Autoinjector Flexible Tab and Deformable Wall Safety Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autoinjectors face challenges in providing reliable safety mechanisms to prevent accidental triggering and needle exposure, particularly for elderly or handicapped users, while maintaining ease of use and cost-effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
An autoinjector design featuring a movable actuator sleeve with a flexible tab and deformable axial wall, which deforms laterally to guide the tab through grooves and zones, ensuring the needle is safely locked after use, and includes a mechanism that generates a click sound for user feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If reliable locking means are added to prevent accidental triggering, then safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is divided into separate functional zones (initial zone, intermediate zone, final reception zone) that guide the flexible tab through distinct stages of engagement and disengagement, allowing complex safety functionality to be achieved through segmented spatial progression rather than a single complex mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
A flexible tab acts as an intermediary element that mediates between the actuator sleeve and the locking mechanism. The tab's lateral deformation and movement through defined zones provides a simple yet reliable interface that translates user action into controlled engagement/disengagement of safety features without requiring complex direct coupling
2Reliability
If a reliable trigger lock is implemented to prevent accidental activation, then safety is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism incorporates dynamic elements including a flexible tab that can laterally deform and an actuator sleeve that moves between positions. This dynamic design allows the system to transition smoothly between locked and unlocked states in response to user action, maintaining ease of operation while ensuring reliable triggering only when intended
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanism utilizes changes in the physical state of the flexible tab (lateral deformation) and the position of the actuator sleeve to control the locking state. These parameter changes provide clear tactile and visual feedback to the user, making it easy to understand when the device is locked or unlocked without requiring complex controls
3Reliability
If a needle safety device is added to prevent injury after use, then safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The needle safety feature is integrated into the same lateral deformation mechanism that controls the trigger lock. The flexible tab's movement through defined zones simultaneously controls both the triggering mechanism and the needle safety device, achieving dual safety functionality through a single preliminary design rather than separate added components
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the trigger lock mechanism and the needle safety device into a unified system controlled by the flexible tab's lateral deformation. This consolidation achieves multiple safety functions through a single integrated mechanism, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining comprehensive safety coverage
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 design provides a reliable and safe autoinjector that prevents accidental triggering and needle exposure, while being simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, ensuring user safety and ease of use.
Implementation Method 1
a deformable axial wall being adapted to deform elastically so as to allow said flexible tab to pass from said initial zone to said intermediate zone
Implementation Method 2
one of said actuator sleeve and of said body including a flexible tab that is adapted to deform laterally relative to said actuator sleeve and/or relative to said body when said actuator sleeve is moved from its first projecting position to its actuated position
Data Source
AI summary
An autoinjector having a body (1) and an actuator sleeve (10) having a first projecting position before actuation and a second projecting position after actuation. The actuator sleeve or the body has a flexible tab (110) that deforms laterally when the actuator sleeve moves from its first projecting position to its actuated position, then from its actuated position to return to its second projecting position. The other of the actuator sleeve and the body has an initial zone (102), an intermediate zone (105), and a final reception zone (106) co-operating with the flexible tab in the first projecting position, actuated position, and second projecting position, respectively. The final reception zone is offset laterally from the initial zone. A deformable axial wall (1020) deforms allowing the flexible tab to pass from the initial zone to the intermediate zone and guides it from the intermediate zone to the final reception zone.