Flexible Needle Shield Remover for Injection Devices
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automatic injection devices face challenges in reliably engaging and removing needle shields due to manufacturing variations, leading to inconsistent fitting and force application during needle shield removal.
Innovation Solution
A needle shield remover with inwardly-projecting shield engagement mechanisms and cap engagement mechanisms that securely engage with the needle shields and distal cap, allowing for reliable removal of the needle shields when the cap is removed, ensuring consistent exposure of the injection needle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional automatic injection devices use needle shields with removable caps, then the needle is protected from damage and accidental contact, but the removal of needle shields becomes inconsistent due to manufacturing variations
Solution Approach 1:
The needle shield remover employs a flexible element that can dynamically adapt to manufacturing variations in the gap between the needle shield and syringe body. The flexible element bends to engage with the needle shield regardless of precise dimensional tolerances, making the system dynamic rather than rigid in its engagement mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical state of the engagement mechanism from rigid to flexible. By using a flexible element that can bend and deform, the system accommodates variations in gap dimensions caused by manufacturing tolerances, ensuring reliable engagement across different manufactured units.
2Device complexity
If the needle shield remover uses a rigid engagement mechanism, then the structure is simpler, but the force application during needle shield removal becomes inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement mechanism transitions from a rigid structure to one incorporating a flexible element. This flexible element can bend and deform to consistently engage with the needle shield, ensuring uniform force application during removal despite variations in manufacturing tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible element introduces dynamic adaptability to the engagement mechanism. As the mechanism engages with the needle shield, the flexible element bends to accommodate dimensional variations, ensuring consistent force transmission and reliable needle shield removal across different manufactured units.
3Strength
If the needle shield is tightly fitted to the syringe, then the shield provides better protection, but the removal process becomes unreliable due to manufacturing variations
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible element in the needle shield remover dynamically adapts to the tight fit between the needle shield and syringe. By bending and deforming, the flexible element can engage with the needle shield even when the gap is minimal, ensuring reliable removal while maintaining the protective function of the tightly fitted shield.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible element changes its physical configuration from a straight rigid form to a bent flexible form during engagement. This parameter change allows the remover to accommodate tight fits and minimal gaps caused by manufacturing tolerances, ensuring consistent removal force application.
4Stability of the object's composition
If the gap between needle shield and syringe is small, then the shield fits more securely, but the engagement mechanism cannot reliably engage with the shield
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible element dynamically responds to small gap dimensions by bending and deforming to reach and engage with the needle shield. This dynamic adaptability ensures reliable engagement even when the gap is minimal, maintaining both secure fitting and reliable removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible element undergoes a parameter change in its shape and configuration, transitioning from a rigid straight form to a flexible bent form. This allows the engagement mechanism to accommodate small gap dimensions while maintaining engagement reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Exemplary embodiments provide a needle shield remover that reliably engages with a distal cap of an automatic injection device and with one or more needle shields coupled to a syringe of the device. When a user removes the distal cap, the needle shield remover reliably removes the needle shields (e.g., a soft needle shield and a rigid needle shield) from the syringe, thereby exposing the injection needle for performing an injection. In an exemplary assembly method, a needle shield remover is engaged to a needle shield coupled to a syringe, prior to insertion of the syringe and needle shield remover assembly into a housing of the device. This exemplary assembly method allows visual inspection, outside the housing of the device, to ensure that the needle shield remover is correctly and reliably engaged to the needle shield before the syringe and needle shield remover assembly is inserted into the housing.