Medication dispensing apparatus with gear set having drive member accommodating opening

A medication dispensing apparatus comprising:

• a housing;
• a drive member within said housing and movable in a distal direction;
• a fluid container defining a medicine-filled reservoir with a movable piston at one end and an outlet at the other end, said piston engageable by said drive member to be advanced toward said outlet when said drive member is moved distally;
• a plunger movable relative to said housing from a distal position to a proximal position, said plunger manually pushable relative to said housing in the distal direction to be shifted from said proximal position to said distal position;
• means for interconnecting said drive member and said plunger to convert motion of said plunger from said proximal position to said distal position into a lesser amount of motion of said drive member in said distal direction, said interconnecting means including a gear set including a first pinion in meshed engagement with a rack of said plunger and a second pinion in meshed engagement with a rack of said drive member;
• and
• characterized in that at least a portion of said drive member extends through an opening through at least one of said first and second pinions.