Spring-Loaded Pill Delivery Device for Safe Animal Administration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Administering oral medication to animals is challenging as it often causes discomfort or harm to both the animal and the person administering the medication, with a lack of effective devices capable of dispensing pills of multiple sizes and volumes safely.
Innovation Solution
A pill delivery device comprising a grip assembly, a spring-loaded barrel assembly, and a trigger assembly, made of rigid plastic or lightweight metal, which includes a pill holding tip with a cylindrical collet for secure pill retention and a mechanism to propel pills into an animal's oral cavity using a spring-loaded eject pin.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If manual pill administration is used, then the device complexity is low, but the harm to animal and administrator increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a spring-loaded ejector mechanism as an intermediary device between the administrator and the animal. The ejector propels the pill through the air gap into the animal's mouth, eliminating direct contact between the administrator's hand and the animal's throat area, thus reducing harm while maintaining manageable device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the pill from the administrator's direct reach by using a extendable barrel assembly with an ejector mechanism. The pill is launched from a safe distance into the animal's oral cavity, removing the harmful interaction between administrator and animal while keeping the device structure relatively simple
2Adaptability or versatility
If a single delivery device is designed to accommodate multiple pill sizes, then the adaptability increases, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs a universal pill holder and barrel assembly that can accommodate pills of various sizes and volumes. The pill holder features an adjustable retention mechanism that adapts to different pill dimensions, allowing a single device to perform multiple functions without significantly increasing overall device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates adjustable and movable components in the pill holder and barrel assembly that can be dynamically configured for different pill sizes. This dynamic adaptability allows the device to handle multiple pill types while maintaining a relatively simple base structure
3Ease of operation
If forced oral administration is used, then the ease of operation is high, but the harm to animal and medication increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spring-loaded ejector acts as an intermediary that delivers the pill without requiring the administrator to manually place it in the animal's mouth. This maintains ease of operation while eliminating the harmful forced administration contact, as the ejector does the work of bridging the gap between administrator and animal
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device allows for safe and efficient administration of pills into an animal's throat area, reducing the risk of injury to both the animal and the user, while accommodating pills of various sizes and volumes, and can be operated with minimal training.
Implementation Method 1
The barrel assembly is spring-loaded comprising a first end attached to and extending outward from the grip assembly
Implementation Method 2
A second spring biases the eject pin towards the exit port
Data Source
AI summary
A pill delivery device comprising a grip, barrel and trigger assemblies. The pistol style device contains a tension spring-operated eject pin and trigger. The eject pin is cycled through cocked and un-cocked states by actuation of a cocking pin and trigger. At the end of the barrel assembly is a soft rubber collet configured to temporarily retain a pill of different shapes and volumes. The collet has an aperture through which the eject pin in its un-cocked state mechanically communicates at its tip with the inner area of the collet.