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US-12623027-B2 - Injector safety device

US12623027B2US 12623027 B2US12623027 B2US 12623027B2US-12623027-B2

Abstract

A safety member for use with an injection device is disclosed. The safety member includes a blocking ring extending into a housing of the injection device in blocking association with a latch member associated with a trigger mechanism of the injector, in which the blocking ring blocks movement of a portion of the trigger mechanism into a firing position. The safety member further includes a manipulable portion disposed outside the housing and configured for hand-manipulation by a user to remove the safety member from the housing to unblock the firing mechanism to enable firing of the injector.

Inventors

  • Julius C. Sund
  • Eric Lagman
  • Peter A. HOEFT
  • Paul R Lesch, Jr.
  • Thomas E. Kramer

Assignees

  • ANTARES PHARMA, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20230510

Claims (18)

  1. 1 . An injector, comprising: a housing; a container within the housing, the container defining a fluid chamber containing a medicament and including a plunger moveably disposed in the fluid chamber and defining a portion of the fluid chamber; a ram moveably disposed within the housing, the ram configured to move the plunger relative to the fluid chamber; a deformable latch moveably disposed within the housing and configured to engage a portion of the ram in a latching connection, a trigger moveably disposed within the housing between a ready position where the latch is held in engagement with the ram by the trigger to prevent movement of the ram relative to the housing and a firing position where the latch is released and the ram is permitted to move relative to the housing; at least one safety member removably coupled to the housing, the at least one safety member configured to restrict movement of the trigger to the firing position when coupled to the housing; and a guard being moveable with respect to the housing, the guard configured to move the trigger into the firing position, wherein axial movement of the trigger in a proximate direction disengages the latching connection between the deformable latch and the ram.
  2. 2 . The injector of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a first opening and a first safety member of the at least one safety member configured to block movement of the trigger, wherein the first safety member extends through the first opening of the housing with an end of the first safety member disposed within the housing so as to abut a portion of the trigger.
  3. 3 . The injector of claim 2 , wherein the first safety member is retained within the first opening in the housing by a snap fit and is configured to be removed by a user to permit movement of the trigger into the firing position.
  4. 4 . The injector of claim 2 , wherein the first safety member is attached to a safety body disposed outside of the housing.
  5. 5 . The injector of claim 2 , wherein the trigger is moveable from the ready position to the firing position by a force in a first amount, and wherein a frictional relationship is present between the trigger and the latch creating a retaining force between the trigger and the latch in a second amount, and wherein the first safety member restricts the movement of the trigger into the firing position by providing a safety force to the trigger in a third amount such that the first amount is greater than the second amount by about 2.5 lbs.
  6. 6 . The injector of claim 1 , wherein the latch includes a flexible arm and a projection, wherein the ram includes an indentation, wherein the projection is receivable within the indentation, and wherein the projection is held within the indentation when the trigger is in the ready position.
  7. 7 . The injector of claim 6 , wherein the indentation and the projection are configured such that the latch restricts movement of the ram when the projection is held in the indentation by the trigger and such that movement of the trigger into the firing position allows the projection and the indentation to disengage and the ram to move axially relative to the latch.
  8. 8 . The injector of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a second opening and a second safety member of the at least one safety member configured to block movement of the guard, the guard being moveable with respect to the housing from a protecting position to an actuating position, wherein the guard moves the trigger into the firing position as the guard moves from the protecting position to the actuating position, wherein the second safety member extends through the second opening such that an end of the second safety member abuts a portion of the guard, and wherein the second safety member is coupled to a safety body disposed outside of the housing.
  9. 9 . The injector of claim 8 , wherein the guard includes a proximal end and the trigger includes a distal end, wherein the proximal end of the guard is disposed axially spaced from the distal end of the trigger when the guard is in the protecting position, and wherein the second safety member is disposed axially between the proximal end of the guard and the distal end of the trigger.
  10. 10 . The injector of claim 9 , wherein the housing includes a first opening and wherein the first safety member extends through the first opening of the housing with an end of the first safety member disposed within the housing so as to abut a portion of the trigger, and wherein each of the first safety member and the second safety member are coupled to the safety body.
  11. 11 . The injector of claim 9 , wherein each of the first safety member and the second safety member are coupled to the safety body.
  12. 12 . The injector of claim 1 , wherein the guard extends distally of the housing and the guard moves proximally relative to the housing as the guard moves from the protecting position to the actuating position.
  13. 13 . The injector of claim 8 , wherein the second safety member blocks movement of the guard into the actuating position such that the trigger is restricted from moving into the firing position.
  14. 14 . The injector of claim 1 , further comprising: a needle associated with the container, the needle having a needle tip to penetrate skin of a patient to inject the medicament, wherein the guard has a distal end that is positioned distally of the needle tip when the guard is in the protecting position, and wherein the distal end of the guard is positioned proximally of the needle tip when the guard is in the actuating position.
  15. 15 . The injector of claim 1 , further comprising: a sleeve affixed within the housing and configured for retaining the container; and a third safety member of the at least one safety member slidably associated with the sleeve so as to be moveable from a first position into a second position, wherein the guard is retractable into the actuating position when the third safety member is in the first position and the guard is prevented from moving to into the actuating position when the third safety member is in the second position.
  16. 16 . The injector of claim 15 further comprising: a biasing element positioned within the housing to resiliently bias the guard toward the protecting position such that subsequent to retraction of the guard into the actuating position, the guard returns to the protecting position, wherein retraction of the guard engages the guard with the third safety member, and wherein the subsequent retraction of the guard to the protecting position moves the third safety member into the second position.
  17. 17 . The injector of claim 8 , wherein the second safety member comprises a cap configured to cover an open end of the guard, wherein the guard includes a flange and the cap includes a projection coupled to the flange, a portion of the cap abutting a portion of the housing such that the cap restricts retraction of the guard into the actuating position.
  18. 18 . The injector of claim 1 , further comprising: a third safety member comprises a cap configured to cover an open end of the guard, wherein the guard includes a flange and the cap includes a projection coupled to the flange, a portion of the cap abutting a portion of the housing such that the cap restricts retraction of the guard into the actuating position.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/925,549 filed Jul. 10, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/835,439 filed Dec. 7, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,709,844, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 14/339,068 filed on Jul. 23, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,867,949, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/921,940, filed Jan. 19, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,814,834, which is a national stage entry of International Patent Application No. PCT/US09/36682, filed Mar. 10, 2009, which in turn, claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/035,350, filed Mar. 10, 2008, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to injectors with safety devices, and more particularly to injectors with devices to help prevent inadvertent firing. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various injection devices exist that use a form of an automated mechanism to actuate injection of a liquid medicament into a patient. Examples of such devices include jet injectors, both needle-free and needle-assisted, and autoinjectors. Although the precise mechanisms used to complete injection can vary within and between these devices, most include a feature within the injection mechanism that stores kinetic energy to be used to drive the injection mechanism during use. Further, many known injection mechanisms include a trigger mechanism to secure the device such that the kinetic energy remains stored until injection is desired, whereby actuation of the trigger releases the injection mechanism, allowing the stored kinetic energy drives the injection mechanism to cause injection. Examples of needle-free jet injectors are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,599,302; 5,062,830; and 4,790,824. These traditional injectors administer medication as a fine, high velocity jet delivered under sufficient pressure to enable the jet to pass through the skin. The pressure used to deliver the medication is typically greater than approximately 4000 p.s.i. inside the compartment that contains the medicament in the injector. The injection mechanism in such needle-free jet injectors can be arranged to apply a force to a medicament storing chamber within the device such that the required pressure is created within the chamber. Self-injectors or autoinjectors like the ones disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,553,962 and 4,378,015 and PCT Publications WO 95/29720 and WO 97/14455 are constructed to inject medicament at a rate and in a manner similar to hand-operated hypodermic syringes. The self-injectors or autoinjectors have needles that are extended at the time of activation to penetrate the user's skin to deliver medicament through movement of the drug container and related needle. Thus the mechanism that provides the force to deliver the medicament in self-injectors and autoinjectors is also used to extend the needle and the drug container to cause the insertion of the needle through the user's skin and then to apply a force to a plunger movably disposed within the drug container to cause the medicament to be expelled from the container through the needle. The autoinjectors manufactured, for example by Owen Mumford, thus use very low pressures to inject the medicament, which is injected through a needle in a relatively slow stream. The pressures applied in the medicament-containing compartments of this type of device are very low, reaching a maximum of around 60 p.s.i. and take around 5 to 10 seconds to inject 1 mL. Additionally, needle-assisted jet injectors have been developed that utilize a needle to initially penetrate the skin, most often to a depth less than that of a traditional hypodermic injector or autoinjectors. Once the skin is penetrated with the needle, the jet mechanism is activated, causing the medicament containing liquid within the injector to be pressurized and expelled through the needle and into the skin. The injection mechanism in needle-assisted jet injectors can be configured to move the drug container and the needle to move forward to penetrate the skin and then exert the necessary injection force to a plunger moveably disposed within the container. Alternatively, the needle and drug container can be properly positioned to penetrate the skin by bringing said needle and container to close proximity with the skin resulting in needle insertion while keeping the needle and drug container in a stationary position and the injection mechanism can be structured to pressurize the container. The pressure of the medicament within the injector can be less than that of a traditional jet injector, because the tough outer layers of the skin have already been penetrated by the needle. Similarly, the pressure of the medicament is preferably higher than that of an auto injector or the like, causing the medicament to penetrate the skin or the tissue below the sk