Claims for Patent: 6,716,198

Summary for Patent: 6,716,198

Title:	Injection device
Abstract:	An injection device for injecting set doses from an ampoule (2) mounted in the device, which doses are set by operation of a dose setting button (7) by which operation elastic torsion rods (14) positioned parallel with the longitudinal axis of the device are twisted. By the dose setting a torque is transmitted from the dose setting button (7) to the rods (14) through gear transmissions comprising a toothing (11) carried by a tubular (8) part coupled to the dose setting button (7) to rotate with this button. The toothing (11) engages pinions (13) fixed to the proximal ends of the torsion rods (14), which are made from a super elastic material, which can stand a deformation larger than 2% without being permanently deformed.
Inventor(s):	Larsen; Andre (Drag.o slashed.r, DK)
Assignee:	Novo Nordisk A/S (Bagsvaerd, DK)
Application Number:	09/853,818
Patent Claims:	1. A medication delivery device comprising: a housing having a compartment for mounting a medication cartridge having a moveable piston; a dose setting mechanism for setting a desired dose, the dose setting mechanism having a rotateable dose setting element having a tubular element with a cylindrical axis of rotation; a threaded piston rod for abutting an piston in an ampoule cartridge; a pinion that is coupled to the tubular element of the dose setting mechanism; a means for coupling the pinion to a drive nut, the drive nut being rotateable but not linearly displaceable; and a rotateably displaceable elastic energy storing torsion rod for storing a rotational force, the energy storing torsion rod having a first end connected to the pinion and a second end connected to the housing; the torsion rod having sufficient stiffness to store sufficient force to drive the drive nut, thereby causing linear displacement of the piston rod and expelling a dose from the medication cartridge; wherein the torsion rod comprises a super elastic material, which can withstand an elastic deformation greater the 2%. 2. The medication delivery device of claim 1, wherein the device further comprises a transmission coupling the torsion rod(s) to the dose setting element. 3. The medication delivery device of claim 2, wherein the transmission is a gear transmission. 4. The medication delivery device of claim 1, wherein the first end(s) of the torsion rod(s) are connected at a distal end of the housing and the dose setting element is located at a proximal end of the housing and wherein the tubular element extends distally from the dose setting element. 5. The medication delivery device of claim 1, wherein the torsion rod(s) are parallel to the tubular dose setting element and are pre-stressed. 6. A medication delivery device comprising: a housing; a rotatable dose setting element having an axis of rotation; one or more rotateably displaceable elastic energy storing torsion rod(s) coupled to the rotateable dose setting element, the torsional rod(s) each having a first end and a second end, the first end(s) irrotatably connected to the housing so that the first end cannot rotate with respect to the housing and the second end(s) coupled to the the rotatable dose setting element at the second end of the torsional energy storing rod(s), thereby allowing rotational displacement of the second rod end(s) relative to the first rod end(s) when the dose setting member is rotated and thereby storing rotational energy in the torsion rod(s), the torsion rods being generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotatable dose setting element. 7. The medication delivery device of claim 6, further comprising: a releaseable locking means for locking the torsion rod(s) in a rotationally displaced position, relative to the first end, thereby allowing energy to be stored in the torsion rod(s) for later use. 8. The medication delivery device of claim 7, wherein the dose setting element has a tubular element and the torsional rod(s) are prestressed and then coupled to the tubular element. 9. The medication delivery device of claim 8, wherein a transmission comprising one or more gears couples dose setting element to the torsional rod(s). 10. A medication delivery device comprising: a housing; a linearly displaceable piston rod; a rotatable mechanical piston rod drive, the drive being coupled to the piston rod so that rotation of the drive linearly displaces the piston rod; an energy storage device for storing a rotational force for rotating the mechanical piston rod drive to linearly displace the piston rod, the energy storage device comprising one or more super elastic linear torsion rods, which can withstand an elastic deformation greater than 2% and wherein the torsion rods having a first end irrotatably fixed to the housing and a second end coupled to the drive, the second end being rotationally displaceable relative to the first end to store a rotational force. 11. The medication delivery device of claim 10, further comprising a releaseable ratchet means for locking the second end of the torsion rods in a rotationally displaced position, thereby allowing storage of a rotational force necessary to drive the piston rod drive until a time when it is desirable to drive the piston rod drive with hat linearly displacing the piston rod. 12. The medication 10, wherein the device is assembled with the torsion rods pre-stressed.