Mechanical syringe accessory

• US 10,265,477 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2016
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allergan, Inc. (Canada) (Abbvie Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Allergan, Inc. (Canada) (Abbvie Incorporated)
• Inventors: Schwab, Justin J., Kayda, Edwin J., Dominguez, Zachary, Mudd, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehta, Bhisma
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ponton, James D
• Application Number:
  US15/064,537
• Publication Number:
  US 20160213854A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,141 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/3126 Specific display means related to dosing
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/581 by audible feedback
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/582 by tactile feedback
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/583 by visual feedback
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31501 Means for blocking or restricting the movement of the rod or piston A61M5/5013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31526 by means of stepwise axial movements, e.g. ratchet mechanisms or detents
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31535 Means improving security or handling thereof, e.g. blocking means, means preventing insufficient dosing, means allowing correction of overset dose
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31551 including axial movement of dose setting member
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31578 based on axial translation, i.e. components directly operatively associated and axially moved with plunger rod
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31595 Pre-defined multi-dose administration by repeated overcoming of means blocking the free advancing movement of piston rod, e.g. by tearing or de-blocking

Abstract

Described herein are syringe accessories that can be attached to standard syringes. These accessories utilize one or more mechanisms that can provide at least one additional sensory feedback to the user when performing an aliquot or dosed injection. In other embodiments, the accessories can prevent overdosing.

Claims

1. An accessory for a syringe comprising:

a shaft including a spiral and a plurality of intermittent stops disposed along the spiral, wherein a distance between a first one of the intermittent stops and a second one of the intermittent stops is configured to define a dose increment, wherein the shaft has a first translational degree of freedom and does not have any rotational degree of freedom relative to a barrel of the syringe;

a rotating traveler having a second translational degree of freedom and a rotational degree of freedom relative to the barrel; and

a fixed ratchet including valleys configured to engage the rotating traveler,

wherein the shaft is at least partially attached to a plunger of the syringe.

2. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the fixed ratchet is attached to a flange on the syringe.

3. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the shaft is configured to move with the first translational degree of freedom to engage the rotating traveler.

4. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the rotating traveler includes a spring that provides the second translational degree of freedom.

5. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the shaft is configured to move within the barrel to reach a first dose increment upon application of pressure by a user, and wherein the shaft is configured to reset for a subsequent dose increment upon removal of the pressure.

6. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the rotating traveler is configured to spin around the spiral.

7. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the valleys of the fixed ratchet do not interact with the shaft.

8. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the fixed ratchet does not have any degree of freedom relative to the barrel.

9. The accessory of claim 1,

wherein, when the plunger is depressed in a distal direction, the shaft is configured to move with the first translational degree of freedom to compress a spring, and

wherein, when the plunger is released, the spring is configured to urge the shaft in a proximal direction.

10. The accessory of claim 9, wherein, when the plunger is released by a user, the rotating traveler is configured to rotate toward a next step of the fixed ratchet.

11. An accessory for a syringe comprising:

a shaft defining a longitudinal axis and having a plurality of stops, each of the stops being associated with a predetermined dose increment, the shaft being rotatably fixed about the longitudinal axis and translatable along the longitudinal axis relative to a barrel of the syringe to eject the predetermined dose increment;

a ratchet component being translatably fixed along and rotatably fixed about the longitudinal axis, the ratchet component including a series of peaks and valleys extending circumferentially about the longitudinal axis; and

a traveler component having a base portion and a spring-loaded interface portion coupled to the base portion, the base portion being translatably fixed along and rotatable about the longitudinal axis, the spring-loaded interface portion being engageable with the ratchet component in a first rotational position of the traveler component to restrict rotation of the traveler component about the longitudinal axis, the spring-loaded interface portion further being longitudinally compressible along the longitudinal axis in response to contact with and translation of the shaft during ejection of the predetermined dose increment, the spring-loaded interface portion being configured to urge rotation of the traveler component toward a second rotational position about the longitudinal axis during compression of the spring-loaded interface portion, the spring-loaded interface portion being configured to be fully compressed against a given stop of the shaft for limiting longitudinal translation of the shaft to permit ejection of only the predetermined dose increment, the spring-loaded interface portion being configured to rebound toward and engage with the ratchet component in the second rotational position to restrict further rotation of the traveler component relative to the ratchet component.

12. The accessory of claim 11, wherein the shaft is configured to translate distally to engage with and compress the spring-loaded interface portion, and wherein a spring force of the spring-loaded interface portion is configured to cause the shaft to translate proximally.

13. The accessory of claim 11, wherein the ratchet component comprises a plurality of teeth.

14. The accessory of claim 11, wherein the shaft comprises a spiral contacting edge having a plurality of spiral portions, each of the spiral portions being positioned between a given pair of stops of the plurality of stops along the spiral contacting edge.

15. A metered dose syringe comprising:

a syringe barrel defining a longitudinal axis;

a plunger shaft longitudinally movable within and rotatably fixed relative to the syringe barrel, the plunger shaft having a distal edge and a plurality of stops disposed along the distal edge for providing a predetermined dose increment; and

a dosage feedback mechanism including a ratchet component and a traveler component, the ratchet component being translatably and rotatably fixed relative to the syringe barrel, the ratchet component including a series of peaks and valleys extending circumferentially about the longitudinal axis, the traveler component having a base portion and a spring-loaded interface portion coupled to the base portion, the base portion being translatably fixed relative to the syringe barrel and rotatable about the longitudinal axis,

wherein the spring-loaded interface portion is engageable with the ratchet component to restrict rotation of the traveler component, the plunger shaft being depressible to (i) contact the distal edge thereof against the spring-loaded interface portion, (ii) cause rotation of the traveler component about the longitudinal axis, and (iii) fully compress the spring-loaded interface portion against a given stop of the plurality of stops of the distal edge for limiting longitudinal translation of the plunger shaft to permit ejection of only the predetermined dose increment.

16. The metered dose syringe of claim 15, wherein the spring-loaded interface portion is configured to rebound toward and engage with the ratchet component to restrict further rotation of the traveler component relative to the ratchet component.

17. The metered dose syringe of claim 15, wherein the distal edge comprises a plurality of spiral portions, each of the spiral portions being positioned between a given pair of stops of the plurality of stops along the distal edge.

18. The metered dose syringe of claim 15, wherein the ratchet component comprises a plurality of teeth.