Resettable Auto Injector Training Device with Locking Shield
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current self-injection devices for medicaments pose challenges due to user anxiety, fear of incomplete dosing, pain, and the risk of needlestick injuries, especially for users with little medical experience. Additionally, there is a need for training devices that allow repeated practice and safe resetting to enhance familiarity with the injection process.
Innovation Solution
A resettable injection training device with a safety shield and a reset shuttle that allows for repeated practice and easy resetting, featuring a plunger, actuation member, and a cap with an elongate rod for resetting the device, ensuring safe and efficient use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a safety shield is used to protect users during self-injection, then user safety and reduced anxiety are improved, but device complexity increases due to additional locking and shielding mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The safety shield is nested within the outer shell and can be retracted into it, creating a compact structure that provides protection when needed while maintaining a simple overall device form factor. The shield contains the needle and plunger assembly, which are nested within the chamber of the outer shell.
Solution Approach 2:
The safety shield is pre-positioned in an extended protected position that covers the needle before injection begins. This preliminary protective action is automatically activated when the device is assembled, eliminating the need for users to manually activate safety features and reducing anxiety about accidental needle exposure.
2Productivity
If a resettable mechanism is implemented for training device reuse, then training efficiency and practice repetition are improved, but device complexity increases due to additional resetting components
Solution Approach 1:
The reset shuttle is designed to be manually operable by the user through simple linear movement along the longitudinal axis. The mechanism automatically resets the plunger and other components when the shuttle is moved, eliminating the need for complex automated resetting systems or multiple operator interventions.
Solution Approach 2:
The reset shuttle moves along the longitudinal axis of the device, dynamically changing the position of internal components from an injected state to a reset state. This dynamic movement allows the device to transition between different operational modes (injected and reset) without requiring disassembly or complex mechanisms.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the safety shield is extended in a locked position to prevent accidental injection, then user safety is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to additional locking steps
Solution Approach 1:
The locking sleeve features asymmetric engagement with the safety shield through protrusions that fit into specific positions. This asymmetric design ensures the shield can only be locked in specific orientations, preventing accidental injection while allowing intentional unlocking when needed. The asymmetric geometry provides mechanical advantage for secure locking.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking sleeve acts as an intermediary component between the user and the safety shield. It provides a controlled interface that mediates the locking and unlocking actions, ensuring that the shield can only be changed position through deliberate user action rather than accidental movement.
4Adaptability or versatility
If a reset shuttle mechanism is added to unlock the safety shield, then device reset capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The reset shuttle serves multiple functions: it unlocks the safety shield from the locking sleeve, resets the plunger to its initial position, and prepares the device for subsequent injection cycles. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate mechanisms for each function, thereby limiting the increase in overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The reset mechanism is segmented into distinct functional zones along the longitudinal axis of the device. The reset shuttle moves through different positions that correspond to different reset stages, allowing independent control of shield unlocking and plunger resetting functions while maintaining a compact overall structure.
Data Source
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AI summary
A resettable injection training device having an outer shell including a proximal end and a distal end, the outer shell defining a chamber there within, an actuation member near a proximal end, and a plunger slidable within the chamber is provided in an embodiment herein. The embodiment further including a safety shield having an extended locked position, an extended unlocked position and a retracted position, a locking sleeve configured to interact with the safety shield, and a reset shuttle disposed within the safety shield at a distal end of the device, wherein the reset shuttle is slidable relative to the safety shield, such that movement of the reset shuttle toward the proximal end of the device unlocks the safety shield.