The present invention is related to drug delivery devices, and in particular to a drug delivery device that includes a single shape memory alloy wire actuator drive to advance a lead screw via a ratcheting mechanism.
Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators are used for a wide range of applications. One typically application for SMA actuators is to perform limited displacements which generate work. In such displacement applications, the SMA actuator is typically in the form of a wire that transforms linear motion into incremental relative motion. When applying a current to the cold (low temperature or martensitic state) shape memory alloy (SMA) wire the temperature rises until the transformation temperature is reached (high temperature or austenite state) and due to a crystalline restructuring of the material, a contraction occurs. With such a contraction, force or torque is thus generated. However, it is to be appreciated that after the contraction, the SMA wire does not reset itself and therefore a counterforce has to bring the SMA wire into its original position.
In the field of drug delivery devices, prior art drug delivery systems which use shape memory alloy actuators are typically reset by having opposed SMA wires. Such a configuration allows higher cycle frequencies. However, such a design is more complex and additional space is required for the second SMA wire.
It is against the above background that the present invention provides a drug delivery device that includes a single shape memory alloy wire actuator to advance a lead screw via a ratcheting mechanism which provides for a more compact and less complicated design.
In a first embodiment, a drive system used to dispense a liquid drug from a drug container having a plunger is disclosed. The drive system comprises a lead screw having a rotational axis and operably connected to the plunger. A ratcheting mechanism having first and second ratchet wheels provided along the rotational axis is also provided. The first ratchet wheel is connected to the lead screw to move the lead screw. A shape memory alloy wire is operably connected to the second ratchet wheel and configured to drive incrementally the rotation of the second ratchet wheel via a contraction, which in turn drives the rotation of the first ratchet wheel about the rotational axis which moves the lead screw and advances the plunger to dispense the liquid drug from the drug container.
In a second embodiment, a method of dispensing a liquid drug from a drug container having a plunger is disclosed. The method comprises operably connecting to the plunger a lead screw having a rotational axis, and providing along the rotational axis a ratcheting mechanism having first and second ratchet wheels. The first ratchet wheel is connected to the lead screw to move the lead screw. The method further includes operably connecting a shape memory alloy wire to the second ratchet wheel, and driving incrementally the rotation of the second ratchet wheel via contracting the shaped memory alloy wire to drive the rotation of the first ratchet wheel about the rotational axis which moves the lead screw and advances the plunger to dispense the liquid drug from the drug container.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description of various embodiments of the invention taken together with the accompanying drawings.
The following detailed description of the various embodiments of the present invention can be best understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which:
In the following description of the embodiments of the invention, skilled artisans appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiment(s) of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings are merely schematic representations, intending to depict only typical embodiments of the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. The invention will be described with additional specificity and detail through the accompanying drawings. The description of the invention may contain, for example, such descriptive terms as up, down, top, bottom, right or left. These terms are meant to provide a general orientation of the parts of the invention and are not meant to be limiting as to the scope of the invention.
In the illustrated embodiment of
In one embodiment, the facing ratcheting surfaces 20, 22 are opposing axially extended teeth, such that rotation in a first (drive) direction, indicated by arrow D, the teeth of both ratchet wheels 16, 18 mesh and rotate together, and in a second (return or reset) direction, indicated by symbol S, the teeth of the second ratchet wheel 18 slip or rides over the teeth of the first ratchet wheel 16, such that second ratchet wheel 18 rotates relative to the first ratchet wheel 16 about a rotational axis, indicated by symbol X. Accordingly, the ratcheting mechanism 12 provides a unidirectional ratchet like motion, which rotates the lead screw 14 about the rotational axis X in only the first direction D.
In the illustrated embodiment of
The second function simultaneously provided is that the torsion spring 34 acts as a reset mechanism to reset the SMA wire 10 after a contraction, indicated by symbol C, which rotates the lead screw 14 about the rotational axis X. In particular, the torsion spring 34 stretches the SMA wire 10 back to an original (initial) position via applying a resetting force, which is indicated by symbol R. The resetting force R is provide via a first end (or portion thereof) of the torsion spring 34 being connected to the second ratchet wheel 18, and a second end (or portion thereof) of the torsion spring 34 being mounted to the post 24. Accordingly, rotation of the second ratchet wheel 18 in the first (drive) direction D, which also rotates the first ratchet wheel 16 in the same direction, causes the ends of the torsion spring 34 to move (twist) relative to each other, thereby loading the torsion spring 34 with torque. In this manner, upon removal of the excitation to the SMA wire 10, the torque of the torsion spring 34 counter-rotates the second ratchet wheel 18 about the post 24, thereby returning the SMA wire 10 to its initial (pre-contraction) position.
As shown by
As the first ratchet wheel 16 of the ratcheting mechanism 12 is fixed to the lead screw 14, rotation of the ratcheting mechanism in the first (drive) direction D causes the lead screw 14 to also rotate about the rotational axis X. It is to be appreciated that the lead screw 14 is only free to rotate and is prevented from translating axially.
A threaded nut 42 engages the lead screw 14. The threaded nut 42 is provided with a projection or key portion 44 which is situated in a slot or keyway 46 that is mounted, for example, to the base 30 of the infusion pump 32, both of which are illustrated in block diagram for ease of illustration. In this manner, the threaded nut 42 is prevented by the keyway 46 from rotating about the rotational axis X with the ratcheting mechanism 12 and lead screw 14 in the first direction D, but is free to translate incrementally along axis X. The incremental advancement of the threaded nut 42 along the keyway 46 causes a plunger 48 to be pushed into a syringe-like drug cartridge or container 50. The pushing of the plunger 48, via incremental advancement of the threaded nut 42, causes a liquid drug to be expelled from the container 50 in a controlled manner.
In one embodiment, the controller 36 includes capacitor(s) 52 for storing a charge received form a power source 54, in which the drive signal 40 is a single charge. The signal charge from the controller 36 causes the incremental rotation of the ratcheting mechanism 12 and lead screw 14. As mentioned previously above, this rotation advances the plunger 48 into container 50 to dispense a predetermined volume of the drug out of the drug container, such as for example, into the subcutaneous tissue of a patient. A hard stop 56 is provided to ensure that the ratcheting mechanism 12 is incremental rotated a desire amount with each contraction of the SMA wire 10. In this embodiment, the hard stop 56 is also electrically connected to the controller, via electrical conductor 58, and provides a motion feedback signal of the ratcheting mechanism 12. In one embodiment, the hard stop 56 provides the controller 36 the motion feedback signal upon a projection 60 provided by the second ratchet wheel 18 contacting the hard stop 56 due to rotation of the ratcheting mechanism 12 in the first (drive) direction D. In this manner, the hard stop 56 helps to provide accuracy in the dispensing of the liquid drug since accurate displacement of the SMA wire 10 is very difficult to achieve.
To move the ratcheting mechanism 12, via the parallel reciprocating motion of the sliding mechanism 64, the second ratchet wheel 18 provides a pin 66 that fits into a S-curve shaped slot 68 of the sliding mechanism 64. The sliding mechanism 64 is guided parallel to the rotational axis X and when the SMA wire 10 contracts, the sliding mechanism 64 moves axially and the S-curve shaped slot 68 displaces the pin 66 angularly about the rotational axis X. This motion results in an incremental rotation of the ratchet wheels 16, 18 and lead screw 14 in the first direction D and therefore in an incremental axial advancement of the threaded nut 42. For brevity, as the pump drive 300 advances the plunger 48 in the same manner as described above with reference to the pump drive 100 shown by
Another embodiment of a pump drive 400 according to the present invention is shown by
As shown, the insert portion 70 is accommodated in the second ratchet wheel 18 such that the flexible teeth 72 is engaged by the rigid teeth 74 when the second ratchet wheel is rotated in the first (drive) direction D, and the rigid teeth 74 will slip pass the flexible teeth 72 when the second ratchet wheel 18 is rotated in the opposite direction via the resetting force R provided by reset spring 62 after a contraction C of the SMA wire 10. An end cap 76 is mounted rotatably to an end of the insert portion 70 adjacent the second ratchet wheel 18 on the side opposed to the first ratchet wheel 16, to maintain the teeth 72, 74 in axial alignment along the rotational axis X. For brevity, as the pump drive 400 advances the plunger 48 in the same manner as described above with reference to the pump drive 200 shown by
In all the illustrative pump drive embodiments shown by
As shown by
In the illustrated embodiment shown by
Although not limited to, some of the noted advantages of the present invention are as follows: the inherent precision of the motion from the shape memory alloy wire actuator arrangement which can be used to accurately deliver very small doses (i.e., about 100 nL), nearly silent operation, fewer moving parts, and smaller parts. Such advantages result in an overall compact and low cost drug delivery pump for the consumer.
The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and other modifications and variations may be possible in light of the above teachings. The above embodiments disclosed were chosen and described to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention. It is intended that the appended claims be construed to include other alternative embodiments of the invention except insofar as limited by the prior art.
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