Medication injector apparatus with drive assembly that facilitates reset

Abstract

A medication injector apparatus such as an injection pen. The injection pen includes a resettable, cartridge plunger drive assembly including an axially floating nut, a cartridge plunger engaging screw, and a drive clutch movable with the nut and which when rotated causes the screw to screw through the nut. When a cartridge assembly is mounted to the pen base, the floating nut and drive clutch are shifted proximally such that the drive clutch is in torque transmitting engagement with a rotatable drive member of the pen, such that rotation of that drive member results in drive screw advancement through the nut in the distal direction. When the cartridge assembly is not mounted to the pen base, the floating nut and drive clutch are biased distally to disengage the drive clutch from torque transmitting engagement with the rotatable drive member and to thereby allow the drive screw to be reset proximally through the nut to a position more retracted within the pen base. The injection pen also may include an injection clicker assembly having a collar arranged coaxially on a drive sleeve and which oscillates axially on the drive sleeve that rotates during medication dispensing to provide an audible clicking sound that indicates injecting use of the pen. The injection pen also may include a doseable quantity identifier that uses a rotational matrix and a sensor for electrically sensing the arrangement of the dose setting mechanism of the pen, which identifier may be part of a therapeutic dose indicating system that utilizes a cartridge recognizer to recognize a concentration of medication so as to allow an automatic determination of a therapeutic dose. The injection pen further may include an assembly for selectively rotating a drive sleeve of the pen, which assembly has a dial that rotates out during dose setting and which translates in without rotation during dose injecting.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . (canceled) 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A therapeutic dose indicating apparatus for a portable medication injector device which includes an adjustable dose setting mechanism, the portable medicine injector device loaded with a replaceable medicine container, comprising:
 a visible display;   a container recognizer that recognizes a concentration of medicine within the container, said container recognizer including an identifier disposed on the container;   a doseable quantity identifier that identifies a volume of medicine selected for delivery by the adjustable dose setting mechanism; and   a controller adapted to determine a therapeutic dose based on said recognized concentration and said identified volume and cause the therapeutic dose to be displayed in said visible display.   
     
     
         19 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the container comprises a cartridge assembly including a cartridge within an outer housing connectable to a reusable base of the injector device, and wherein said identifier is disposed on said outer housing. 
     
     
         20 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 19  wherein said outer housing includes a reduced diameter hub aligned with a length of said cartridge and on which is disposed said identifier, and wherein said hub fits within said reusable base of the injector device. 
     
     
         21 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 18  wherein said identifier consists of a single band having a dimensional aspect and a spatial aspect representative of the concentration of medicine. 
     
     
         22 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 21  wherein said single band is electrically conductive, wherein said container recognizer comprises a plurality of electrical contacts, and wherein different combinations of said plurality of electrical contacts are circuited together by the single bands of containers filled with different concentrations of medicine. 
     
     
         23 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 18  wherein said doseable quantity identifier includes a rotational matrix and a sensor array adapted to identify data included in said matrix, wherein said rotational matrix and said sensor array are respectively mounted on first and second components of said medicine delivery device which rotate relative to each other during adjustment of the dose setting mechanism. 
     
     
         24 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 23  wherein said matrix includes a plurality of rows which extend around a circumference of the first component, and a plurality of columns which extend along an axial length of the first component. 
     
     
         25 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 24  wherein said plurality of columns comprises twenty-four columns. 
     
     
         26 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 24  wherein said sensor array includes a plurality of electrical contacts, each of said contacts aligned with a different row of said matrix, wherein said matrix data is in the form of the presence or absence of an electrically conductive material at intersections of said rows and columns of said matrix, and wherein for different rotational positions of said rotational matrix relative to said sensor array different combinations of said plurality of electrical contacts are circuited together by the matrix data formed by the presence of electrically conductive material. 
     
     
         27 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 26  wherein during adjustment of the dose setting mechanism said first component is axially fixed relative to said second component. 
     
     
         28 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 26  wherein said sensor array and said rotational matrix are cooperatively configured such that any rotational movement of said sensor array relative to said rotational matrix between adjacent rows at which said matrix data is grounded causes only a single electrical contact to switch its electrical circuitry relationship with said matrix data. 
     
     
         29 . The therapeutic dose indicating apparatus of  claim 26  wherein all of said electrically conductive material of said matrix data is contiguous. 
     
     
         30 . A doseable quantity identifier for a medication injector apparatus having a dose setting mechanism operable to select a volume of medicine to be delivered from a held cartridge, comprising:
 a rotational matrix disposed on a first component of the apparatus;   a sensor for electrically sensing the rotational matrix, said sensor disposed on a second component of the apparatus which experiences rotational motion relative to the first component during operation of the dose setting mechanism;   whereby data of said rotational matrix sensible by said matrix sensor is thereby indicative of an arrangement of the dose setting mechanism;   a controller circuited with said sensor which interprets data of said rotational matrix sensed by said sensor to determine a quantity of medicine to be delivered from the cartridge during injection; and   a visible display that displays the quantity of medicine to be delivered as determined by said controller.   
     
     
         31 . The doseable quantity identifier of  claim 30  wherein said matrix includes a plurality of rows which extend around a circumference of the first component, and a plurality of columns which extend along an axial length of the first component. 
     
     
         32 . The doseable quantity identifier of  claim 31  wherein said plurality of columns comprises twenty-four columns. 
     
     
         33 . The doseable quantity identifier of  claim 31  wherein said sensor includes a plurality of electrical contacts, each of said contacts aligned with a different row of said matrix, and wherein said matrix data is in the form of the presence or absence of an electrically conductive material at intersections of said rows and columns of said matrix. 
     
     
         34 . The doseable quantity identifier of  claim 30  wherein data of said rotational matrix is unique for each settable rotational arrangement of the first component relative to the second component. 
     
     
         35 . The doseable quantity identifier of  claim 30  wherein said rotational matrix data comprises a gray code coding scheme. 
     
     
         36 . The doseable quantity identifier of  claim 33  further comprising a redundant electrical contact aligned with the same row of said matrix as one of said plurality of electrical contacts. 
     
     
         37 . The doseable quantity identifier of  claim 30  wherein said matrix includes a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, wherein said sensor includes a plurality of electrical contacts, each of said contacts aligned with a different row of said matrix, wherein said matrix data is in the form of the presence or absence of an electrically conductive material at intersections of said rows and columns of said matrix, and wherein said plurality of electrical contacts and said rotational matrix are cooperatively configured such that when the first and second components are relatively rotationally shifted from a first rotational position, a change in matrix data sensed by any single electrical contact does not produce a pattern corresponding to a rotational position that is within a range of rotational positions in either direction away from the first rotational position, said range being inclusively between two and at least three positions. 
     
     
         38 . The doseable quantity identifier of  claim 37  wherein said at least three positions is six positions. 
     
     
         39 . The doseable quantity identifier of  claim 30  wherein said matrix includes a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, wherein said sensor includes a plurality of electrical contacts, each of said contacts aligned with a different row of said matrix, wherein said matrix data is in the form of the presence or absence of an electrically conductive material at intersections of said rows and columns of said matrix, and wherein said plurality of electrical contacts and said rotational matrix are cooperatively configured such that matrix data of each column of said matrix is not unique, and wherein said controller is adapted to identify the correct relative rotational positioning of the first and second components based upon a previous valid positioning thereof and a range of positions adjacent to said previous valid positioning on either side. 
     
     
         40 . The doseable quantity identifier of  claim 30  wherein said matrix includes a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, wherein said sensor includes a plurality of electrical contacts, each of said contacts aligned with a different row of said matrix, wherein said matrix data is in the form of the presence or absence of an electrically conductive material at intersections of said rows and columns of said matrix, and wherein said plurality of electrical contacts and said rotational matrix are cooperatively configured such that any relative rotational shifting of the first and second components between adjacent columns at which a logic high or ground input to the matrix data remains constant results in exactly two of said plurality of electrical contacts switching their electrical circuitry relationship with the matrix data. 
     
     
         41 . A method of indicating a therapeutic dose to a user of a portable medication injector apparatus loaded with a cartridge of medicine, the medication injector apparatus including a dose setting mechanism operable to select a volume of medicine for delivery, comprising the steps of:
 recognizing a concentration of the medicine within the cartridge with a cartridge recognizer of the portable medication injector apparatus;   identifying a selected delivery volume with a doseable quantity identifier of the portable medication injector apparatus;   determining the therapeutic dose with a controller of the portable medication injector apparatus using the recognized concentration and the identified selected delivery volume as input; and   displaying the determined therapeutic dose on a display of the portable medication injector apparatus.   
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the cartridge recognizer includes a concentration identifier on the cartridge and an identifier sensor in the medication injector apparatus. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 41  further comprising the step of providing the medication injector apparatus with a set button manually operable by the user to input a concentration value to the controller in the event the cartridge recognizer fails to recognize the concentration of the medicine within the cartridge, and wherein the controller uses the manually input concentration value with the identified selected delivery volume as input in determining the therapeutic dose. 
     
     
         44 . A medication injector apparatus comprising:
 a housing;   a fluid container mounted to said housing, said fluid container defining a medicine-filled reservoir and including a movable piston at a proximal end of said reservoir;   a needle assembly removably attached to a distal end of said fluid container to have an injection needle of said needle assembly in flow communication with said reservoir;   a drive member advanceable within said housing in a distal direction to move said piston toward said injection needle for forcing medicine from said container;   a dose setting element including a control portion external to said housing and manually rotatable in a first direction to screw said dose setting element from a plunged position to a plungeable position at which said dose setting element projects farther proximally from said housing than at said plunged position;   means, operable by translating without rotation said dose setting element from said plungeable position to said plunged position, for advancing said drive member in said distal direction, said advancing means comprising a drive sleeve and a barrel within said housing that experience relative rotation during at least a portion of a movement of said dose setting element between said plunged position and said plungeable position; and   an electronics assembly that displays a dose of medicine to be injected based on a sensing of the relative rotational positions of said barrel and said drive sleeve.   
     
     
         45 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 44  wherein said barrel and said drive sleeve translate distally without rotation within said housing from a first axial position to a second axial position when said dose setting element translates without rotation during a segment of its travel from said plungeable position to said plunged position, and wherein said electronics assembly includes a switch that is activated when said barrel and said drive sleeve travel from said first axial position to said second axial position to signal a transition of the apparatus from a dosing mode to an injecting mode. 
     
     
         46 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 45  wherein said travel segment of said dose setting element starts at said plungeable position. 
     
     
         47 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 45  wherein said drive sleeve is moved from said first axial position toward said second axial position by direct engagement with said dose setting element, wherein said drive sleeve includes an abutment surface, and wherein said barrel includes a surface directly contacted by said drive sleeve abutment surface for moving said barrel from said first axial position toward said second axial position. 
     
     
         48 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 47  wherein said barrel surface directly contacted by said drive sleeve abutment surface comprises a proximal face of a radially inwardly protruding lip of said barrel, wherein a distal face of said lip includes a plurality of splines that engage a splined bulkhead of said housing to prevent barrel rotation when said barrel is disposed in said second axial position. 
     
     
         49 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 45  wherein said switch is mounted on a slider element keyed with said barrel to be axially fixed and rotatably movable relative thereto. 
     
     
         50 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 49  wherein said slider element includes at least one radially inwardly protruding key that slides within at least one circumferential groove formed in an exterior surface of said barrel. 
     
     
         51 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 50  wherein said slider element is keyed with said housing to be rotatably fixed and axially movable relative thereto, and wherein said switch is activated by being closed to complete an electrical circuit by a biasing engagement with a feature of said housing. 
     
     
         52 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 44  wherein said advancing means automatically resets said dose setting element for a subsequent dosing when said dose setting element translates without rotation from said plungeable position to said plunged position. 
     
     
         53 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 44  wherein said dose setting element is keyed with said barrel within said housing to be axially movable and rotatably fixed relative to said barrel, and wherein said dose setting element includes a threading radially inwardly projecting from an interior surface that engages a threading of said drive sleeve. 
     
     
         54 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 53  wherein said barrel and said drive sleeve translate distally without rotation within said housing from a first axial position to a second axial position when said dose setting element translates without rotation during a segment of its travel from said plungeable position to said plunged position, and further comprising means for preventing rotation of said barrel relative to said housing and halting further distal axial motion of said drive sleeve when said barrel and drive sleeve are disposed in said second axial position, whereby axial travel of said dose setting element after said travel segment and toward said plunged position rotates said drive sleeve. 
     
     
         55 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 53  wherein said threading of said drive sleeve comprises a slot helically extending around an exterior periphery. 
     
     
         56 . A medication injector apparatus comprising:
 a housing;   a medicine-filled container mounted to said housing and including a movable piston at one end and an outlet at the other end;   a drive member advanceable within said housing in a distal direction to move said piston toward said outlet for forcing medicine from said container;   a drive sleeve around and operatively connected to said drive member, said drive sleeve rotatable to advance said drive member distally;   a barrel around said drive sleeve and movable in said distal direction within said housing by engagement with said drive sleeve from a first axial position to a second axial position, said barrel being freely rotatable relative to said housing at said first axial position and rotatably fixed relative to said housing at said second axial position;   a dose setting element including a manually rotatable portion external to said housing, said dose setting element keyed with said barrel within said housing to be axially movable and rotatably fixed relative to said barrel, said dose setting element in threaded engagement with said drive sleeve;   said manually rotatable portion being rotatable in a first direction such that said dose setting element rotates and moves proximally along said drive sleeve due to the threaded engagement therebetween, whereby said dose setting element moves from a plunged position to a plungeable position at which said dose setting element projects farther proximally from said housing than at said plunged position; and   whereby when said dose setting element is in said plungeable position, application of a force in a distal direction on said dose setting element first translates distally and without rotation said dose setting element and said drive sleeve and said barrel relative to said housing until said barrel shifts from said first axial position to said second axial position, and then, until said dose setting element reaches said plunged position, translates distally and without rotation said dose setting element relative to said housing while thereby rotating without translation said drive sleeve to advance said drive member distally within said housing.   
     
     
         57 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 56  wherein said drive sleeve includes an abutment surface, and said barrel includes a surface directly contacted by said drive sleeve abutment surface for moving said barrel from said first axial position toward said second axial position during shifting of said drive sleeve distally within said housing. 
     
     
         58 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 56  wherein said barrel surface directly contacted by said drive sleeve abutment surface comprises a proximal face of a radially inwardly protruding lip of said barrel, wherein a distal face of said lip includes a plurality of splines that engage a splined bulkhead of said housing to prevent barrel rotation when said barrel is disposed in said second axial position. 
     
     
         59 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 56  wherein said threaded engagement between said dose setting element and said drive sleeve comprises a thread radially inwardly projecting from an interior surface of said dial and which slides along a slot helically extending around an exterior periphery of said drive sleeve. 
     
     
         60 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 56  further comprising a biasing member resisting movement of said barrel from said first axial position to said second axial position. 
     
     
         61 . The medication injector apparatus of  claim 56  further comprising an electronics assembly that displays a dose of medicine to be injected based on a sensing of the relative rotational positions of said barrel and said drive sleeve both during the rotation of said dose setting element which moves said dose setting element from said plunged position to said plungeable position, and during the translation of said dose setting element from said plungeable position to said plunged position.