US 11,850,404 B2
Manually-actuated injection device for high-viscosity drugs
Peter A. Basile, Prattsburgh, NY (US); Henry J. Mack, Jr., Phillipsburg, NJ (US); Oliver Sha, West Islip, NY (US); and Stephen G. Miggels, Lake Pleasant, NY (US)
Assigned to Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ (US)
Filed by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Rahway, NJ (US)
Filed on Oct. 6, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/495,199.
Application 17/495,199 is a continuation of application No. 16/462,354, granted, now 11,173,250, previously published as PCT/US2017/062560, filed on Nov. 20, 2017.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/424,746, filed on Nov. 21, 2016.
Prior Publication US 2022/0080128 A1, Mar. 17, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61M 5/315 (2006.01); A61M 5/24 (2006.01); A61M 5/46 (2006.01); A61M 5/31 (2006.01)
CPC A61M 5/31511 (2013.01) [A61M 5/24 (2013.01); A61M 5/31 (2013.01); A61M 5/315 (2013.01); A61M 5/46 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An injection device for injecting medication into the body of a patient, comprising:
a housing with a medication-receiving chamber disposed therein, the medication-receiving chamber having a medication discharge port;
a push member disposed within the housing and arranged to move in a direction that causes medication contained within the medication-receiving chamber to be pressurized;
a grip member moveably connected to the housing; and
a force-transfer mechanism operatively coupling the grip member and the push member;
wherein the medication-receiving chamber and the medication discharge port are configured and arranged such that when the housing is held across the palm of a medication-administering person's hand with the grip member positioned to be engaged by the administering person's non-thumb fingers in a squeezing motion, pressurization of medication within the medication-receiving chamber will cause the medication to be discharged, via the medication discharge port, in a direction toward the outer, blade edge of the device-holding hand;
wherein the grip member is connected to the housing in a manner such that said squeezing motion on the grip member causes at least a portion of the grip member to move toward the housing;
wherein the force-transfer mechanism is arranged to transfer movement of the grip member, caused by squeezing the grip member with a first, net amount of force, to the push member so as to pressurize medication contained within the medication-receiving chamber with a second amount of force and cause the medication to be discharged via the medication discharge port;
wherein the force-transfer mechanism includes at least one component configured for lost motion; and
wherein components of the injection device, including the component configured for lost motion, are configured and arranged to provide the injection device with
1) a packaged configuration in which the grip member lies flush with the housing;
2) a ready-for-use configuration in which the grip member has been moved away from the packaged configuration and away from the housing, at which point movement of the grip member back toward the housing will cause the force-transfer mechanism to cause the push member to pressurize the medication contained within the medication-receiving chamber to cause the medication to be discharged via the medication discharge port; and
3) a spent configuration in which the push member has moved to a terminal end of its range of travel to discharge the medication, at which terminal end of its range of travel the push member is inaccessible to the user for manual retraction and the component configured for lost motion prevents the push member from being moved in a retraction direction whereby the injection device is configured for single use.