Syringe Needle Adapter Flush Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Shorter needle lengths for drug delivery devices face challenges in accessing medicament from multi-use vials due to difficulties in achieving a 90-degree angle insertion, leading to clogging or embedding issues with the vial stopper, which hinders subcutaneous injections.
Innovation Solution
A syringe design featuring a needle adapter with a wider outer diameter and a flat distal surface that aligns flush with the vial stopper, ensuring proper needle insertion and preventing clogging, along with optional vial adapters for central axial alignment and sterility maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a shorter needle is used for subcutaneous injection, then injection comfort and safety are improved, but the ability to properly access medicament from multi-use vials deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
A vial adapter is introduced as an intermediary component between the short needle syringe and the multi-use vial. The adapter includes a guide structure with a distal end that contacts the vial stopper and a proximal end that contacts the needle hub, creating a mechanical linkage that transmits and maintains the required insertion angle. This intermediary mechanism enables the short needle to achieve proper 90-degree insertion into the vial stopper without requiring the user to manually precision-align the needle, thereby resolving the contradiction between using a short needle for comfort and maintaining ease of proper vial access.
2Ease of operation
If needle insertion angle is not precisely controlled at 90 degrees, then ease of operation is improved, but needle clogging or embedding in stopper occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The vial adapter incorporates a pre-configured guide structure with a distal contact surface positioned to engage the vial stopper at the correct angle before needle insertion occurs. The guide structure includes alignment features that preliminarily establish the proper 90-degree orientation, ensuring that when the needle is pushed forward, it automatically follows the predetermined correct path. This preliminary angular establishment eliminates the need for users to manually precision-align the needle angle, making the operation simple while guaranteeing reliable needle insertion without clogging or embedding.
3Manufacturing precision
If a needle adapter with wider outer diameter is used for flush alignment, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vial adapter is designed to perform multiple functions within a single component: (1) providing a wide outer diameter for flush alignment with the vial stopper holder, (2) incorporating a guide structure for angular alignment, (3) serving as a mechanical linkage between the needle hub and vial stopper, and (4) maintaining a simple cylindrical geometry that integrates with standard syringe components. By consolidating these multiple functions into one universal adapter component, the design achieves high alignment precision without proportionally increasing overall device complexity, as the adapter uses simple geometric features rather than complex mechanical mechanisms.
Data Source
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AI summary
A syringe includes a syringe body having a syringe barrel for receiving and administering a medicament, a hollow needle fluidly communicating with the syringe barrel, and a needle adapter disposed on the syringe body. An outer diameter of the needle adapter is wider than an outer diameter of the syringe barrel, and a distal surface of the needle adapter is substantially flat. The needle adapter facilitates a flush alignment of the distal surface of the needle adapter with at least one of a vial stopper and a vial stopper holder of a medicament vial to ensure that a tip of the needle is properly inserted into the vial to aspirate the medicament within the vial.