The Pod IV Lock Box & The Pod 2.0 IV Lock Box

 

Problem: IV drug diversion, tamper and theft, which can jeopardize patient safety.   

 

Solution: This uniquely shaped container protects up to 2 IV bags by restricting access to authorized personnel. In our quest for continuous improvement – and based on customer feedback – we updated our original design with stronger material and integrated hinges so it can stand up to heavy use and aggressive cleaning routines.   

 

Design Notes: The original Pod IV Lock Box was created as an extension of our existing IV lock box line. The goal was to use our new in-house manufacturing methods to create a new lock box equivalent to our molded versions. HCL® Owner Gary Sharpe challenged our team to innovate.  

At the time, our capabilities were limited; we had just started expanding our manufacturing operation. The previous year we sent our team to California to investigate manual thermoforming machines. We purchased a machine with a plug assist made by Belovac. It could make a large part, but only one at a time.

We knew there would be tradeoffs in strength with thermoforming over conventional injection molding. To gain strength in thermoforming you need to be more intentional with the shape of an item. The most ideal shape is perfectly round; the next best shape is oval or oblong with front-to-back symmetry. Our design team produced one for Sharpe, which later became the Pod I. It was produced as the first proof-of-concept and patents were filed. A couple years later, we moved away from the manual thermoforming machine and installed a three-stage rotary MAAC thermoformer. This gave us the ability to produce at a larger scale.

There is some speculation that Sharpe was holding back on a new Pod design until this very moment. The Pod I was brought out of the closet, released and accepted well in the market. In fact, sales increased to the point that we needed to consider scaling to injection molding, a higher volume process.  

With injection molding comes a significant tooling investment. When you decide to move in this direction, it’s important to reconsider every feature the product might be missing to add to the tool.

By this time, we had user feedback, which provided valuable inputs for the design. We had requests for this product to include 2 hooks for piggy-backing IV bags and the ability to hold a 1000mL IV bag with the ports contained inside the box to resist tampering.  

Our design team went to work, again, to develop the Pod II, a larger version of the already successful product. Once complete, patents were revisited and updated. 

Patent D948,712

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