Injection Pen Clicker Mechanism for Clear End-of-Dose Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drug delivery devices often confuse users with non-visual feedback signals during dose setting and dispensing, and they may require components to translate out of the housing during dose setting, making them less user-friendly and less compact.
Innovation Solution
A handheld injection device with a mechanism that provides audible and/or tactile feedback only at the end of dose dispensing, using clicker components that engage during dispensing but not during setting, and employs a parallel arrangement of components driven by a precharged spring for improved handling and compactness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If non-visual feedback signals are provided during both dose setting and dispensing, then users receive continuous feedback, but users become confused and cannot distinguish between setting and dispensing phases
Solution Approach 1:
The feedback mechanism provides different types of feedback for different operational phases: audible clicker feedback during dose setting and tactile end-of-dose feedback during dispensing. This local differentiation of feedback quality allows users to clearly distinguish between setting and dispensing phases, resolving the confusion caused by uniform feedback signals.
Solution Approach 2:
The device implements a dual feedback system with audible clickers during dose setting and tactile feedback at the end of dispensing. This structured feedback mechanism provides clear operational cues that help users understand the device state and progress, improving reliability while preventing confusion.
2Adaptability or versatility
If components translate out of the housing during dose setting, then the mechanism can accommodate component movement, but the device becomes less compact and less user-friendly
Solution Approach 1:
The dose setting mechanism is nested within the housing structure, with the dose setting member and associated components contained within the housing volume. This nesting approach allows the mechanism to accommodate necessary movements and transformations during dose setting while maintaining a compact overall device form factor.
Solution Approach 2:
The device employs dynamic components that can change configuration during operation. The dose setting member and related components are designed to move and transform within the housing rather than translating outward, allowing mechanical flexibility while preserving compactness. The parallel arrangement of components further optimizes space utilization.
3Reliability
If clicker components engage during both dose setting and dispensing, then continuous feedback is provided, but the feedback becomes less meaningful and harder to interpret
Solution Approach 1:
The feedback system uses different engagement mechanisms for different phases: audible clickers engage during dose setting while tactile feedback mechanisms engage at the end of dispensing. This local differentiation preserves feedback consistency within each phase while maintaining information meaning across phases by using distinct feedback types.
Solution Approach 2:
The device implements phase-specific feedback mechanisms that provide meaningful information for each operational phase. The audible clickers during setting and tactile feedback during dispensing create a clear information hierarchy that helps users interpret device state and progress without losing meaning.
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 ensures clear user feedback and prevents confusion during dose dispensing, reduces the need for housing translation during dose setting, and enhances handling with a compact design, especially suitable for users with impaired dexterity.
Implementation Method 1
employs a parallel arrangement of components driven by a precharged spring for improved handling and compactness
Data Source
AI summary
A handheld injection device includes a housing containing a cartridge, a dose setting means being operable in a first direction to set a desired dose to be dispensed, a piston rod being adapted to cooperate with a piston so as to cause a set dose to be injected from the cartridge, and a first clicker component, which is largely rotationally constrained to the housing, and a second clicker component, which is rotatable relative to the housing during dose dispensing. The clicker components are adapted to contact each other only at the end of dispensing of a set dose to thereby provide an audible and/or tactile first feedback to a user. The first clicker component is displaceable relative to the housing between a proximal dose setting position and a distal dose dispensing position.