The present invention relates generally to a self-injection device, and more particularly to self-injection device with a multi-position cap.
Medication delivery pens are hypodermic syringes used for self-injection of precisely measured doses of medication. Pens are widely used, for example, by diabetics to self-inject insulin. A typical prior art medication delivery pen includes a cartridge which contains a volume of liquid medication sufficient for several doses. The dose is injected into a tissue area, such as the intramuscular tissue layer, the subcutaneous tissue layer, or the intradermal tissue layer.
The assembly and operation of a typical pen injection device is described in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,645,264, issued on Jan. 12, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Pen injection devices, such as the exemplary pen injector 50, as shown in
A pen needle assembly 10 (hereinafter referred to as pen needle 10 for brevity) includes a hub 20, a patient needle 11 extending from a patient end of the pen needle, and a septum-penetrating needle cannula 18 disposed within the hub 20 on a non-patient side thereof. The septum-penetrating needle cannula 18 is in fluid communication with the patient needle 11. The hub 20 is preferably screwed onto the lower housing 17. In attaching the hub 20 to the lower housing 17, the septum-penetrating cannula 18 pierces the septum 16, but the septum 16 does not move with respect to the medicament cartridge 12. The stopper 15, however, is axially displaceable within the medicament cartridge 12 while maintaining a fluid tight seal. The distal movement of the plunger or stopper 15 within the medicament cartridge 12 (due to advancement of the lead screw 7) causes medication to be forced into the patient needle 11 of the hub 20.
To protect a user, or anyone who handles the pen needle assembly 10, an outer shield 29, which attaches to the hub 20, covers the hub 20. The outer shield 29 can also be used as a handle or grip to screw hub 20 onto or off pen injector 50. An inner shield 28 covers the patient needle 11 within the outer shield 29. The inner shield 28 can be secured to the hub 20 to cover the patient needle 11 by any suitable means, such as an interference fit or a snap fit. The outer shield 29 and inner shield 28 are removed prior to use. The cap 21 fits snugly against outer sleeve 13 to allow a user to securely carry the pen injection device 50.
A pen injector, such as pen injector 50, can be designed to have the shortest length possible, or it can be designed to protect a pen needle 10 that has already been assembled to the pen injector 50. While it is highly desirable to produce the shortest, smallest pen possible, there are times when a user might want to pre-assemble a pen needle 10 to a pen injector. For example, a user may be going to a restaurant to eat and may need to provide an injection of very fast acting insulin just prior to eating. When timed properly, such an injection provides a more consistent glucose level. But the injection cannot be given too far in advance because the user's glucose level will drop too much. This situation effectively requires that the injection be given at the restaurant. For convenience, the user may wish to pre-assemble the pen needle 10 with the pen injector so that it is ready to use. If the pen injector 50 is designed to protect an assembled pen needle 10 within the cap 21 when the pen needle 10 is not assembled with the pen injector 50, the pen injector 50 is longer than it needs to be, and thus takes up more space. What is needed is a pen injector that can accomplish both modalities, one in which the pen injector is as small as possible, and one in which a pen needle can be accommodated while assembled to the pen injector.
An aspect of the present invention is to provide a self-injection device with a body and a cap that can accommodate and protect a pen needle assembled to the body in a first mode, and that can minimize the size of the self-injection device in a second mode.
The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing a self-injection device, including a pen body connectable with a pen needle, and a cap selectively connectable to the pen body in a first orientation with respect to the pen body to minimize the length or volume of the self injection device, and in a second orientation to provide sufficient length or volume in an interior of the cap to house a pen needle connected with the pen body.
The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are also achieved by providing a self-injection device, including a body selectively connectable with a pen needle at a first end of the body, and a cap having an interior cavity, the cap being connectable to the body in a first orientation with respect to the body, and in a second orientation with respect to the body that is axially further from a second end of the body than the first orientation, to accommodate the pen needle connected to the body within the interior cavity, the second end of the body being opposite to the first end.
The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are also achieved by providing a method using a self-injection device comprising a body and a cap, the method including the operations of: at a first time, connecting the cap with the body in a first orientation in which the length or volume of the of the self-injection device is minimized; and at a second time, connecting the cap with the body in a second orientation in which, with respect to the first orientation, a length or volume in an interior of the cap is increased to house a pen needle connected with the pen body.
Additional and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The above and/or other aspects and advantages of embodiments of the invention will be more readily appreciated from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The descriptions of these embodiments exemplify the present invention by referring to the drawings.
The body 108 includes an axial protrusion 112 and an axial recess 116. Similarly, the cap 104 includes an axial protrusion 120 and an axial recess 124. In the first orientation, the respective axial protrusions 112 and 120 abut the respective axial recesses 116 and 124. In other words, as shown in
Showing another perspective view of the body 108,
According to one embodiment, the anti-rotation feature includes an axial horn protrusion 228 disposed on a top, radial side of the body axial protrusion 212, and a corresponding axial horn recess 232 disposed on a radial side of the cap axial recess 224. As shown in
According to another embodiment, as shown in
Although the horns 228 are illustrated as being disposed on the body 208 and the horn recesses 232 are illustrated as being disposed on the cap 204, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the horns 228 may be disposed on the cap 204 and the corresponding horn recesses 232 may be disposed on the body 208 without departing from the scope of the present invention. Similarly, although the key 234 is illustrated as being disposed on the body 208 and the slot 236 is illustrated as being disposed on the cap 204, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the key 234 may be disposed on the cap 204 and the corresponding slot 236 may be disposed on the body 208 without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Additionally, although the embodiment shown in
To secure the cap 204 to the body 208 in the first orientation, similar to the embodiment of
Although the radial connecting protrusion 152 is illustrated as the connection mechanism for securing the cap to the body in the second orientation in the embodiment shown in the first embodiment shown in
Embodiments of the present invention provide a cap that is connectable to the body in a first orientation in which the cap is as compact as possible to allow the smallest pen injector. Additionally, the cap is connectable to the body in another orientation to provide space for protection for a pen needle that has been assembled to the pen injector.
Although only a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/266,697, filed Dec. 4, 2009 at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2010/003085 | 12/3/2010 | WO | 00 | 7/20/2012 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2011/068542 | 6/9/2011 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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61266697 | Dec 2009 | US |