A gas-powered, single-use, needle-less hypodermic jet injection device includes a hand-held injector, and a drug injection cartridge which provides a cylinder of liquid medication to be injected, an injection orifice, and an injection piston. forceful movement of the injection piston in the cylinder causes an injection jet of medication to be expelled from the injection orifice. The injection device also includes a hermetically sealed gas pressure capsule which remains sealed until the moment of injection and powers the jet injection after opening of this cartridge.
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0. 34. A needle-less injection device, comprising:
a liquid container having an outlet orifice;
an injection orifice fluidly coupled with the outlet orifice and configured to inject liquid forwardly out of the needle-less injection device substantially along an injection axis into an injection site; and
a plug member displaceable from a first position, in which it sealingly closes the outlet orifice, to a second position, in which liquid is permitted to flow out of the outlet orifice,
where the plug member contacts a plug capture structure within a plug capture chamber when in the second position, and where plural bypass conduits are formed in the plug capture structure to permit liquid to flow from the outlet orifice past the plug member to the injection orifice, and where the bypass conduits are defined at least partially by walls of the plug capture chamber and the plug member when in the second position, the walls extending at acute angles relative to a portion of the injection axis extending along the bypass conduits.
0. 21. A needle-less injection device, comprising:
a liquid container having an outlet orifice;
an injection orifice fluidly coupled with the outlet orifice and configured to inject liquid forwardly out of the needle-less injection device substantially along an injection axis into an injection site;
a plug member displaceable from a first position, in which it sealingly closes the outlet orifice, to a second position, in which liquid is permitted to flow out of the outlet orifice; and
plural bypass conduits defined between the outlet orifice of the liquid container and the injection orifice in a plug capture chamber when the plug member is in the second position, the plural bypass conduits being defined by walls of the plug capture chamber and the plug member such that the bypass conduits permit liquid to flow from the outlet orifice past the plug member to the injection orifice,
where a portion of the walls of the plug capture chamber extend at acute angles relative to a portion of the injection axis extending along the bypass conduits.
10. A jet injection device comprising:
a drug cartridge having a cylinder in which is movable a piston to cooperatively define a variable-volume chamber for holding a dose of liquid medication;
a fine-dimension injection orifice in liquid flow communication with the variable-volume chamber to receive the liquid medication and discharge this medication as a high velocity forceful jet for hypodermic jet injection of the medication upon forceful movement of said piston in said cylinder;
a power source for forcefully moving said piston in said cylinder in response to triggering of said injection device, and
a trigger assembly for initiating forceful movement of said piston, said trigger assembly including a hammer member having a plurality of legs each having an end surface, a sear ring member upon which said end surfaces of said legs rests in a first position of the hammer member, means for urging said hammer member to a second position, and a trigger sleeve surrounding said hammer member and having a respective plurality of contact portions each engaging one of the plurality of legs to move said legs out of engagement with said sear ring upon axial movement of said trigger member.
0. 35. A needle-less injection device, comprising:
a container having an outlet orifice;
an injection orifice configured to inject liquid forwardly out of the needle-less injection device substantially along an injection axis into an injection site; and
a plug member displaceable from a first position, in which it sealingly closes the outlet orifice, to a second position, in which liquid is permitted to flow out of the outlet orifice and to the injection orifice,
where, in the second position, the plug member abuts a plug capture structure disposed between the outlet orifice and the injection orifice in a plug capture chamber, and
where a plurality of bypass conduits are formed in the plug capture structure by walls of the plug capture chamber and the plug member to permit liquid to flow from the outlet orifice around the plug member along the plurality of bypass conduits that converge forwardly of the plug member between the plug member and the injection orifice, each bypass conduit being shaped so that, liquid emerging from the bypass conduit into where the bypass conduits converge flows in an acute direction relative to a portion of the injection axis extending along the bypass conduits.
0. 27. A needle-less injection device, comprising:
a liquid container having an outlet orifice;
an injection orifice fluidly coupled with the outlet orifice and configured to inject liquid forwardly out of the needle-less injection device substantially along an injection axis into an injection site;
a plug member displaceable from a first position, in which it sealingly closes the outlet orifice, to a second position, in which liquid is permitted to flow out of the outlet orifice; and
a plug capture chamber interposed between and fluidly coupling the outlet orifice with the injection orifice, the plug capture chamber being adapted to receive and hold the plug member when the plug member is displaced to the second position, so that the plug member does not prevent liquid from flowing from the outlet orifice to the injection orifice,
where plural bypass conduits are defined within the plug capture chamber such that, when the plug member is in the second position, the bypass conduits permit liquid to flow from the outlet orifice past the plug member to the injection orifice,
and where each bypass conduit is at least partially defined by a wall of the plug capture chamber that extends non-perpendicularly relative to the injection axis along the bypass conduit.
20. A needle-free hypodermic jet injection device comprising:
a body substantially formed of plastic polymer;
a jet injection cartridge carried by said body and including a cylinder and piston cooperatively defining a variable-volume chamber receiving a dose of liquid medication, and a fine-dimension jet injection orifice in liquid flow communication with said variable volume chamber;
a metallic pre-filled hermetically-sealed single-use gas pressure cartridge axially movably disposed in said body, said gas pressure cartridge having a penetrable wall portion and said body including a penetrator axially spaced from and confronting said penetrable wall portion for penetrating said penetrable wall portion of said gas cartridge and releasing pressurized gas from said cartridge;
said device further including means responsive to pressurized gas released from said gas pressure cartridge for applying force to said liquid medication to eject said medication via said jet injection orifice;
said device further including means for selectively moving said gas pressure cartridge axially and impaling said gas pressure cartridge at said penetrable wall portion upon said penetrator in response to a singular user input so as to release pressurized gas from said gas pressure cartridge and to eject said medication via said jet injection orifice to effect a hypodermic jet injection.
17. A method of operating a needle-less hypodermic jet injection device using an injection cartridge having a cylinder receiving liquid medication, an orifice for forming the liquid into a high-velocity hypodermic injection jet, a plug member in a first position sealingly separating said medication from said orifice, and said plug member in a captive second position allowing communication of medication to said orifice, and an injection piston movable sealingly in said cylinder to displace said liquid medication via said orifice; said method including steps of:
providing said device with a two-piece body having a first body portion defining a first bore into which is received a gas-power piston, and a second body portion defining a second bore into which is sealingly and movably received a hermetically sealed pressurized gas capsule; utilizing said first and second body portions and said gas-power piston to cooperatively define a variable-volume chamber; and
first relatively moving said first and second body portions to forcefully move said plug member from said first position to said captive second position to unseal said injection cartridge, and then
utilizing communication of pressurized gas from said pressurized gas capsule into said variable-volume chamber to forcefully move said gas-power piston to displace said liquid medication from said cartridge via said orifice to effect a hypodermic jet injection.
16. A unitary elongate molded plastic polymer hammer member, said hammer member comprising:
a central wall portion extending radially;
a circular cylindrical portion extending axially in one direction from said central wall portion, said circular cylindrical portion including a tubular skirt and cooperating with said central wall portion to define a spring seat into which a spring may be received to engage upon said central wall portion;
a conically flaring portion extending in an opposite axial direction from said central wall portion, said conical portion including a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart resilient legs each extending axially to terminate in a respective axial end surface engageable with a sear ring in a first position of the legs to support said hammer member in opposition to force from the spring exerted on said central wall portion, said legs in said first position cooperatively defining a conical diameter at said end surfaces, and said legs at said end surfaces each also defining a circular radius which are substantially equal to the radius of said circular cylindrical portion;
whereby, said plurality of legs are movable to a second position in opposition to said resilience of said legs, in said second position said plurality of legs being circumferentially nested adjacent to one another and cooperatively defining a diameter substantially equal to that of said cylindrical portion.
1. A needle-less hypodermic jet injection device comprising:
a pre-filled drug injection cartridge including:
a medication cylinder having an outlet orifice,
an injection nozzle,
a flow path communicating the outlet orifice to said injection nozzle,
a drug-injection piston in a first position cooperating with said medication cylinder to define a variable-volume chamber of first selected size,
a dose of substantially incompressible liquid medication substantially filling said variable-volume chamber at said first size with substantially no ullage volume,
said drug-injection piston having a second position cooperating with said medication cylinder to define a variable-volume chamber of second selected size smaller than said first selected size;
a hand piece assembly having a body holding said drug injection cartridge, said hand piece assembly including a source of pressurized gas, and means for selectively applying force from said pressurized gas to said drug injection piston to move said drug injection piston from said second position to a third position substantially ejecting said dose of liquid medication via said injection nozzle;
said hand piece assembly including a first body portion holding said drug injection cartridge, and a second body portion manually movable relative to said first body portion, said second body portion including an abutment member selectively movable into engagement with said drug injection piston in response to manual relative movement of said first and second body portions to move said drug injection piston from said first position to said second position.
19. A method of operating a needle-less hypodermic jet injection device using an injection cartridge having a cylinder receiving liquid medication, an orifice for forming the liquid into a high-velocity hypodermic injection jet, a plug member sealingly separating said medication from said orifice, and an injection piston movable sealingly in said cylinder to displace said liquid medication via said orifice; said method including steps of:
providing said device with a two-piece body having a first body portion defining a first bore into which is received a gas-power piston, and a second body portion defining a second bore into which is sealingly and movably received a hermetically sealed pressurized gas capsule; utilizing said first and second body portions and said gas-power piston to cooperatively define a variable-volume chamber; and
first relatively moving said first and second body portions to forcefully move said plug member to unseal said injection cartridge, and then
utilizing communication of pressurized gas from said pressurized gas capsule into said variable-volume chamber to forcefully move said gas-power piston to displace said liquid medication from said cartridge via said orifice to effect a hypodermic jet injection;
further including the step of providing said molded unitary plastic polymer hammer member with a plurality of axially extending legs each having an end surface engaging upon a sear ring surface to support said hammer member, and simultaneously slipping said plurality of legs off of said sear ring surface radially inwardly to be received in circumferentially adjacent nested position within said sear ring surface to allow axial movement of said hammer member.
7. A needle-less hypodermic jet injection device comprising:
a pre-filled drug injection cartridge including: a medication cylinder having an outlet orifice, a plug member in a first position sealingly closing the outlet orifice, an injection nozzle, a flow path communicating the outlet orifice to said injection nozzle and providing a chamber for capturing said plug member in a second position, a drug-injection piston in a first position cooperating with said medication cylinder to define a variable-volume chamber of first selected size, a dose of substantially incompressible liquid medication substantially filling said variable-volume chamber at said first size with substantially no ullage volume, said drug-injection piston having a second position cooperating with said medication cylinder to define a variable-volume chamber of second selected size sufficiently smaller than said first selected size that said plug member is hydraulically forced from said first position at said outlet orifice and to a second position in said chamber;
a hand piece assembly having a two-piece body having a first body portion holding said drug injection cartridge, and a second body portion providing an abutment movable relative to said first body portion to move said drug injection piston between said first and second positions;
a source of pressurized gas including a hermetically sealed metallic gas capsule;
trigger means for selectively penetrating said gas capsule and for applying force from said pressurized gas to said drug injection piston to move said drug injection piston from said second position to a third position substantially ejecting said dose of liquid medication via said injection nozzle.
2. The device of
said hand piece assembly further including a second body portion adjustably engaging with said first body portion, said second body portion defining an elongate second bore in gas flow communication with said first bore gas-power chamber and separated therefrom by a wall portion carried by said second body portion.
3. The device of
5. The device of
6. The device of
8. The device of
said second body portion sealingly and movably engaging with said first body portion to bound said gas-power chamber, said second body portion defining an elongate second bore in gas flow communication with said gas-power chamber, and said gas capsule being received into said second bore.
9. The device of
11. The injection device of
12. The injection device of
13. The injection device of
14. The injection device of
15. The injection device of
18. The method of operating a needle-less injection device of
0. 22. The device of claim 21, where the plug member moves forwardly along the injection axis when displaced from the first position to the second position.
0. 23. The device of claim 21, where the bypass conduits converge forwardly of the plug member when the plug member is in the second position, such that streams of liquid flowing past the plug member through the bypass conduits converge into a single stream between the plug member and the injection orifice.
0. 24. The device of claim 21, further comprising a plurality of ribs extending radially inward from the wall of the plug capture chamber.
0. 25. The device of claim 24, where the bypass conduits are defined by the ribs, the wall of the plug capture chamber, and by the plug member when the plug member is in the second position.
0. 26. The device of claim 25, where the plug member moves forward along the injection axis when displaced from the first position to the second position, and where the ribs are configured to block the plug member from further forward movement toward the injection orifice when the plug member is in the second position.
0. 28. The device of claim 27, wherein a portion of the wall of the plug capture chamber that defines each bypass conduit extends at an acute angle relative to a portion of the injection axis extending along the bypass conduit.
0. 29. The device of claim 27, where the plug member moves forwardly along the injection axis when displaced from the first position to the second position.
0. 30. The device of claim 27, where the bypass conduits converge forwardly of the plug member when the plug member is in the second position, such that streams of liquid flowing past the plug member through the bypass conduits converge into a single stream between the plug member and the injection orifice.
0. 31. The device of claim 28, where the plug capture chamber includes a plurality of ribs extending radially inward toward the injection axis.
0. 32. The device of claim 31, where the bypass conduits extend between the ribs and are defined in part by the ribs.
0. 33. The device of claim 32, where the plug member moves forward along the injection axis when displaced from the first position to the second position, and where the ribs are configured to block the plug member from further forward movement toward the injection orifice when the plug member is in the second position.
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This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/195,334, filed Nov. 18, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,002.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a single-use disposable needle-less (or needle-free) hypodermic jet injection device. Particularly, this invention relates to such a jet injection device which comprises a hand-held injector having a pre-filled drug cartridge sealingly carrying injectable medication, a sealed cylinder of pressurized gas, a pre-energized discharge mechanism for penetrating the gas cylinder, and a trigger device for releasing the discharge mechanism. Features are provided which simultaneously unseal the drug cartridge and prepare the device for performing a jet injection when a user of the device changes it from a storage configuration to a use configuration. When the user actuated the injection device, the trigger device releases the discharge mechanism to penetrate the gas cylinder, which drives a piston of the drug cartridge to effect a hypodermic jet injection.
2. Related Technology
Needle-less or needle-free hypodermic jet injection devices have been in commercial use for over 40 years. A number of these devices have used pressurized gas to power a hypodermic jet injection. The related technology includes a number of teachings for gas-powered injection devices, including: U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,556, issued Jun. 24, 1986 to J. Thomas Morrow, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,699; issued Apr. 3, 1990 to James S. Parsons; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,723, issued Mar. 24, 1998, to Thomas P. Castellano, et al. WIPO publication WO 97/37705 also discloses a gas powered disposable needle-less hypodermic jet injector.
The Morrow, et. al. '556 patent is believed to teach a reusable hypodermic jet injection device in which a housing receives a shell or cartridge having a bore leading to a discharge aperture. Within the bore is received both a plunger sealingly engaging the bore, and a pressurized gas cylinder which rests against the plunger. The injection device includes a ram which has a penetrating tip confronting a penetrable wall section and seal of the gas cylinder, and a discharge mechanism for driving the ram through the penetrable wall section of the gas cylinder when a trigger device is released. Discharge of the pressurized gas from the cylinder drives the plunger to effect a jet injection, and also drives the seal of the gas cylinder to effect resetting of the discharge mechanism. The shell with its plunger, and spent gas cylinder, is discarded after an injection; and a new shell pre-filled with medication and with a new gas cylinder is used for each injection.
The Parsons '699 patent is believed to teach a single-use jet injector which is totally discarded after one use. This injector is believed to have a body with a pair of gas chambers separated by a breakable valve. One of the gas chambers contains a pressurized gas, while the other chamber is sealingly bounded by a piston which drives a plunger. The plunger sealingly bounds a chamber into which a dose of medication is loaded by the user before the injection. This medication dose chamber leads to an injection orifice so that when the valve is broken, the piston and plunger are moved by pressurized gas communicated to the second chamber, and the plunger drives the medication forcefully out of the injection orifice to form an injection jet. After a single use, the device is discarded.
The Castellano '723 patent, which was issued in 1998 and which does not cite the earlier Parsons '699 patent, is believed to teach substantially the same subject matter as Parsons et al.
WIPO publication WO 97/37705 published pursuant to a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application for joint inventors Terence Weston and Pixey Thornlea, is believed to disclose a disposable hypodermic jet injector in which the device is powered by a gas pressure spring of the type common in the tool and die art as a substitute for the conventional metal spring-powered ejector pin. In the Weston device, the ram of the gas pressure spring is held in a contracted position by a trigger mechanism. When the trigger mechanism is released, the gas pressure spring is supposed to expand and drive a piston sealingly received in a bore and leading to a fine-dimension orifice in order to produce a jet hypodermic injection from liquid held in the bore ahead of the piston.
The Weston device is thought to have several deficiencies: such as difficult and costly manufacturing and sterilization processes, because pressurized gas and a drug dose need to be contained in the same package; and including a possible inability to endure long-term storage while still retaining the gas pressure in the gas spring to power an injection, and also maintaining the medication integrity. In other words, the gas pressure spring of the Weston device contains only a small quantity of gas, and depends upon the sealing relationship of the ram of this spring with a cylinder within which the ram is movably and sealingly received in order to retain this gas pressure. Even a small amount of gas leakage over time will be enough to render this injector inoperative.
In view of the above, it is desirable and is an object for this invention to provide a needle-less hypodermic jet injection device which reduces the severity of or avoids one or more of the limitations of the conventional technology.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a single-use, disposable, needle-free gas-powered hypodermic jet injector utilizing a pressurized gas source which is hermetically sealed until the moment of injection.
Further, an object of this invention is to provide such a gas powered jet injector in which the device has a storage configuration and a use configuration. In the storage configuration, the device is safe, with the drug cartridge sealed closed, and is incapable of effecting a jet injection. In the use configuration, the device is prepared for making a jet injection, with the drug cartridge opened in preparation for this injection.
Additionally, an object for this invention is to provide such an injection device having a multi-function component which alternatively maintains the injector in a safe storage condition, and also allows a user to place the injection device into a use condition preparatory for performing a jet injection. When the user placed the device into the use configuration, the multi-function component prepares the jet injection device by effecting unsealing of the previously sealed drug cartridge, and also removes a safety block from an obstructing position relative to a trigger of the device. Thereafter, the trigger of the injector can be manually activated by a user of the device to perform an injection.
Accordingly, a needle-less hypodermic jet injection system embodying this invention includes, for example: a hand piece assembly having a body including a drug injection cartridge with a medication cylinder pre-filled with substantially incompressible liquid medication such that substantially no ullage volume exists in said medication cylinder, said medication cylinder leading to an outlet orifice a plug-capture chamber and a drug injection nozzle, a sealing member sealingly and movably received in said outlet orifice, and a drug-injection piston; the hand piece assembly further defining a first bore within the body for movably receiving a gas-power piston, a gas power piston movably received in the first bore and having a ram portion extending into the drug injection cartridge to abut with the drug-injection piston, the body and gas-power piston cooperating to define a first variable-volume chamber in the first bore; the body also defining an elongate second bore in gas communication with the first bore and separated therefrom by a center wall portion of the body, a cylindrical gas capsule received into the second bore, the gas capsule having a penetrable wall section disposed toward the center wall, the center wall carrying a penetrator disposed toward the penetrable wall section of the gas capsule, and the hand piece assembly carrying a discharge mechanism including a trigger member outwardly disposed on the body and a hammer movable in the body in response to actuation of the trigger to forcefully move the gas capsule in the second bore so as to impale the gas capsule at the penetrable wall section thereof upon the penetrator and thus to communicate pressurized gas to the first chamber; whereby, the pressurized gas in the first chamber drives the gas-power piston to effect a hypodermic jet injection from the drug injection cartridge, and the body and trigger member cooperatively defining a first relative position in which said ram portion confronts but does not displace said injection piston so that said sealing member is disposed in said outlet orifice to maintain said drug injection cartridge sealingly closed, and said body and trigger member in a second relative position preparatory to effecting a jet injection causing said ram portion to abut and move said drug injection piston to a second position displacing said drug injection piston to a second position so that said sealing member is displaced from said outlet orifice into said plug-capture chamber by said liquid medication and unseals said drug injection cartridge.
Additional objects and advantages of this invention will appear from a reading of the following detailed description of a single exemplary preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the appended drawing Figures, in which the same reference numeral is used throughout the several views to indicate the same feature, or features which are analogous in structure or function.
Viewing
The device 10 includes a hand piece assembly 12, preferably fabricated principally of injection molded plastic polymers, and with a body 12a including a pre-filled drug injection cartridge or medication cylinder 14. The word “drug” as used herein is intended to encompass, for example, and without limitation, any medication, pharmaceutical, therapeutic, vaccine, or other material which can be administered by jet injection. Essentially, such an injectable medication is in the form of a substantially incompressible liquid, and as will be seen, this liquid substantially fills the drug injection cartridge so that no ullage volume of compressible gas is present in this cartridge.
The pre-filled drug injection cartridge 14 has an end surface 16 at which is defined a fine-dimension injection orifice or injection nozzle opening 18. When the device 10 is used to effect an injection, a high velocity jet of liquid medication issues from this orifice (as is indicated by arrow 20 of
Placing the device 10 in the “inject” configuration is effected manually by a user of the device 10 who rotates a first portion 12b of the body 12a relative to a second portion 12c. As is seen in
This relative rotation of the body portions 12b and 12c also effects a selected relative axial movement of these body portions toward one another (as will be further described below), and places the device 10 in the “inject” configuration seen in
Structure of the Device 10
Turning now to
An advantageous feature of the device 10 embodying the present invention, and one which results from this construction of the device, is that the injection cartridge 14 may be manufactured and filled at a drug company (without the drug manufacture having to be concerned with handling capsules of pressurized gas), the gas pressure capsule of the device may be manufactured and filled at a factory devoted to this item (without this manufacturer having to handle drugs), and the hand piece assembly of the device may be manufactured at yet another location, if desired. Subsequently, completion of the device 10 requires merely the combining of the hand piece assembly, gas capsule, and drug injection cartridge.
The body 30 of cartridge 14 defines a stepped through bore 36 having a larger diameter portion 36a which extends substantially the length of the body 26. Adjacent to the forward end of the body 30 (i.e., adjacent to the end defining surface 16), the bore 36 steps down and defines an outlet orifice 36b. It is seen that the bore portion 36a and outlet orifice 36b are defined by a glass sleeve 38 which is received into a molded plastic body 40. An O-ring type of seal member 42 prevents leakage between the glass sleeve 38 and the body 40.
As those who are ordinarily skilled in the pertinent arts will understand, many medications are not suitable for long-term storage in contact with plastics, but will store satisfactorily in contact with glass. Thus, this construction of the cartridge 14 makes it suitable for long-term storage of even medications of this nature. However, for medications that will store satisfactorily in contact with plastic polymers, this construction detail is optional and the entire injection cartridge body 30 may be formed of a selected polymer.
In the embodiment of cartridge 14 having the glass sleeve 38, the outlet orifice 36b is sealingly closed in the storage configuration of the device 10 by a plug 44. Importantly, viewing
Sealingly and movably received in the bore section 36a is a resilient piston member 50. This piston member defines multiple circumferential grooves 50a interdigitated with sealing ribs 50b. The sealing ribs 50b sealingly and movingly engages the bore 36a of the injection cartridge (i.e., with the bore 36a of glass sleeve 38 in this case). The piston member 50 and body 30 cooperatively define a medication chamber 52 communicating outwardly of the cartridge 14 via the injection orifice 18. Prior to its use to effect an injection, the orifice 18 of each fresh and pre-filled device 10 will ordinarily also be sealed by an adhesively-applied, peel-off type of sealing membrane, which may be formed, for example, of foil or of a polymer/paper laminate. Such peel-off seals are conventional and well known, and for this reason, the seal formerly on cartridge 14 of device 10 as seen in
Further considering the cartridge 14, it is seen that the piston member 50 defines an abutment surface 54 confronting the opening of bore 36 on body 30. This surface 54 is abutted by an end surface 56 on an injection ram of the hand piece assembly 12 (which injection ram will be further described below). In the storage configuration of the device 10, the end surface 56 confronts piston member 50, but does not displace it from the position seen in
Hand Piece Assembly 12
Considering now the hand piece assembly 12 in greater detail, as seen in
The forward tubular body section 12b defines a stepped through bore 58, a forward portion 58a of which opens at 58b forwardly on the body 12, and which inwardly of this bore opening 58a defines the internal thread section 34 for threadably receiving the external threads 32 on the drug cartridge 14. Sealingly and movably received in the bore portion 58a is a stepped injection piston member 60. A larger diameter portion 60a of this piston member defines a groove 60b carrying a seal member 60c. The seal member 60c movingly engages sealingly with the bore portion 58a and bounds a gas pressure chamber 60d, which is to the left of this piston member as seen in
A smaller diameter portion 60e of the piston member 60 is elongate and extends in the bore 58 to also be received into the bore portion 36a of the drug cartridge 14, as is seen in
Considering the forward body section 12b in still greater detail, it is seen that this body section defines a tubular aft body section 62. This aft body section includes an axially disposed end surface 62a at which the stepped through bore 58 opens, and which defines an internal thread section 64 threadably engaging onto matching threads 66 of body section 12c. For purposes of explanation, and without limitation of the present invention, the threads 64 and 66 may have a pitch of about 14 threads per inch.
As is seen comparing
Still considering
Body portion 12c defines a stepped through bore 70 which is substantially closed at the end of this bore adjacent to the forward body portion 12b by a wall member 72. This wall member 72 defines a stepped through bore 74 in a larger diameter part of which is seated a disk part 76 of a penetrator member 78. This penetrator member 78 includes a hollow penetrator spike 80 which itself has a bore 80a communicating through the wall member 72 via the smaller diameter portion of bore 74. Thus, the bore 70 is communicated to the chamber 60d adjacent to injection piston 60 in the body portion 12b.
Slidably received in the bore 74 adjacent to and confronting the penetrator member 78 is a gas pressure capsule 82. This gas pressure capsule 82 includes a body 82a, having a cylindrical outer wall portion 82a′. The capsule 82 is also necked down at a forward end to provide a reduced diameter portion 82b leading to an axially disposed end surface 82cdefined by a penetrable wall section 82d (the wall section being indicated by the arrowed numeral in
The wall section 82d confronts and is spaced slightly from the penetrator spike 80. At an opposite or aft end of the capsule 82, this capsule defines an outwardly rounded end wall 82e.
Also slidably received into the bore 70 and confronting the end 82e of capsule 82 is tubular and cylindrical hammer member 84. This hammer member 84 defines an end surface 84a which is engageable with the surface 82e of capsule 82, an axially extending groove 86 having an end wall at 86a (into which a dowel pin 88 is received), and an axial protrusion at 90 which serves to center a spring 92.
The dowel pin 88 is engaged in a first position (i.e., in the “storage” configuration of the device 10) at end 86a of groove 86, and the other end of this pin rests upon a metal (i.e., preferably hardened steel) sear pin 94 carried by the body portion 12c. Thus, as is seen in
In order to provide for movement of the trigger sleeve 22 to effect release of the hammer 84, the body portion 12c defines an axially extending slot 100, and the trigger sleeve 22 carries a radially inwardly extending trigger block 22a, which is slidably received in this slot 100 and which confronts the dowel pin 88, as is seen in
However, as was pointed out above in connection to the comparison of
Because the body portion 12c and wall member 72 are abutting injection piston member 50, this piston member 50 is moved rightwardly, viewing
Although the conversion of device 10 from its “storage” configuration to its “inject” configuration unseals the injection cartridge 14, this is not detrimental to the integrity of the medication in chamber 52 because it happens mere moments before the device 10 is used to inject the medication into a patient. This injection is effected by placement of the device 10 with its surface 16 against the skin at the intended location of injection, and sliding of trigger sleeve 22 forward (which also assists in seeing that the device 10 is held firmly to the skin), so that the trigger block 102 slides along slot 100 to dislodge the dowel pin 88 from sear pin 94, viewing
As is seen in
After the jet injection depicted in
Viewing
Preferably, this member 184 is molded of plastic polymer. The hammer-and-sear member 184 is seen in perspective in
Each of these legs 220 is a portion of a cone-shaped section 220a, best seen in
In order to prevent creep of the plastic polymer material from which the member 184 is formed, the surfaces 220b define cooperatively, a contact area which corresponds substantially to that of the diameter 216 of the member 184 multiplied by the radial thickness of the legs 220. This contact surface area is sufficient to prevent creeping of the polymer from which the member 184 is formed.
In order to effect release of the hammer-and-sear member 184 when it is desired to effect a jet injection with the device 110, the body portion 112c defines three axially extending slots 200 (only one of which is seen in
Because the legs 220 are formed at a circular (rather than conical) radius, they nest together and are received into the ring-like abutment member 222. Thus, the spring 192 forces the hammer-and-war member 184 forcefully forward, effecting a jet injection from device 110, as was explained above.
While the invention has been depicted and described by reference to two particularly preferred embodiments of the invention, such reference does not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is capable of considerable variation and alteration in its embodiments without departing from the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the invention is intended to be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims, giving cognizance to equivalents in all respects.
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