# Patent

## Title
Relating to automatic injection devices

## Abstract

An injection device comprises a syringe extendible against a spring bias from a retracted position in a housing to a projecting injecting position. A spring biased plunger has collapsible elbows which, when the plunger is released, initially engage the end of the syringe to drive it to the projecting position, whereupon arresting of the syringe movement causes the elbows to collapse inside the syringe to allow the plunger to engage and drive the bung.

## Background
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/109,363 filed on Dec. 17, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/443,384 filed on Apr. 10, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/072,289 filed on Mar. 25, 2011, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/630,507 filed Jan. 7, 2008, which is a 35 U.S.C. §371 Application of PCT Patent Application Number PCT/GB2005/002487, filed Jun. 23, 2005, which claims priority to United Kingdom Patent Application No.: 0414054.7 filed on Jun. 23, 2004. The entire contents of each of the above applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.


BACKGROUND
There are various forms of automatic injection device which when operated cause the needle of a syringe to be moved forwardly so that it projects from a protective housing prior to actuation of the syringe to express a dose of liquid through the needle. It is important to try to ensure that the syringe is moved bodily forward to expose the needle before the liquid charge is pressurised so that dribbling from the needle does not occur before the actual injection takes place. It is an object of this invention to provide a mechanism which operates in this desired manner.
SUMMARY
According to the invention there is provided an injection device for causing a dose of liquid to be ejected from the needle at one end of a syringe located within a housing of the device, the syringe being movable by a plunger, upon release of an actuating bias member at one end of the housing, to move the syringe, from a first position wherein the needle is shrouded by the housing, to a second position wherein the needle projects from the other end of the housing, the plunger being in the form of a rod with a longitudinally centrally located flexible projecting portion which, prior to release of said actuating bias member, is situated beyond the other end of the syringe, such that a primary movement of the plunger, under the bias of the actuating bias member, will cause the projecting portion to bear against the other end of the syringe such that the syringe is moved from said first to said second position, whereupon arresting of further movement of the syringe, results in the flexible portion collapsing inwardly so that it enters the syringe, thus enabling the plunger to move by a secondary movement, within the syringe, into contact with and to act upon a plug to compress the liquid within the syringe and cause expression of the liquid through the syringe needle.
With such an arrangement, the projecting portion will remain in its projecting position (in order to move the syringe from the first to the second position) until the force increases to such an extent which allows the projecting portion to collapse inwardly so that the plunger can then move within the syringe to cause the liquid to be expressed through the syringe.
The projecting portion can comprise one or more flexible elbows projecting beyond the normal circumference of the rod, but compressible into said circumference. This could be in the form of two elbows defined either side of a longitudinal slit in the rod. The elbows could be pre-formed as a pair of arms either side of the longitudinal slit between upper and lower solid portions of the rod.
Preferably the injection device will contain a return bias member acting between the syringe housing and the other end of the syringe to hold the syringe retracted within the housing until the actuating bias member is released. One or more of the bias members provided within the housing can be in the form of a coil spring.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may be performed in various ways and a preferred example thereof will now be described, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a sectional view through an injection device of this invention prior to use; and
FIGS. 2 and 3 are similar views showing successive stages of operation of the injection member.



DESCRIPTION
The injection device shown in the drawings comprises a syringe 1 located within a protective housing 2. The syringe comprises a 3 incorporating a liquid dose held in place by a bung 4 and having a needle 5 through which the dose can be ejected by applying pressure to the bung 4. The 3 has an enlarged head 6. A plunger 7 is biased forwardly by a coil spring 8, but is held back in a latched position (FIG. 1) until such time as a trigger shown schematically at 11 is actuated to release the plunger and the spring 8. Prior to use the syringe 1 is held retracted in the housing 2 by a coil spring 9.
It will be seen that the plunger 7 is in the form of a rod having a central portion which defines a pair of projecting elbows 10. These can be pre-formed as part of a moulded plunger 7. The projecting elbow portions 10 are flexible so that they can be moved inwardly to cause that portion of the rod to adopt a circumference similar to that of the rest of the rod. As can be seen in FIG. 2, when the plunger is released and biased by the spring 8 the expanded region formed by the elbows 10 rests against the head 6 of the 3 and the force provided is sufficient to compress the spring 9 until such time as the head 6 abuts the top of the housing 2, whereupon further movement of the 3 is arrested. The continual bias created by the spring 8 then causes the elbows 10 to be 20 compressed inwardly as they enter into the interior of the 3. With the elbows 10 in the collapsed state, the plunger can then move relatively easily within the 3 so as to act upon the bung 4 and thus cause the contents of the syringe to be ejected through the needle 5.
The illustrated configuration of the plunger 7 provides several technical advantages. It can be moulded integrally. Also the collapsing movement of the projecting elbows provides an arrangement which can provide a suitable injection force to cause the needle to enter the skin to a suitable depth, but then provide a relatively low drag against the inner wall of the syringe container so that the major portion of the thrust of the spring for the remainder of its stroke is applied to the bung 4. It will be appreciated that other configurations of collapsing projection could be used in place of the collapsing elbows.

## Claims

1. An injection device comprising:
a housing;
a syringe coupled to a needle at one end and having a syringe barrel with an inner circular circumference, the syringe slideably mounted within the housing for movement between a first position relative to the housing in which the needle is shrouded by the housing and a second position relative to the housing in which the needle projects from the housing;
a bung slideably mounted in the syringe and moveable to expel a liquid through the needle;
a plunger comprising:
an upper solid portion having a circular cross-sectional profile,
a lower solid portion having a distal end operable to move a bung and to transmit an expulsion force thereto, the lower solid portion having a circular cross-sectional profile, and
a collapsible projecting portion comprising two flexible elbows on either side of a central void extending along a central axis of the plunger between the upper and lower solid portions, wherein the flexible elbows project outwardly from the central void when the projecting portion is in a projecting position, and wherein the flexible elbows are inwardly collapsible toward the central void to fit within the inner circular circumference of the syringe barrel when the projecting portion is in a collapsed position; and

an actuating bias member provided at one end of the housing and operable to move the plunger toward another end of the housing.

2. The injection device of claim 1, wherein the central void is a longitudinally extending slit.

3. The injection device of claim 1, wherein the plunger is integrally molded.

4. The injection device of claim 1, wherein movement of the plunger, upon release of the actuating bias member, causes the projecting portion to bear against an enlarged head of the syringe to drive the syringe within the housing from the first position to the second position.

5. The injection device of claim 4, wherein, when in the collapsed position, the projecting portion collapses inwardly so that it enters the syringe, wherein the collapse of the projecting portion enables the plunger to move within the syringe to compress a liquid within the syringe.

6. The injection device of claim 1, wherein the flexible elbows are formed by bifurcation of opposite ends of the upper and lower solid portions.

7. A syringe assembly comprising:
a syringe having a distal end couplable to a needle, a proximal end and a syringe barrel having an inner circular circumference;
a bung slideably mounted in the syringe; and
a plunger comprising:
an upper solid portion having a circular cross-sectional profile,
a lower solid portion having a distal end insertable into the proximal end of the syringe and operable to move the bung and to transmit an expulsion force thereto, the lower solid portion having a circular cross-sectional profile and an outer circumference, and
a collapsible projecting portion comprising two flexible elbows on either side of a central void extending along a central axis of the plunger between the upper and lower solid portions, wherein the flexible elbows project outwardly from the central void in a projecting position and have an outer circumference greater than the inner circular circumference of the syringe barrel, and wherein the flexible elbows are inwardly collapsible toward the central void to fit within the inner circular circumference of the syringe barrel when the projecting portion is in a collapsed position.

8. The syringe assembly of claim 7, wherein the central void is a longitudinally extending slit.

9. The syringe assembly of claim 7, wherein the plunger is integrally molded.

10. The syringe assembly of claim 7, wherein movement of the plunger, upon release of an actuating bias member in an automatic injection device, causes the projecting portion to bear against an enlarged head of the syringe to drive the syringe within a housing of the automatic injection device from a first position relative to the housing in which the needle is shrouded by the housing to a second position relative to the housing in which the needle is exposed outside the housing.

11. The syringe assembly of claim 10, wherein, when in the collapsed position, the projecting portion collapses inwardly so that it enters the syringe, wherein the collapse of the projecting portion enables the plunger to move within the syringe to compress a liquid within the syringe barrel.

12. The syringe assembly of claim 7, wherein the flexible elbows are formed by bifurcation of opposite ends of the upper and lower solid portions.

13. A syringe plunger, comprising:
an upper solid portion having a circular cross-sectional profile;
a lower solid portion having a circular cross-sectional profile and a distal end operable to move a bung in a syringe barrel and to transmit an expulsion force thereto; and
a collapsible projecting portion comprising two flexible elbows on either side of a central void extending along a central axis of the syringe plunger between the upper and lower solid portions, wherein the flexible elbows project outwardly from the central void in a projecting position and have an outer circumference greater than an inner circumference of the syringe barrel, wherein the flexible elbows are inwardly collapsible toward the central void when the projecting portion is in a collapsed position and the outer circumference of the projecting portion fits within the inner circumference of the syringe barrel.

14. The syringe plunger of claim 13, wherein the flexible elbows are formed by bifurcation of opposite ends of the upper and lower solid portions.

15. The syringe plunger of claim 13, wherein the central void is a longitudinal slit in the syringe plunger.

16. The syringe plunger of claim 13, wherein the central void has an elongated oval cross-sectional profile extending along the central axis of the syringe plunger, and wherein the central void has a first larger width when the projecting portion is in the projecting position and a second smaller width when the projecting portion is in the collapsed position.

17. A syringe assembly, comprising:
a housing of an automatic injection device;
a syringe couplable to a needle at a distal end, the syringe slideably mounted within the housing for movement between a shrouded retracted position relative to the housing and an extended injecting position relative to the housing;
a bung slideably mounted in the syringe and moveable to expel a liquid dose through the needle at the distal end of the syringe;
a plunger having an end operable to move the bung and to transmit an expulsion force thereto; and
wherein the plunger is provided with a projecting region which is outside the syringe when the plunger is at a first position but which in use, on movement away from the first position, engages a proximal end of the syringe to drive the syringe to the extended injecting position, whereupon arresting of further movement of the syringe causes the projecting region to collapse inwardly so that it enters the syringe to allow the plunger to expel the liquid dose.

18. The syringe assembly of claim 17, wherein the projecting region comprises a pair of elbows, wherein an elbow is defined on either side of a void in the plunger.

19. The syringe assembly of claim 18, wherein the pair of elbows is preformed as an arm on either side of the void between spaced front and rear solid portions of the plunger.

20. The syringe assembly of claim 17, wherein the housing is fixed relative to the syringe.

21. The syringe assembly of claim 17, wherein the projecting region of the plunger is configured to drive the syringe in the automatic injection device from a first position relative to a housing to a second position relative to the housing such that the needle projects from the housing.