Needleless injector

Abstract

The present invention relates to a needleless injector that includes a drive unit, a conversion unit, and a nozzle unit. The drive unit provides pulse pressure or a driving force in the form of a pulse for reciprocating a power transmission means accommodated in a housing, the conversion unit converts the pulse pressure or the reciprocating motion so that a piston achieves segmented forward motion in which the piston moves forward a certain distance toward the nozzle unit in stages with each pulse or each time the power transmission means reciprocates once, and the nozzle unit ejects a drug, accommodated in a drug accommodation portion, in the form of a microjet.

Description

Needleless syringe

[0001] The present invention relates to a needleless syringe, and more particularly, to a needleless syringe capable of repeatedly injecting a drug at high speed without an injection needle.

[0002] A syringe is a device used to inject medication into the tissues of a living organism. It consists of a needle inserted into the body, a syringe barrel containing the medication, and a piston that reciprocates within the syringe barrel, pushing the medication into the needle. The needle has a hole to allow the medication to be injected.

[0003] However, in the case of diabetic patients who need to receive injections several times a day, they need to receive injections frequently even while receiving treatment at home rather than in a hospital. However, due to the pain caused by the needle penetrating the skin, it is difficult for them to inject themselves, especially while receiving treatment at home rather than in a hospital.

[0004] Therefore, in recent years, research and development on needle-less syringes have become active in order to alleviate the fear of needles and prevent needle-borne infections.

[0005] However, since existing needleless syringes are designed to inject a certain amount of drug into only one part of the skin at a time, damage to skin tissue may occur.

[0006] In addition, because of the inconvenience of reloading after a single injection, there is a limitation in using it to evenly inject multiple drugs into a large area of ​​skin, such as in the field of skin beauty.

[0007] Accordingly, in order to solve these problems, the present inventors developed the needleless syringe disclosed in Patent Document 1. According to the needleless syringe disclosed in Patent Document 1, a piston that pressurizes and injects a drug is configured to repeatedly move back and forth using a power source such as a solenoid, thereby enabling a small amount of drug to be repeatedly injected at high speed and evenly injected into a wider area of ​​skin.

[0008] (Patent Document 1) Patent Document 1: Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-2088830 (March 9, 2020)

[0009] FIG. 16 is a drawing illustrating one embodiment of a needleless syringe disclosed in Patent Document 1, and FIG. 17 is a partially enlarged view showing the specific structure of a nozzle applied to the needleless syringe disclosed in FIG. 16.

[0010] As shown in Fig. 16, in the case of the needleless syringe disclosed in Patent Document 1, one solenoid coil (1a) is provided, and the piston (3) is moved forward by repeating the supply and cut-off of current to the solenoid coil (1a) at a preset cycle, and includes a current supply unit (not shown) and an elastic member that provides elasticity in the direction in which the piston (3) moves backward when the current supply to the current supply unit (not shown) is cut off.

[0011] Specifically, when the moving magnet (1b) advances a predetermined distance due to the magnetic force generated in the solenoid coil (1a), it collides with the piston head (3a) at the rear end of the piston (3), and the piston (3) advances due to the impact force at this time. Then, the springs (4a, 4b) are compressed by the advance of the piston (3), and when the current supply to the solenoid coil (1a) is stopped, the piston (3) retracts due to the compressive force of the springs (4a, 4b).

[0012] Meanwhile, a diaphragm (2b) is provided in front of the piston (3), and as the piston (3) moves backward, the diaphragm (2b) deforms, thereby reducing the pressure inside the valve chamber (7), and the drug is filled through the drug supply path (5a) extending from the drug charger (5) into the valve chamber (7) according to the pressure difference inside and outside the valve chamber (7). Then, as the piston (3) moves forward, the diaphragm (2b) deforms, thereby applying high pressure momentarily to the drug filled in the valve chamber (7), thereby causing the drug to be sprayed through the nozzle hole (2a) of the nozzle (2).

[0013] In the case of a needleless syringe having this structure, the internal structure of the nozzle (2) becomes complicated in order to supply the drug from the external drug charger (5) into the valve chamber (7), which makes mass production difficult and increases the manufacturing cost. In addition, there is a concern that deviations in product performance may occur due to this complicated structure. In addition, in a valve structure using a diaphragm, there is a problem that a large amount of drug remains that is not sprayed in the nozzle. In addition, the combined structure of the nozzle (2) and the drug charger (5) is complicated, so there is a problem that it is difficult to design the nozzle or drug charger in the form of a cartridge filled with the drug so that the user can arbitrarily attach or detach the drug charger (5) or the nozzle (2) combined with the drug charger (5) from the needleless syringe at home.

[0014] The present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is intended to eliminate the complexity and instability of the nozzle structure of existing needleless syringes, reduce the manufacturing cost of needleless syringes including nozzles, and provide a needleless syringe in which a drug charger and nozzle are detachable from the main body in the form of an integrated cartridge.

[0015] In order to solve the above-described problem, the needleless syringe according to the present invention comprises a driving unit, a conversion unit, and a nozzle unit, wherein the driving unit provides a pulse-shaped driving force for reciprocating a power transmission means accommodated in a housing by pulse pressure or a power transmission means, and the conversion unit converts the reciprocating motion of the pulse pressure or the power transmission means into a segmented forward motion of the piston so that, for each pulse of the pulse pressure or each time the power transmission means reciprocates, a piston that has received kinetic energy from the driving unit performs a segmented forward motion in which it gradually advances a predetermined distance toward the nozzle unit, and the nozzle unit comprises a drug container in which a drug is accommodated therein, and is characterized in that the drug accommodated in the drug container is discharged in the form of a microjet through a nozzle hole according to the pressure applied to the drug by the piston.

[0016] Preferably, the piston receives kinetic energy by receiving a pulse-shaped pressure or colliding with a power transmission means, and the conversion unit advances the driving unit by a predetermined distance for each pulse or each time the power transmission means reciprocates once and the piston advances by a predetermined distance, thereby making the kinetic energy transferred to the piston constant for each pulse or each time the power transmission means reciprocates.

[0017] Preferably, the piston receives kinetic energy by receiving a pulse-shaped pressure or colliding with a power transmission means, and the conversion unit increases the magnitude of the pulse pressure or the magnitude of the driving force applied to the power transmission means for each pulse or each time the power transmission means reciprocates and the piston advances a certain distance, thereby making the kinetic energy transferred to the piston constant for each pulse or each time the power transmission means reciprocates.

[0018] Preferably, the power transmission means is a plunger accommodated in the housing, the housing has an internal chamber in a hollow internal space within the housing, the plunger and a part of the piston are accommodated in the internal chamber, and a blocker is provided at the nozzle section-side tip of the housing to limit the forward movement of the piston that advances toward the nozzle section by collision with the plunger, and a displacement means capable of advancing the housing and the blocker at least in a direction toward the nozzle section and a control means for controlling the displacement means may be further provided.

[0019] Preferably, the power transmission means is a plunger accommodated in the housing, the housing has an internal chamber in a hollow internal space within the housing, the plunger and a part of the piston are accommodated in the internal chamber, a blocker is provided at the nozzle section-side tip of the housing to limit the forward movement of the piston that advances toward the nozzle section by collision with the plunger, and a control unit that controls the driving force generated in the driving unit so that the kinetic energy transferred from the plunger to the piston becomes constant each time the plunger reciprocates may be further provided.

[0020] Preferably, the nozzle portion is configured to be detachably connected to a body of a needleless syringe including at least a housing and a blocker, and an end of the piston on the nozzle portion side can extend into a chamber constituting a drug-receiving portion of the nozzle portion.

[0021] Preferably, the chamber of the nozzle portion is configured such that one side facing the body of the needleless syringe is open to the outside, and a first cover can be detachably provided on the nozzle portion so as to cover the open side of the chamber when the nozzle portion is separated from the body of the needleless syringe.

[0022] Preferably, a second cover is further provided on the inner side of the first cover facing the chamber, the second cover being made of a material that can be cut by the end when the end of the piston advances, and a nozzle-side plunger for pressurizing the drug contained in the chamber may be further provided on the inner side of the second cover.

[0023] Preferably, the driving unit includes a solenoid coil wound around the outer periphery of the inner chamber of the housing, and the control unit can be configured to provide a pulse reciprocating motion of the plunger by controlling a current applied to the solenoid coil.

[0024] Preferably, the device further comprises a diaphragm that deforms according to the reciprocating motion of a pulse pressure or power transmission means, a converter-side chamber whose internal pressure increases and decreases according to the deformation of the diaphragm, a drive fluid supply unit that is in fluid communication with the converter-side chamber through a drive fluid supply path and supplies drive fluid to the converter-side chamber according to the increase and decrease in the internal pressure of the converter-side chamber due to the deformation of the diaphragm, and a check valve that allows only one-way flow of the drive fluid from the converter-side chamber toward the internal chamber of the housing, and the piston may be configured to be dividedly advanced toward the nozzle unit by the hydraulic pressure of the drive fluid supplied from the drive fluid supply unit to the internal chamber of the housing.

[0025] Preferably, the driving unit further includes a compressed gas tank for supplying compressed gas into the internal chamber of the housing through the inlet passage and a valve for controlling the inflow and outflow of the compressed gas into the internal chamber, and can be configured to provide a pulse pressure by controlling the valve through the control unit.

[0026] Preferably, the driving unit further includes a compressed gas tank for supplying compressed gas into the inner chamber of the housing through an inlet passage, and a valve for controlling the inflow and outflow of the compressed gas into the inner chamber, and an exhaust passage for discharging the compressed gas introduced through the inlet passage to the outside of the needleless syringe is branched from the inlet passage, and the valve controls the opening and closing of the inflow and exhaust passage, and the inner chamber has at least one through hole located behind a point where the plunger first collides with the piston head of the piston when the plunger advances by the pressure of the compressed gas, and through the through hole, the inner chamber is in fluid communication with a compression chamber outside the inner chamber, and as the plunger advances, air discharged from the inner chamber through the through hole is compressed in the compression chamber, and when the plunger and the piston collide and the exhaust passage is opened by the valve and the compressed gas is discharged to the outside of the needleless syringe, the air compressed in the compression chamber flows into the inner chamber through the through hole by the pressure difference between the pressure inside the inner chamber and the pressure inside the compression chamber. The plunger can be moved back to its original retracted position from where it started moving forward by the air being re-introduced into the inner chamber.

[0027] Preferably, a retaining member for retaining the plunger in the retracted position is further provided, and the retaining member can retain the plunger in the retracted position until the plunger is advanced by the pressure of compressed air.

[0028] Preferably, the piston can be dividedly advanced by having a rod having one end facing the piston head of the piston; an elastic member having one end abutting the other end of the rod and the other end fixed to the body of the needleless syringe; and a rotating member having one end rotatably connected to the rod and configured to rotate by a predetermined angle by a driving force generated by a driving member, and the rotating member is rotated by the driving force in a direction in which the other end of the rod compresses the elastic member, and when the driving force is blocked, the rod is advanced by the elastic force of the elastic member, and one end of the rod strikes the piston head.

[0029] Preferably, the housing further comprises: a compressed air chamber for supplying compressed air in the form of a pulse pressure into the inner chamber; an air compression piston for compressing the air in the compressed air chamber through a reciprocating motion of forward and backward movement; a rotating member configured to rotate by a predetermined angle by a driving force generated by a driving member, one end of which is rotatably connected to the air compression piston; and a valve for controlling the entry and exit of compressed air into the inner chamber, wherein the air compression piston reciprocates forward and backward in accordance with the rotation of the rotating member, thereby compressing the air in the compressed air chamber, and controlling the flow of compressed air from the compressed air chamber toward the piston through the opening and closing of the valve, thereby allowing the piston to be partially advanced by the pressure of the compressed air.

[0030] Preferably, the present invention further comprises an encoder capable of detecting the real-time position of the piston, and the control unit has information on the stroke distance and speed of the piston required to satisfy the target injection amount and injection speed of the drug discharged from the nozzle unit stored in advance, and the control unit calculates a control signal value required to control the driving unit and the displacement means to obtain the target injection amount and injection speed of the drug based on the real-time position information of the piston transmitted from the encoder and the information on the stroke distance and speed of the piston stored in advance, and the control unit can control the driving unit and the displacement means based on the calculated control signal value.

[0031] Preferably, the present invention further comprises an encoder capable of detecting the real-time position of the piston, and the control unit has information on the stroke distance and speed of the piston required to satisfy the target injection amount and injection speed of the drug discharged from the nozzle unit stored in advance, and the control unit calculates a control signal value required to control the driving unit to obtain the target injection amount and injection speed of the drug based on the real-time position information of the piston transmitted from the encoder and the information on the stroke distance and speed of the piston stored in advance, and the control unit can control the driving unit based on the calculated control signal value.

[0032] According to the structure of the present invention described above, the drug filled inside the nozzle can be sprayed outward in a fixed amount according to the divided forward movement of the piston. Therefore, the nozzle itself can be utilized as a cartridge without the need for a separate drug filling device installed outside the nozzle and for the drug to be periodically supplied from the drug filling device to the nozzle. Therefore, the existing complex drug filling mechanism can be simplified. Consequently, the manufacturing cost of the nozzle and the needleless syringe including the nozzle can be reduced.

[0033] According to the structure of the present invention described above, the drug filled inside the nozzle can be divided and sprayed multiple times per second through the divided forward movement of the piston multiple times per second, thereby reducing the problem of a large amount of drug remaining inside the nozzle, unlike a conventional needleless syringe in which the filling and spraying of the drug are performed alternately through the reciprocating movement of the plunger.

[0034] Furthermore, according to the present invention, when the piston's advance is complete, the user can remove and discard the nozzle-integrated cartridge from the main body of the needleless syringe, and easily attach a new cartridge to the main body. Therefore, users can easily remove and replace the cartridge even at home.

[0035] And, according to the present invention, by changing the relative positions of the blocker and the piston, the impact distance of the piston can be controlled, thereby easily controlling the drug injection speed and injection amount.

[0036] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a needleless syringe according to the present invention.

[0037] FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating a first example of a mechanism for converting a pulse motion into a segmented forward motion in a needleless syringe according to the present invention.

[0038] FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating a second example of a mechanism for converting a pulse motion into a segmented forward motion in a needleless syringe according to the present invention.

[0039] Figure 4 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a needleless syringe according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] Figures 5a to 5g are drawings illustrating step-by-step the drug injection process using the needleless syringe illustrated in Figure 4.

[0041] Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the needleless syringe illustrated in Fig. 4 viewed from a different direction than Fig. 3.

[0042] Fig. 7 is a partially enlarged view illustrating the combined structure of the nozzle portion and the converter portion of the needleless syringe illustrated in Fig. 4.

[0043] Figures 8a and 8b are cross-sectional perspective views of a nozzle portion used in the needleless syringe illustrated in Figure 4.

[0044] Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a nozzle portion and a converter portion of a needleless syringe according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a needleless syringe according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention using compressed air.

[0046] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a needleless syringe according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention using compressed air.

[0047] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a needleless syringe according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention using an elastic member and a motor.

[0048] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a needleless syringe according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention using compressed air and a motor.

[0049] FIG. 14 is a drawing for explaining the position and speed control of a piston according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0050] Fig. 15 is a drawing for explaining PID control used to control the position and speed of the piston shown in Fig. 14.

[0051] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of a conventional needleless syringe.

[0052] Figure 17 is a partially enlarged view of the nozzle portion of a conventional needleless syringe.

[0053]

[0054] What each symbol represents is as follows:

[0055] 1: Body 1a: Solenoid coil

[0056] 2a: Nozzle section 2b: Diaphragm

[0057] 2c: Main Hall 3: Piston

[0058] 3a: Piston head 3b: Spring

[0059] 3c: Flange 4a: Fixed blocker

[0060] 4b: Length-adjusting blocker 5: Drug charger

[0061] 5a: Drug supply hole 6: Nozzle opening / closing valve

[0062] 7: Valve chamber 10: Drive unit

[0063] 10a: Housing 10b: Housing inner chamber

[0064] 11: Solenoid coil 12: Drive side plunger

[0065] 13: Housing retainer 14: Stepper motor

[0066] 14a: Stepper motor holder 15: Drive shaft

[0067] 16: Housing side screw joint 16a: Power switching mechanism

[0068] 20: Transformer 21: Piston

[0069] 21a: Piston head 21b: Piston end

[0070] 22a: Blocker 22b: Blocker maintenance

[0071] 22c: Drive shaft support 23: Nozzle holder

[0072] 23a: Female thread 24: Blocker side screw joint

[0073] 24a: Power switching mechanism 30: Nozzle section

[0074] 31a: Nozzle tip 31: Chamber

[0075] 32a: Nozzle side plunger 33: Nozzle hole

[0076] 34: Flange part 35: Male thread part

[0077] 36: First cover 37: Nozzle end

[0078] 37a: Nozzle end hole 38: Second cover

[0079] 41: Ball pin 42: Spring

[0080] 43: Conversion unit side housing 50: Drive fluid supply unit

[0081] 51: Drive fluid supply path 52: Conversion unit side chamber

[0082] 60: Drive unit body 61: Compressed air hose

[0083] 63: Valve 64: Trigger

[0084] 71: Piston head 72: Elastic member

[0085] 73: Stepper motor 74: Trigger

[0086] 75: Blocker 76: Piston head catch

[0087] 80: Compressed air chamber 81: Piston

[0088] 82: Flue hole 100: Drug

[0089] 101: Expectations 110: Driving Fluid

[0090]

[0091] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a needleless syringe according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0092] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a needleless syringe according to the present invention. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the needleless syringe according to the present invention comprises a driving unit (10), a converter unit (20), and a nozzle unit (30).

[0093] The driving unit (10) provides a pulse reciprocating motion of the driving unit-side plunger (12) provided inside the driving unit (10) by a driving force generated from a predetermined power source. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the driving unit (10) is provided with a solenoid coil (11) on the outer periphery, and the pulse reciprocating motion of the driving unit-side plunger (12) is provided by periodically changing the direction of the current applied to the solenoid coil (11). However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and any structure capable of providing the reciprocating motion of the driving unit-side plunger (12) inside the driving unit (10) may be applied. Although Fig. 1 discloses the pulse reciprocating motion of the plunger (12) which is a power transmission means, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. As described below, the driving unit (10) can provide a pressure in the form of a pulse, such as compressed air.

[0094] The conversion unit (20) is configured to convert the pulse pressure provided from the driving unit (10) or the pulse reciprocating motion of the driving unit-side plunger (21) into a segmented forward motion of the nozzle-side plunger (21) or piston. Here, the segmented forward motion refers to a motion in which the pressurizing means (the nozzle-side plunger (21) or piston) for the drug (100) contained in the chamber (31) of the nozzle unit (30) advances a predetermined distance step by step for each pulse of the pulse pressure provided from the driving unit (10) or each reciprocating pulse. In addition, when the drug (100) is initially filled in the chamber (31), it fills the drug-containing space formed by the chamber (31) and the pressurizing means. Therefore, each time the pressurizing means advances step by step, the drug is injected in the form of a microjet at a pressure and a predetermined injection amount sufficient to penetrate the skin surface of the target patient and reach the target tissue within the skin from the nozzle hole (33) of the nozzle unit (30). According to the above structure, a predetermined amount of drug (100) pre-filled in the nozzle portion (30) can be discharged for each round of pulse reciprocating motion without the need for the drug to be filled into the nozzle portion (30) from an external drug receiving portion for each pulse of pulse pressure or each round of pulse reciprocating motion.

[0095] In FIGS. 2 and 3, different mechanisms for converting pulse pressure or pulse motion into segmented forward motion are described in the needleless syringe according to the present invention.

[0096] In the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 2, for example, a piston (21) for pressurizing a drug (100) in a chamber (31) of a nozzle portion (30) and a plunger (12) for pressurizing the piston (21) toward the nozzle portion (30) are accommodated in an inner chamber (10b) of a hollow housing (10a). A piston end (21b) of the piston (21) facing the nozzle portion (30) extends into the chamber (31) of the nozzle portion (30). The chamber (31) of the nozzle portion (30) and the piston end (21b) form a drug-accommodating space, and the inside of the drug-accommodating space is filled with the drug (100). Preferably, in order to apply a constant amount of pressure to the drug (100) in the drug-accommodating space, the piston end (21b) may be a disc-shaped body having substantially the same diameter as the inner circumference of the opening of the chamber (31).

[0097] And, as described above, the driving unit (10) generates a power source that allows the plunger (12) to reciprocate in the longitudinal direction of the internal chamber (10b). Preferably, the power source generated by the driving unit (10) may be a combination of the aforementioned solenoid coil or compressed air and elastic member. In this case, the plunger (12) is moved forward by utilizing the electromagnetic force generated by the solenoid coil or the pressure of the compressed air, and when the plunger (12) has moved forward by a certain distance or more, the elastic force of the elastic member can be used to move it back again.

[0098] Meanwhile, when the plunger (12) moves forward toward the piston (21) due to the power generated from the driving unit (10) and collides with the piston (21), kinetic energy is transferred from the plunger (12) to the piston (21), and the piston (21) moves forward a predetermined distance toward the nozzle unit (30) while pressurizing the drug (100) in the chamber (31). By the pressure applied by the piston (21), the drug (100) is sprayed in a predetermined amount from the nozzle hole (33) in fluid communication with the chamber (31). Then, the plunger (12) that collided with the piston (21) moves backward again by the driving force provided by the driving unit (10).

[0099] Meanwhile, in the mechanism described in FIG. 2, after one reciprocating movement of the plunger (12), as illustrated in FIG. 2, the housing (10a) including the plunger (12) is moved forward by the distance that the piston (21) has advanced using an actuator or the like, which is not illustrated. That is, the driving unit including the plunger (12) is advanced by the amount that the piston (21) has advanced. In this case, even when the piston (21) has advanced a predetermined distance through one reciprocating movement of the plunger (12), as illustrated in FIG. 2, the driving unit including the plunger (12) also advances by the same distance, so the relative positions of the plunger (12) and the piston (21) within the housing (10a) and the position (a) at which the plunger (12) collides with the piston (21) are the same as before one reciprocating movement. Accordingly, when the same magnitude of power as in the previous reciprocating motion is applied to the plunger (12), the piston (12) can be advanced the same distance as in the previous reciprocating motion. That is, by reciprocating the plunger (12) with the same driving force, a divided forward motion can be implemented in which the piston (21) is advanced step by step accordingly. Therefore, it becomes possible to spray a certain amount of the drug (100) contained in the chamber (31) of the nozzle part (30) for each reciprocating motion. Then, when the piston (21) advances a certain distance or more within the chamber (31) as a result of the divided forward motion over multiple times, the spraying of the contained drug (100) is completed, and the user can simply replace the nozzle part (30) by separating the nozzle part (30) from the housing (10a).

[0100] In Fig. 3, the reciprocating motion of the plunger (12) is converted into the segmented forward motion of the piston (21) through a mechanism different from the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 2. In the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 2, each time the piston (21) advances a predetermined distance, the driving unit is advanced by the same distance, thereby maintaining the collision positions of the piston (21) and the plunger (12) within the housing (10a) the same, thereby converting the reciprocating motion of the plunger (12) into the segmented forward motion of the piston (21). On the other hand, in Fig. 3, the size of the driving force or the size of the pulse pressure applied to the plunger (12) is changed each time the piston (21) advances a predetermined distance without changing the position of the housing (10a). That is, since the position of the housing (10a) is not changed in FIG. 3, unlike the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 2, the positions (a1, a2, a3) at which the piston (21) and the plunger (12) collide within the housing (10a) change with each reciprocating movement of the plunger (12). In this case, if the magnitude of the driving force applied to the plunger (12) is maintained the same with each reciprocating movement as in the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 2, the magnitude of the kinetic energy applied to the piston (21) changes with each reciprocating movement of the plunger (12). Accordingly, since the distance at which the piston (21) rotates changes with each reciprocating movement of the plunger (12), the injection amount of the drug (100) discharged from the nozzle hole (33) of the nozzle portion (30) also changes with each reciprocating movement of the plunger (12). Therefore, it becomes impossible to inject a constant amount of the drug (100) at an accurate depth with each injection.

[0101] Accordingly, in the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 3, the driving force applied to the plunger (12) is varied for each reciprocating movement of the plunger (12). For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 3, if the pressure applied to the plunger (12) is 10 MPa during one reciprocating movement, a greater pressure of 15 MPa is applied to the plunger (12) during two reciprocating movements, and a greater pressure of 20 MPa is applied during three reciprocating movements thereafter. The magnitude of the pressure applied to the plunger (12) during each reciprocating movement of the plunger (12) is determined to a value at which the kinetic energy transferred from the plunger (12) to the piston (21) during each reciprocating movement becomes constant. The magnitude of this pressure can be calculated by measuring the current position of the piston (21) using an encoder, etc., as described below. And, the pressure size can be controlled by controlling the size of the current applied to the solenoid coil, for example, or by varying the air pressure of the compressed air injected toward the plunger (12).

[0102] Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of a needleless syringe that implements a divided forward motion by a reciprocating motion generated by a driving unit (10) according to each mechanism described above will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0103] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a needleless syringe according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the needleless syringe illustrated in FIG. 4 viewed from a different direction than FIG. 4.

[0104] In the example shown in Fig. 4, the driving unit (10) includes a housing (10a) constituting a body, and a driving unit-side plunger (12), which is a magnetic body constituting, for example, a core of a solenoid actuator, is accommodated in an inner chamber (10b) of the housing (10a), and a solenoid coil (11) is wound on the outer circumferential side of the inner chamber (10b).

[0105] In addition, a housing retaining portion (13) for retaining the housing (10a) is formed in the housing (10a). Preferably, the housing retaining portion (13) is integrally formed at the nozzle portion (30) side end of the housing (10a) and extends downward from the housing (10a). The housing retaining portion (13) is connected to the housing-side screw joint (16), so that when the drive shaft (15) is rotated by the step motor (14), the housing (10a) can be moved forward or backward by a certain distance according to the rotation direction and rotation amount of the drive shaft (15), as described later.

[0106] In the example illustrated in Fig. 4, the conversion unit (20) includes a piston (21) and a blocker (22a). The piston (21) includes a rod-shaped main body, a disc-shaped piston head (21a) provided at the rear end of the main body on the driving unit side, and a disc-shaped piston end (21b) provided at the front end of the main body on the nozzle side. The rod-shaped main body of the piston (21) is extended in the longitudinal direction so that the piston head (21a) is positioned inside the internal chamber (10b) of the housing (10a), and the piston end (21b) is positioned inside the chamber (31) of the nozzle unit (30) described later.

[0107] The blocker (22a) includes a member having a hollow shape so that the rod-shaped body of the piston (21) can be inserted and passed therein, and the end of the member having the hollow shape on the driving side is configured to face the piston head (21a) of the piston (21), thereby forming an area that collides with the piston head (21a) when the piston (21) moves forward.

[0108] In addition, a blocker holding portion (22b) for holding the blocker (22a) is formed on the blocker (22a). Preferably, the blocker holding portion (22b) is integrally formed on the nozzle portion (30) side end of the hollow member of the blocker (22a), and extends downward from the blocker (22a). The blocker holding portion (22b) is connected to the blocker-side screw joint (24), and when the drive shaft (15) is rotated by the step motor (14), the blocker (22a) can be moved forward or backward by a certain distance according to the rotation direction and rotation amount of the drive shaft (15), as described below.

[0109] The nozzle part (30) may be formed as a hollow cylindrical member capable of containing a drug therein. A nozzle-side plunger (32a) is inserted into the chamber (31) inside the nozzle part (30) so as to be relatively movable with the inner wall of the chamber (31), such that the area containing the drug and the other area within the chamber (31) are divided by the nozzle-side plunger (32a). In the example illustrated in Fig. 4, the nozzle-side plunger (32a) is configured separately from the piston end (21b) of the piston (21), but the present invention is not limited to the above-described configuration. For example, the nozzle-side plunger (32a) may not be provided separately, and the functions of the piston end (21b) and the nozzle-side plunger (32a) may be combined. The nozzle part (30) is detachably mounted to a needleless syringe body comprising a conversion part (20) and a driving part (10). Preferably, the nozzle portion end (37), which is the conversion end of the nozzle portion (30), may be screw-connected to the nozzle portion holder (23) formed on the needleless syringe body. To this end, a male screw portion (35) may be formed on the nozzle portion end (37), and a female screw portion (23a) may be formed on the nozzle portion holder (23). In this case, the user can easily attach and detach the nozzle portion (30) simply by rotating the nozzle portion (30) relative to the nozzle portion holder (23). The specific structure of the nozzle portion (30) will be described later.

[0110] The base (101) is a means for supporting the driving unit (10), the conversion unit (20), and the nozzle unit (30) that constitute the needleless syringe. A stepper motor holding unit (14a) for fixing and supporting the stepper motor (14) is provided on the upper surface of the base (101), and the lower end of the nozzle unit holder (23) can be fixedly supported. The tip of the driving shaft (15) of the stepper motor (14) is preferably rotatably supported by the driving shaft support unit (22c), and at this time, the driving shaft support unit (22c) may be formed integrally with the nozzle unit holder (23).

[0111] Meanwhile, a portion of the outer circumference of the drive shaft (15) may be connected to the housing-side screw joint (16) and the blocker-side screw joint (24) so ​​as to be relatively rotatable, respectively, through power switching mechanisms (16a, 24a). Preferably, the power switching mechanisms (16a, 24a) perform a function of transmitting or blocking the rotational force of the drive shaft to the housing-side screw joint (16) and the blocker-side screw joint (24), respectively, through a known switching means. When the rotational force of the drive shaft (15) is transmitted to the housing-side screw joint (16) and the blocker-side screw joint (24) by the power switching mechanisms (16a, 24a), the housing (10a) or the blocker (22a) can be moved forward or backward by a certain distance, as described later, depending on the rotational direction and rotational amount of the drive shaft (15).

[0112] FIGS. 5A to 5G are drawings illustrating step-by-step the drug injection process using the needleless syringe illustrated in FIG. 4. Hereinafter, the drug injection operation using the needleless syringe according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings of FIGS. 5A to 5G.

[0113] First, as shown in Fig. 5a, current is applied to the solenoid coil (11) and the drive-side plunger (12) begins to move forward toward the piston (21).

[0114] Next, as shown in Fig. 5b, as the driving-side plunger (12) moves forward, the tip of the driving-side plunger (12) collides with the piston head (21a) of the piston (21).

[0115] Next, as illustrated in Fig. 5c, the piston (21) moves forward due to the collision between the tip of the drive-side plunger (12) and the piston head (21a) of the piston (21), and accordingly, the piston end (21b) of the piston (21) pushes and moves the adjacent nozzle-side plunger (32a) forward. The drug (100) in the chamber (31) of the nozzle part (30) is compressed by the distance that the nozzle-side plunger (32a) moves forward, and the drug is sprayed in a predetermined amount through the nozzle hole (33) of the nozzle part (30). Meanwhile, the forward movement of the piston (21) stops when the head (21a) of the piston (21) collides with the blocker (22a), and therefore, the distance that the nozzle-side plunger (32a) moves forward is ultimately the distance that the piston (21) moves forward from the point at which the piston head (21a) starts moving to the point at which the piston head (21a) collides with the blocker (22a).

[0116] Next, as illustrated in FIG. 5d, the step motor (14) rotates the drive shaft (15), and the rotational force of the drive shaft (15) is transmitted to the blocker-side screw joint (24) through the power switching mechanism (24a) to advance the blocker (22a) by a predetermined distance. Meanwhile, the power switching mechanism (16a) operates to block the rotational force of the drive shaft (15) from being transmitted to the housing-side screw joint (16), so that even if the drive shaft (15) rotates, the housing (10a) does not move but remains stationary. That is, in this state, only the blocker (22a) moves forward, and the housing (10a) remains stationary. Therefore, as the blocker (22a) moves forward, a clearance of a predetermined distance is secured between the piston head (21a) and the blocker (22a), which were in contact with each other.

[0117] Next, as shown in Fig. 5e, current flows in the opposite direction to before through the solenoid coil (11), causing the plunger (12) on the driving side to move backward.

[0118] Next, as illustrated in FIG. 5f, the step motor (14) rotates the drive shaft (15), and the rotational force of the drive shaft (15) is transmitted to the housing-side screw joint (16a) through the power switching mechanism (16a), thereby advancing the housing (10a) including the coil module by a predetermined distance. Meanwhile, at this time, the power switching mechanism (24a) operates to block the transmission of the rotational force of the drive shaft (15) to the blocker-side screw joint (24), so that even if the drive shaft (15) rotates, the blocker (22a) does not move but remains stationary. That is, in this state, only the housing (10a) moves forward and the blocker (22a) remains stationary. Accordingly, as the distance between the blocker (22a) and the housing (10a) becomes closer, the distance is maintained at the same distance as the distance between the piston head (21a) of the piston (21) and the drive-side plunger (12) at the point in time before the drive-side plunger (12) advances, as shown in FIG. 4a.

[0119] Next, as illustrated in FIG. 5g, similarly to that illustrated in FIG. 4a, current is applied to the solenoid coil (11) to advance the drive-side plunger (12) toward the piston head (21a). By repeatedly executing the operations illustrated in FIGS. 5a to 5f, the drive-side plunger (12) performs a pulse reciprocating operation, and the nozzle-side plunger (32a) advances a predetermined distance during one reciprocating operation of the drive-side plunger (12). Therefore, the nozzle-side plunger (32a) can perform multiple step advances while the drive-side plunger (12) performs multiple reciprocating operations.

[0120] In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5a to 5g described above, when the drive shaft (15) is rotated by the step motor (14), the housing (10a) and the blocker (22a) are individually advanced. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. That is, instead of sequentially moving the housing (10a) and the blocker (22a), the drive-side plunger (12) may collide with the piston head (21a), and then the direction of the current applied to the solenoid coil (11) may be changed to retract the drive-side plunger (12), and the housing (10a) and the blocker (22a) may be moved as a unit while maintaining the position of the piston (21). Even in this case, the position of the piston (21) within the housing (10a) can be maintained constant during the next reciprocating movement of the drive-side plunger (12), just as during the previous reciprocating movement of the drive-side plunger (12).

[0121] Fig. 7 is a partially enlarged view illustrating the combined structure of the nozzle portion and the converter portion of the needleless syringe illustrated in Fig. 4.

[0122] As illustrated in Fig. 7, the nozzle portion (30) may be formed as a hollow cylindrical member capable of containing a drug therein. A nozzle hole (33), which is a through hole of a predetermined size, is formed at the nozzle portion tip (30a), which is the front end of the cylindrical member. A nozzle portion plunger (32a) is inserted into the chamber (31) inside the nozzle portion (30) so as to be relatively movable with the inner wall of the chamber (31), such that the area containing the drug and the other area within the chamber (31) are distinguished by the nozzle portion plunger (32a). The nozzle portion (30) is detachably mounted to a needleless syringe body comprising a conversion portion (20) and a driving portion (10). Preferably, the nozzle portion end (37), which is the conversion portion-side end of the nozzle portion (30), may be screw-coupled to a nozzle portion holder (23) formed on the needleless syringe body. To this end, a male screw portion (35) may be formed at the nozzle portion end (37), and a female screw portion (23a) may be formed at the nozzle portion holder (23). Meanwhile, a flange portion (34) may be formed integrally with the hollow cylindrical member of the nozzle portion (30) to surround the outer periphery of the hollow cylindrical member. In this case, when the nozzle portion (30) is coupled to the nozzle portion holder (23), one surface of the flange portion (34) comes into close contact with the corresponding surface of the nozzle portion holder (23). Therefore, through this structure, the drug (100) is prevented from leaking to the outside, and the coupling strength when the user couples the nozzle portion (30) to the nozzle portion holder (23) can be adjusted within an appropriate range.

[0123] Figures 8a and 8b are cross-sectional perspective views of a nozzle portion used in the needleless syringe illustrated in Figure 4.

[0124] As illustrated in Fig. 8a, before the nozzle part (30) is combined with the main body of the needleless syringe, a first cover (36) is detachably covered on the nozzle part end hole (37a) on the nozzle part end (37) side that is combined with the main body of the needleless syringe. Therefore, before combining the nozzle part (30) with the main body of the needleless syringe, the user can remove the first cover (36) by hand as illustrated in Fig. 8a and then combine it with the main body of the needleless syringe. According to this configuration, the drug contained in the chamber (31) of the nozzle part (30) can be prevented from leaking out to the outside during delivery or before combining with the main body for use by the first cover (36).

[0125] In addition to the example illustrated in FIG. 8a, FIG. 8b may include a second cover (38) provided on the inside of the first cover (36) so that the second cover (38) covers the nozzle end hole (37a) on the nozzle end (37) side and the first cover (36) covers it. In this case, before the user combines the nozzle end (30) with the main body of the needleless syringe, the user can manually remove the first cover (36) as illustrated in FIG. 8a and then combine the nozzle end (30) with the main body of the needleless syringe as is, and in the process, the piston end (21b) can penetrate the second cover (38) and come into contact with the plunger (32a) on the nozzle end side. When adopting this structure, after removing the first cover (36) by hand, the drug (100) can be prevented from leaking between the nozzle-side plunger (32a) and the inner wall of the chamber (31) of the nozzle part (30) during the process of combining the nozzle part (30) with the main body of the needleless syringe.

[0126] Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a nozzle portion and a converter portion of a needleless syringe according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0127] Compared to the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 4, the needleless syringe according to the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9 differs in that the conversion unit (20) uses a driving fluid (110) to convert the pulse reciprocating motion of the driving unit (10) into a step forward motion of the piston (21).

[0128] The driving fluid (110) is stored in the driving fluid supply unit (50), and the driving fluid supply unit (50) is in fluid communication with the conversion unit-side chamber (52) inside the conversion unit-side housing (43) of the conversion unit (20) through the driving fluid supply passage (51). Meanwhile, a diaphragm (44) is provided at the connection portion between the driving unit (10) and the conversion unit-side chamber (52). Therefore, when the plunger of the driving unit (10) reciprocates due to the operation of the solenoid actuator, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the diaphragm (44) deforms accordingly to increase or decrease the pressure inside the conversion unit-side chamber (52). Specifically, when the plunger of the driving unit (10) retracts, the diaphragm (44) bends in the opposite direction to the conversion unit-side chamber (52), thereby decreasing the pressure inside the conversion unit-side chamber (52). Accordingly, a pressure difference between the inside of the driving fluid supply unit (50) and the inside of the converter-side chamber (52) is generated, so that the driving fluid is filled into the converter-side chamber (52). In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 9, the diaphragm (44) is deformed by the reciprocating movement of the plunger, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the diaphragm (44) may be deformed by applying a pulse-shaped pressure such as compressed air to the diaphragm (44).

[0129] Next, when the plunger of the driving unit (10) moves forward, the diaphragm (44) is bent toward the chamber (52) on the converter side, thereby increasing the pressure inside the chamber (52) on the converter side. This pressure acts on the piston (21) of the nozzle unit (30) through the driving fluid (110), and as the piston (21) moves forward, it applies pressure to the drug (100) inside the nozzle unit (30), so that the drug (100) is discharged at high pressure through the nozzle hole of the nozzle unit (30).

[0130] Meanwhile, a check valve composed of, for example, a ball pin (41) and a spring (42) is provided inside the converter-side chamber (52) to prevent the driving fluid inside the converter-side chamber (52) from flowing backward. Therefore, when the plunger of the driving unit (10) retracts, only a flow of the driving fluid from the driving fluid supply unit (50) into the converter-side chamber (52) is formed, and the driving fluid downstream of the check valve is prevented from moving to the space upstream of the check valve. Accordingly, while the plunger of the driving unit (10) reciprocates, the driving fluid is continuously supplied from the driving fluid supply unit (50) into the converter-side chamber (52). Therefore, according to the above configuration, as in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, it is possible to implement step forward driving of the piston (21) inside the nozzle unit (30) by the amount of fluid supplied into the nozzle unit (30) through the converter-side chamber (52) while the plunger of the driving unit (10) reciprocates.

[0131] In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, a solenoid actuator is applied as a driving source of the driving unit (10), but the present invention is not limited to this feature. For example, as illustrated in Fig. 10, the piston may be driven using compressed air and an elastic member. Meanwhile, as described above, in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, a structure for advancing the housing (10a) is adopted in order to implement a mechanism for converting the reciprocating motion into a segmented forward motion. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, instead of adopting a structure for moving the housing (10a) in order to convert the reciprocating motion into a segmented forward motion, the current value applied to the solenoid coil (11) each time the driving unit-side plunger (12) reciprocates may be controlled to control the force applied to the driving unit-side plunger (12). In this case, as described above with reference to FIG. 3, each time the drive-side plunger (12) reciprocates, the kinetic energy transmitted to the piston (21) through the drive-side plunger (12) can be made to be the same. Therefore, even if the housing (10a) and the blocker (22a) are not moved, each time the drive-side plunger (12) reciprocates, the nozzle-side plunger (32a) can be made to advance stepwise by a certain distance.

[0132] The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 10 is identical to the example illustrated in Fig. 4, except for the power generation structure of the driving unit (10). Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the same structures as the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

[0133] In the example illustrated in Fig. 10, compressed gas is used as a means for applying pressure to the piston (21). The compressed gas, which is a pneumatic supply source, is stored in a compressed gas tank (200), and a pressure pulse due to the compressed gas is regulated through a valve (210) provided on the upstream side of the compressed gas tank (200).

[0134] The valve (210) has, for example, a core (212) formed of a magnetic material inside it and a solenoid coil (211) provided to surround the core (212).

[0135] Inside the valve (210), a valve passage (215) is formed, one end of which is in fluid communication with the compressed gas tank (200) and in which a piston head (21a) is accommodated, and a plunger (213) is formed at one end of the core (212) to block and open and close the valve passage (215). Accordingly, the core (212) moves up and down depending on the direction of the current applied to the solenoid coil (211) of the valve (210), so that the plunger (213) can block and open and close the valve passage (215). When current is applied to the solenoid coil (211) in the direction in which the core (212) rises, compressed air stored in the compressed gas tank (200) is instantaneously supplied through the valve passage (215), thereby pressurizing the piston (21) forward, thereby moving the piston (21) forward. And when the piston (21) reaches the top dead center and collides with the blocker (22a), current flows through the solenoid coil (211) in the direction in which the core (212) descends, thereby blocking the flow of compressed gas passing through the valve passage (215). Meanwhile, similar to the housing (10a) illustrated in FIG. 3, a compressed gas tank-side screw joint (220) is provided below the compressed gas tank (200), so that when the drive shaft (15) is rotated by the step motor (14), the compressed gas tank (200) moves forward, similar to the housing (10a) of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3. The forward structure of the drive unit and the blocker has been described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5A to 5F, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted below. Meanwhile, when retracting the piston (21), an elastic member may be provided to pressurize the piston head (21) of the piston (21) toward the compressed gas tank (200), as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 16, and the piston (21) may be retracted using the pressing force of the elastic member. Alternatively, an exhaust path for exhausting compressed gas supplied by the compressed gas tank (200) may be provided, and a valve may be installed in the exhaust path.After the piston (21) advances by the compressed gas, the valve may be opened to exhaust the supplied compressed gas, thereby utilizing the pressure difference inside the housing (10a) to cause the piston (21) to retract. For the above structure, refer to the embodiment described with reference to Fig. 11.

[0136] The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 11 is identical to the example illustrated in Fig. 4, except for the power generation structure of the driving unit (10). Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the same structures as the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

[0137] Unlike the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11, the plunger (12) on the driving side is driven using compressed air delivered through a compressed air supply means such as a compressed gas tank (17).

[0138] To this end, unlike the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the inner chamber (10b) of the housing (10a) is in fluid communication with the compressed gas tank (17) through the inlet passage (102), instead of having its outer periphery wound around the solenoid coil (11). Then, the inlet passage (102) branches into a discharge passage (103) for discharging compressed air supplied from the compressed gas tank (17) to the inner chamber (10b) to the outside of the needleless syringe. A valve (104) may be provided at the branch point of the inlet passage (102) and the discharge passage (103). The valve (104) controls the opening and closing of the inlet passage for compressed air supplied to the inner chamber (10b) through the inlet passage (102) and the discharge passage for discharging compressed air from the inner chamber (10b) to the outside through the discharge passage (103). To this end, the valve (104) may preferably be a three-way valve capable of electronic control.

[0139] The inner chamber (10b) has at least one through hole (10c) located behind the point where the plunger (12) on the driving side collides with the piston head (21a) of the piston (21) when the plunger (12) moves forward under pressure from compressed air. The through hole (10c) may be provided in a form that penetrates the inner and outer peripheries of a hollow cylinder forming the inner chamber (10b). Through the through hole (10c), the inner chamber (10b) is in fluid communication with the compression chamber (105), which is a space between the outer periphery of the inner chamber (10b) and the inner periphery of the housing (10a). The compression chamber (105) is a space sealed from the outside of the housing (10b) and is configured to be in fluid communication with the inner chamber (10b) only through the through hole (10c).

[0140] And, a magnet (106) may be provided at the rear end of the inner chamber (10b) as a retaining member for maintaining the plunger (12) at a specific position. Here, the magnet (106) may be a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. The magnet (106) uses magnetic force to retain the drive-side plunger (12) at the rear end of the inner chamber (10b) when the drive-side plunger (12) made of a metal material is retracted within the inner chamber (10b). Due to the presence of the magnet (106) described above, it becomes possible to accurately maintain the retracted position of the drive-side plunger (12) when it is retracted. The retaining member is not limited to the magnet (106). For example, the retaining member may be a means for maintaining the plunger (12) at a specific position by physically engaging with the plunger (12).

[0141] Hereinafter, a mechanism for moving the piston (21) forward and backward in a divided manner during the reciprocating movement of the drive-side plunger (12) using the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11 will be described with reference to the contents illustrated in FIG. 11.

[0142] First, while the driving-side plunger (12) is held at the rear end of the inner chamber (10b) by the magnet (106), the valve (104) blocks the exhaust path toward the exhaust path (103) and opens the inflow path from the compressed air tank (17) to the inner chamber (10b) through the inflow path (102). Through this, compressed gas is injected from the compressed air tank (17) to the rear of the driving-side plunger (12) through the inflow path (102). Due to the pressure of this compressed gas, the driving-side plunger (12) moves forward. Meanwhile, for smooth advancement of the driving-side plunger (12), the magnet (106) is preferably formed of an electromagnet, and the magnetic field of the magnet (106) is preferably made to disappear when compressed air is injected.

[0143] Meanwhile, the air in the internal chamber (10b) located in front of the drive-side plunger (12) is pushed forward as the drive-side plunger (12) moves forward, and the pushed-out air is discharged into the compression chamber (105) through the through hole (10c). As described above, since the compression chamber (105) is a sealed space, the pressure inside the compression chamber (105) becomes relatively high due to the air flowing in through the through hole (10c).

[0144] And, as described above through the embodiment of FIG. 4, the advancing driving part side plunger (12) collides with the piston head (21a) of the piston (21), and as a result, the piston (21) moves forward until it collides with the blocker (22a). And, as the piston (21) moves forward, the piston end (21b) of the piston (21) presses and moves the adjacent nozzle part side plunger (32a) forward. The drug (100) in the chamber (31) of the nozzle part (30) is compressed by the distance that the nozzle part-side plunger (32a) moves forward, and the drug is sprayed in a predetermined amount through the nozzle hole (33) of the nozzle part (30). Then, as described above with reference to FIG. 5d, the step motor (14) rotates the drive shaft (15), so that the rotational force of the drive shaft (15) is transmitted to the blocker-side screw joint (24) through the power switching mechanism (24a), thereby advancing the blocker (22a) by a predetermined distance.

[0145] Meanwhile, when the piston (21) collides with the blocker (22a), at that point, the valve (104) blocks the inflow path through the inflow path (102) and opens the exhaust path through the exhaust path (103). As a result, the compressed air at the rear of the nozzle-side plunger (32a) that has moved forward is discharged through the exhaust path (103). Accordingly, the air pressure in the internal chamber (10b) at the rear of the nozzle-side plunger (32a) decreases, creating a pressure difference with the air pressure inside the compression chamber (105). Due to this pressure difference, the compressed air in the compression chamber (105) flows in to the front of the nozzle-side plunger (32a) through the through hole (10c), and the nozzle-side plunger (32a) moves backward due to the pressure of the introduced compressed air. When the nozzle-side plunger (32a) retracts to near the position where the magnet (106) is installed, it stops at a position where it comes into contact with the magnet (106) due to the magnetic field of the magnet (106). As described above, when the magnet (106) is configured as an electromagnet, the magnetic field of the magnet (106) is regenerated at least at the point where the nozzle-side plunger (32a) collides with the piston (21), so that when the nozzle-side plunger (32a) collides with the piston (21) retracts, the nozzle-side plunger (32a) can be maintained at a predetermined retracted position by the magnet (106). In addition, as described above with reference to FIG. 5f, the step motor (14) rotates the drive shaft (15), and the rotational force of the drive shaft (15) is transmitted to the housing-side screw joint (16a) through the power switching mechanism (16a), thereby advancing the housing (10a) by a predetermined distance. Accordingly, when the valve (104) is opened later to supply compressed air again from the compressed air tank (17) and the drive-side plunger (12) moves forward, the position where the drive-side plunger (12) and the piston (21) collide within the housing (10a) is maintained constant as described above, so that it is possible to move the piston (21) forward by a constant distance even if the same amount of compressed air is supplied.Therefore, it is possible to spray a certain amount of drug (100) from the nozzle hole (33) of the nozzle part (30) each time the plunger (12) on the driving part reciprocates.

[0146] In the above, a mechanism for converting the reciprocating motion of the drive-side plunger (12) into the split forward motion of the piston (21) by having the step motor (14) rotate the drive shaft (15) to advance the housing (10a) and the blocker (22a) has been described, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above-described configuration. That is, as described with reference to FIG. 3, instead of moving the housing (10a) or the blocker (22a), it is also possible to split-advance the piston (21) by changing the supply amount from the compressed air tank (17) each time the drive-side plunger (12) reciprocates. That is, for example, by adjusting the opening of the valve (104), more compressed air can be supplied to the internal chamber (10b) of the housing (10a) during the next reciprocating movement of the drive-side plunger (12) compared to the previous reciprocating movement of the drive-side plunger (12), thereby applying greater pressure to the drive-side plunger (12). Through this, the kinetic energy transferred from the drive-side plunger (12) to the piston (21) each time the drive-side plunger (12) reciprocates can be made the same. Therefore, in the same way as when the housing (10a) and the blocker (22a) are moved, a constant amount of the drug (100) can be sprayed from the nozzle hole (33) of the nozzle unit (30) each time the drive-side plunger (12) reciprocates.

[0147] The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 12 is identical to the example illustrated in Fig. 4, except for the power generation structure of the driving unit (10). Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the same structures as the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

[0148] In the example shown in Fig. 12, a spring and a motor, which are elastic members, are used as a means for applying pressure to the piston (21).

[0149] In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 12, a spring (300) is provided as an elastic member. One end of the spring (300) is fixed to a fixed position inside the needleless syringe body, and the other end is provided on one end of a first rod (310) extending in the longitudinal direction of the needleless syringe. A second rod (314) is provided on the other end of the first rod (310), which is the tip end, and the tip end of the second rod (314) faces the piston head (21a) of the piston (21). Here, the first rod (310) and the second rod (314) may be separate rods combined or may be integrally molded. Meanwhile, either the first rod (310) or the second rod (320) is freely rotatably connected to the other end of a crank arm (313) that is coupled to a crank shaft (311), which is a rotating member, and rotates around the crank shaft (311) through a coupling portion (312). And, the crank shaft (311) is configured to rotate by a predetermined angle by a rotational power source such as a motor, for example.

[0150] According to the above configuration, first, when the crank shaft (311) is rotated clockwise by a predetermined angle by a motor or the like, the rear end of the first rod (310) presses the spring (300). In this state, when the power source applied to the crank shaft (311) is cut off, the first rod (310) moves forward by the elastic force of the spring (300), and accordingly, the front end of the second rod (320) strikes the piston (21). Then, when the piston (21) reaches the top dead center and collides with the blocker (22a), when the crank shaft (311) is rotated clockwise again by a motor or the like, the first rod (310) moves back and its rear end presses the spring (300). In this state, as described above with reference to FIG. 4, the blocker (22a) is moved a predetermined distance, and then the power source applied to the crank shaft (311) is blocked again to advance the first rod (310) and the second rod (314) so ​​that they collide with the piston head (21a), thereby advancing the piston (21). In the example of FIG. 4, the housing (10a) is advanced as much as the blocker (22a) is advanced, but in the example illustrated in FIG. 10, the amount of rotation of the crank shaft (311) by a motor or the like is controlled to adjust the elasticity of the spring (300), thereby allowing the piston (21) to advance further as much as the blocker (22a) is advanced. Alternatively, similar to the housing (10a) illustrated in FIG. 4, the drive unit itself, in which the spring (300) and the motor are integrated, may be advanced forward using a screw joint.

[0151] Furthermore, similar to the mechanism described with reference to FIG. 3, by controlling the elastic force (300) applied by the spring (300) without advancing the blocker (22a) or the housing (10a), the kinetic energy transferred from the tip of the second rod (320) to the piston (21) can be made constant. That is, by controlling the elastic force applied to the second rod (320) to increase in size each time the second rod (320) reciprocates, a constant amount of the drug (100) can be sprayed from the nozzle hole (33) of the nozzle unit (30) each time the second rod (320) reciprocates, similarly to the case where the housing (10a) and the blocker (22a) are moved. To this end, for example, the elastic force (300) generated by the spring (300) can be changed by changing the compression amount of the spring (300) by controlling the amount of rotation of the crank shaft (311) counterclockwise.

[0152] The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 13 is identical to the example illustrated in Fig. 3, except for the power generation structure of the driving unit (10). Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the same structures as the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

[0153] In the example shown in Fig. 13, compressed gas and a motor are used as a means for applying pressure to the piston (21).

[0154] In the example illustrated in Fig. 12, the crank arm (313) is driven using the one-way rotation of the spring (300) and the motor, but in the present example illustrated in Fig. 13, the crank shaft, which is a rotating member provided inside the crank (410), is rotated only by the motor using the two-way rotation of the motor. One end of a rod-shaped air compression piston (420) extending in the longitudinal direction of the needleless syringe extends into the crank (410) and is rotatably connected to a crank arm that rotates according to the rotation of the crank shaft. Therefore, as the crank shaft rotates by the driving force of the motor (400), the air compression piston (420) can perform a reciprocating motion of repeating forward and backward movements. And, a compressed air chamber (430) is provided in front of the air compression piston (420), and a valve (440) having the same structure as the valve (210) illustrated in FIG. 10 is provided in front of the compressed air chamber (430) to allow and block the flow of compressed air from the compressed air chamber (430) toward the piston (21). The driving unit formed by the compressed air piston (420) and the motor (400) illustrated in FIG. 13 is also provided with a compressed gas tank-side screw joint (220) at its lower portion, similar to the example illustrated in FIG. 10, so that when the driving shaft (15) is rotated by the step motor (14), the driving unit and the blocker can be moved forward accordingly, similar to the housing (10a) of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4. The forward and backward movement of the piston (21) using compressed air is described in detail with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, and the forward movement structure of the driving unit and blocker is described in detail with reference to FIG. 4, and a detailed description thereof is omitted below.

[0155] Furthermore, similar to the mechanism described with reference to FIG. 3, by controlling the amount of compressed air directed from the compressed air chamber (430) toward the piston (21) without advancing the blocker (22a) or the housing (10a), a constant amount of the drug (100) can be sprayed from the nozzle hole (33) of the nozzle unit (30) each time the air compression piston (420) reciprocates, in the same manner as when the housing (10a) and the blocker (22a) are moved. To this end, for example, by controlling the amount of rotation of the crank shaft (311) to change the amount of air compression using the compressed air piston (420), the elastic force (300) generated by the spring (300) can be changed.

[0156] FIG. 14 is a drawing for explaining the position and speed control of a piston according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 15 is a drawing for explaining the PID control used for the position and speed control of the piston of FIG. 14.

[0157] According to the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 14, for example, an encoder (510) capable of detecting the real-time position of the piston (21) is provided on the inner wall facing the piston (21) of the housing inner chamber (10b), so that the position of the piston (21) per hour is detected when the piston (21) advances and retreats. The result detected by the encoder (510) is transmitted to the control unit (500). Meanwhile, the control unit (500) stores in advance the target injection amount and injection speed of the micro-jet type drug to be discharged from the nozzle unit (30), the stroke distance of the piston (21) to satisfy the same, the speed, and the speed of the plunger on the nozzle unit side. Accordingly, the control unit (500) performs the PID control illustrated in FIG. 15 based on information about the target injection amount and injection speed of the drug and the stroke distance and speed of the piston (21) to satisfy the same, the actual position information per hour of the piston (21) transmitted from the encoder (510), and the current position of the blocker (22a) based on the rotation speed of the stepper motor (14). That is, after one piston advance, the stroke and speed of the piston (21) when the piston (21) is advanced are calculated based on the information about the piston position per hour measured through the encoder (510) and the information about the current position of the blocker (22a) measured through the rotation speed measuring sensor of the stepper motor (14), and the error between the calculated value and the target value of the stroke distance and speed of the piston (21) is calculated, and then the amount of current applied to the solenoid coil (11) and the control signal value applied to the stepper motor (14) are calculated so that the error becomes 0. Then, the power source and motor drive source are controlled so that the generated current amount and control signal are applied. Through feedback control that repeats this process, drug injection can be performed according to the target injection amount and injection speed.

[0158] In addition, the above PID control can be utilized in the case of a mechanism that controls the pressure applied to the plunger on the nozzle side, etc. instead of a mechanism that moves the housing (10a) and the blocker (22a) using a step motor (14). That is, after one piston advance, information on the changed piston position is acquired through the encoder (510), and the target injection amount and injection speed of the drug stored in advance and the stroke distance and speed of the piston (21) to satisfy them are used to calculate the amount of current applied to the solenoid coil (11) to satisfy the same stroke distance and speed as the previous time when the piston advances the next time. Then, the power source can be controlled to satisfy this amount of current when the piston advances the next time.

[0159] The above-mentioned control unit may be implemented in the form of a computer equipped in a needleless syringe. In this case, the program for realizing this control function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium may be read into the computer system and executed. Furthermore, the "computer system" referred to herein refers to a computer system built into the vehicle, including hardware such as an operating system and peripheral devices. Furthermore, the "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, and storage devices such as hard disks built into the computer system. Furthermore, the "computer-readable recording medium" may also include something that dynamically retains a program for a short period of time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, or something that retains a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory within a computer system that serves as a server or client in such a case. Furthermore, the above-mentioned program may be for realizing part of the above-mentioned function, or may be something that can realize the above-mentioned function in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

[0160] The present invention relates to a needleless syringe comprising a driving unit, a converter unit, and a nozzle unit, wherein the converter unit reciprocates a power transmission means by a pulse-shaped driving force generated by the driving unit, and converts the reciprocating motion of the power transmission means into a divided forward movement of a piston. Then, through this divided forward movement of the piston, a drug contained in the nozzle unit is injected in the form of a microjet from a nozzle hole of the nozzle unit.

[0161] Meanwhile, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the position of the power transmission means is changed each time the piston advances, so that the relative positions of the piston and the power transmission means remain constant. This makes it possible to inject a constant amount of drug at a constant rate with each reciprocating movement of the power transmission means.

[0162] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the magnitude of the driving force is increased with each reciprocating motion of the power transmission means, thereby ensuring that the kinetic energy transmitted from the power transmission means to the piston is of a constant magnitude with each reciprocating motion of the power transmission means. This makes it possible to inject a constant amount of drug at a constant rate with each reciprocating motion of the power transmission means.

[0163] According to the present invention, a drug filled inside a nozzle can be sprayed outward in a fixed amount according to the divided forward movement of the plunger, thereby eliminating the need for a separate drug charger installed outside the nozzle and for periodically supplying the drug from the drug charger into the nozzle, and instead utilizing the nozzle itself as a cartridge. Therefore, the complex existing drug filling mechanism can be simplified. Accordingly, the manufacturing cost of the nozzle and the needleless syringe including the nozzle can be reduced. Furthermore, according to the present invention as described above, the drug filled inside the nozzle can be sprayed in multiple portions per second through the divided forward movement of the piston multiple times per second. Therefore, unlike conventional needleless syringes in which drug filling and drug spraying are alternately performed through the reciprocating movement of the piston, the problem of a large amount of drug remaining inside the nozzle can be reduced. Furthermore, according to the present invention, when the forward movement of the piston is completed, the user can detach and discard the nozzle-integrated cartridge from the main body of the needleless syringe, and easily attach a new cartridge to the main body. Therefore, the user can easily detach and replace the cartridge even at home. And, according to the present invention, by changing the relative positions of the blocker and the piston, the impact distance of the piston can be controlled, thereby easily controlling the drug injection speed and injection amount.

Claims

1. In a needleless syringe having a driving part, a conversion part and a nozzle part, The above driving unit provides a driving force in the form of a pulse to reciprocate the power transmission means accommodated in the pulse pressure or housing, The above-mentioned conversion unit converts the pulse pressure or the reciprocating motion of the power transmission means into a segmented forward motion of the piston so that the piston, which has received kinetic energy from the driving unit, moves forward stepwise by a predetermined distance toward the nozzle unit for each pulse of the pulse pressure or each time the power transmission means reciprocates once, and A needleless syringe in which the nozzle part has a drug receiving part in which a drug is received, and the drug received in the drug receiving part is discharged in the form of a micro jet through a nozzle hole according to the pressure applied to the drug by the piston.

2. In claim 1, The piston receives the kinetic energy by receiving the pulse-shaped pressure or colliding with the power transmission means, A needleless syringe, wherein the conversion unit advances the driving unit by the predetermined distance for each pulse of the pulse pressure or each time the power transmission means reciprocates and the piston advances by the predetermined distance, thereby making the kinetic energy transferred to the piston constant for each pulse or each time the power transmission means reciprocates.

3. In claim 1, The piston receives the kinetic energy by receiving the pulse-shaped pressure or colliding with the power transmission means, A needleless syringe, wherein the conversion unit increases the magnitude of the pulse pressure or the magnitude of the driving force applied to the power transmission means by the driving unit each time the piston advances the predetermined distance by each pulse of the pulse pressure or each time the power transmission means reciprocates, thereby making the kinetic energy transferred to the piston constant for each pulse or each time the power transmission means reciprocates.

4. In claim 2, The above power transmission means is a plunger accommodated within the housing, The housing has an internal chamber in a hollow internal space within the housing, and a portion of the plunger and the piston are accommodated within the internal chamber. The nozzle portion of the housing is provided with a blocker to limit the forward movement of the piston toward the nozzle portion by collision with the plunger. A needleless syringe further comprising a displacement means capable of advancing the housing and the blocker at least in a direction toward the nozzle portion, and a control means for controlling the displacement means.

5. In claim 3, The above power transmission means is a plunger accommodated within the housing, The housing has an internal chamber in a hollow internal space within the housing, and a portion of the plunger and the piston are accommodated within the internal chamber. The nozzle portion of the housing is provided with a blocker to limit the forward movement of the piston toward the nozzle portion by collision with the plunger. A needleless syringe further comprising a control unit that controls the driving force generated in the driving unit so that the kinetic energy transferred from the plunger to the piston becomes constant each time the plunger reciprocates.

6. In claim 4 or claim 5, The nozzle portion is configured to be detachably connected to the main body of the needleless syringe, which includes at least the housing and the blocker, A needleless syringe, wherein the end of the nozzle portion of the piston extends into a chamber forming the drug receiving portion of the nozzle portion.

7. In claim 6, The chamber of the nozzle part is configured so that one side facing the main body of the needleless syringe is open to the outside, A needleless syringe, wherein a first cover is detachably provided on the nozzle portion so as to cover the open side of the chamber when the nozzle portion is separated from the main body of the needleless syringe.

8. In claim 7, On the inner side of the first cover facing the chamber, a second cover is further provided made of a material that can be cut by the end of the piston when the end of the piston advances. A needleless syringe further comprising a nozzle-side plunger for pressurizing the drug contained in the chamber on the inside of the second cover.

9. In claim 4 or claim 5, The above driving unit includes a solenoid coil wound around the outer periphery of the inner chamber of the housing, A needleless syringe, wherein the control unit is configured to provide a pulse reciprocating motion of the plunger by controlling the current applied to the solenoid coil.

10. In claim 1, A diaphragm that deforms according to the reciprocating motion of the pulse pressure or the power transmission means, A chamber on the conversion side where the internal pressure increases and decreases according to the deformation of the above diaphragm, A driving fluid supply unit that is in fluid communication with the converter-side chamber through a driving fluid supply path and supplies driving fluid to the converter-side chamber according to an increase or decrease in the internal pressure of the converter-side chamber due to deformation of the diaphragm, and A check valve is further provided to allow only one-way flow of the driving fluid from the conversion chamber toward the inner chamber of the housing, A needleless syringe, wherein the piston is configured to advance in segments toward the nozzle section by hydraulic pressure of the driving fluid supplied from the driving fluid supply section to the internal chamber of the housing.

11. In claim 2 or claim 3, The above driving unit comprises a compressed gas tank for supplying compressed gas into the inner chamber of the housing through an inlet passage; and It further includes a valve provided on the above inlet passage and for controlling the entry and exit of the compressed gas into the internal chamber, A needleless syringe configured to provide the pulse pressure by controlling the valve through a control unit.

12. In claim 4 or claim 5, The above driving unit comprises a compressed gas tank for supplying compressed gas into the inner chamber of the housing through an inlet passage; and It further includes a valve provided on the above inlet passage and for controlling the entry and exit of the compressed gas into the internal chamber, An exhaust passage for discharging compressed gas introduced through the above inlet passage to the outside of the needleless syringe branches off from the above inlet passage, and the valve controls the opening and closing of the inlet passage and the exhaust passage. The inner chamber has at least one through hole located behind the point where the plunger first collides with the piston head of the piston when the plunger advances by the pressure of the compressed gas, Through the above through hole, the inner chamber is in fluid communication with the compression chamber outside the inner chamber, As the plunger advances, air discharged from the inner chamber through the through hole is compressed within the compression chamber, After the plunger and the piston collide, the discharge passage is opened by the valve so that the compressed gas is discharged to the outside of the needleless syringe, and the air compressed in the compression chamber is re-introduced into the internal chamber through the through hole due to the pressure difference between the pressure in the internal chamber and the pressure in the compression chamber. A needleless syringe, wherein the plunger is moved to its original retracted position from which it started to advance by air re-introduced into the inner chamber.

13. In claim 12, Further comprising a retaining member for maintaining the plunger in the above-mentioned retreated position; A needleless syringe, wherein the retaining member maintains the plunger in the retracted position until the plunger is advanced by the pressure of compressed air.

14. In claim 2 or claim 3, A rod having one end directed toward the piston head of the piston; An elastic member having one end in contact with the other end of the above-mentioned rod and the other end fixed to the body of the above-mentioned needleless syringe; It is configured to rotate by a predetermined angle by the driving force generated by the above driving unit, and has a rotating member whose end is freely connected to the load. A needleless syringe configured to rotate the rotating member in a direction in which the other end of the rod compresses the elastic member by the driving force, and then, when the driving force is blocked, the rod advances by the elastic force of the elastic member, and the one end of the rod strikes the piston head, thereby moving the piston forward in a split manner.

15. In claim 2 or claim 3, A compressed air chamber for supplying compressed air in the form of pulse pressure into the inner chamber of the housing; An air compression piston for compressing air in the compressed air chamber through a forward and backward reciprocating motion; A rotating member configured to rotate by a predetermined angle by a driving force generated by the driving unit, one end of which is rotatably connected to the air compression piston; Further comprising a valve for controlling the entry and exit of the compressed air into the inner chamber; A needleless syringe in which the air compression piston reciprocates forward and backward in accordance with the rotation of the rotating member, thereby compressing the air in the compression air chamber, and controlling the flow of compressed air from the compression air chamber toward the piston by opening and closing the valve, thereby moving the piston forward by the pressure of the compressed air.

16. In claim 4, It further comprises an encoder capable of detecting the real-time position of the piston, In the above control unit, information regarding the stroke distance and speed of the piston required to satisfy the target injection amount and injection speed of the drug discharged from the nozzle unit is stored in advance. The control unit calculates a control signal value necessary to control the driving unit and the displacement means to obtain the target injection amount and injection speed of the drug based on real-time position information of the piston transmitted from the encoder and information about the stroke distance and speed of the piston stored in advance. A needleless syringe, wherein the control unit controls the driving unit and the displacement means based on the calculated control signal value.

17. In claim 5, It further comprises an encoder capable of detecting the real-time position of the piston, In the above control unit, information regarding the stroke distance and speed of the piston required to satisfy the target injection amount and injection speed of the drug discharged from the nozzle unit is stored in advance. The control unit calculates a control signal value necessary to control the driving unit to obtain the target injection amount and injection speed of the drug based on real-time position information of the piston transmitted from the encoder and information about the stroke distance and speed of the piston stored in advance. A needleless syringe, wherein the control unit controls the driving unit based on the calculated control signal value.

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