Safety Pen Needle Assembly Shielding Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing safety pen needle assemblies expose the needle during mounting, risking needle sticks and requiring additional packaging for storage and transportation due to lack of a shielded state during use.
Innovation Solution
A safety pen needle assembly with a hub and shield featuring cooperating thread elements and a rotation-resistance arrangement, allowing the needle to be shielded during mounting and providing a sterility barrier without additional packaging through a sealed interface and removable sterility barriers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the shield is positioned to allow mounting onto the injector, then the needle is exposed for injection, but the user risks needle stick during mounting
Solution Approach 1:
The shield is pre-positioned in a retracted state that allows mounting onto the injector while maintaining needle coverage. The mounting features are designed to engage the shield in this intermediate position, enabling the device to be mounted on the injector before the shield is fully retracted to expose the needle for injection.
Solution Approach 2:
The shield is designed with dynamic positioning capability, allowing it to exist in multiple states: extended (shielding the needle), retracted (exposing the needle for injection), and an intermediate mounting position. This dynamic behavior enables safe mounting while preserving the shielding function.
2Ease of operation
If the shield is fully retracted to expose the needle for injection, then injection is enabled, but the needle becomes vulnerable to contamination and accidental sticks
Solution Approach 1:
The shield is pre-positioned in an extended state that covers the needle during storage, transport, and handling. This preliminary shielding action maintains sterility and prevents accidental needle sticks until the moment of intended use, when the shield is deliberately retracted.
3Reliability
If additional packaging is used to protect the needle during storage and transport, then sterility and safety are maintained, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The shield serves dual functions: it acts as both the functional component that enables needle exposure for injection and as the protective packaging that maintains sterility during storage and transport. By merging these two functions into a single integrated component, the invention eliminates the need for separate external packaging.
Solution Approach 2:
The shield is designed as a multi-functional component that provides protection during storage, enables safe handling, and facilitates needle exposure for injection. This universal design replaces multiple separate components (protective cap, packaging, mounting mechanism) with a single versatile element.
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect, a safety pen needle assembly includes a hub having an open proximal end, a needle fixed to said hub, said needle having a distal end for insertion into a patient, and a proximal end extending into said open proximal end of said hub, a shield having a distal opening and an internal thread that is engaged to said hub so as to be manually movable relative to said hub to selectively expose said distal end of said needle via proximal movement of said shield and cover said distal end of said needle via distal movement of said shield, said shield having an open distal end, and a cap that seals the distal opening of the shield.