JP2005532128A - Injector - Google Patents

Abstract

An injector provided with a rotary click mechanism, which allows the user to know the set value of the administered drug. When dealing with different types of drugs at different dosages in the same type of injector, it is convenient to provide additional clicking means that can be easily changed. Thus, by using different click means, different doses can be administered using the same type of injector. The click means is preferably a curved track provided between the dose setting member and the non-rotating click sound generating element.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention includes a cartridge, a dose setting / injecting mechanism, a rotary dose setting member connected to the dose setting / injecting mechanism, and a housing for storing an injection button connected to the dose setting / injecting mechanism. It relates to a type of injector, which activates the piston rod drive to advance the piston and pushes the set dose through a conduit connected to the cartridge.

Background Art This type of injector according to the prior art is disclosed in WO 01/83008. The injector includes three basic parts: a dose setting and injection mechanism, a dose setting member, and an injection button.
This prior art injector dose setting and injection mechanism is best shown in FIG. 4 of WO 01/83008. When the dose is set, the connection ring (29) is rotated by the arm (32). During this rotation, the beard-like protrusions (40) cover the beard-like protrusion groups (41) of the driver (27), thereby generating a clicking sound. At the same time, the protruding ends (43, 44) of the connection ring (29) are also covered with the beard-like projections (45) on the inner surface of the rod guide (20), thereby generating an audible sound. Since both the driver (27) and the guide (20) are provided with the same number of whiskers, the resulting audible sounds amplify each other. The bearded projections also function as a click when rotating the setting button, indicating how many dose settings have been increased. Since the number of beards or clicks is set to be equal to the total dose of the injector, one beard or one click will represent each unit dose. In the case of the specific injector shown in WO01 / 83008, the number of mustaches or clicks is 60, so the scale indication scale related to the number of mustaches or clicks is on the circumference. It is similar to the scale of an ordinary clock with 60 scale marks. Even in the same case, when the entire circumference is not used, the number of scale indications is smaller.

  This prior art injector is used by diabetic patients who require constant administration of insulin. Accordingly, the distance between each bearded process is set to correspond to one international unit (IU) of insulin. In this way, each time one international unit is set, the user feels one dial click and listens to the sound. Insulin is usually used at 100 international units (IU) per milliliter.

Summary of the Invention This prior art injector has been found to be very attractive to people suffering from diabetics. Due to the number of mustaches, prior art injectors are only suitable for one specific type of liquid drug, because the tactile feedback section spans the distance between each mustache and It is because it is incorporated in the number. Prior art injectors are particularly suitable for liquid medicaments to be administered according to a dosing schedule that requires fine adjustment of the dose setting.

If the injector described in WO01 / 83008 is used for different doses, eg other types of drugs injected at higher doses, at least the dose setting and injection mechanism has been redesigned It is necessary that the number of bearded projections in the dose setting / injection mechanism is correlated with the size of these new doses.
However, this operation is rather cumbersome because it requires a different injector or at least a different dose setting and injection mechanism for each type of drug.

  The present invention aims to solve the problem of handling different types of drugs injected at different doses or different concentrations, and for this purpose, the rotating dose setting member and the non-rotating click sound of the injector. An additional click means is provided between the generator element and this click mechanism allows a click corresponding to the new dose as defined in claim 1.

  The overall concept of the present invention is to add a click mechanism that is superior to the normal click mechanism of the injector. This additional click mechanism has the advantage that the tactile and auditory feedback of the injector can be easily changed without changing the underlying injection mechanism.

  Insulin injectors are usually provided with tactile and auditory feedback that correlates with international units of insulin, with one click corresponding to each international unit.

  According to claim 1, the injector can be used for many different liquid medicaments or medicaments of different concentrations, resulting from the interaction of the dose setting member and the non-rotating click sound generating element. As long as the additional dose setting click is a multiple of the underlying click enabled by the dose setting and injection mechanism, only the dose setting member needs to be changed.

  In this way, the same injector with the same dose setting and injection mechanism can be used for many different liquid drugs or drugs of different concentrations, but this requires only changing the dose setting member.

  According to the disclosure of claim 2, the click means includes a curved track provided as part of the rotating dose setting member, the curved track generating non-rotating click sound provided on or as part of the injector. It is ensured that the distance between the jagged edges that engage the element and constitute the curvature can be designed quite freely.

  A curved track as defined in claim 3 is provided on the periphery of the rotating dose setting member, and a click generating element is defined on the housing as defined in claim 4 or as defined in claim 5. Thus, when the dose setting / projection is provided on the injection member, a very clear and distinguishable tactile feedback is obtained.

  If the convex part is provided on the flexible arm as disclosed in claim 6, it is guaranteed that the rotating dose setting member can be easily rotated.

  The size of the dose can be defined by the jagged edges spaced apart as defined in claim 7. These jaggedness needs to be a multiple of the underlying small dial clicks made possible by the interaction of the bearded projections on the connection ring and the external teeth on the driver.

  If the base incremental dial click indicates international units of insulin, it is advantageous to divide into 60 units on the circumference. If the dose of drug injected by the new injector is, for example, five times larger, the number of jaggedness should correspond to twelve jagged circles on the circumference.

  However, it is not always necessary to provide jaggedness for all. Depending on the drug, there is a limit to the number of dosage units that can be injected at one time, so there is no need to provide more jaggedness than the maximum allowable dosage unit.

  As defined in claim 8, the preferred range of the jagged number is 5-60. Sixty jagged edges are preferred when the injector is used for U100 insulin. In this case, the additional click will follow the basic injection mechanism and expand the injection mechanism.

  If one new dose is 10 international units of insulin, a total of 6 jagged edges will be required on the circumference. Before injecting the liquid medicine, usually, so-called blanking is performed, and air trapped inside the ampule is discharged from the ampule. Blanking is usually done for one unit by holding the syringe upright in the vertical direction. However, if a single jagged line representing one new dose of drug contains 10 international units, a large amount of drug is wasted. Therefore, as defined in claim 9, it is preferable to provide an empty jagged between the first and second ordinary jagged. The size of the blank shot defined by the blank spot position can be freely designed.

  As disclosed in claim 10, when the rotary dose setting member is provided with a scale whose display correlates with jaggedness, it is guaranteed that the user can perform visual confirmation in addition to tactile and auditory dial rotation feedback. The

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the preferred embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings.
These figures have been modeled and simplified for clarity of explanation, showing only the details necessary for an understanding of the present invention, and omitting other details. Throughout the specification, the same reference numerals are used to refer to the same or corresponding parts.

  1-4 show the dose setting and injection mechanism 1 shown in WO01 / 83008.

  The injector 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an administration / injection mechanism 2 that can be inserted into a housing 3. A cartridge 4 containing a liquid medicine can also be inserted into the housing 3. The dose setting button 5 and the injection button 6 are connected to the administration / injection mechanism 2 inside the housing 3. The injection button 6 is provided with a sawtooth rack 7, which operates the administration and injection mechanism 2 to inject a predetermined dose.

  This prior art dose setting and injection mechanism 2 comprises a rod guide part 8 which serves as a guide for a bendable piston rod 9. The bar guide part 8 has a slot 10 in which the sawtooth rack 7 of the injection button 6 is guided. The bendable piston rod 9 is driven by a first gear wheel 11 which in turn is driven by a hub wheel 12 of a second gear wheel 13. The second gear wheel 13 includes an external tooth wheel 14, and the wheel 14 is integrally formed with the hub wheel 12. The external tooth wheel 14 is driven by a tooth shaft 15 on the driver 16. The driver 16 has external teeth 17, which are arranged inside the connection ring 18. The connection ring 18 is provided with a connection ring wheel 19 which is driven by the sawtooth rack 7 of the injection button 6 when the administration drug is being injected.

  The connection ring wheel 19 is connected to the connection ring 18 via a rigid part 20 and a part 21 that is easier to bend than this part. The connection ring 18 has one or more mustaches 22 on its inner surface, which are used to prevent the driver 16 from being driven in one direction by the connection ring 18 and not in the opposite direction. The external teeth 17 are interconnected.

  The convex portion 23 provided on the inner surface of the bar guide component 8 prevents the driver 16 from rotating in one direction. The direction in which the driver 16 can freely rotate is the direction in which the piston rod 9 advances in the cartridge 4.

  The arm 24 is connected to the center of the bar guide part 8 at the center 25. The other end of the arm 24 is provided with a cam 26 that interacts with a notch 27 provided on the rim of the connection ring 18. The arm 24 also has a recess 28 which is operatively connected to the dose setting button 5 so that when the dose setting button 5 rotates to set the dose, the arm 24 is Rotate around the center.

  The second arm 29 is disposed parallel to the first arm 24 and is non-removably connected to the arm 24 via a bendable beam. The second arm 29 has a cam (not shown) mounted on its back surface, and this cam is movably locked to the spiral track of the driver 16. In this way, the number of rotations that the driver 16 performs on the second arm 29 is limited to the length of the spiral track. Since the total length of the track is adapted to be the total amount of the medicine in the cartridge 4, it is guaranteed that a dose larger than the amount of medicine remaining in the cartridge 4 cannot be set.

  When operating the injector, the dose is set by turning the dose setting button 5 clockwise. At the same time, the arm 24 operatively connected to the dose setting button 5 rotates. The notch 26 on the arm 24 also rotates the connecting ring 18. Since the connecting ring wheel 19 interacts with the sawtooth rack 7 of the injection button 6, the injection button 6 is lifted away from the housing 3. The protrusion 23 prevents the driver 16 from rotating.

  When the connection ring 18 rotates, the projecting ends 30 and 31 cover the tooth surfaces 32 of the bar guide component 8. The injector shown in FIGS. 1-4 is used by diabetic patients who need to infuse insulin regularly. Thus, the distance between each of the jagged edges that make up the tooth surface 32 corresponds to one international unit of insulin (1 IU). In this way, when the user rotates the dose setting button 5, the user can feel it each time the dose setting increases.

  Furthermore, an audible sound is emitted when the projecting ends 30 and 31 cover the tooth surface 32. The feel of the increased dose setting and the sound indicating the increased dose setting reflect the number of jagged edges on the tooth surface 32.

  The bearded protrusions 22 on the connecting ring 18 overlie the external teeth 17 of the driver 16 when the dose is set, so that it can be felt that the dose setting has increased, and the dose setting has increased. A sound is emitted.

  When injecting the set administration drug, the injection button 6 is pressed. Then, the sawtooth rack 7 of the injection button 6 rotates the connection ring wheel 19. As the beard-like protrusion 22 interacts with the external teeth 17 of the driver 16, the driver 16 rotates counterclockwise. The rotation of the driver 16 is transmitted to the first gear wheel 11 that engages with the piston rod 9 via the second gear wheel 13. As the first gear wheel 11 rotates, the piston rod 9 moves forward in the cartridge 4, so that a set dose of medicine is pushed out through a conduit (not shown) connected to the tip of the cartridge 4.

  When the set dose is decreased, the dose setting member 5 is rotated counterclockwise. When the connection ring 18 is rotated counterclockwise by the bendable part 21 of the connection ring 18, the connection ring 18 projects outward, so that the beard-like protrusion 22 can slide over the external teeth 17 of the driver 16. Accordingly, the driver 16 is not affected by such reverse rotation of the connection ring 18.

  5 and 6 disclose a dose setting and injection mechanism 102 according to the present invention. The sawtooth rack 107 of the injection button 106 engages the connecting ring wheel 119 through the slot of the bar guide part 108. The connection ring wheel 119 is integrally formed with the connection ring 118, and the connection ring 118 engages with the driver 116. This engagement is effected by one or more whisker-like projections 122 located on the inner surface of the connecting ring 118 that engages the external teeth 117 of the driver 116.

  The convex portion 123 provided on the inner surface of the bar guide component 108 prevents the driver 116 from rotating in one direction. The direction in which the driver 116 can freely move is the direction in which the piston rod 109 advances inside the cartridge 104.

  On the back side of the rod guide component 108, the tooth shaft 115 of the driver 116 is engaged with the second gear wheel 113. The second gear wheel 113 engages with the first gear wheel 111 that transmits the rotational motion to the piston rod 109.

  The inner surface 132 of the bar guide part 108 remains a smooth surface without any jaggedness. The protruding ends 131, 132 of the connecting ring 118 slide along this smooth inner surface 132 when a dose is set. As a result, the dose setting / injection mechanism 102 of the injector 1 is fed back to the user in a very gentle manner. When the dose is set, a very quiet click sound from the whisker-like projection 122 that slides on the external teeth 117 of the driver 116 is heard.

  Next, instead of configuring the operation for guiding the user that the dosage setting has increased as a part of the dosage setting and injection mechanism 102 alone, this guidance is provided with the dosage setting button 105 and the non-rotating click sound generating element 136. A configuration performed by the interaction will be described below.

  The dose setting button 105 is located on the surface facing the rod guide part 108, and a number of knurls 135 are provided on this surface. The rod guide component 108 is provided with a convex portion 136 that interacts with the dose setting button 105 when the injector 1 is assembled. The convex portion 136 is located on the elastic arm 137, and this arm is integrally formed with the bar guide component 108, but may be provided on the housing.

  When the dose setting button 105 is rotated, the interaction between the jagged 135 and the convex portion 136 of the dose setting button 105 allows the user to feel both the feel of the setting button rotating and the click sound when the setting button rotates. Get accompanying haptic auditory feedback.

  Even if the inner surface 132 of the bar guide part 108 is formed in the tooth shape shown in the prior art, the interaction between the jagged 135 and the convex portion 136 of the dose setting button 105 is caused when the inner surface 132 is formed in a tooth shape. The result is that the click by the rotation of the dose setting button 105 is stronger than the click by the rotation of the setting button realized by making the surface 132 toothed. It is felt.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the jagged 135 for rotating the dose setting button 105 is preferably disposed on a circular curved track 138 provided adjacent to the upper part 139 of the dose setting button 105. The upper part 139 is also provided with a finger grip 140 that allows the user to grip the button when setting the dose to be injected.

  The carrier 143 provided on the back of the dose setting button 105 connects the dose setting button to the connection ring 118 and rotates the connection ring 118 together with the dose setting button 105.

  The dose size to be set is determined by the distance between the jagged edges 135. A considerably large dose is set according to the distance between the jagged edges 135 shown in FIG. Preferably, the number of serrations 135 should be a multiple of the number of teeth provided on the external teeth 117 of the driver 116. A well-configured dose setting click that cooperates with the underlying dose setting mechanism on a full circumference, for example when the injector is made to have 60 teeth on the external teeth 117 In order to realize the above, it is necessary that the number of jagged 135 is 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30 or 60.

  However, as long as one dose setting on the dose setting button 105 correlates with the total number of teeth provided on the external teeth 117 of the driver 116, a lot of jaggedness that does not become a multiple of the number of teeth of the driver 116 may be provided. Is possible. However, in such a case, one circle cannot be used.

  When using a long distance between the jagged edges 135 corresponding to a large dose, it is convenient to provide a separate blank click 141 between the first and second jagged edges 135. Thus, the user can use this small amount of blank click 141 when performing blank shots without using the entire dose.

  The distance between the jagged edges 142 of the dose setting button 105 shown in FIG. 8 is a short distance corresponding to a small dose. Since the specific dose setting button 105 shown in FIG. 8 has 60 jagged edges on the circumference, the scale can be similar to the scale of a conventional egg timer shown in US Pat. No. 5,947,934.

  While several preferred embodiments have been described above, the invention is not limited to these embodiments and can be embodied in other ways within the scope of the main subject matter defined in the claims. .

Parts list 1 Injector 2,102 Dose setting and injection mechanism 3 Housing 4 Cartridge 5,105 Dose setting button 6,106 Injection button 7,107 Serrated rack 8,108 Rod guide 9,109 Piston rod 10 Slot 11, 111 First gear wheel 12 Hub wheel 13, 113 Second gear wheel 14 External tooth wheel 15, 115 Tooth shaft 16, 116 Driver 17, 117 External tooth of driver 18, 118 Connection ring 19, 119 Connection ring wheel 20 Rigid part 21 Bendable parts 22, 122 Bearded projections 23, 123 Convex parts 24 Arms 25 Arm centers 26 Cams 27 Notches 28 Concave parts 29 Second arms 30, 31, 131, 132 Protruding parts 32, 132 Inner surface 133
134
135, 142 Jagged 136 Projection 137 Flexible arm 138 Curved track 139 Upper part (of dose setting button)
140 finger grip 143 carrier

1 is a development view of a prior art injector. FIG. It is a development view of a dose setting and injection mechanism of an injector according to the prior art. 1 is a schematic top view of a dose setting and injection mechanism of an injector according to the prior art. FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic bottom view of a dose setting and injection mechanism of an injector according to the prior art. It is a development view of the dose setting and injection mechanism according to the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the dosage setting and injection | pouring mechanism by this invention. Fig. 3 shows a dose setting and injection mechanism according to the present invention with a dose setting button. Fig. 5 shows a dose setting button according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (10)

Provided with housing (3) containing cartridge (4) containing sufficient drug to perform multiple injections and injecting dose by advancing piston rod (9, 109) within cartridge (4) An injector (1,102) to
A dose setting and injection mechanism (2,102) with a dose setting feedback mechanism;
A rotating dose setting member (5,105) operatively connected to the dose setting and injection mechanism (2,102) to set the injection dose, and the dose setting and injection mechanism (2,102) An operatively connected injection button (6, 106), which activates the dose setting and injection mechanism (2, 102) to advance the piston rod (9, 109) to deliver the set dose drug The injection button is pushed out through a conduit connected to the cartridge (4), and an additional click means (135, 136) is provided between the rotating dose setting member (5, 105) and the non-rotating click sound generating element (136). An injector provided in between and capable of rotating the setting button corresponding to one unit dose by the click means (135, 136).   The click means (135, 136) includes a curved track (138) provided as part of the rotating dose setting member (105), and the curved track (138) is provided on the injector (1). The injector according to claim 1, characterized in that it engages with the non-rotating click-generating element (136) provided as part of the injector (1).   The injector according to claim 2, characterized in that the rotating dose setting member (105) has a circular structure due to the curved track (138) provided in the periphery.   The injector according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the click sound generating element (136) is a projection provided on the housing (3).   The injector according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the click sound generating element (136) is a projection provided on the dose setting and injection mechanism (102).   The injector according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the convex part (136) is located on a flexible arm (137).   The injector according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the curved track (138) is provided with a plurality of spaced apart jagged edges (135, 142).   8. Injector according to claim 7, characterized in that it is provided with 5 to 60 jagged (135, 142) equally spaced.   9. The injector according to claim 8, characterized in that an empty jagged (141) is provided between two first jagged (135).   10. The rotary dose setting member (105) is provided with a scale, and the scale display in this case correlates with the jaggedness (135, 142). Injector.

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