Medicament Delivery Device Locking Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medicament delivery devices often lack effective mechanisms to prevent premature actuation and safe needle protection, requiring complex mechanisms that are costly, difficult to assemble, and prone to failure.
Innovation Solution
A medicament delivery device with a simplified locking mechanism that inhibits actuation until the device is correctly positioned and automatically covers the needle guard after use, using a release ring and activator to engage and disengage the injection drive, and a lever to lock the needle guard in place.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple complex mechanisms are used to prevent premature actuation and provide needle protection, then safety functions are achieved, but device complexity increases and manufacturing cost rises
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple safety functions (preventing premature actuation and needle protection) into a single integrated locking mechanism. The locking member simultaneously engages with both the actuator and needle guard components, eliminating the need for separate locking systems for each function. This merging reduces the total number of parts while maintaining comprehensive safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking member is designed as a multi-functional component that performs multiple safety functions: it prevents premature actuation by blocking the actuator, and it provides needle protection by securing the needle guard. This universal component handles both safety requirements that would traditionally require separate mechanisms, thereby simplifying the overall device structure.
2Reliability
If multiple complex mechanisms are used to ensure safe needle retraction and covering, then needle protection is improved, but ease of manufacture deteriorates due to assembly difficulty
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism integrates needle protection functionality into the same mechanism that prevents premature actuation. The locking member's engagement with the needle guard is part of the same locking system that secures the actuator, eliminating the need for separate assembly steps for needle protection components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential safety functions from complex multi-component mechanisms and consolidates them into a single locking member. This extraction simplifies the assembly process by reducing the number of parts that need to be fitted together, making manufacturing easier while maintaining needle protection reliability.
3Reliability
If multiple mechanisms are used to prevent unintentional contact with medicament delivery member, then safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism merges the function of preventing unintentional contact with the medicament delivery member into the same system that prevents premature actuation. The locked state of the locking member simultaneously secures the actuator and protects the needle, providing comprehensive safety through a single mechanism rather than multiple separate systems.
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 safe and reliable medicament delivery by preventing unintentional actuation and providing secure needle protection with fewer parts, reducing manufacturing costs and vulnerability to failure.
Implementation Method 1
spring means. The spring means may push the needle past the end of the needle cover and operate the medicament container to supply a dose of medicament
Implementation Method 2
first locking means locking the spring means in a pressurized state
Implementation Method 3
The release ring may be axially movable between proximal and distal positions along the outer surface of the tubular extension part. The tubular extension part may be configured to engage with the injection drive when the release ring is at the proximal position and release the injection drive as the release ring moves distally
Implementation Method 4
a lever to lock the needle guard in a proximal position
Data Source
AI summary
A medicament delivery device includes a tubular housing having opposite proximal and distal ends; an injection drive configured to exert force on a medicament container to expel medicament; and an injection drive holder configured to releasably hold the injection drive in a pre-tensioned state before injection of the medicament. The injection drive holder includes a tubular extension part for receiving the injection drive to be axially movable therein and a release ring coaxially arranged on the tubular extension part, the release ring being axially movable between proximal and distal positions along the outer surface of the tubular extension part. The tubular extension part is configured to engage with the injection drive when the release ring is at the proximal position and release the injection drive as the release ring moves distally from the proximal position.