Patent ID: 11857771
Assignee: SIO2 MEDICAL PRODUCTS, LLC
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A prefilled syringe comprising a barrel having an inner wall and a drug product contained within a product containing area, the prefilled syringe further comprising: a three-position plunger disposed in its entirety within the barrel, the three-position plunger having a generally cylindrical exterior surface, the three-position plunger comprising: a sleeve having an opening at a distal end thereof, a nose cone and a sidewall including a storage sealing section that comprises at least one rib and a liquid sealing section disposed between the nose cone and the storage sealing section, the sleeve further comprising a pre-load cavity proximal to and in communication with the opening, a first cavity proximal to and in communication with the pre-load cavity, and a second cavity proximal to and in communication with the first cavity, the at least one rib being generally aligned with the first cavity the three-position plunger further comprising an insert that is pre-inserted into the pre-load cavity in a pre-load mode in which compressive force or radial pressure that the three-position plunger exerts against the inner wall is unaffected by disposal of the insert in the pre-load cavity, the insert being configured to be displaced from the pre-load cavity to the first cavity and from the first cavity to the second cavity, the insert being configured to compress the at least one rib outwardly when the insert is positioned in the first cavity, the storage sealing section being generally aligned with the first cavity and maintaining an expanded state by the insert being disposed within the first cavity, the insert applying outward radial pressure against an interior surface of the three-position plunger at a location radially inward of the storage sealing section, the expanded state providing a compressive force of the storage sealing section against the inner wall, the three-position plunger being reducible to a constricted state, wherein the compressive force against the inner wall is reduced or removed entirely by effectuating axial displacement of the insert from the first cavity to the second cavity upon application of force onto the three-position plunger in a direction toward the drug product, wherein the three-position plunger in the constricted state provides less compressive force against the sidewall than when in the expanded state, such that force needed to axially displace the three-position plunger in the constricted state is less than would be required to axially displace the three-position plunger in the expanded state, and wherein the liquid sealing section provides a liquid tight seal against the inner wall both when the three-position plunger is in the expanded state and when the three-position plunger is in the constricted state.