Auto-Injector Apparatus

Abstract

An auto-injector apparatus includes a flexible container containing a liquid medicant, a needle communicated with a container, a housing with a container being received in the housing, a pump disposed in the housing and positioned to engage the flexible container and expel the medicant from the container through the needle upon relative movement between the pump and the container, and a main drive spring operably associated with the needle to extend the needle from a first needle position wherein the needle is completely received in the housing to a second needle position wherein the needle protrudes from the housing. The pump may be a roller.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An auto-injector apparatus, comprising:
 a flexible container containing a liquid medicament;   a needle communicated with the container;   a housing comprising a housing body and an opening and a housing lid movably attached to the housing body, the lid being moveable between a closed position closing the opening and an open position wherein the opening is accessible, the container being received in the housing;   a pump disposed in the housing and positioned to engage the flexible container and expel the medicant from the container through the needle upon relative movement between the pump and the container;   and a main drive spring operably associated with the needle to extend the needle from a first needle position wherein the needle is completely received in the housing to a second needle position wherein the needle protrudes from the housing.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising: a cocking linkage connecting the lid to the main drive spring and the retraction spring so that opening of the lid extends the main drive spring and the retraction spring. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein: the flexible container and the needle are connected together as part of a replaceable cartridge assembly replaceably received in the housing; and the pump and the main drive spring are connected to the housing for multiple use with sequential replaceable cartridge assemblies. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising: the housing having a transparent window therein through which the flexible container is visible; and an opaque secondary container in which the housing is sealed. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , further comprising: the housing having a transparent window therein through which the flexible container can be viewed; and a pull strip movable between a first position blocking the transparent window and a second position wherein the transparent window is unblocked so that the flexible container can be viewed prior to use. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pump comprises an inflatable balloon. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pump comprises a pair of magnets on opposite sides of the flexible container. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pump comprises an electro-magnet and a magnetically attracted mass on opposite sides of the flexible container. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pump comprises a source of fluid pressure communicated with the interior of the flexible container. 
     
     
         10 . An auto-injector apparatus, comprising:
 a housing having a proximal end and a distal end, the housing having a housing body and an opening and a housing lid movably attached to the housing body, the lid being moveable between a closed position closing the opening and an open position wherein the opening is accessible,   a container carriage reciprocably disposed in the housing, the container carriage including a cavity adapted to receive a medicant container, the container carriage being movable within the housing between first and second carriage positions;   a roller disposed in the housing and positioned to roll proximally through the cavity of the container carriage to expel medicant from the container;   and a main drive spring operably associated with the carriage to move the carriage proximally from its first position to its second position.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , further comprising: a cocking linkage connecting the lid to the main drive spring and the retraction spring so that opening of the lid extends the main drive spring and the retraction spring. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein: the roller comprises an integral coil of the coiled spring strip. 
     
     
         13 . An auto-injector apparatus, comprising: a flexible container containing a liquid medicant; a needle communicated with the container; a roller positioned to engage the flexible container and expel the medicant from the container upon relative movement in a displacement direction between the roller and the container, the roller having a rotational axis transverse to the displacement direction; and wherein the flexible container has a width transverse to the displacement direction, the width varying along the displacement direction. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising: a main drive operably associated with the roller to move the roller relative to the container from a first engagement position relative to the container to a second engagement position relative to the container. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein: the width of the container at the second engagement position is greater than the width of the container at the first engagement position, so that a speed of injection of medicant increases during relative movement between the first and second engagement position. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein: the width of the container continuously increases from the first engagement position to the second engagement position. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein: the width of the container at the second engagement position is less than the width of the container at the first engagement position, so that a speed of injection of medicant decreases during relative movement between the first and second engagement positions. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein: the width of the container continuously decreases from the first engagement position to the second engagement position.