FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates injectors and, more particularly, to the powering of injectors having electronically assisted components.

BACKGROUND

Autoinjectors and on-body injectors offer several benefits in delivery of medicaments and/or therapeutics. One of the benefits can include simplicity of use, as compared with traditional methods of delivery using, for example, conventional syringes.

Even with the use of autoinjectors, patients may experience challenges during the initial use of the drug delivery device. For example, the user may be uncertain as to whether the medication inside the drug delivery device is the correct medication prescribed for them. The user may be uncertain as to whether the medication has expired and/or whether the injection should be delayed after a drug delivery device has been removed from cold storage, such as in a refrigerator. The user may also be uncertain if the actions and their sequence correctly operate the drug delivery device. Even if the actions are performed in the proper sequence, the user may be uncertain as to whether the drug has been completely delivered and that the injection process is complete. Further, users oftentimes wish to perform as few steps as possible in the drug administration process. If additional steps are added to the drug administration process, it is less likely that the user will be fully compliant. As an example, for adherence tracking, products may require a QR Code or NFC tag to be scanned or activated. While these additional steps may provide a useful benefit to the user, they lengthen the total drug administration time, which may be undesirable to some users. Patients may have any number of additional concerns related to the administration of the drugs.

As a result of these and other uncertainties and concerns, systems and methods are often provided which include electronic components capable of assisting with the drug administration process. For example, systems and their corresponding approaches may include any number of sensors or devices capable of monitoring the drug delivery device and/or the surrounding environment to determine whether the drug may be comfortably administered. These systems may also communicate information to the user, healthcare providers, and other interested parties. Because of the use of any number of electronics, the device must be capable of providing power before, during, and/or after the drug administration process. Portable power devices such as batteries may have a limited life and thus difficulties may arise when providing power to the delivery devices after extended durations. Further, these systems can be large and complex, and may occupy a large amount of space within the autoinjector.

In some examples, the electronics, power sources, and/or activation mechanisms may all be stored in a cap of the autoinjector. The electronics may become activated upon removing the cap from the assembly. Current systems typically operate using any number of components that cooperate to depress a switch assembly to power electronic devices when the cap is removed. These systems oftentimes require substantial forces in order to fully depress the switch assembly, which may cause user discomfort when administering the medicament. For example, due to forces required to depress the switch and overcome any internal frictional forces from additional actuation devices and/or assemblies, the total overall force required to remove the cap may result in an uncomfortable medicament administration experience.

SUMMARY

In accordance with a first aspect, a drug delivery device includes a housing, a drug delivery assembly disposed within the housing along a longitudinal axis, and a cap defining a shell. At least one electronic component, a power source, and a switch assembly are at least partially disposed in and coupled to the cap. The switch assembly is movable along a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the drug delivery assembly to cause the power source to provide power to the electronic component. The device further includes an activation mechanism at least partially disposed in the cap. Upon urging the cap along the longitudinal axis in a direction away from the housing, the activation mechanism engages the switch assembly and causes the switch assembly to move, thereby causing the power source to provide power to the at least one electronic component.

In this aspect, the activation mechanism may include a sliding activation ring having a finger portion that engages the switch assembly upon the cap being urged away from the housing. The finger portion of the sliding activation ring may have a chamfered engaging surface that engages the switch assembly. Upon urging the cap along the longitudinal axis to a first position, the switch assembly may then move relative to the finger portion to engage the finger portion. Further, upon urging the cap along the longitudinal axis to a second position, the sliding activation ring may engage a cap coupling portion to be removed from the housing along with the cap. In some examples, the cap coupling portion may be a protrusion disposed on an inner surface of the cap.

In some of these examples, the finger portion of the sliding activation ring may include an angled or chamfered engaging surface which engages the switch assembly. This engagement and continued relative movement between the chamfered engaging surface and the switch assembly may cause the switch assembly to move.

In any of these examples, the sliding activation ring may further be adapted to prevent the drug delivery assembly from discharging while the cap at least partially covers a portion of the first end of the drug delivery assembly.

In some forms, the activation mechanism can include a resilient member having an engaging surface which engages the switch assembly when the cap is urged in the direction away from the housing. The resilient member may be in the form of a spring lever that is movable between a first, disengaged position and a second, engaged position. In these forms, when the cap is coupled to the housing, the first end of the drug delivery assembly urges the spring lever to the first, disengaged position. When the cap is urged away from the housing along the longitudinal axis to a first position, the spring lever moves to the second, engaged position to engage the switch assembly.

In accordance with a second aspect, a signal cap is provided for an autoinjector that includes a cap body defining a cap shell and being formed along a longitudinal axis, an electronic component, a power source, a switch assembly, and an activation mechanism. The electronic component is at least partially disposed in and coupled to the cap shell. Similarly, the power source is at least partially disposed in and operably coupled to the cap shell, and selectively powers the electronic component. The switch assembly is operably coupled between the electronic component and the power source, and is movable along a plane that is orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the cap body to cause the power source to provide power to the electronic component. The activation mechanism is additionally at least partially disposed in the cap shell. Upon urging the cap body along the longitudinal axis to a first position, the activation mechanism engages the switch assembly and causes the switch assembly to move, which causes the power source to provide power to the electronic component.

In accordance with a third aspect, an approach for triggering a switch assembly in a drug delivery device is provided. The drug delivery device can include a housing defining a shell and having a longitudinal axis, a drug delivery assembly disposed within the housing along the longitudinal axis of the housing, a cap defining a shell that removably couples to the housing, at least one electronic component at least partially disposed in and coupled to the cap, and a power source at least partially disposed in and coupled to the cap for selectively powering the at least one electronic component. The approach includes coupling a switch assembly to the at least one electronic component. The switch assembly is movable along a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal axis to cause the power source to provide power to the at least one electronic component. The approach further includes at least partially disposing an activation mechanism in the cap, and urging the cap along the longitudinal axis in a direction away from the housing. Upon urging the cap, the activation mechanism engages the switch assembly to cause the switch assembly to move, thereby causing the power source to provide power to the at least one electronic component.

