Pen-type drug injection device with controller and time lock-out mechanism for its drive

Abstract

Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to a drive mechanism for a drug delivery device. The drive mechanism includes: a piston rod to operably engage with a piston of a cartridge to displace the piston in a distal direction during a dose dispensing action, at least one actuation member mechanically coupled with the piston rod to induce a distally directed displacement of the piston rod when actuated by a user, a control to ascertain at least one predefined condition of use, and at least one interlock member coupled with the control to mechanically obstruct displacement of the piston rod if the condition of use is not fulfilled.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An injection device for injecting of a dose of a medicament, the injection device comprising:
 a housing to accommodate at least a cartridge filled with the medicament and a drive mechanism,   the drive mechanism arranged inside the housing and comprising:
 a piston rod configured to engage with a piston of the cartridge and operable to displace the piston in a distal direction during and for injection of the dose of the medicament; and 
 an actuation member operable to induce or trigger a distally directed displacement of the piston rod when actuated by a user of the injection device; and 
   a control to register a contact of the injection device with a skin of a patient and to impede a distally directed displacement of the piston rod in the absence of a contact between the injection device and the skin of the patient.   
     
     
         2 . The injection device according to  claim 1 , wherein the drive mechanism comprises a skin touch sensor near or at a distal dispensing end of the housing. 
     
     
         3 . The injection device according to  claim 2 , wherein the skin touch sensor is connected to the control and wherein the control is operable to release a dose injection only in response to a detection of a skin contact. 
     
     
         4 . The injection device according to  claim 1 , wherein the control is operable to release a dose injecting actuation only if the skin contact has been detected. 
     
     
         5 . The injection device according to  claim 1 , wherein the control comprises an electronic control module. 
     
     
         6 . The injection device according to  claim 5 , further comprising a timer circuit embedded in the electronic control module and operable to deactivate and/or to obstruct the drive mechanism for a predefined period of time. 
     
     
         7 . The injection device according to  claim 1 , further comprising an indicator operable to provide at least one of a visual indication, an audible indication, or a tactile indication to a user of the injection device. 
     
     
         8 . The injection device according to  claim 7 , wherein the indicator is implemented as one of a visual indicator operable to generate the visual indication, an acoustic indicator operable to generate the audible indication, or a tactile indicator operable to generate the tactile indication. 
     
     
         9 . The injection device according to  claim 7 , wherein the control is operable to trigger at least one of the visual indication, the audible indication, or the tactile indication to the user of the injection device. 
     
     
         10 . The injection device according to  claim 7 , wherein the control is operable to visually, audibly, or tactilely instruct a user to correctly operate or to correctly handle the injection device. 
     
     
         11 . The injection device according to  claim 7 , wherein the control is coupled to the indicator and is operable to indicate to the user of the injection device if the contact between the injection device and the skin of the patient has been detected. 
     
     
         12 . The injection device according to  claim 7 , wherein visual indicator comprises a light emitting diode LED. 
     
     
         13 . The injection device according to  claim 7 , wherein the visual indicator comprises several light emitting diodes LED of different colors. 
     
     
         14 . The injection device according to  claim 1 , wherein the drive mechanism comprises a power supply including a battery. 
     
     
         15 . The injection device according to  claim 14 , wherein the control is operable to monitor the status of the battery. 
     
     
         16 . The injection device according to  claim 15 , wherein the control is further operable to interlock the drive mechanism if a power provided by the battery drops below a predefined threshold. 
     
     
         17 . The injection device according to  claim 15 , wherein the control is operable to indicate to the user that a change of the battery is due when a power provided by the battery drops below a predefined threshold. 
     
     
         18 . The injection device according to  claim 1 , wherein the control is operable to store or to record an initial use of the injection device and to calculate a particular date after which the injection device should no longer be used. 
     
     
         19 . The injection device according to  claim 1 , further comprising the cartridge filled with the medicament and arranged inside the housing. 
     
     
         20 . The injection device according to  claim 19 , wherein the control is configured to automatically reset in response to an insertion of a new cartridge into the housing.