Drug Delivery Cap with Protruding Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drug delivery devices often fail to effectively encourage users to remove the needle unit after use, leading to potential needle stick injuries and contamination risks.
Innovation Solution
A drug delivery device design featuring a cap with a retaining member that prevents engagement with the housing as long as the needle unit is attached, incorporating protruding elements on the cap's inner surface to abut the needle unit, thereby preventing cap placement and reducing the risk of needle stick injuries, while allowing for easy attachment and detachment of needle units with different diameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a cap is provided to cover the distal end of the drug delivery device, then protection against needle stick injuries and contamination is improved, but the cap cannot be placed when the needle unit is still attached causing operational feedback issues
Solution Approach 1:
The protruding element on the cap acts as an intermediary mechanism that detects the presence of the needle unit and prevents cap placement through mechanical feedback. This mediator element abuts against the needle unit or its holder to generate a tactile signal indicating that the needle is still attached, thereby preventing improper cap placement while maintaining ease of operation.
2Reliability
If the retaining member is designed to secure the cap by engaging with the housing, then cap retention is improved, but engagement is prevented when needle unit is attached creating operational feedback
Solution Approach 1:
The protruding element provides tactile feedback to the user when attempting to place the cap with the needle unit still attached. This feedback mechanism prevents unreliable cap retention by ensuring the needle is removed first, while the retaining member maintains reliable cap retention through engagement with the housing when properly used.
3Ease of manufacture
If the cap is designed as a single injection moulded piece, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but adaptability to different needle sizes is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is designed with local quality variations through the protruding element that can abut against different needle unit configurations. This localized feature provides adaptability to various needle sizes while the rest of the cap maintains a simple single-piece injection moulded structure, achieving both manufacturing simplicity and versatility.
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The present invention relates to drug delivery devices. The drug delivery device according to the invention includes a housing (10) with a needle holder (24) suitable for attaching a needle unit (20) to the housing (10) at the distal end (22), and a cap (30) being capable of covering the distal end of the drug delivery device (5) and comprising a retaining member (32) capable of securing the cap (30) by engaging with the housing, the retaining member is prevented from engaging with the housing (10) with the needle unit (20) being attached to the needle holder (24). Furthermore, using a cap for covering the distal end of the drug delivery device is disclosed.