Medicament Injection Device with Pivotable Cartridge Holder
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medicament injection devices require an additional step for needle attachment, which can be challenging for patients with limited dexterity or coordination, and do not keep the needle separate from the medicament until injection, potentially leading to clogging.
Innovation Solution
A medicament injection device with a pivotable cartridge holder and a pre-stressed spring mechanism that allows the needle to be inserted into the cartridge only when the user is ready to inject, ensuring the medicament remains sealed during storage and reducing handling of the needle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the needle is attached to the cartridge before injection, then the injection process is simpler, but the needle may become clogged during storage
Solution Approach 1:
The device divides the needle assembly and cartridge into separate components that can be independently handled. The needle holder with arms can be detached from the cartridge, allowing the needle to remain protected during storage while enabling simple attachment before injection. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by allowing the needle and cartridge to be separate during storage (preventing clogging) yet easily connected when needed (simplifying injection).
Solution Approach 2:
The arms are pre-positioned on the needle holder in a ready state, and the cartridge is prepared with its receiving structure in advance. When the user brings them together, the arms automatically engage with the cartridge without requiring additional manual manipulation. This preliminary preparation of components resolves the contradiction by making the attachment process instinctive and simple while keeping components separate during storage.
2Reliability
If the needle is kept separate from the cartridge during storage, then clogging is prevented, but an additional attachment step is required
Solution Approach 1:
The arms on the needle holder automatically perform the attachment function when the user brings the needle holder to the cartridge. The arms engage with the cartridge structure without requiring the user to manually attach or manipulate the needle. This self-service mechanism resolves the contradiction by automating the attachment process, making it a simple intuitive action rather than a complex multi-step procedure, while maintaining the benefit of separate storage.
3Ease of operation
If the needle is handled extensively during preparation, then the injection process becomes more controllable, but the risk of contamination and clogging increases
Solution Approach 1:
The needle is extracted from the cartridge structure and held separately on the needle holder during storage and preparation. This separation allows the needle to be protected from contamination while maintaining user control over the injection process. The user controls when and how the needle approaches the cartridge without the needle being in constant contact with potentially contaminating surfaces. This extraction resolves the contradiction by minimizing needle handling while maintaining injection controllability.
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 prevents clogging by keeping the medicament separate from the needle during storage, simplifies the injection process by automating needle insertion, and reduces user handling of the needle, making it easier for patients with dexterity issues to use.
Implementation Method 1
a pre-stressed spring, wherein movement of the pivotable cartridge holder to the closed state causes the ear to push against the arms and disengage the arms from the protrusions thereby releasing the spring and causing axial movement of the needle holder in a proximal direction towards the cartridge holder
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4A~4C
AI summary
A medicament injection device comprising: a needle holder holding a needle, a pivotable cartridge holder, the pivotable cartridge holder being pivotable from an open state to a closed state, wherein the pivotable cartridge holder is arranged to receive a medicament cartridge in the open state, and wherein the needle holder is axially movable towards the pivotable cartridge holder when the pivotable cartridge holder is in the closed state.