier to be launched from the send/receive station. The pneumatic seal must be positioned within the inlet of the tube system when the vacuum is applied, for proper lift and launch of the carrier, especially with a heavy payload (say a 2 liter IV bag). The second primary specification required by our client called for the new carrier design to be superior from a user perspective; the carrier should be easier to hold and intuitive to use. Again, in reviewing the state of the art carriers several items were noted. First, the current art carrier was basically cylindrical through the mid-section; actually at a diameter of 5.36 inches it was difficult for all but the largest handed person to grasp without using two hands. Second, the latch mechanisms were easy to use but they were not intuitive and there was no easy indication to recognize if they were fully latched or not. During our user studies, we noted many operators talking or otherwise looking elsewhere while closing and latching the carriers, with absolutely no second look to insure the carriers were indeed latched prior to inserting the carrier in the station to send. This is an important observation because an unlatched carrier flying in a tube system will often become stuck or broken within the system, causing unwanted system downtime and perhaps degradation of the payload (the efficacy of many pharmaceuticals can be time dependent, as can the patient samples sent for pathological evaluation). Another possible risk is leakage, If the carrier is not latched properly the carrier housing seal will not be fully compressed, resulting in a potential leak condition should the payload contents leak. Further, the current art latch mechanisms were known to break within the tube system, sending small bits and pieces through the system which can cause damage to expensive blower units. Figure 1 – CAD Renderings of our Design
Pevco%20TEC-6%20Carrier%20-%20A%20Design%20Case%20Study.docx