US 11,786,657 B2
Arrangement for detecting a position of a plunger
Paul Richard Draper, Worcestershire (GB); Anthony Paul Morris, Coventry (GB); and Stephen Francis Gilmore, Bristol (GB)
Assigned to Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GMBH, Frankfurt am Main (DE)
Filed by Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GMBH, Frankfurt am Main (DE)
Filed on Aug. 11, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/400,019.
Application 17/400,019 is a continuation of application No. 16/727,003, filed on Dec. 26, 2019, granted, now 11,116,906.
Application 16/727,003 is a continuation of application No. 15/877,920, filed on Jan. 23, 2018, granted, now 10,561,790, issued on Feb. 18, 2020.
Application 15/877,920 is a continuation of application No. 14/761,769, granted, now 9,878,099, issued on Jan. 30, 2018, previously published as PCT/EP2014/051470, filed on Jan. 27, 2014.
Claims priority of application No. 13153137 (EP), filed on Jan. 29, 2013.
Prior Publication US 2021/0369964 A1, Dec. 2, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61M 5/20 (2006.01); G01S 17/08 (2006.01); A61M 5/145 (2006.01); A61M 5/31 (2006.01); G01D 5/32 (2006.01); G01D 5/34 (2006.01); A61M 5/315 (2006.01)
CPC A61M 5/20 (2013.01) [A61M 5/1452 (2013.01); A61M 5/3146 (2013.01); G01D 5/32 (2013.01); G01D 5/34 (2013.01); G01S 17/08 (2013.01); A61M 5/31515 (2013.01); A61M 2005/206 (2013.01); A61M 2205/3306 (2013.01); A61M 2205/587 (2013.01)] 31 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A medical device comprising:
a bung having a proximal face comprising one or more protrusions; and
a proximity sensor located within or on a plunger at a distal end of the plunger adjacent to the bung, the proximity sensor configured to move with the plunger as the plunger moves towards the bung, and the proximity sensor aligned to receive light reflected by the one or more protrusions of the bung,
wherein the received reflected light is used to detect a position of the plunger relative to the bung in a drug cartridge of the medical device.