Substance delivery devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9308327-B2
Application number	US-9667506-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 8, 2006
Priority date	Dec 8, 2005
Publication date	Apr 12, 2016
Grant date	Apr 12, 2016

Abstract

A substance delivery device (autoinjector) for use with a container (such as a syringe) containing the substance includes: a body arranged to house or hold the container; a plunger which is movable with respect to at least a portion of the body, the plunger being arranged to act upon the container so as to move the container with respect to the portion of the body; wherein the plunger is also arranged to expel at least a portion of the substance from the container; and wherein the device includes elements for adjusting the amount of substance to be expelled from the container. The device can also have elements for priming the container, and can accommodate containers of different size or shape.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A substance delivery device for use with a container containing the substance, the device comprising:
a body arranged to house or hold the container, the body subdivided into a proximal body portion and a distal body portion; and
a plunger which is movable with respect to at least a portion of the body, the plunger being arranged to act upon the container so as to move the container with respect to said portion of the body, the plunger having a distal portion and a proximal portion, the plunger having a longitudinal axis, the plunger being rotatable with respect to the body about the longitudinal axis of the plunger;
wherein the plunger is also arranged to expel at least a portion of the substance from the container,
wherein the device comprises an adjustment part that adjusts an amount of substance to be expelled from the container,
wherein the adjustment part comprises a stop member mounted with respect to the plunger,
wherein the body further comprises a guide co-operating with the stop member,
wherein the stop member co-operates with the guide such that the stop member travels longitudinally along the plunger when the plunger is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the plunger, and
wherein the plunger is arranged to project into the container when the plunger expels said portion of the substance, the expelling of substance being stopped by the stop member contacting the container.

2. A device according to claim 1 , wherein the plunger is arranged to act on a bung of the container to move the container.

3. A device according to claim 2 , wherein the only portion of the container which is arranged to be contacted by the plunger in order to move the container is the bung.

4. A device according to claim 1 , wherein the adjustment part comprises a part allowing a user to rotate the plunger about the axis of the plunger.

5. A device according to claim 4 , wherein,
the part allowing a user to rotate the plunger is keyed to the plunger, and
the part allowing a user to rotate the plunger is not substantially impeding movement of the plunger parallel to the axis of the plunger.

6. A device according to claim 1 , wherein the plunger comprises a rear portion opposite a longitudinal end which is arranged to contact the container, the rear portion being substantially freely rotatable with respect to a remainder of the plunger, and the container is a syringe.

7. A device according to claim 1 , further comprising a priming unit operative for priming the container.

8. A device according to claim 7 , wherein, in order to prime the device and in order to adjust the dose, a user would move or operate the same component of the device.

9. A device according to claim 7 , wherein the priming unit comprises a part for moving the plunger with respect to said portion of the body whilst leaving the container substantially stationary with respect to said portion of the body.

10. A device according to claim 1 , further comprising a said container, wherein the force which the plunger is required to exert on the container so as to move the container with respect to said portion of the body is less than the force which the plunger is required to exert on the container so as to expel said portion of the substance.

11. A device according to claim 10 , wherein the plunger is arranged to act on a bung of the container to move the container, and the container is formed with at least one formation arranged to increase the force required to move the bung with respect to the container.

12. A device according to claim 10 , wherein the container comprises a container carrier and a container portion, the container portion containing the substance and the container carrier holding the container portion.

13. A substance delivery device for use with a container containing the substance, the device comprising:
a body arranged to house or hold the container, the body subdivided into a proximal body portion and a distal body portion; and
a plunger which is movable with respect to at least a portion of the body, the plunger being arranged to act upon the container so as to move the container with respect to said portion of the body, the plunger having a distal portion and a proximal portion, the plunger having a longitudinal axis, the plunger being rotatable with respect to the body about the longitudinal axis of the plunger;
wherein the plunger is also arranged to expel at least a portion of the substance from the container,
wherein the device comprises an adjustment part that adjusts an amount of substance to be expelled from the container,
wherein the adjustment part comprises a stop member mounted with respect to the plunger,
wherein the body further comprises a guide co-operating with the stop member,
wherein the stop member co-operates with the guide such that the stop member travels longitudinally along the plunger when the plunger is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the plunger, wherein,
a circumferential surface of the distal portion of the plunger comprises an external thread,
the stop member is provided with an internal thread cooperating with the external thread on the circumferential surface of the distal portion of the plunger,
the stop member is threadibly engaged with the distal portion of the plunger and carried by the distal portion of the plunger,
the stop member is keyed to an inner surface of the distal body portion,
by the stop member being threadibly engaged with the distal portion of the plunger and being keyed to the distal body portion, the stop member travels longitudinally along the plunger in a distal direction or a proximal direction when the distal portion of the plunger is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the plunger, and wherein,
when the distal portion of the plunger is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the plunger, the amount of substance to be expelled from the container is adjusted by thereby setting an axial position of the stop member along the distal plunger portion, and
the setting the axial position determines how far the plunger is allowed to project into the container as movement of the plunger in the distal direction during an injection process is stopped when the stop member makes contact with a proximal end of container.

Assignees

• Marshall Jeremy
• Nicholls Clive
• Bicknell Stephen Douglas
• Owen Mumford Ltd

Inventors

• Marshall Jeremy
• Nicholls Clive
• Bicknell Stephen Douglas

Classifications

• A61M5/2033 Primary

  Spring-loaded one-shot injectors with or without automatic needle insertion (multishot dosing syringes A61M5/31525, needle insertion only A61M5/3287) · CPC title

• A61M5/31501 Primary

  Means for blocking or restricting the movement of the rod or piston (A61M5/5013 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61M5/326

  Fully automatic sleeve extension, i.e. in which triggering of the sleeve does not require a deliberate action by the user · CPC title

• A61M5/31591

  Single dose, i.e. individually set dose administered only once from the same medicament reservoir, e.g. including single stroke limiting means · CPC title

• A61M5/31563

  interacting with a displaceable stop member · CPC title