Nasal Spray Assembly Pre-Lock and Post-Lock Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing nasal spray assemblies are complicated to assemble and use, leading to issues with accurate dosing, medicament wastage, and potential damage, due to user handling errors.
Innovation Solution
A nasal spray assembly featuring a nasal device with a pre-lock and post-lock mechanism, where the pre-lock engages automatically at a first predetermined distance to prevent accidental actuation and the post-lock at a second distance to ensure complete medicament delivery and prevent re-use, using a piercing element to force medicament from a reservoir through a conduit and outlet.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a nasal spray assembly uses a simple assembly structure, then ease of handling is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to potential incorrect assembly and use
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates a pre-lock mechanism that automatically engages when the body is inserted a first predetermined distance into the socket. This preliminary locking action ensures correct assembly before the device is activated, preventing incorrect handling while maintaining simple operation for the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The nasal spray assembly features automatic locking mechanisms (pre-lock and post-lock) that engage based on the insertion distance of the body into the socket. The system self-regulates the assembly state without requiring user intervention or complex controls, ensuring reliable operation while maintaining ease of use.
2Reliability
If a nasal spray assembly uses a pre-lock mechanism that engages automatically at a first predetermined distance, then reliability is improved by preventing incorrect handling, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-lock mechanism is designed to engage automatically when the body is inserted a first predetermined distance into the socket, ensuring correct assembly before activation. This preliminary action prevents incorrect handling without requiring complex user intervention or additional control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanisms operate automatically based on the physical insertion distance of components. The pre-lock engages at the first predetermined distance and the post-lock engages at the second predetermined distance, creating a self-regulating system that ensures reliability without adding complex controls or requiring user judgment.
3Reliability
If a nasal spray assembly uses a post-lock mechanism that engages at a second predetermined distance greater than the first, then reliability is improved by preventing re-use and ensuring complete actuation, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The post-lock mechanism is designed to engage automatically when the body is inserted a second predetermined distance into the socket, where the second distance is greater than the first. This ensures complete actuation of the piston and prevents re-use, providing an additional layer of reliability through a staged locking approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The dual-locking system operates autonomously based on insertion distance. The pre-lock engages first at the first predetermined distance, and the post-lock engages subsequently at the second predetermined distance, creating a self-regulating mechanism that ensures complete actuation and prevents re-use without complex user intervention.
4Ease of operation
If a nasal spray assembly uses automatic locking mechanisms at predetermined distances, then ease of operation is improved by preventing user errors, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The nasal spray assembly incorporates automatic pre-lock and post-lock mechanisms that engage based on the insertion distance of the body into the socket. These self-regulating mechanisms prevent user errors related to incorrect assembly and activation without requiring complex controls or user judgment, maintaining ease of operation while ensuring reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The pre-lock mechanism engages automatically when the body is inserted a first predetermined distance into the socket, ensuring correct assembly before the device is activated. This preliminary locking action prevents incorrect handling while maintaining simple operation for the user.
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 assembly provides ease of handling, ensures accurate dosing, reduces medicament wastage, and prevents assembly damage by engaging locks at specific forces, ensuring complete actuation and post-use configuration for convenience.
Implementation Method 1
contact between the piercer stop and piston causes the piston to be forced into the container, reducing the reservoir volume and thereby forcing medicament from the reservoir through the conduit and out of the outlet
Data Source
AI summary
A nasal spray assembly for administering a medicament to the nose of a user includes a nasal device and a container that has a reservoir containing the medicament. The reservoir is sealed by a movable piston. The nasal device includes a body, a cap that defines a socket into which the body can be inserted, an outlet, and a piercing element. The piercing element includes a piercer inlet and extends into the socket from a piercer stop within the socket. The nasal spray assembly is arranged such that, as the body is moved into the socket along a first axis, the piercing element pierces and passes through the piston such that the piercer inlet lies within the reservoir, contact between the piercer stop and piston forces the piston into the container, reducing the reservoir volume and forcing medicament from the reservoir through the conduit and out of the outlet.