US 12,465,687 B2
Auto-injector
Matthew Ekman, Cheshire (GB); Timothy Donald Barrow-Williams, St. Albans Herts (GB); and Yannick Hourmand, Haslingfield (GB)
Assigned to Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GMBH, Frankfurt am Main (DE)
Filed by Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GMBH, Frankfurt am Main (DE)
Filed on May 30, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/678,282.
Application 18/678,282 is a continuation of application No. 17/453,601, filed on Nov. 4, 2021.
Application 17/453,601 is a continuation of application No. 16/276,366, filed on Feb. 14, 2019, granted, now 11,197,958, issued on Dec. 14, 2021.
Application 16/276,366 is a continuation of application No. 14/995,964, filed on Jan. 14, 2016, granted, now 10,232,116, issued on Mar. 19, 2019.
Application 14/995,964 is a continuation of application No. 13/579,435, granted, now 9,248,245, issued on Feb. 2, 2016, previously published as PCT/EP2011/052301, filed on Feb. 16, 2011.
Claims priority of provisional application 61/412,086, filed on Nov. 10, 2010.
Claims priority of application No. 10153999 (EP), filed on Feb. 18, 2010.
Prior Publication US 2024/0316269 A1, Sep. 26, 2024
Int. Cl. A61M 5/20 (2006.01); A61M 5/32 (2006.01)
CPC A61M 5/2033 (2013.01) [A61M 5/3202 (2013.01); A61M 5/3232 (2013.01); A61M 2005/206 (2013.01); A61M 2005/2073 (2013.01); A61M 5/3204 (2013.01); A61M 5/326 (2013.01)] 30 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An auto-injector comprising:
a cylindrical housing defining a longitudinal axis extending from a proximal end of the cylindrical housing to a distal end of the cylindrical housing, the proximal end of the cylindrical housing configured to directly contact an injection site;
a syringe carrier configured to retain a syringe containing a medicament, the auto-injector being configured such that the syringe carrier remains in an initial position relative to the cylindrical housing by an engagement between the syringe carrier and a plunger rod as a needle shield is removed from a proximal end of the syringe;
a sleeve disposed in the cylindrical housing, the syringe carrier being configured to (i) slide within the sleeve during needle insertion, and (ii) be slidably coupled to the sleeve during needle retraction, a distal end of the sleeve defining a distal opening that (i) extends axially through the distal end of the sleeve and (ii) is located concentrically about the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical housing, a surface at the distal end of the sleeve configured to releasably engage a distal portion of the plunger rod to releasably hold the plunger rod in a distal position within the cylindrical housing against a biasing force of a compression drive spring that biases the plunger rod proximally relative to the sleeve, the plunger rod extending through the distal opening and a distal end of the plunger rod being distal to the distal end of the sleeve when the plunger rod is in the distal position,
an axially-extending sidewall of the sleeve defining a longitudinal opening sized to allow a decoupling member to (i) extend through the longitudinal opening and (ii) slide axially relative to the longitudinal opening as the plunger rod moves proximally from the distal position such that a proximal-facing surface of the decoupling member engages a distally-facing surface of a resilient arm to release the resilient arm from being engaged to a first protrusion of the sleeve, the auto-injector being configured such that after the resilient arm has been released from being engaged to the first protrusion the sleeve moves in a distal direction relative to the cylindrical housing to retract a needle of the syringe into the cylindrical housing when the syringe is retained by the syringe carrier,
a proximal-facing surface inside the sleeve engaged to a distal end of the compression drive spring, and a proximal end of the compression drive spring coupled to the plunger rod via an outer protrusion of the plunger rod such that the plunger rod and the decoupling member are biased proximally relative to the sleeve;
a cap configured to be releasably attached to the proximal end of the cylindrical housing to cover the proximal end of the cylindrical housing, the auto-injector being configured such that the syringe carrier engages the plunger rod to limit proximal movement of the syringe carrier relative to the plunger rod when the cap is attached to the proximal end of the cylindrical housing, the cap being configured such that removal of the cap from the proximal end of the cylindrical housing removes the needle shield from the proximal end of the syringe;
a button disposed at the distal end of the cylindrical housing, the button comprising a proximally-extending portion with an inward protrusion configured to slidably engage a distal portion of the sleeve;
a safety member disposed at a distal portion of the cylindrical housing, the safety member configured to (i) limit a proximal movement of the button relative to the cylindrical housing when the safety member is in a first position relative to the cylindrical housing, and (ii) allow the proximal movement of the button relative to the cylindrical housing when the safety member is in a second position relative to the cylindrical housing, the auto-injector being configured such that after a user moves the safety member from the first position to the second position the user can move the button proximally relative to the cylindrical housing; and
a collar attached to the cylindrical housing, the collar containing a viscous substance for delaying the retraction of the needle into the cylindrical housing after the resilient arm has been released from being engaged to the first protrusion,
wherein the cylindrical housing comprises at least one window for viewing the syringe when the syringe is retained by the syringe carrier.