WO2003082381A1

WO2003082381A1 - Automatic injector for livestock

Info

Publication number: WO2003082381A1
Application number: PCT/KR2003/000636
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gi-Won Kim
Original assignee: Gi-Won Kim
Priority date: 2002-03-29
Filing date: 2003-03-28
Publication date: 2003-10-09
Also published as: AU2003214685A1; KR20030078345A; KR100434223B1

Abstract

Disclosed is an automatic injector for livestock. The automatic injector comprises an injector mainframe and an injection gun. The injector mainframe automatically discharges a predetermined amount of medicament by means of electric power. The injection gun receives the medicament through a medicament tube from the injector mainframe and injects the medicament to an animal as soon as an injection needle is stuck into the animal. The automatic injector can vaccinate a plurality of animals consecutively and rapidly.

Description

AUTOMATIC INJECTOR FOR LIVESTOCK

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an automatic injector for vaccinating livestock, and more particularly to an automatic injector capable of vaccinating a plurality of animals consecutively and rapidly.

BACKGROUND ART In breeding livestock such as pigs, cows, and fowls, the livestock must be vaccinated periodically or according to necessity in order to prevent various epidemic diseases from being caught by or spreading between the livestock.

In vaccinating livestock, in the case of using a typical injector, which includes a piston rod elastically supported by a coil spring, a medicament cartridge provided at an injector body, and a grip for moving the piston rod forward, a medicament is injected into an animal when a user pushes the grip after sticking an injection needle into a body of the livestock. However, at the moment when the injection needle is stuck into the livestock, the livestock may writhe in the agony of pain, thereby causing the labor of vaccination to be very difficult and time-consuming.

In order to overcome this problem, the present applicant has proposed a pneumatic injection system for vaccination of livestock, which includes a pneumatic cylinder for injecting a supplied medicament by means of pressure of compressed air, a container for containing the compressed air supplied to the pneumatic cylinder, a pneumatic valve for switching channels for the compressed air supplied to the pneumatic cylinder to change the direction in which a piston moves, and a driving means for operating the pneumatic valve in accordance with insertion of an injection needle into an animal, as disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 1999- 033496. In the disclosed pneumatic injection system, as soon as the injection needle is stuck into the livestock, the medicament is injected into the livestock by the pressure of the compressed air contained in the gas container. Therefore, the disclosed pneumatic injection system can remarkably improve the efficiency in the labor of injection. However, once the compressed air in the gas container has been exhausted, new compressed air must be charged in the container, and it is typical that general livestock farms are not provided with a means for charging compressed air in the container. Therefore, a user has to use a separate charge station in order to charge the compressed air in the container, and thus it is impossible to consecutively vaccinate a plurality of animals.

Moreover, in order to perform the labor of injection, the disclosed pneumatic injection system, which is large and heavy since it contains the pneumatic cylinder, pneumatic valve, etc., must be in direct contact with the livestock. Therefore, it is difficult to smoothly perform the labor of injection and to precisely control the quantity of medicament injected to the livestock.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic injector which can continuously and rapidly inject medicament to a plurality of animals.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic injector which enables a user to smoothly execute the labor of injection while bringing only minimal necessary elements into contact with an animal.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic injector which can precisely control the quantity of injected medicament, thereby enabling an exact quantity of medicament to be injected. In order to accomplish these objects, there is provided an automatic injector for vaccinating livestock, comprising: an injector mainframe including a mainframe case, a nozzle, a piston, a piton driving means for moving the piston forward and backward, and a piton driving control means for controlling the piton driving means, the nozzle having an introduction port assembled with a medicament cartridge and an exhaust port through which medicament introduced in the nozzle is discharged, the introduction port having a first check valve preventing the medicament in the nozzle from being discharged back through the introduction port, the exhaust port having a second check valve preventing the medicament discharged out of the nozzle from being introduced back through the exhaust port, the nozzle being inserted in the mainframe case while a portion of the exhaust port of the nozzle being exposed out of the mainframe case, the piston being slidably inserted in the nozzle, the medicament being introduced from the medicament cartridge into the nozzle when the piston moves backward, the medicament in the nozzle being discharged through the exhaust port when the piston moves forward; an injection gun including an injection gun case, an injection needle, a needle holding tube, and a needle insertion sensing means, the needle holding tube being disposed in the injection gun case and having two opposite open ends, the injection needle being inserted in a first open end of the needle holding tube and protruding out of the needle holding tube, the needle insertion sensing means detecting insertion of the injection needle into an animal and reporting the insertion to the piton driving control means; and a medicament tube connected between the exhaust port of the nozzle and a second open end of the needle holding tube of the injection gun.

In an automatic injector for vaccinating livestock according to the present invention, the labor of injection can be carried out in a state in which only a small and light injection gun is in contact with an animal. Therefore, the labor of injection can be performed rapidly and exactly.

It is preferred that the piton driving means comprises: a plunger having a front end assembled with the piston and a rear end elastically supported by a spring; a plunger retroceding means for moving the plunger backward against an elastic force of the spring; a plunger movement sensing means for sensing displacement which the plunger has been moved backward by the plunger retroceding means; and a plunger holding means for holding the plunger, thereby preventing the plunger from moving forward or backward, when the displacement sensed by the plunger movement sensing means reaches a predetermined value set by the piston driving control means, the plunger holding means releasing the plunger, thereby allowing the plunder to be moved forward by the elastic force of the spring, when the insertion of the injection needle is detected by the needle insertion sensing means. In the automatic injector, the forward movement of the piston for injection can be carried out very rapidly in an instant by the elastic force of the spring. Therefore, the medicament can be injected rapidly in an instant. Further, when the medicament is sucked by the plunger, the distance which the plunger has moved is detected so that an exact quantity of medication can be sucked and thus the quantity of injected medication can be exactly controlled.

It is more preferred that the plunger retroceding means comprises: a rack fixed to an outer portion of the plunger; and a pinion rotated by a driving motor and engaged with the rack to linearly move the rack, therefore, since the plunger is moved backward by the driving motor using electric energy and is moved forward by the spring, the automatic injector of the present invention can easily be continuously used for long time by charging the battery in the injector mainframe with household electricity, differently from the conventional injectors pneumatically operated. Therefore, a plurality of animals can be injected continuously and rapidly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the entire construction of an automatic injector according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of an injector mainframe of an automatic injector according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top sectional view of an injector mainframe of an automatic injector according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a bottom sectional view of an injector mainframe of an automatic injector according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of an injector mainframe of an automatic injector according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a detailed sectional view of a nozzle in the injector mainframe shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a plunger retroceding means in an injector mainframe according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a plunger movement sensing means in an injector mainframe according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a plunger holding means in an injector mainframe according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a plunger power switching means in an injector mainframe according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a side sectional view of an injection gun of an automatic injector according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 12 is an enlarged sectional view of a needle insertion sensing means of the injection gun shown in FIG. 11.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . A controller 2 is disposed at an upper portion of a mainframe case 1 which forms an external appearance of an injector mainframe 10 in a shape of a box, a main battery 3 for supplying electric power is assembled with one side of the mainframe case 1, and a nozzle 5 with which a medicament cartridge 4 is assembled protrudes from the other side of the mainframe case 1. Further, a piston 6 sliding in the nozzle 5 and a plunger 7 for reciprocating the piston 6 are contained in the mainframe case 1. Further, the mainframe case 1 contains the plunger 7, a plunger retroceding means 20 for moving the plunger 7 backward, a plunger movement sensing means 30 for detecting a displacement by which the plunger 7 has moved and stopping the plunger 7, a plunger holding means 40 for holding the retroceded plunger 7, and a plunger power switching means 50 for switching on and off the power applied to the plunger 7. A compression spring 8 is connected with one end of the plunger 7 to elastically support the plunger 7.

An injection gun 60 has an injection gun case 66 separated from the mainframe case 1. The injection gun case 66 contains a gun battery 61, and an actuator 63 having a cylindrical shape is provided at one end of the injection gun case 66 and is elastically supported by a needle spring 73. Further, a needle holding tube 64 having one end with which an injection needle 62 is assembled is inserted in the actuator 63.

As soon as the injection needle 62 is inserted into an animal, the actuator 63 is pushed backward, thereby enabling the insertion of the injection needle to be detected. An exhaust port of the nozzle 5 of the injector mainframe 10 is connected to the needle holding tube 64 of the injection gun 60 through a separate medicament tube 65, so that the medicament can be supplied from the injector mainframe 10 through the medicament tube 65 to the needle holding tube 64 and then injected through the injection needle 62.

The plunger retroceding means 20 includes a driving motor 21, a motor gear 23, an idle gear 25, a pinion 26, and a rack 24, which are connected one another in sequence and contained in the mainframe case 1. Especially, the motor gear 23, the idle gear 25, and the pinion 26 are contained in a decelerator 22, and the rack 24 is formed on one side portion of an outer surface of the plunger 7. The driving power of the driving motor 21 is transferred to the rack 24 to move the plunger 7 backward. The plunger movement sensing means 30 includes a sensor plate 32 and a sensor 33 such as a photo coupler. The sensor plate 32 has a plurality of grooves 31 and 31' and is assembled with a lower portion of the outer surface of the plunger 7. The sensor 33 can detect and count the number of the grooves 31 and 31' of the sensor plate 32 assembled with the plunger 7, which have passed the sensor 33, so that the displacement by which the plunder has moved can be detected.

The plunger holding means 40 includes a plunger stopper 42, a trigger 44, and a trigger solenoid 45. The plunger stopper 42 has a plurality of engagement teeth 41 and 41' and is assembled with an upper portion of the outer surface of the plunger 7. The trigger 44 has an engagement jaw 43 formed at one end of the trigger 44 and is hinged at the mainframe case 1. The trigger solenoid 45 is used for rotating the trigger 44. The plunger holding means 40 holds or releases the plunger 7 at or from a predetermined position. The plunger power switching means 50 includes a rotary latch 51. The motor gear 23 has a rotation shaft which is rotatably inserted through a central portion of the rotary latch 51, the idle gear 25 has a rotation shaft which is rotatably inserted through one end portion of the rotary latch 51, and a latch solenoid 52 is assembled with the other end of the rotary latch 51. When the latch solenoid 52 operates and thus rotates the rotary latch 51, the idle gear 25 and the pinion 26 are disengaged from each other, thereby preventing the driving power of the motor from being transferred to the rack 24.

A needle insertion sensing means 70 includes the actuator 63, a pushing finger 71, and a push button 72. The actuator 63 is slidably assembled with the injection gun case 66 while surrounding the injection needle 62 fixed to the needle holding tube 64. The pushing finger 71 is integrally formed with and protrudes backward from the actuator 63. The push button 72 is switched on or off when the pushing finger 71 presses or releases the push button 72. The push button 72 is connected to a circuit substrate 74. Therefore, when the push button 72 is switched on and off by the pushing finger 71 carried by the actuator 63 sliding forward and backward, a corresponding signal can be transmitted to the controller 2 of the injector mainframe 10. In the drawings, reference numerals 100 and 100', 101, 102, 103, and 104 and 105, which are not described above, designate check valves, a transmitter unit, a receiver unit, an emergency switch, and return springs, respectively.

Hereinafter, operations of the whole and each element of an automatic injector according to the present invention, which has a construction as described above, will be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings .

First, the operation of the entire automatic injector according to the present invention will be described. A user operates the controller 2 provided at the upper portion of the mainframe case 1 to determine a quantity of medicament to be discharged from the medicament cartridge 4 and then injected. According to the quantity of medicament to be discharged, the distance by which the plunger will be moved back is determined.

When the quantity of medicament to be discharged has been determined, the driving motor 21 in the mainframe case 1 rotates to move the plunger 7 backward. When the displacement of the plunger 7, which is detected by the sensor 33, reaches a predetermined value, the driving motor 21 stops and the plunger 7 is held at a corresponding position by the trigger 44. During the course of this process, as shown in FIG. 6, the piston 6 sucks a predetermined quantity of medicament from the medicament cartridge 4 into the nozzle 5 while moving backward in the nozzle 5. In this case, check valves 100 and 100' are provided at suction and discharge ports of the nozzle 5, with which the medicament cartridge 4 is connected and through which the medicament is discharged, respectively. Therefore, while the piston moves backward, the medicament can be sucked only from the medicament cartridge 4 and is prevented from being sucked back through the discharge port of the nozzle 5.

Thereafter, when the injection needle 62 protruding out of one end of the injection gun 60 is stuck into the hypodermis of an animal, the actuator 63 disposed at the rear end of the injection needle 62 is pushed backward to operate the push button 72.

An electric signal generated by the push button 72 is transmitted to the injector mainframe 10 by the transmitter unit 101, and the transmitted signal is received by the receiver unit 102 in the mainframe case 1 and is then transferred to the controller 2. Then, the controller 2 operates the trigger solenoid 45 to allow the trigger 44 to release the plunger 7 from the state in which it has been held by the trigger 44. Then, the plunger 7 rushes forward at high speed by the elastic force of the compression spring 8.

The advancing plunger 7 pushes the piston 6, which has been moved back, forward. According to the advance of the piston 6, the medicament in the nozzle 5 is discharged out of the injection needle 62 in the injection gun 60 through the medicament tube 65.

Directly after the plunger 7 is moved forward by the compression spring, the plunger 7 is moved back again to be in a state waiting to discharge the medicament. Therefore, the medicament can be continuously injected.

Hereinafter, the operation of important elements of the automatic injector according to the present invention will be described in more detail.

Referring to FIG. 7 illustrating the backward movement of the plunger 7, when the driving motor 21 rotates, the driving power of the driving motor 21 is transferred sequentially through the motor gear 23, the idle gear 25, and the pinion 26 to the rack 24, thereby moving the plunger 7 backward. FIG. 8 illustrates the plunger movement sensing means 30 for detecting the displacement of the plunger 7 and transmitting an electric signal corresponding to the displacement. The sensor 33 senses the number of the grooves 31 and 31' formed at one side of the sensor plate 32 assembled with the lower portion of the plunger 7, which have passed the sensor 33, there by detecting the distance^' of the backward movement of the plunger 7.

A photo coupler, etc., may be employed as the sensor 33. The sensor 33 senses passage of the grooves 31 and 31' formed at the sensor plate 32. When the sensor 33 has detected passage of a predetermined number of grooves, corresponding to the quantity of the medicament determined through the controller 2, the controller 2 stops the driving motor 21 and thus stops the retroceding of the plunger 7, thereby allowing only a predetermined quantity of medication to be sucked into the nozzle.

After the plunger 7 has moved a predetermined distance backward as described above, the predetermined quantity of medication is filled in the nozzle 5 and must not be discharged out of the nozzle 5 before it is injected into an animal. Therefore, the plunger 7 having been moved back is held at the predetermined position by the plunger holding means 40.

In the plunger holding means 40 as shown in FIG. 9, the plunger 7 is held by the engagement between the plunger stopper 42 and the trigger 44, which are provided at the upper portion of the plunger 7. The plunger stopper 42 has a plurality of the engagement teeth 41 and 41' formed at an upper surface of the plunger stopper 42, and the engagement jaw 43 formed at one end of the trigger 44 is engaged with one of the engagement teeth 41 and 41' .

The engagement jaw 43 has an inclined surface facing a backward movement of the plunger stopper 42 and a vertical surface facing a forward movement of the plunger stopper 42. When the plunger 7 moves backward, the inclined surface of the plunger stopper 42 slides on the engagement teeth 41 and 41' of the plunger stopper 42 to allow the plunger 7 to smoothly move backward. When the plunger 7 is held, the vertical surface of the engagement jaw 43 of the trigger 44 is engaged with one of the engagement teeth 41 and 41' of the plunger stopper 42 to prevent the plunger 7 from moving forward.

When a separate return spring 104 is assembled with the trigger 44 and thus the engagement jaw 43 of the trigger 44 is elastically supported toward the engagement teeth 41 and 41' by the elastic force of the return spring 104, the plunger 7 is more effectively prevented from moving forward. In this holding state, when the receiver unit 102 in the mainframe case 1 receives a signal indicating insertion of the injection needle, that is, discharge of the medicament, from the injection gun 60, the controller 2 operate the trigger solenoid 45 connected to the trigger 44 to rotate the trigger 44, thereby disengaging the engagement jaw 43 of the trigger 44 from the engagement teeth 41 and 41' of the plunger stopper 42. Thereafter, the plunger 7 having been elastically supported by the compression spring 8 moves forward at high speed and pushes the piston 6 forward also, thereby discharging the medicament filled in the nozzle 5 toward the injection gun 60 through the medicament tube 65.

If the driving motor 21 keeps being connected with the plunger 7 while the plunger 7 moves forward, even when the driving motor 21 is stopped, the driving motor 21 may damp the high speed forward movement of the plunger 7 by the spring, thereby disturbing rapid injection of the medicament. Therefore, it is preferred that the plunger 7 is disconnected from the driving motor 21 when the plunger 7 has been locked by the trigger 44 after moving backward. This switching of the driving power is executed by the plunger power switching means 50 as shown in FI-G. 10. Specifically, after the plunger 7 is moved backward by the driving motor 21 to a predetermined position and is then held by the plunger holding means 40, the latch solenoid 52 assembled with one end of the rotary latch 51 operates to allow the return spring 105 to rotate the rotary latch 51 backward, thereby disengaging the idle gear 25 and the pinion 26 from each other.

As described above, the disengagement between elements in the injector mainframe 10 and the corresponding discharge of the medicament by the elastic force of the compression spring 8 are carried out as soon as a needle insertion signal is transmitted from the injection gun 60. As shown in FIG. 11, the circuit substrate 74 and the gun battery 61 for supplying electricity to the transmitter unit 101 are contained in the injection gun case 66 of the injection gun 60, and the actuator 63 having a tubular shape is slidably inserted through one end of the injection gun case 66. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, as soon as the injection needle 62 is stuck into hypodermis of an animal, the actuator 63 elastically supported by the needle spring 73 is pressed by the skin of the animal and then moves backward while compressing the needle spring 73. According to the backward movement of the actuator 63, the pushing finger 71 protruding from the rear end of the actuator 63 moves backward also and pushes the push button 72 connected to the circuit substrate 74. When a detection signal generated by the push button 72 is transmitted through the transmitter unit 101 to the receiver unit 102 of the injector mainframe 10, the controller 2 releases the holding of the plunger 7 and allows the plunger 7 to be moved forward by the elastic force of the compression spring 8, thereby discharging the medicament.

Although the embodiment described above employs a case in which the signal is transmitted by wireless between the receiver unit 102 and the transmitter unit 101, it goes without saying that the injector of the present invention may employ a separate construction which enables the signal to be transmitted by wire.

Further, in addition to the actuator 63 which enables the medicament to be automatically discharged, the injector of the present invention may include a separate emergency switch 103 disposed at an upper portion of the injection gun case 66, thereby enabling the medicament to be rapidly discharged in an emergency state.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

In an automatic injector for vaccinating livestock according to the present invention as described above, the labor of injection can be carried out in a state in which only a small and light injection gun is in contact with an animal. Therefore, the labor of injection can be performed rapidly and exactly.

Further, the forward movement of the piston for injection can be carried out very rapidly in an instant by the elastic force of the spring. Therefore, the medicament can be injected rapidly in an instant. Further, when the medicament is sucked by the plunger, the distance which the plunger has moved is detected so that an exact quantity of medication can be sucked and thus the quantity of injected medication can be exactly controlled.

Moreover, since the plunger is moved backward by the driving motor using electric energy and is moved forward by the spring, the automatic injector of the present invention can easily be continuously used for long time by charging the battery in the injector mainframe with household electricity, differently from the conventional injectors pneumatically operated. Therefore, a plurality of animals can be injected continuously and rapidly.

While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment and the drawings, but, on the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and variations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An automatic injector for livestock, comprising: an injector mainframe including a mainframe case, a nozzle, a piston, a piton driving means for moving the piston forward and backward, and a piton driving control means for controlling the piton driving means, the nozzle having an introduction port assembled with a medicament cartridge and an exhaust port through which medicament introduced in the nozzle is discharged, the introduction port having a first check valve preventing the medicament in the nozzle from being discharged back through the introduction port, the exhaust port having a second check valve preventing the medicament discharged out of the nozzle from being introduced back through the exhaust port, the nozzle being inserted in the mainframe case while a portion of the exhaust port of the nozzle being exposed out of the mainframe case, the piston being slidably inserted in the nozzle, the medicament being introduced from the medicament cartridge into the nozzle when the piston moves backward, the medicament in the nozzle being discharged through the exhaust port when the piston moves forward; an injection gun including an injection gun case, an injection needle, a needle holding tube, and a needle insertion sensing means, the needle holding tube being disposed in the injection gun case and having two opposite open ends, the injection needle being inserted in a first open end of the needle holding tube and protruding out of the needle holding tube, the needle insertion sensing means detecting insertion of the injection needle into an animal and reporting the insertion to the piton driving control means; and a medicament tube connected between the exhaust port of the nozzle and a second open end of the needle holding tube of the injection gun.

2. An automatic injector for livestock as claimed in claim 1, wherein the piton driving means comprises: a plunger having a front end assembled with the piston and a rear end elastically supported by a spring; a plunger retroceding means for moving the plunger backward against an elastic force of the spring; a plunger movement sensing means for sensing displacement which the plunger has been moved backward by the plunger retroceding means; and a plunger holding means for holding the plunger, thereby preventing the plunger from moving forward or backward, when the displacement sensed by the plunger movement sensing means reaches a predetermined value set by the piston driving control means, the plunger holding means releasing the plunger, thereby allowing the plunder to be moved forward by the elastic force of the spring, when the insertion of the injection needle is detected by the needle insertion sensing means.

3. An automatic injector for livestock as claimed in claim 2, wherein the plunger retroceding means comprises: a rack fixed to an outer portion of the plunger; and a pinion rotated by a driving motor and engaged with the rack to linearly move the rack.

An automatic injector for livestock as claimed in claim 2, wherein the plunger movement sensing means comprises : a sensor plate fixed to another outer portion of the plunger and having a plurality of grooves; and a sensor for counting a number of the grooves having passed the sensor.

5. An automatic injector for livestock as claimed in claim 2, wherein the plunger holding means comprises: a plunger stopper fixed to another outer portion of the plunger and having a plurality of engagement teeth; a trigger having an engagement jaw formed at one end of the trigger; and a trigger solenoid for operating the trigger to enable the engagement jaw to be engaged with or disengaged from one of the engagement teeth.

6. An automatic injector for livestock as claimed in claim 3, wherein the plunger retroceding means further comprises a plunger power switching means for switching on and off transmission of a rotational force of the driving motor to the rack.

7. An automatic injector for livestock as claimed in one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the needle insertion sensing means comprises: an actuator slidably inserted through the injection gun case and surrounding the injection needle fixed to the needle holding tube; a pushing finger integrally formed with and protruding backward from the actuator; and a push switch which is turned on when it is touched by the pushing finger and is turned off when separated from the pushing finger.