Patent Application
20230017696
This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-234354, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a dosage adjuster for a syringe for adjusting the amount of dosage usable out of a liquid medicine filled in the syringe.
Conventionally known is an injector having a structure to adjust the amount of dosage usable out of a liquid medicine filled in a syringe (hereinafter referred to as an adjustment structure) (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). Such an adjustment structure includes a stopper having a cylindrical shape having an inside into which a barrel of the syringe inserted.
The mounting position of the stopper can be changed in a moving direction of a plunger in the state where the plunger is inserted into the barrel. Further, the stopper has a rear end face (i.e., the end face on the rear side in the moving direction) arranged opposite to a front side of a flange of the plunger.
In the aforementioned injector, a space is formed between the stopper and the flange of the plunger by the forward movement of the stopper of the adjustment structure toward the flange of the plunger so that the plunger can be pressed by the amount equivalent to this space.
Therefore, the aforementioned injector is configured to allow a user to use the necessary amount of dosage out of the liquid medicine filled in the syringe when the user moves forward the stopper according to the dosage prescribed by for example, a doctor or a prescription.
Meanwhile, even in the state where the dosage has been set in the adjustment structure, the mounting position of the stopper in the moving direction may be changed when, for example, the flange is strongly pressed. In this case, the user is unable to use the liquid medicine by the amount of dosage as it has been set up.
In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dosage adjuster for a syringe that enables the user to use the amount of dosage of a liquid solution in the syringe as it has been set.
A dosage adjuster for a syringe of the present invention includes: a dosage setting part configured to set the amount of dosage dischargeable out of a liquid medicine filled in the syringe; and a setting restriction part configured to switch between a restricted state in which change in setting of the amount of dosage set by the dosage setting part is restricted and a permissible state in which the change in the setting of the amount of dosage by the dosage setting part is permissible.
In the dosage adjuster for the syringe of the present invention, it can be configured so that the dosage setting part includes a setting operation part configured to rotate in a circumferential direction around a central axis of a plunger of the syringe to thereby change in the setting of the amount of dosage, and the setting restriction part includes a restriction operation part configured to move in a moving direction in which the plunger moves forward and rearward to thereby switch between the restricted state and the permissible state
In the dosage adjuster for the syringe of the present invention, it can be configured so that the restriction operation part is configured to switch from the permissible state to the restricted state as the restriction operation part moves in a rearward direction in which the plunger is moved rearward, and configured to switch from the restricted state to the permissible state as the restriction operation part moves in a forward direction in which the plunger is moved forward, and the restriction operation part includes a stopper flange that extends radially outward and orthogonal to the central axis of the plunger.
The dosage adjuster for the syringe of the present invention can be configured to include an operation cylinder that has a cylindrical shape and is configured to, in a state where the syringe is inserted through the operation cylinder, be rotatable in the circumferential direction around the plunger and slidable in the moving direction in which the plunger is moved forward and rearward, wherein the operation cylinder includes the dosage setting part and the setting restriction part.
In the dosage adjuster for the syringe of the present invention, it can be configured so that the dosage setting part includes a movable receiving part that is arranged on an opposite side of a front surface of a flange of the plunger of the syringe and is movable forward in the moving direction of the plunger from a position in contact with the front surface of the flange, and the movable receiving part is configured to set the amount of dosage on the basis of a distance away from the flange in the forward direction.
Hereinafter, a dosage adjuster for a syringe (hereinafter referred to as the dosage adjuster) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.
The dosage adjuster is an instrument used for, for example, fixing the amount of dosage (that is, an amount to be administered) in a liquid medicine filled in a syringe which is usable (dischargeable) according to the dosage prescribed by, for example, a doctor or a prescription. The amount of dosage usable out of the liquid medicine herein means an amount of dosage of the liquid medicine which can be discharged by a single pressing operation of a plunger.
The description will be given on the syringe prior to the description on the dosage adjuster. As shown in
The barrel 40 includes a cylindrical part 400, a nozzle 401 provided at one end in an axial direction of the cylindrical part 400, and an annular flange 402 extending outward (i.e., radially outward of the cylindrical part 400) from the entire outer circumference at the other end in the axial direction of the cylindrical part 400.
As shown in
The operation part 412 is formed into a flange shape extending from the rod part 410 and has a plate surface on one side arranged to face forward in the moving direction of the plunger 41 and a plate surface on the other side arranged to face rearward in the moving direction of the plunger 41. More specifically, the one surface of the operation part 412 is arranged to face forward in the moving direction of the plunger 41, and the other surface of the operation part 412 is arranged to face rearward in the moving direction of the plunger 41. Further, an outer shape of the operation part 412 is larger than that of the rod part 410, and the entire circumference of an outer peripheral edge of the operation part 412 is located outside the rod part 410.
The operation part 412 is a part that the user presses to move the plunger 41 forward and that comes into contact with a movable receiving part 21 of a dosage setting part 2 to be described later. However, it can be configured such that the operation part 412 serves as a flange that is pressed for moving the plunger 41 forward, and a flange other than the operation part 412 is formed on the front side of the operation part 412 to allow the other flange to come into contact with the movable receiving part 21 of the dosage setting part 2 to be described later. (see
In this embodiment, the following description will be made by referring to a direction in which the plunger 41 moves as a moving direction, a direction in which the plunger 41 moves forward (i.e., the direction in which the plunger 41 is pressed into the barrel 40) in the moving direction as the forward direction, and a direction in which the plunger 41 moves backward in the moving direction (i.e., the direction in which the plunger 41 is pulled out from the barrel 40) as a backward direction.
As shown in
In the following description of this embodiment, the setting of the amount of dosage out of the liquid medicine filled in the syringe 4 will be referred to as the setting in the amount of dosage.
As shown in
The setting operation part 20 has a cylindrical shape and arranged with its axial direction along with the moving direction. As shown in
As shown in
One end in the axial direction of the operation cylinder 200 is a front end located on the nozzle 401 side, and the other end in the axial direction of the operation cylinder 200 is a rear end located on the operation part 412 side of the plunger 41.
The stopper flange 201 that is continuous along the entire circumference of the operation cylinder 200 in the circumferential direction has thus an annular shape and is formed on the rear end side of the operation cylinder 200.
The movable receiving part 21 includes a rod insertion part 210 having a cylindrical shape and allowing the rod part 410 to be inserted in the rod insertion part 210, and a receiving part 211 provided in the rod insertion part 210 to receive the operation part 412 of the plunger 41 on the rear end side in the moving direction.
The rod insertion part 210 is relatively rotatable to the rod part 410 in the moving direction, while the inner peripheral surface of the rod insertion part 210 and the outer peripheral surface of the rod part 410 are in contact with each other. The axial direction of the rod insertion part 210 is the same as the moving direction.
As shown in
In this manner, the amount of dosage obtained by the pressing operation against the plunger 41 by a single pressing operation (hereinafter referred to as the allowance amount for the pressing operation) is fixed by the distance by which the receiving part 211 is moved away from the operation part 412 in the forward direction, that is, by the position of the receiving part 211 relative to the moving direction.
As shown in
The fixing part 220 according to this embodiment is configured to embrace a rear end of the barrel 40 (more specifically, the flange 402 of the barrel 40) (see
The guide part 221 extends rearward from the fixing part 220 in the moving direction and is formed to enter a long hole 210a that is formed in the rod insertion part 210.
Here, the long hole 210a is formed to extend along the axial direction (i.e., the longitudinal direction) of the rod insertion part 210. Two long holes 210 are formed in the rod insertion part 210 of this embodiment, but the number of long hole(s) 210a can be one or three or more.
As shown in
The protruding part 221b is configured to contact an edge (i.e., the longitudinal side edge) that constitutes the long hole 210a in the circumferential direction. Thus, the protruding part 221b is configured to allow the rod insertion part 210 to move in the moving direction, while preventing the rod insertion part 210 from rotating in the circumferential direction. As described above, the connecting part 22 is a structure to allow the movable receiving part 21 to move along the moving direction while preventing the movable receiving part 21 from rotating.
In the connecting part 22, the guide parts 221 of the same number as that of the long holes 210a of the rod insertion part 210 are formed. Accordingly, the guide parts 221 which are separately provided are respectively inserted into the long holes 210a of the rod insertion part 210.
The attachment part 222 is formed into a cylindrical shape, on which the interlock rotating part 230 in the state where it is rotatable and prevented from being pulled out is fitted.
As shown in
In the interlock rotating part 230, a fitting groove 230a (see
As shown in
As shown in
The inward screw part 231a is formed by a female screw and the outward screw part 231b is formed by a male screw. The rotation in the circumferential direction of the rod insertion part 210 is restricted by the guide part 221 so that the rod insertion part 210 moves in the moving direction without rotation when the interlock rotating part 230 is rotated.
As shown in
As shown in
The restriction operation part 30 of this embodiment is formed by the operation cylinder 200. That is, the restriction operation part 30 is a part to be operated when the set amount of dosage of the liquid medicine is changed, the change in the set amount of dosage is restricted, and the restriction is released.
The anti-rotation part 31 has a cylindrical shape and includes a front end part 310 that is fixed to the connecting part 22 in the state where the rotation (rotation around its axis) in the circumferential direction around the plunger 41 is restricted, and a rear end part 311 that allows the operation cylinder 200 to insert into the rear end part 311 while being in a slidable state.
The anti-rotation part 31 is configured to allow the operation cylinder 200 to rotate in the circumferential direction in the state where the operation cylinder 200 moves forward toward the front end part 310 side, and configured to restrict the rotation of the operation cylinder 200 in the circumferential direction in the state where the operation cylinder 200 is moved rearward toward the rear end part 311 side.
As shown in
As shown in
The interfering projections 301 and the operation cylinder 200 form the restriction operation part 30. Each of the interfering projections 301 has a shape extending along the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the anti-rotation projection 312 (see
A plurality of anti-rotation projections 312 aligning at certain intervals along the entire circumference in the circumferential direction are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the rear end part 311 (see
As the insertion portions for the interfering projections 301 are thus provided along the entire circumference of the inner peripheral surface of the rear end part 311, it is easy to bring each adjacent ones of the anti-rotation projections 312 and the interfering projections 301 into the state where they are interfered with each other without rotating the operation cylinder 200 after the amount of dosage of the liquid medicine has been set. Therefore, the dosage adjuster 1 of this embodiment enables to switch the operation cylinder 200 from the aforementioned allowed state to the restricted state, while maintaining the amount of dosage of the liquid medicine set at the operation cylinder 200.
A plurality of interfering projections 301 are formed in the operation cylinder 200 of this embodiment, but a single interfering projection 301 can be formed in the operation cylinder 200.
As shown in
The movement restriction part 32 is pressed in the direction toward the movable receiving part 21 by the rearward movement of the operation cylinder 200, and the movement restriction part 32 is released from the pressure by the operation cylinder 200 by the forward movement of the operation cylinder 200. Further, the movement restriction part 32 is configured to come into contact with the outer surface of the movable receiving part 21 when it is pressed to the operation cylinder 200, and configured to separate from the outer surface of the movable receiving part 21 when it is released from the pressure by the operation cylinder 200.
The movement restriction part 32 according to this embodiment includes a flexible piece part 320 that is formed to extend rearward in the moving direction from the rear end of the interlock rotating part 230 and has flexibility, and a bulging part 321 that bulges outward from the outer surface of the flexible piece part 320.
Thus, it is configured so that, when the operation cylinder 200 is moved rearward, the bulging part 321 is pressed radially inward by the inner peripheral edge on the rear end side of the operation cylinder 200, to thereby allow the flexible piece part 320 to come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the movable receiving part 21.
The structure of the dosage adjuster 1 according to this embodiment is described as above. Subsequently, the usage of the dosage adjuster 1 will be described with reference to the attached drawings.
In the dosage adjuster 1 when it is not used, the setting restriction part 3 is switched to the restricted state as shown in
Subsequently, the operation cylinder 200 is rotated to allow the movable receiving part 21 to move forward to the operation part 412 as shown in
Then, as shown in
When the operation cylinder 200 is slid forward to switch the setting restriction part 3 from the restricted state to the permissible state as shown in
After the syringe 4 is used once, it is confirmed that the setting restriction part 3 is in the restricted state and then stored in, for example, a safety cabinet.
In the case where the liquid medicine in the syringe 4 is desired to be used again, the operation cylinder 200 is slid forward to switch the setting restriction part 3 from the restricted state to the permissible state, followed by rotating the operation cylinder 200 to perform the setting of the amount of dosage of the liquid medicine, then sliding the operation cylinder 200 in the rearward direction to switch the setting restriction part 3 from the permissible state to the restricted state, and moving the plunger 41 forward until the operation part 412 comes into contact with the movable receiving part 21. Thereby, the liquid medicine by the amount of dosage newly set can be discharged from the syringe 4.
According to the dosage adjuster 1 according to this embodiment, the restricted state and the permissible state can be switched by the setting restriction part 3 as described above. Thus, it is possible to prevent the setting of the amount of dosage from changing at an unintentional timing of the user by: switching into the permissible state by the setting restriction part 3 when the amount of dosage usable out of the liquid medicine filled in the syringe 4 is set; and switching into the restricted state by the setting restriction part 3 after the setting of the amount of dosage is completed.
Accordingly, the dosage adjuster 1 can produce an excellent effect of enabling the user to use the liquid medicine within the syringe by the amount of dosage according to the set amount.
Further, the operation directions among the direction to operate the setting operation part 20 that is provided to change the setting in the amount of dosage of the liquid medicine to be usable, and the direction to operate the restriction operation part 30 that is provided to restrict the change in setting of the amount of dosage by the dosage setting part 2 and release the restriction, that is, provided to switch between the restricted state and the permissible state are different from each other. Thus, it is possible to suppress unintentional change in the setting of the amount of dosage, or unintentional switching between the restricted state and the permissible state caused by erroneous operation.
Moreover, since the user can press the plunger 41 with the thumb placing on the operation part 412 of the plunger 41 and the other fingers hooking on the front surface of the stopper flange 201, a force directed in a rearward direction (i.e., in a direction in which the plunger 41 is moved rearward) in the moving direction (i.e., a force in a direction in which the operation part 412 of the plunger 41 and the stopper flange 201 come close to each other) is applied to the stopper flange 201 when the liquid medicine in the syringe 4 is ejected by the plunger 41.
According to the dosage adjuster 1, since a single member enables the setting of the amount of dosage of the liquid medicine and enables the switching between the restricted state and the accepted state, it is also possible to improve the operability.
Here, the restriction operation part 30 is configured to switch from the permissible state to the restricted state as the restriction operation part 30 is operated to slide in the rearward direction. Thus, in the case where the restriction operation part 30 is not switched to the restricted state when the plunger 41 is pressed, a force in a direction in which the operation part 412 of the plunger 41 and the stopper flange 201 come close to each other. Accordingly, it is possible to allow the restriction operation part 30 to slide to thereby switch from the permissible state to the restricted state or it is possible to make the user aware that the operational state is not switched from the permissible state to the restricted state.
In the dosage adjuster 1, even in the case where the liquid medicine filled in the syringe 4 is divided and used multiple times, the amount of dosage can be set by moving forward the receiving part 211 of the dosage setting part 2 with reference to the state where the operation part 412 contacts the receiving part 211 of the dosage setting part 2. Therefore, the dosage adjuster 1 for the syringe having the above structure is configured to set the amount or distance by which the receiving part 211 of the dosage setting part 2 is moved forward, constantly with reference to the position of the operation part 412. Thereby, it is possible to simply and accurately set the amount of dosage usable out of the liquid medicine.
The dosage adjuster for the syringe of the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiment, and it is matter of course that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.
Although not specifically mentioned in the aforementioned embodiment, the syringe 4 can be a syringe filled with the liquid medicine (so-called a pre-filled syringe) or a syringe into which the liquid medicine is suctioned when it is used. Also, the syringe 4 can be a dual chamber syringe in which a freeze-dried preparation and a solvent can be filled and mixed in the syringe.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the stopper flange 201 is formed into an annular shape but is not limited to this configuration. The stopper flange 201 can be formed into, for example, a strip shape or a polygonal shape as long as the user can hook the fingers when the user presses the plunger 41.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the rod insertion part 210 can be moved forward and rearward in the moving direction, but is not limited to this configuration. The rod insertion part 210 can be configured to, for example, only move toward the front side (i.e., move forward) in the moving direction. However, the rod insertion part 210 movable in both of forward and rearward directions in the moving direction improves the operability in the setting of the amount of dosage.
Although not specifically mentioned in the aforementioned embodiment, the shape of the receiving part 211 can be a shape extending radially outward of the rod insertion part 210 from the entire circumference of the outer peripheral surface of the rod insertion part 210, that is, can be a shape other than the flange shape. However, the rear end surface of the receiving part 211 serves as a part to indicate a pressing amount or distance (i.e., the setting of the amount of dosage) of the plunger 41 and thus is preferably a flat surface.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the setting restriction part 3 is configured to restrict the change in the setting of the amount of dosage by restricting the rotational motion of the setting operation part 20 and the sliding motion of the movable receiving part 21, but is not limited to this configuration. The setting restriction part 3 can be configured to restrict the change in the setting of the amount of dosage by, for example, releasing the engagement of the setting operation part 20 with the interlock rotating part 230 in the circumferential direction, that is, by preventing the setting operation part 20 from rotating along with rotation of the interlock rotating part 230.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the restriction operation part 30 is configured to switch from the permissible state to the restricted state as it moves in the rearward direction and switch from the restricted state to the permissible state as it moves in the forward direction, but is not limited to this configuration. The restriction operation part 30 can be configured to, for example, switch from the restricted state to the permissible state as it moves in the rearward direction and switch from the permissible state to the restricted state as it moves in the forward direction.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the restriction operation part 30 is configured to slide in the moving direction to thereby switch between the restricted state and the permissible state, but is not limited to this configuration. The restriction operation part 30 can be configured to, for example, rotate in the circumferential direction around the plunger 41 to switch between the restricted state and the permissible state. In such a case, the setting operation part 20 is preferably configured to be slidable in the moving direction so that this slide enables to set the amount of dosage.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-234354 | Dec 2019 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2020/048468 | 12/24/2020 | WO |
