US-12616799-B2 - Method and device for checking an adhesive connection between a hollow needle or cannula and a holding part

Abstract

A method is described for checking an adhesive connection between a hollow needle or cannula of a medical syringe and a holding part, wherein the hollow needle or cannula is inserted with play in a holding portion of the holding part, and an intermediate space between the hollow needle or cannula and the holding portion is at least partially filled with an adhesive body. The adhesive body is detected by means of an optical detection device in the form of a camera, and the detection device transmits image data relating to the adhesive body to an evaluation unit in which the data are evaluated. The ACTUAL volume and/or the ACTUAL configuration of the adhesive body is determined from the image data of the adhesive body and compared with a TARGET volume and/or a TARGET configuration of the adhesive body.

Inventors

• Florian Haller
• Roland Lindner

Assignees

• ATS AUTOMATION TOOLING SYSTEMS GMBH

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20220207

Priority Date

20210208

Claims (10)

1. 1 . A method for checking an adhesive connection between a hollow needle or cannula and a holding part, wherein the hollow needle or cannula is inserted with play in a holding portion of the holding part, and an intermediate space between the hollow needle or cannula and the holding portion is at least partially filled with an adhesive body, the method comprising detecting the adhesive body by an optical detection device, transmitting data relating to the adhesive body from the detection device to an evaluation unit in which the data are evaluated, wherein the detection device has a camera and the method further includes generating image data of the adhesive body with the camera, determining or calculating an ACTUAL volume and/or an ACTUAL configuration of the adhesive body from the image data of the adhesive body, and comparing the ACTUAL volume and/or the ACTUAL configuration of the adhesive body with a TARGET volume and/or a TARGET configuration of the adhesive body; wherein the adhesive body is illuminated with at least one light source during detection by the detection device; and wherein the adhesive is first pre-hardened, the detection of the adhesive body takes place subsequently by the detection device, and the adhesive is then further hardened.
2. 2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the adhesive body consists at least partially of a fluorescent material and/or contains fluorescent particles.
3. 3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the adhesive body is illuminated with light having a wavelength of ≤500 nm.
4. 4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the adhesive body is illuminated with light having a wavelength of ≤405 nm.
5. 5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the adhesive body is illuminated with light having a wavelength in the range from 360 nm to 370 nm.
6. 6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one light-emitting diode (LED) is used as the at least one light source.
7. 7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the adhesive body is illuminated through the holding part.
8. 8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the adhesive forming the adhesive body is an adhesive that hardens under light, and the hardening of the adhesive takes place at least partially synchronously with the illumination of the adhesive body by the at least one light source.
9. 9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the detection of the adhesive body takes place by the detection device in a darkroom.
10. 10 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the pre-hardening of the adhesive and/or the hardening of the adhesive takes place in the darkroom.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This claims priority from German Application No. 10 2021 102 830.2, filed Feb. 8, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a method for checking an adhesive connection between a hollow needle or cannula and a holding part, wherein the hollow needle or cannula is inserted with play in a holding portion of the holding part, and an intermediate space between the hollow needle or cannula and the holding portion is at least partially filled with an adhesive body. In addition, the invention relates to a corresponding device for checking the adhesive connection between a hollow needle or cannula and the holding part. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A prefabricated hollow needle or cannula for a medical syringe is glued into a tubular holding part made of glass or plastics material for the attachment thereof. The holding part can be an integral part of the syringe body, but it is also possible for the holding part to be placed on the syringe body and clamped or latched there, for example. A hollow needle or cannula is usually an inherently stable, straight tube made of stainless steel or plastics material. The holding part has a tubular holding portion, the inside diameter of which is larger than the outside diameter of the hollow needle or cannula. When the hollow needle or cannula is inserted into the tubular holding portion of the holding part, an intermediate space remains between the outside of the hollow needle or cannula and the inner wall of the holding portion. An adhesive is filled into this intermediate space from the outside, which adhesive connects adhesively to the outer surface of the hollow needle or cannula on the one hand and to the inner wall of the holding portion on the other hand. When using a medical syringe, it must be ensured that the hollow needle or cannula cannot become detached from the holding part. It is therefore known to check the adhesive connection between the hollow needle or cannula and the holding part by fixing the holding part and exerting a tensile force on the hollow needle or cannula, which tensile force acts on the adhesive connection. There is a risk that the tensile force will damage the adhesive connection, so that the hollow needle or cannula can become detached from the holding part when the syringe is used. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the invention is to provide a method for checking an adhesive connection between a hollow needle or cannula and a holding part, with which method an assessment of the adhesive connection can take place reliably and non-destructively. In addition, a corresponding device for checking the adhesive connection is to be created. According to the invention, this object is achieved with regard to an embodiment of the method as disclosed herein. In this case, the adhesive body is detected by means of an optical detection device. The data relating to the adhesive body detected by the detection device are sent to an evaluation unit in which the data are evaluated. The detection device is a camera that is used to generate image data of the adhesive body. A glass body or a glass syringe is preferably used as the holding part. The ACTUAL volume and/or the ACTUAL configuration of the adhesive body is determined or calculated from the image data of the adhesive body. From the ACTUAL volume and/or the ACTUAL configuration of the adhesive body, conclusions can be drawn about the contact area between the adhesive body and the hollow needle or cannula and also about the size of the contact area between the adhesive body and the inner wall of the holding portion of the holding part, from which the force to be transmitted and thus the stability of the adhesive connection can in turn be derived. Furthermore, the axial penetration depth of the adhesive into the intermediate space between the hollow needle or cannula and the wall of the holding part can be determined. Furthermore, any air inclusions in the adhesive body can be determined. The ACTUAL volume and/or the ACTUAL configuration of the adhesive body are compared in the evaluation unit with a TARGET volume and/or a TARGET configuration of the adhesive body. If there is a discrepancy between the ACTUAL volume and the TARGET volume and/or a discrepancy between the ACTUAL configuration and the TARGET configuration outside of specified limits, the adhesive connection is classified as insufficient and sorted out from the rest of the production process. In addition or as an alternative to this, the amount of adhesive for the future adhesive bodies can be adjusted, i.e. increased and/or decreased, on the basis of the detected image data. The reliability of the method substantially depends on the quality of the data that is detected by the optical detection device from the adhesive body. If the holding part or at least the holding portion is made of glass, an at least partiall