Injection Cap Assembly With Anti-Recapping Needle Sleeve Lock
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional injection devices lack a mechanism to prevent the reattachment of the cap after use, leading to potential reuse and increased risk of infection.
Innovation Solution
A cap assembly with a cap body and lid that includes an anti-recapping element to prevent reattachment by engaging the needle sleeve, ensuring the cap cannot be reattached once the device has been used.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the cap is made removable for initial use, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to potential reuse
Solution Approach 1:
The cap assembly is divided into two separate components: a cap body and a cap lid. The cap body attaches to the housing, while the cap lid attaches to the cap body. This segmentation allows the cap to be easily removed in a controlled manner while maintaining reliability through the anti-recapping feature integrated into the cap lid.
Solution Approach 2:
The cap lid includes an anti-recapping element (projection) that extends in the proximal direction to engage the needle sleeve before the cap body can be reattached to the housing. This preliminary action prevents reuse by blocking the recapping path, ensuring that even if someone attempts to reattach the cap, the projection will interfere with proper engagement.
2Device complexity
If the cap structure is simplified, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to inability to prevent recapping
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is segmented into cap body and cap lid components, which may appear to increase complexity, but each component remains structurally simple. The cap body provides basic covering function, while the cap lid provides the anti-recapping function through its projection, distributing functionality across simple components.
Solution Approach 2:
The anti-recapping functionality is localized to a specific feature (the projection on the cap lid) rather than requiring complex mechanisms throughout the entire cap structure. This localized approach maintains simplicity in the overall design while achieving the reliability goal through a focused functional element.
3Ease of manufacture
If the cap and lid are separate components, then ease of manufacture is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is manufactured as separate components (cap body and cap lid) that can be produced independently using standard manufacturing processes. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific manufacturing requirements and assembled through simple attachment mechanisms, improving ease of manufacture despite the increased component count.
Solution Approach 2:
While the cap body and cap lid are separate components, they are designed to attach through simple, straightforward mechanisms that effectively merge them into a unified cap assembly during use. This merging approach maintains the manufacturing benefits of separate production while presenting a simple, integrated structure to the user.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2~6c
Figure 7~11
AI summary
The present invention relates to a cap assembly (60, 70, 80) for a medicament delivery device (20) comprising a cap body (61, 71, 81) configured to be detachably mounted to a housing (11) of a medicament delivery device, and a cap lid (65,75, 85) configured to be attached to the cap body, wherein the cap body and the cap lid are two separate components configured to be located in their ready-to-use positions on a distal end (D) of a medicament delivery device separately, wherein the cap body is configured to receive a needle sleeve (19) of a medicament delivery device through a proximal end (P) of the cap body and the cap lid at a distal end of the cap body when the cap assembly is attached to a medicament delivery device in its ready-to- use position, the cap lid comprising an anti-recapping element (66) configured to prevent the cap assembly from being reattached to a housing of a medicament delivery device once the cap assembly has been removed and the medicament delivery device has been used, wherein the anti-recapping element comprises a projection (39) extending in the proximal direction and is configured to engage a needle sleeve of a medicament delivery device to prevent the cap assembly being fully reattached to a housing of a medicament delivery device upon attempted recapping once the medicament delivery device has been used.