Claims
- 1. An injection device comprising:
a housing; a reservoir for containing a medicament; a needle for delivering the medicament; and a drive mechanism capable of exerting a force sufficient to expel the medicament from the reservoir through the needle, the drive mechanism comprising one or more drive springs formed of a shape memory alloy.
- 2. The injection device of claim 1, wherein the one or more drive springs are formulated to provide a shape memory mode of behavior within an operational temperature range of the injection device.
- 3. The injection device of claim 1, wherein the one or more drive springs are fabricated of a shape memory alloy that is in an austenite phase within an ambient temperature range of an environment of use of the injection device.
- 4. The injection device of claim 3, wherein the ambient temperature range of the environment of use is about 20° C. to about 25° C.
- 5. The injection device of claim 4, wherein the one or more shape memory alloy drive springs are fabricated using a shape memory alloy that is in a martensite phase at a temperature that is at or above about 4° C.
- 6. The injection device of claim 1, wherein the one or more drive springs are fabricated of a shape memory alloy that is in a martensite phase within an ambient temperature range of an environment of use of the injection device.
- 7. The injection device of claim 6, wherein the ambient temperature range of the environment of use is about 20° C. to about 25° C.
- 8. The injector of claim 7, wherein the one or more shape memory alloy drive springs are fabricated using a shape memory alloy that is in a austenite phase at or above about 37° C.
- 9. The injection device of claim 1, wherein the shape memory alloy forming the one or more drive springs is formulated to achieve a full austenite phase and a full martensite phase within an operational temperature range of the autoinjector.
- 10. The injection device of claim 9, wherein the operational temperature range of the autoinjector is from about 4° C. to about 37° C.
- 11. An autoinjector comprising
a housing; a reservoir for containing a medicament; a needle for delivering the medicament; and a drive mechanism comprising a shape memory alloy drive spring, the shape memory alloy being formulated to provide a drive spring that exerts a first force when the drive spring in a martensite phase and a second force, which is larger than the first force, when the drive spring is in an austenite phase.
- 12. The autoinjector of claim 11, wherein the first force is at least 20% less than the second force.
- 13. The autoinjector of claim 11, wherein the first force is at least 30% less than the second force.
- 14. The autoinjector of claim 11, wherein the first force is at least 40% less than the second force.
- 15. The autoinjector of claim 11, wherein the first force is at least 50% less than the second force.
- 16. The autoinjector of claim 11, wherein the shape memory alloy drive spring is formulated to provide a shape memory mode of behavior within an operational temperature range of the injection device.
- 17. The autoinjector of claim 11, wherein the shape memory alloy drive spring is fabricated of a shape memory alloy that is in an austenite phase within an ambient temperature range of an environment of use of the injection device.
- 18. The autoinjector of claim 17, wherein the ambient temperature range of the environment of use is about 20° C. to about 25° C.
- 19. The autoinjector of claim 18, wherein the shape memory alloy drive spring is fabricated using a shape memory alloy that is in a martensite phase at a temperature that is at or above about 4° C.
- 20. The autoinjector of claim 11, wherein the shape memory alloy drive spring is fabricated of a shape memory alloy that is in a martensite phase within an ambient temperature range of an environment of use of the injection device.
- 21. The autoinjector of claim 20, wherein the ambient temperature range of the environment of use is about 20° C. to about 25° C.
- 22. The autoinjector of claim 21, wherein the shape memory alloy drive spring is fabricated using a shape memory alloy that is in a austenite phase at or above about 37° C.
- 23. The autoinjector of claim 11, wherein the shape memory alloy drive spring is formed of a shape memory alloy formulated to achieve a full austenite phase and a full martensite phase within an operational temperature range of the autoinjector.
- 24. The autoinjector of claim 23, wherein the operational temperature range of the autoinjector is from about 4° C. to about 37° C.
- 25. The injection device of claim 1, wherein the one or more drive springs are coiled wave springs.
- 26. The injection device of claim 11, wherein the shape memory alloy drive spring is a coiled wave spring.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the priority of provisional application Serial No. 60/391,322, filed Jun. 23, 2002, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60391322 |
Jun 2002 |
US |