Strip ejection apparatus for blood glucose meter

The present invention relates to a strip ejection apparatus for a blood glucose meter, wherein: an ejector block moving to eject a measurement strip is received in the space inside a housing, whereby it is possible to make the apparatus compact, thereby enhancing space efficiency of the blood glucose meter; components can be mounted on a PCB of the blood glucose meter in units of modules as they are, without any additional separate assembly for the components, whereby it is possible to enhance efficiency of a manufacturing process; a guide protrusion coupled with an ejection switch of the blood glucose meter is selectively formed on the upper or lower portion of the ejector block or formed on both the upper and lower portions thereof, whereby it is possible to enhance the degree of freedom in design of the mounting position of the ejection switch; and the strip ejection apparatus can be applied to various types of blood glucose meters so that it is possible to standardize the type of strip ejection apparatus, thereby reducing manufacturing cost, as well as facilitating component management.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the U.S. National Stage of International Patent Application No. PCT/KR2016/015588 filed on Dec. 30, 2016, which claims the priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2016-0012525 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Feb. 1, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a strip ejection apparatus for a blood glucose meter. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a strip ejection apparatus for a blood glucose meter, in which an ejector block moving to eject a measurement strip is received in a space inside a housing, whereby it is possible to make the apparatus compact, thereby enhancing space efficiency of the blood glucose meter. Components can be disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB) of the blood glucose meter in units of modules as they are, without any additional separate assembly for the components, whereby it is possible to enhance efficiency of a manufacturing process. A guide protrusion coupled to an ejection switch of the blood glucose meter is selectively formed on the upper or lower portion of the ejector block or is formed on both the upper and lower portions thereof, whereby it is possible to enhance the degree of freedom in design of the mounting position of the ejection switch. The strip ejection apparatus can be applied to various types of blood glucose meters so that it is possible to standardize the type of strip ejection apparatus, thereby reducing manufacturing costs, as well as facilitating component management.

BACKGROUND ART

Diabetes or diabetes mellitus is a chronic medical condition that is common in modern people. In the Republic of Korea, it affects 2 million people, about 5% of the total population.

Diabetes is caused from the absolute deficiency or relative insufficiency of insulin produced by the pancreas, due to various causes such as obesity, stress, poor eating habits, inherited hereditary factors, and thus the sugar in the blood cannot be balanced, but may be absolutely increased.

The blood usually contains a certain concentration of glucose and tissue cells gain energy therefrom.

However, when glucose is increased excessively, it is not properly stored in the liver, muscle, or adipose tissue and accumulates in the blood. As a result, patients with diabetes maintain a much higher blood sugar level than other people. Excessive blood sugar passes through the tissues and is discharged into the urine, resulting in deficiency of sugar, which is absolutely necessary for each tissue of the body, thereby causing abnormalities in respective tissues of the body.

Diabetes mellitus is characterized by the absence of subjective symptoms at the beginning. When diabetes progresses, diabetes-specific symptoms such as diarrhea, polyuria, weight loss, general anxiety, skin itchiness, and scarring of the hands and feet are present. Further progression of diabetes leads to complications such as visual disturbances, hypertension, kidney disease, paralysis, periodontal disease, muscle spasms and neuralgia, and gangrene.

Systematic blood glucose measurement and treatment should be performed to diagnose such diabetes beforehand and manage the condition so as not to progress to diabetes and its complications.

For people with diabetes or those who have not yet developed diabetes, but have higher blood sugar than normal, medical device manufacturers offer a variety of blood glucose meters to measure blood glucose at home.

FIG. 1is a schematic view illustrating the configuration of a conventional blood glucose meter.

As illustrated inFIG. 1, the blood glucose meter10is configured such that a test strip20is loaded into a casing11, a blood sample T of a subject is dropped and absorbed by the loaded test strip20, the blood sample T absorbed by the test strip is measured for the blood glucose level by a blood sugar measuring module provided in the casing11, and the measured result for the blood sugar level is displayed on a display12. Functional switches13are provided to the casing11in order for a user to manipulate and operate the blood glucose meter.

After measuring blood sugar levels, repeatedly, the used test strip20is removed from the blood glucose meter10and a new test strip20is loaded into the casing for a subsequent test.

Here, when a user directly holds and removes the test strip20in the process of removal of the test strip20from the blood glucose meter10, a tester or a subject may come into contact with the blood sample remaining in the test strip20on his/her hand. Thus, when a new test strip20is loaded into the blood glucose meter, the blood sample on his/her hand may contaminate the new test strip, resulting in misdiagnosis of the blood sugar level. To prevent this problem, the tester or the subject disadvantageously needs to wash his/her hands or to change his/her sanitary gloves whenever he/she tries to make a test.

Thus, to solve these problems, the casing11of the blood glucose meter10is generally provided with a strip unloader14to unload the loaded test strip20from the casing11. The strip unloader14is slidably disposed on one side of the casing11, so that, when a user pulls out the strip unloader14, it can be slid out of the casing11, together with the test strip20.

Here, a strip unloading device (not shown) is disposed inside of the casing11to unload the test strip20according to the manipulation of the strip unloader14. A conventional strip unloading device, however, has problems of complicated structure and assembly, which increases manufacturing costs or the size of the blood glucose meter itself. Also, the conventional strip unloading device has another problem in that it needs to have a dedicated structure for a specific blood glucose meter, so it requires different designs for various types of blood glucose meters, which greatly limits the degree of freedom in design for both a blood glucose meter and a strip unloader.

DISCLOSURE

Technical Problem

Accordingly, the present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-described problems occurring in the related art, and the present disclosure proposes a strip unloading device for a blood glucose meter, wherein an unloader block, movable for unloading a test strip, is accommodated in a housing such that the unloader block is disposed on a PCB of the blood glucose meter in a module type as it is, without separate additional assembly, thereby minimizing the size thereof and thus improving space efficiency of the blood glucose meter, and improving manufacturing efficiency.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a strip unloading device for a blood glucose meter, wherein a guide protrusion coupled to a strip unloader of the blood glucose meter is selectively formed on the upper or lower portion of an unloader block or formed on both the upper and lower portions thereof, whereby it is possible to enhance the degree of freedom in design of the mounting position of the strip unloader and the strip unloading device can be applied to various types of blood glucose meters so that it is possible to standardize the type of strip unloading device, thereby reducing manufacturing costs, as well as facilitating component management.

A further object of the present disclosure is to provide a strip unloading device for a blood glucose meter, wherein a test strip is elastically supported by contact pins in the space of the housing, thereby enhancing the fixed loading of the loaded test strip and complete unloading of the unloaded test strip by means of elastic force of the contact pins and thus ensuring user convenience in use.

Technical Solution

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a strip unloading device for a blood glucose meter is provided, the strip unloading device being disposed in the blood glucose meter to unload a test strip loaded therein, the strip unloading device including: a housing having a storage space therein and having on one side thereof a strip insert into which the test strip is inserted; a plurality of contact pins disposed in the housing to contact upper and lower surfaces of the test strip loaded into the strip insert; and an unloader block disposed in the housing below the contact pins to linearly move towards or away from the strip insert and having a central unloading protrusion to be engaged with the test strip loaded into the strip insert so as to eject the test strip in the process of moving towards the strip insert, wherein the contact pins are disposed on opposite sides of the unloader block in a width direction thereof relative to the unloading protrusion.

Here, a guide protrusion may be provided on at least one of upper and lower surfaces of the unloader block to extend out through the housing so as to be engaged with a strip unloader disposed on the blood glucose meter, and the housing may have a guide hole to guide a movement path of the guide protrusion moving along with the unloader block.

In addition, the housing may have an upper housing part with a lower side opened, and a lower housing part coupled to the lower side of the upper housing part, wherein the unloader block is seated on and slidably moves along an upper surface of the lower housing part.

Furthermore, guide protrusions may be respectively provided on opposite sides of the upper surface of the unloader block, and a guide protrusion may be provided at the center of the lower surface of the unloader block, wherein the contact pins are disposed between the opposite sides of the upper surface of the unloader block.

In addition, the contact pins may consist of a plurality of upper contact pins and a plurality of lower contact pins, which are vertically separated from each other to contact the upper and lower surfaces of the test strip, respectively, wherein one-side ends of the upper and lower contact pins are configured to elastically compress the upper and lower surfaces of the test strip loaded into the strip insert, respectively.

Furthermore, the housing may be provided with a plurality of guide holes to guide an elastic deformation path of the contact pins.

In addition, one-end sides of the upper and lower contact pins may be respectively provided with elastic contact parts curved downwardly or upwardly to elastically contact the upper and lower surfaces of the test strip.

Furthermore, the elastic contact parts of the upper and lower contact pins may be sequentially formed in different positions along the movement direction of the unloader block.

Advantageous Effects

As set forth above, the unloader block movable for unloading a test strip is accommodated in a housing such that the unloader block is disposed on a PCB of the blood glucose meter in a module type as it is, without separate additional assembly, thereby minimizing the size thereof and thus improving space efficiency of the blood glucose meter, and improving manufacturing efficiency.

In addition, the guide protrusion coupled to a strip unloader of the blood glucose meter is selectively formed on the upper or lower portion of an unloader block or formed on both the upper and lower portions thereof, whereby it is possible to enhance the degree of freedom in design of the mounting position of the strip unloader and the strip unloading device can be applied to various types of blood glucose meters so that it is possible to standardize the type of strip unloading device, thereby reducing manufacturing costs, as well as facilitating component management.

Furthermore, the test strip is elastically supported by the contact pins in the space of the housing, thereby enhancing the fixed loading of the loaded test strip and complete unloading of the unloaded test strip by means of elastic force of the contact pins and thus ensuring user convenience in use.

BEST MODE

Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. In the following description, it is to be noted that, when the functions of conventional elements and the detailed description of elements related to the present disclosure may render the gist of the present invention unclear, a detailed description of those elements will be omitted.

FIGS. 2 and 3are respectively front and bottom perspective views schematically illustrating an appearance of a strip unloading device for a blood glucose meter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,FIG. 4is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating the configuration of the strip unloading device for a blood glucose meter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,FIG. 5is a partially exploded perspective view schematically illustrating the mutual arrangement between contact pins and an unloader block in the strip unloading device for a blood glucose meter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,FIG. 6is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating an internal configuration of the strip unloading device for a blood glucose meter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, andFIG. 7is a view schematically illustrating the operation of the strip unloading device for a blood glucose meter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The strip unloading device for a blood glucose meter is a device that is installed inside of the blood glucose meter to unload a test strip loaded into the blood glucose meter, and includes a housing100, a plurality of contact pins200, and an unloader block300.

The housing100is formed like a vessel having a storage space therein, and may have a shape such as a rectangle or other shapes as shown inFIGS. 2 and 3. The housing100has a strip insert101on one side thereof, into which a test strip20is inserted and loaded.

As illustrated inFIG. 4, the housing100may include an upper housing part110having a vessel shape with a lower side opened, and a lower housing part120coupled to the lower side of the upper housing part110. The unloader block300which can move linearly in the housing100may be slidably seated on an upper surface of the lower housing part120. Here, the upper housing part110may be formed of synthetic resin, e.g. liquid crystal polymer (LCP), and the lower housing part120may be formed of a metallic material, e.g. stainless steel, for easy sliding motion of the unloader block300.

The contact pins200serve to contact an electrode terminal formed on the surface of the test strip20loaded into the strip insert101so as to transmit an electric signal generated from the test strip20to a glucose measuring module of the bold glucose meter. The contact pins are configured to be disposed in the housing so as to contact upper and lower surfaces of the test strip20inserted and loaded into the strip insert101. The contact pins200consist of a plurality of upper contact pin parts210and a plurality of lower contact pin parts220, which are separately disposed to contact the upper and lower surfaces of the test strip20.

The unloader block300is disposed in the housing100below the plurality of contact pins200so as to linearly reciprocate close to or away from the strip insert101. The unloader block has an unloading protrusion at the center of the upper surface to engage with the test strip inserted into the strip insert101and unload the test strip out of the strip insert while moving close to the strip insert101. The unloader block300may be formed of liquid crystal polymer for the improvement of assembly of a blood glucose meter.

Here, as illustrated inFIG. 5, the contact pins200are disposed on opposite sides of the unloader block in a direction perpendicular to a movement direction of the unloader block300relative to the unloading protrusion310, i.e. on opposite sides in a width direction of the unloader block300.

The unloader block300is configured to move linearly in association with the strip unloader14(seeFIG. 1) slidably disposed on a blood glucose meter. To this end, the unloader block300is provided with a guide protrusion320, which extends out through the housing100so as to be coupled to the strip unloader14. Although not shown, the strip unloader14may be provided on an inner surface thereof with a coupling part (not shown) into which the guide protrusion320is interference-fitted.

The guide protrusion320may be formed on at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the unloader block300. That is, the guide protrusion320may be formed on the upper surface, the lower surface, or both the upper and lower surfaces of the unloader block300, if needed.

FIGS. 2 to 5show the embodiment in which the guide protrusions320are formed on both the upper and lower surfaces of the unloader block300. The guide protrusions321formed on the upper surface of the unloader block300may be disposed on opposite sides of the unloader block300in the width direction thereof, and the guide protrusion322formed on the lower surface of the unloader block300may be disposed at the center of the unloader block300.

Correspondingly, the housing100is provided with guide holes111,121to guide a movement path of the guide protrusions320and the unloader block300having the same so as to move along with the guide protrusions. That is, the upper housing part110has the guide holes111through which the guide protrusions321formed on the upper surface of the unloader block300is inserted and guided therealong, and the lower housing part120has the guide hole121through which the guide protrusion322formed on the lower surface of the unloader block300is inserted and guided therealong.

In this case, the upper contact pins210are disposed between the guide protrusions321formed on opposite sides of the upper surface of the unloader block300.

According to the configuration of the present disclosure, since the strip unloading device is completely assembled with the unloader block300disposed in the housing100, and the strip unloading device is assembled with a blood glucose meter in a single module type, the size of the entire device can be miniaturized, and the assembly can be quickly and easily performed. In addition, since the guide protrusions320are formed to protrude out of the housing100, a mounting position of the strip unloader14of a blood glucose meter can be freely selected according to a user's need.

More specifically, the strip unloading device is configured such that the contact pins200are disposed on opposite sides of the unloading protrusion310of the unloader block300, securing the movement path of the unloading protrusion310so that the unloader block300can be accommodated in the housing100, and the entire size of the strip unloading device can be miniaturized.

In addition, in the assembly of a blood glucose meter, the strip unloading device is disposed on the blood glucose meter such that contact pins200are soldered to a PCB (not shown) in the blood glucose meter. Here, since the unloader block300is accommodated in the housing100, the entire strip unloading device can be disposed as a module to the PCB as it is, without an additional process of assembling the unloader block300, or the like. Furthermore, since the soldering is performed in a high temperature process, the unloader block300is preferably formed of heat-resistant liquid crystal polymer (LCP) to prevent the unloader block300from being damaged in the high temperature process.

In addition, since the guide protrusions320to be coupled to the strip unloader14of the blood glucose meter are disposed to protrude upwardly and downwardly from the housing100, in the process of designing mounting positions of the strip unloader14in association with various types of blood glucose meters, the mounting positions can be freely selected to be the upper or lower surface of the blood glucose meter, without a structural change in the strip unloading device, particularly the unloader block300. That is, the degree of freedom in design of the mounting position of the strip unloader14can be improved, so that the strip unloader14can be freely applied to the same unloader block300and the strip unloading device having the same without replacement of components, thereby facilitating management of components and improving manufacturing efficiency.

Here, as described before, the contact pins320consist of upper contact pins210and lower contact pins220, respective one ends of which are configured to elastically compress the upper and lower surfaces of the test strip20loaded into the strip insert101.

That is, as illustrated inFIGS. 5 and 6, the upper and lower contact pins210and220are formed from an elastic metal plate elongated in one direction, such that one end thereof contact the surface of the test strip20, and the other end thereof is fixed to the housing100. According to this structure, the upper and lower contact pins210and220can elastically compress the opposite surfaces of the test strip20in a vertical direction with their own elastic force.

Here, the housing100may be provided with guide holes112to guide a vertically elastic deformation path of the upper and lower contact pins210and220, while guiding the positions of the upper and lower contact pins210and220. Thus, when the test strip20is inserted and loaded into the housing100through the strip insert101, the test strip20is elastically fixedly held with the elastic force vertically applied to the opposite surfaces thereof from the upper and lower contact pins210and220.

With the configuration in which the upper and lower elastic contact pins210and220of the contact pin200elastically contact and compress the test strip20, a basic function of transmitting an electric signal from the test strip20to the PCB of a blood glucose meter, as well as a function of holding the position of the test strip20, which has been loaded into the strip insert101, is carried out.

Here, elastic contact parts201are formed on one-side ends of the upper and lower contact pins210and220such that they elastically contact the upper and lower surfaces of the test strip20, respectively. The elastic contact part201of the upper contact pin210is downwardly curved, and the elastic contact part of the lower contact pin is upwardly curved. This structure increases elastic force applied to the test strip20to thereby enhance a function of fixing the position of the test strip20.

In addition, as illustrated inFIGS. 5 and 6, the elastic contact parts201formed on the upper and lower contact pins210and220may be sequentially located in different positions according to the movement direction of the unloader block300. According to the shapes and positions of the elastic contact parts201, the test strip20can be clearly unloaded to the outside in the unloading process of the test strip20.

More specifically, as illustrated in (a) and (b) ofFIG. 7, when the unloader block300is moved towards the strip insert101with the test strip loaded into the strip insert101(which movement of the unloader block300is performed by sliding the strip unloader14), the test strip20is pushed out towards the outside of the strip insert101due to engagement with the unloading protrusion of the unloader block300. Here, the test strip20is pushed out in a state of being elastically compressed by the elastic contact parts201of the upper and lower contact pins210and220, such that according to the sequential arrangement of the elastic contact parts201, when the test strip20is pushed out over the closest elastic contact part201of the upper contact pin210to the strip insert101, that elastic contact part201slightly elastically moves downwardly as shown in (b) ofFIG. 7, which strongly pushes out the test strip20to the outside with the downward elastic force, thereby strongly ejecting and unloading the test strip20to the outside.

That is, the test strip20is first moved towards the outside by the movement of the unloader block300, and when it is moved over the closest elastic contact part201of the upper contact pin210to the strip insert101, the test strip is intensively ejected and unloaded to the outside with a downward elastic motion of the closest elastic contact part201. Since the strong ejecting force is not caused from the unloader block300, in a subsequent movement path, the movement of the test strip20is automatically carried out without the movement of the unloader block300.

In other words, although the unloader block300is not completely moved to an inlet of the strip insert101, the test strip20can be automatically completely ejected to the outside of the housing100with the elastic force of the contact pins320, thereby allowing the test strip to be conveniently ejected and unloaded without direct manual removal of the test strip20by a user.

The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented with respect to the drawings and are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible for a person having ordinary skill in the art in light of the above teachings. It is intended therefore that the scope of the present disclosure not be limited to the foregoing embodiments, but be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.