Lancing mechanism

A lancing mechanism for puncturing skin in order to obtain a sample of blood, the mechanism comprising:

• a housing;
• a lance disposed within the housing, the lance having a penetration end being adapted to puncture skin, the lance being moveable in a direction substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the lance, the penetration end of the lance being movable from a first position to a second position during a forward stroke, the penetration end of the lance being movable between the second position and the first position during a return stroke;
• a forcing plunger disposed within the housing such that a longitudinal axis of the forcing plunger is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the lance, the forcing plunger being movable in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the forcing plunger from a pre-firing position to a post-firing position, the forcing plunger having a first end and a second end,
• a first resilient member being adapted to move the forcing plunger from the pre-firing position to the post-firing position;
• a linkage member having a first end and a second end, the second end of the lance being pivotally coupled to the lance, the first end of the linkage member being adapted to engage the forcing plunger during the forward stroke to move the penetration end from the first position to the second position, the first end of the linkage member moving in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the forcing plunger during the forward stoke, the second end of the linkage member moving in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the lance during the forward stroke, the first end of the linkage member being adapted to disengage the forcing plunger during the return stoke;
• and
• a second resilient member being adapted to move the penetration end from the second position to the first position during the return stroke.

A method for lancing a user's skin to obtain a sample of blood with a lancing mechanism, the lancing mechanism including a forcing plunger, a linkage having a first and a second end, and a lance, the first end of the linkage being pivotally coupled to the lance, the method comprising:

• propelling the forcing plunger from a pre-firing position to a post-firing position with a first resilient member;
• engaging the linkage pivotally coupled to a lance with the forcing plunger;
• moving the lance from a first position to a second position with the forcing plunger engaged to the linkage during a forward stroke of the lance;
• and
• disengaging the forcing plunger from the linkage.