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US 2007/0185449 A1Published application
Actuator with string drive #1
AssigneeM2 Group Holdings, Inc.
InventorMorten Mernoe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Some embodiments of a wearable, disposable medicine dispensing device may include a piston rod that is advanced to dispense medicine from the device. A rotational motor may be coupled to a drive mechanism so as to carry out a certain number of revolutions and thereby displace the piston rod by a desired distance. Such a device can be used in a method of dispensing liquid medicine.
Claims37
1-8. (canceled)
A wearable medicine dispenser device, comprising:
- a piston rod to force medicine from the device;
- a drive mechanism to advance the piston rod, the drive mechanism comprising pawl and a driven member, the pawl positioned to engage one or more teeth of the driven member, wherein the pawl is adjustable between a reset position and a forward position to incrementally advance the driven member;
- and
- a rotational motor coupled to the pawl so that the pawl is at least partially adjusted toward one of the reset position or the forward position in response to one or more full rotations of the rotational motor.
1 more element
A wearable medicine dispenser device, comprising:
- a piston rod to force medicine from the device;
- a drive mechanism to advance the piston rod;
- an elongate string member coupled to the drive mechanism;
- and
- a rotational motor coupled to the string member so that one or more full rotations of the rotational motor causes the string member to adjust the drive mechanism to advance the piston rod.
2 more elements
A wearable medicine dispenser device, comprising:
- a housing that defines a cavity to receive a medicine container;
- a piston rod movable in a forward direction toward the medicine container when the medicine container is received in the cavity;
- a drive mechanism to advance the piston rod in the forward direction, the drive mechanism comprising pawl and a ratchet wheel, the pawl positioned to engage one or more teeth of the ratchet wheel, wherein the pawl is pivotable between a reset position and a forward position to incrementally advance the ratchet wheel;
- a bias member coupled to the pawl to urge the pawl toward the forward position to incrementally advance the driven member.
- an elongate string member coupled to the pawl;
- and
- a rotational motor coupled to the string member so that one or more full rotations of the rotational motor causes the string member to twist and thereby urge the pawl toward the reset position.
4 more elements
A method of dispensing liquid medicine, comprising:
- in a dispensing cycle, rotating a motor one or more full revolutions in a first rotational direction to twist or untwist a string member and thereby adjust a ratchet mechanism coupled to a piston rod, wherein the adjustment of the ratchet mechanism incrementally advances the piston rod in a forward direction to force medicine from a wearable medicine dispenser device;
- and
- in a next dispensing cycle, rotating the motor one or more full revolutions in an opposite, second rotational direction to twist or untwist the string member and thereby adjust the ratchet mechanism coupled to the piston rod, wherein the adjustment of the ratchet mechanism incrementally advances the piston rod in the forward direction to force medicine from the wearable medicine dispenser device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.