Liquid medicine injection device having structure for preventing excessive injection of liquid medicine

Abstract

The liquid medicine injection device of the present invention comprises: a reservoir for storing a liquid medicine therein; a tube for guiding the liquid medicine stored in the reservoir to the outside; and a pressure reducing member provided between the reservoir and the tube such that, if a pressure at a predetermined level or higher is applied to the reservoir, the pressure inside the reservoir is reduced, thereby preventing the liquid medicine from being delivered to the tube. Accordingly, the device prevents excessive injection of the liquid medicine from the reservoir into the human body. The present invention is advantageous in that, by using such a structure, the risk of excessive injection of the liquid medicine from the liquid medicine injection device into the human body is prevented even in a situation in which an abrupt external impact is applied to the liquid medicine injection device.

Description

A drug injection device equipped with a structure to prevent excessive injection of the drug

[0001] The present invention relates to a drug injection device, and more specifically, to a structure for preventing an excessive amount of drug from being unintentionally introduced into the body even when a strong physical impact is applied from the outside.

[0002] Drug injection devices are widely used to inject medicinal liquids such as hormones into the human body to treat various diseases.

[0003] For example, for diabetes treatment, insulin infusion devices are used to inject medication into a patient's body. While these devices are sometimes used by medical professionals, such as doctors and nurses, they are often used by the patient themselves or by ordinary individuals, such as their guardians. Diabetics, especially those with pediatric diabetes, require the injection of medications like insulin at regular intervals. Therefore, patch-type medication infusion devices are being developed, which can be attached to the body for a set period of time and used in a patch-like manner.

[0004] It is crucial for these drug injection devices to inject the drug in a precise amount. To achieve this, the device requires a structure that distributes the drug in a precise amount within the device.

[0005] The medication in the medication injection device must be injected into the body in a predetermined, appropriate amount. However, if an unintended shock or pressure is applied to the medication injection device from an external source, excessive pressure may be applied to the space where the medication is stored, potentially causing an excessive amount of medication to be unintentionally injected into the body.

[0006] The present invention aims to provide a technology for accurately controlling a small amount of drug solution injected into the human body, and also aims to prevent accidents in which a drug solution is unintentionally injected in excess.

[0007] The drug injection device of the present invention is characterized in that it includes a reservoir storing a drug inside, a tube guiding the drug stored in the reservoir to the outside, and a pressure reducing member provided between the reservoir and the tube, which reduces the internal pressure of the reservoir when a certain level of pressure or higher is applied to the reservoir to prevent the drug from being transferred to the tube, thereby preventing excessive injection of the drug in the reservoir into the human body.

[0008] The above pressure reducing member may be located at any point in the passage through which the liquid medicine discharged from the reservoir moves, and may be structured to open any point in the passage through which the passage is connected to the outside when a certain level of pressure or higher is applied to the reservoir, thereby discharging the liquid medicine to the outside.

[0009] In addition, the pressure reducing member may be located at a point on the surface of the reservoir, and may be structured to open a point on the surface of the reservoir when a pressure above a certain level is applied to the reservoir, thereby connecting the inside of the reservoir with the outside and discharging the liquid to the outside.

[0010] The device further comprises a piston-check valve module that receives the drug solution stored in the reservoir internally and discharges it externally, and a connector that connects the reservoir and the piston-check valve module to transmit the drug solution, and the pressure reducing member may be located in the connector. The device further comprises an opening that is provided inside the connector and communicates a passage through which the drug solution moves with the outside, and the pressure reducing member may be configured as a stopper that closes the opening, and when a pressure of a certain level or higher is applied to the reservoir, the stopper is detached, and the drug solution is discharged externally through the opening.

[0011] The present invention has the effect of preventing the risk of excessive injection of the drug from the drug injection device into the human body even in a situation where a sudden shock is applied to the drug injection device from the outside by the above-mentioned over-injection prevention means.

[0012] Figures 1 and 2 are front and rear views of the drug injection device according to the present invention.

[0013] Figure 3 is a view showing the reusable module and the disposable module separated from the liquid injection device according to the present invention.

[0014] Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the reuse module of the liquid injection device according to the present invention.

[0015] Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of a disposable module in a liquid injection device according to the present invention.

[0016] Figures 6 to 9 are drawings showing the internal structure of the liquid injection device according to the present invention and the operation of the piston check valve module.

[0017] Figure 10 shows a structure for preventing over-injection among the internal structures of the drug injection device according to the present invention.

[0018] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention. However, the present invention may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

[0019] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0020] In the following description, the forward / retreat etc. are expressed as 'forward' when the moving body or piston, which is a component of the device of the present invention, moves upward when viewed from the drawing, and 'retreat' when the moving body or piston moves downward when viewed from the drawing, but this is only an expression for convenience of explanation and does not limit the scope of the rights of the present invention. In addition, the 'up and down' direction used in the following description is a direction based on the drawing for convenience of explanation, and such direction does not limit the scope of the rights of the invention.

[0021] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a drug injection device according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a rechargeable module (100) that can be recharged and reused, and a disposable module (200) that is replaced after use, and further includes an attachment member (not shown) for attaching the disposable module to the human body, and a tube (T) for guiding the drug discharged from the disposable module to a needle (not shown) inserted into the human body. In addition, a separation button (B) for separating the reusable module and the disposable module from each other is provided on the front side of the drug injection device, and the reusable module and the disposable module can be separated from each other by pressing the separation button (FIG. 3). In the drawing, P-1 represents an injection port through which the drug (insulin) is injected into the device.

[0022] However, the drug injection device of the present invention is not limited to such a detachable modular structure. That is, the drug injection device of the present invention may be an integral structure that is structurally inseparable. Therefore, the internal structure of the drug injection device of the present invention, described below, is applicable to both an integral structure and a detachable modular structure.

[0023] However, the following description will be based on a combined structure of a reusable module (100) that can be reused repeatedly and a disposable module (200) that is replaced after use.

[0024]

[0025] [Structure of reusable and disposable modules]

[0026] Referring to Fig. 4, the structure of the reusable module (100) will be examined. The reusable module (100) has a structure that can be separated from the disposable module (200) using a separation button (B), and can be reused repeatedly. The reusable module (100) has an upper case (111) and a lower case (112), and inside these cases, a main PCB (114), a lower bracket (116), and an upper bracket (118) are provided. And, as a member accommodated by the upper bracket and the lower bracket, etc., it comprises a battery (120) that stores electric power, a solenoid (130) that receives electric power from the battery and generates magnetic force, a first moving body (140) that reciprocates up and down with the magnetic force generated by the solenoid, and a second moving body (150) that performs an up and down reciprocating motion linked to the up and down reciprocating motion of the first moving body and discharges the medicine stored in the disposable module (200). In addition, a lever (160) that links the up and down reciprocating motions of the first moving body and the second moving body is provided.

[0027] In Fig. 5, a disposable module (200) of a drug injection device according to the present invention is illustrated. The disposable module (200) includes an inner case (210) and an outer case (220) coupled on top of the inner case, and includes a reservoir (230) for storing a drug as a member provided inside the cases, a piston-check valve module (250) for discharging a certain amount of the drug, and a connector (240) for connecting the reservoir and the piston-check valve module to transmit the drug. The drug stored in the reservoir (230) is transmitted to the piston-check valve module (250) via the connector (240).

[0028]

[0029] [Quantitative Control Structure]

[0030] Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9, a structure for discharging a liquid in a state where the reusable module (100) and the disposable module (200) are combined will be described.

[0031] The first moving body (140) of the above reuse module (100) has a structure in which a moving shaft (142) is provided inside and an outer magnet (144) is provided on the outer periphery of the moving shaft, and the moving shaft (142) moves up and down by applying attractive and repulsive forces to the outer magnet (144) by the magnetic force generated by the solenoid (130). In addition, the lever (160) is a member whose left and right ends move up and down based on a pivot shaft (162) that is arranged approximately horizontally and is located at a certain point between the two ends.

[0032] In the up-and-down reciprocating motion described here, the meaning of “up-and-down direction” refers to the upward and downward directions as seen in the drawing of Fig. 6, and refers to the direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the moving axis (142).

[0033] The upper end of the moving axis (142) of the first moving body (140) is coupled to one end (164) of the lever (160), and the other end (166) of the lever (160) is coupled to the second moving body (150). The pivot axis (162) may be positioned closer to the other end rather than at the exact center point between the two ends, and in the present invention, the pivot axis (162) is positioned at a point closer to the second moving body.

[0034] By configuring the position of the pivot axis to be biased toward the second moving body in this way, there is an advantage in that small amount of liquid can be controlled and the second moving body can be reciprocated with a relatively small force on the solenoid side. That is, by making the vertical reciprocating movement distance of the second moving body smaller than the vertical reciprocating movement distance of the first moving body, the liquid discharged from the quantitative control space (251) to be described below can be controlled in a smaller amount, and also, by the lever principle, the second moving body can be operated with a smaller force than the force required for the vertical movement of the first moving body.

[0035] When the first moving body (140) moves forward (moves upward), the second moving body (150) moves backward (moves downward) (as shown in FIG. 6), and when the first moving body (140) moves backward (moves downward), the second moving body (150) moves forward (moves upward) (as shown in FIG. 8).

[0036] Figures 6 and 8 show the overall operation of the first and second moving bodies, and Figures 7 and 9 are enlarged detailed drawings for explaining the operation structure of the piston-check valve module (250) of the disposable module (200) in Figures 6 and 8.

[0037] First, the structure of the piston-check valve module (250) of the disposable module (200) will be examined. The piston-check valve module (250) has a quantitative control space (251) where a certain amount of chemical liquid is supplied and received, an injection passage (252) through which the chemical liquid is injected is formed in the horizontal direction of the quantitative control space (251), and a discharge passage (253) through which the chemical liquid is discharged is formed on the upper side of the quantitative control space (251). The quantitative control space (251) is a cylindrical space formed in the vertical direction, and a piston (255) moves up and down reciprocally inside the quantitative control space (251). A circular piston lower member (256) formed with an increasing radius is provided at the lower portion of the piston (255). The injection passage (252) is provided inside the connector (240).

[0038] And, the piston lower member (256) is coupled to the upper end of the second moving body (150) of the reuse module (100) and moves up and down together with the second moving body, and as a result, the piston moves up and down. The piston lower member (256) is coupled to the upper end of the second moving body (150) of the reuse module (100) by a coupling member (M) located inside the piston lower member (256). When the first moving body (140) moves up and down by the operation of the solenoid (130) of the reuse module (100), the second moving body (150) moves up and down accordingly, and as a result, the piston (255) moves up and down inside the quantitative control space (251).

[0039] At this time, when the piston (255) moves down, the quantitative control space (251) is opened, and an injection process is performed in which the medicinal solution stored in the reservoir (230) is injected into the quantitative control space through the injection passage (252) (Figs. 6 and 7). Then, when the piston (255) moves up, the medicinal solution in the quantitative control space (251) is discharged to the outside through the discharge passage (253) and discharged to the tube (T in Fig. 1) to be supplied to the inside of the human body (Figs. 8 and 9). The piston also functions as a kind of check valve during the medicinal solution discharge process. When looking at the process in which the medicinal solution is discharged to the outside from the quantitative control space, the piston (255) has a structure that functions as a kind of check valve by closing the injection passage (252) by the outer surface of the side surface, so that the medicinal solution does not move to the injection passage (252) on the reservoir side.

[0040] In addition, first and second check valves (CV1, CV2) are arranged in each of the injection passage (252) through which the chemical liquid is injected into the quantitative control space (251) and the discharge passage (253) through which the chemical liquid from the quantitative control space (251) is discharged to block reverse flow. The first check valve (CV1) allows the chemical liquid to move only from the connector (240) to the quantitative control space (251) and prevents it from moving in the opposite direction, and the second check valve (CV2) allows the chemical liquid to move only from the quantitative control space (251) toward the tube and prevents it from moving in the opposite direction.

[0041] The present invention has developed a compact structure in which two check valves are configured in a direction perpendicular to each other in an injection passage and a discharge passage together with a quantitative control space using a piston as described above, and these are configured as a single integrated module, thereby drastically reducing the size of the product.

[0042] The present invention has a structure of a piston-check valve module (250) such that a small amount of a fixed amount of a medicinal solution can always be injected into the quantitative control space (251) and also injected into the human body. That is, by one up-and-down reciprocating motion of the piston (255), a medicinal solution equivalent to the amount of the quantitative control space can be injected into the human body. The specific amount of the medicinal solution to be injected can be determined by the size of the quantitative control space (251) (diameter of the piston (255), reciprocating movement distance (stroke) of the piston, etc.), and this can be determined according to the specific situation of supplying the medicinal solution.

[0043]

[0044] [Structure to prevent excessive injection of medication]

[0045] Referring to FIGS. 5, 6, and 10, the structure for preventing excessive injection of the drug in the drug injection device of the present invention will be examined.

[0046] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 10, the case of the disposable module (200) of the drug injection device according to the present invention includes a pouch-shaped reservoir (230) for storing the drug, a piston-check valve module (250) for discharging the drug to the outside in a certain amount, and a connector (240) for connecting the reservoir and the piston-check valve module to deliver the drug. In other words, the drug stored in the reservoir (230) is delivered to the quantitative control space (251) of the piston-check valve module (250) through the connector (240) by the reciprocating motion of the piston (255). In other words, when the piston (255) moves downward and the pressure inside the quantitative control space (251) decreases, a portion of the drug in the reservoir is injected into the quantitative control space. In the drawing, the reservoir (230) is not injected with the drug, and when the drug is injected inside, it appears as if it is expanded overall. In the drawing of Fig. 10, P-1 is a member into which the liquid is injected from the outside to the inside (to the reservoir), the arrow (250-1) indicates the direction in which the second moving body is fastened, and the arrow (250-2) indicates the direction in which the member on the tube side from which the liquid is discharged is fastened.

[0047] However, it is conceivable that a sudden external impact may be applied to the drug injection device attached to the human body. In this case, pressure is applied to the internal reservoir (230) through the case of the drug injection device, and the drug, which has become relatively high pressure inside the reservoir, is momentarily excessively transferred to the connector (240) and piston-check valve module (250), and there is a risk of being discharged to the outside and injected into the human body.

[0048] In order to prevent such a risk, the present invention provides a pressure relief member (245) in the connector (240). The pressure relief member (245) operates by communicating with the injection passage (252 in FIG. 7) inside the connector. When the chemical liquid is injected into the injection passage (252) at a relatively high pressure due to overpressure generated in the reservoir (230), the pressure relief member (245) connects the injection passage (252) with the outside, thereby allowing the chemical liquid to flow out, and preventing the chemical liquid from being transmitted to the piston-check valve module (250).

[0049] The above pressure-sensitive member (245) may have any structure that allows communication between the inside and outside of the connector when a predetermined level of pressure is applied. An example of the pressure-sensitive member may be a detachable plug structure. The plug structure forms an opening that connects the outside to the injection passage (252), which is a passage through which the drug from the reservoir moves, and places a plug that closes the opening. In the normal state where the drug injection device is operating normally, the injection passage is maintained in a sealed state from the outside because the plug blocks the opening. However, when a sudden external impact such as a car crash causes a momentary excessive pressure to be applied to the reservoir of the drug injection device, the plug detaches, opening the opening to allow the drug inside to flow out, and preventing a large amount of the drug from being injected into the human body.

[0050] The above-mentioned pressure reducing member (245) can be of various types in addition to a stopper structure, and any structure that relieves pressure when a certain level of relative high pressure occurs in the reservoir and prevents the drug from being transferred to the piston-check valve module (250) is possible. In addition, although the drawing of FIG. 10 illustrates that the pressure reducing member is located in the connector (240), it may be provided in another component. For example, the pressure reducing member may be formed at any point on the surface of the pouch-shaped reservoir, and when the reservoir reaches a certain level of overpressure due to an external impact, the pressure reducing member formed at any point of the reservoir may connect the inside and outside of the reservoir to relieve pressure and discharge the internal drug to the outside, thereby preventing injection into the human body in advance.

Claims

1. A reservoir that stores the liquid inside; A tube (T) that guides the drug solution stored in the reservoir to the outside; and Including a pressure reducing member provided between the reservoir and the tube, which reduces the internal pressure of the reservoir when a certain level of pressure or higher is applied to the reservoir to prevent the liquid from being transferred to the tube; A drug injection device that prevents excessive injection of the drug from the reservoir into the human body.

2. In paragraph 1, The above pressure reducing member is located at any point in the passage through which the liquid discharged from the reservoir moves, A liquid injection device characterized in that when a pressure above a certain level is applied to the reservoir, a certain point in the passage is opened to connect the passage to the outside and discharge the liquid to the outside.

3. In paragraph 1, The above pressure reducing member is located at any point on the surface of the reservoir, A liquid injection device characterized in that when a pressure above a certain level is applied to the reservoir, a certain point on the surface of the reservoir is opened to connect the inside of the reservoir with the outside and discharge the liquid to the outside.

4. In paragraph 1, It further comprises a piston-check valve module that receives the medicine stored in the reservoir internally and discharges it externally, and a connector that connects the reservoir and the piston-check valve module to transmit the medicine. A liquid injection device characterized in that the above pressure reducing member is located in the above connector.

5. In paragraph 4, It further includes an opening that is provided inside the connector to connect the passage through which the liquid moves with the outside, The above pressure reducing member is composed of a stopper that closes the opening, A liquid injection device characterized in that when a certain level of pressure or higher is applied to the reservoir, the stopper is detached and the liquid is discharged to the outside through the opening.

6. In paragraph 5, A solenoid (130) that receives power and generates magnetic force; A first moving body (140) that reciprocates by the magnetic force of the above solenoid; and It further includes a second moving body (150) that reciprocates in conjunction with the reciprocating motion of the first moving body; A liquid injection device characterized in that the liquid is supplied into the piston-check valve module and the liquid is discharged out of the piston-check valve module by the reciprocating motion of the first moving body.

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