Lock Ring Indicators for Multi-Angle Medicament Delivery Unlocking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medicament delivery devices often have lock ring indicators that are not visible from all viewing angles, particularly for users with visual impairments, leading to confusion about the device's unlocked state and potential misuse.
Innovation Solution
A medicament delivery device with a lock ring that rotates between locked and unlocked positions, featuring aligned and misaligned indication elements that provide tactile and visual cues to indicate the device's state, ensuring clear visibility and usability regardless of viewing angle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single lock ring indicator is used, then the device structure is simple, but the indicator is not visible from all viewing angles and may not be visible to users with visual impairments
Solution Approach 1:
The single indicator is divided into multiple indication elements (first indication elements on the lock ring and second indication elements on the body) that are circumferentially spaced around the device. This segmentation allows the device state to be indicated from multiple viewing angles simultaneously, solving the visibility problem while maintaining relatively simple structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The indication system transitions from a single-point indicator to a circumferential distribution of multiple indicators around the device axis. This dimensional change from one location to multiple locations around the circumference ensures that at least one indicator is visible from any viewing angle, addressing the visibility issue for users with visual impairments or different injection positions.
2Ease of manufacture
If the lock ring indicator is positioned at a fixed orientation, then the manufacturing is simple, but the indicator may not be visible from abdomen, thigh, or other injection positions
Solution Approach 1:
The indicator system is segmented into multiple elements distributed circumferentially around the lock ring and body. This allows the same manufacturing process to produce multiple indicators in different orientations, providing coverage for various injection positions (abdomen, thigh, etc.) without significantly complicating the manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The circumferential arrangement of indication elements makes the device universally visible from multiple orientations and injection positions. The same indicator structure serves multiple functions by being visible from different angles, accommodating various user needs and injection sites without requiring multiple different indicator configurations.
3Device complexity
If only visual indicators are used, then the device structure is simple, but users who are blind or partially sighted cannot ascertain the device state
Solution Approach 1:
The indication system is segmented into multiple elements that can include both visual and tactile components. The first and second indication elements can be configured to provide tactile feedback through their spatial arrangement and physical characteristics, allowing blind or partially sighted users to detect the device state through touch while maintaining relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The indication elements serve as intermediaries that can convey device state information through multiple sensory modalities. By designing the elements to provide both visual appearance and tactile characteristics, they mediate the transmission of state information to users with different sensory capabilities, preventing loss of information accessibility.
4Ease of operation
If a single indication element is used, then the device is simple to operate, but users may not understand how the device should be unlocked or may attempt to press the button without unlocking
Solution Approach 1:
The indication system is segmented into multiple elements that can be arranged to show different states (locked vs. unlocked) from various angles. This segmentation provides clearer information about the required unlocking action by showing the relationship between the lock ring and body indicators, reducing confusion while maintaining operational simplicity through intuitive visual patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The multiple indication elements provide feedback about the device state and the correctness of user actions. As the lock ring is rotated during unlocking, the relative positions of the first and second indication elements change, providing continuous feedback to guide the user through the unlocking process and confirm when it is complete, preventing incorrect button pressing.
Data Source
AI summary
A medicament delivery device is described. The medicament delivery device includes a proximal end and a distal end defining a longitudinal axis; a body; and a button arranged at the proximal end and configured to actuate the medicament delivery device. The medicament delivery device further includes a lock ring configured to rotate relative to the body about the longitudinal axis between a first position in which the button is not permitted to move along the longitudinal axis relative to the body, and a second position in which the button is permitted to move along the longitudinal axis relative to the body; a plurality of first indication elements circumferentially spaced around a first portion of the medicament delivery device; and a plurality of second indication elements circumferentially spaced around a second portion of the medicament delivery device.