Syringe activation device
An apparatus for holding a syringe and injecting fluid from the syringe. The apparatus includes a barrel having a bore extending therethrough for receiving a body portion of the syringe, a drive spring, a drive mechanism movable under the influence of the drive spring to advance the syringe from a retracted position within the barrel to an advanced position wherein a needle portion of the syringe extends outwardly of the barrel, and to compress a plunger portion of the syringe relative to the body portion of the syringe to inject the fluid through the needle portion, and a retraction plunger movable within the drive sled between an advanced position and a retracted position, to permit the needle of the syringe to retract back into the housing after the injection is complete.
1 . An apparatus for holding a syringe and injecting fluid from the syringe, said apparatus comprising:
a barrel having a bore extending therethrough for receiving a body portion of the syringe;
a drive spring;
a drive sled movable under the influence of said drive spring to advance the syringe from a retracted position within the barrel to an advanced position wherein a needle portion of the syringe extends outwardly of the barrel, and to compress a plunger portion of the syringe relative to the body portion of the syringe to inject the fluid through the needle portion; and
a retraction plunger movable within the drive sled between an advanced position and a retracted position.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a retraction spring for retracting the syringe from the advanced position to the retracted position after injecting the fluid.
3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising a syringe retention piston movable between an advanced position and a retracted position under the influence of the retraction spring.
4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising an upper receiver wall and a lower receiver wall, wherein the syringe is retained between the syringe retention piston and the upper receiver wall in its retracted position.
5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the syringe retention piston compresses the retraction spring against the lower receiver wall when the syringe is in its advanced position.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the drive sled comprises a pair of arms, each arm having an intermediate barb for retaining the retraction plunger in its advanced position.
7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein each arm further comprises an inwardly directed free end for retaining the retraction plunger in its retracted position.
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the retraction plunger further comprises a cantilevered arm for engaging the drive sled and holding the retraction plunger in an advanced position in the drive sled.
9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the drive sled further comprises a shelf for retaining the retraction plunger in a retracted position.
10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an actuation button for releasing the drive sled from its retracted position.
11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the actuation button comprises a plunger setting shaft for resetting the retraction plunger into its advanced position upon compression of the drive spring.
12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , and further comprising a retraction yoke for retracting the drive sled to an energized position.
13 . An apparatus for activating a syringe comprising a housing, a drive mechanism and a syringe retention mechanism, the syringe retention mechanism comprising a syringe retention piston and at least one syringe retraction spring.
14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the syringe retention mechanism further comprises an upper receiver wall against which the syringe retention piston is biased by the syringe retraction spring.
15 . An apparatus for activating a syringe comprising a housing, a drive mechanism and a syringe retention mechanism, wherein the drive mechanism comprises at least one drive spring for moving a drive sled between an advanced position and a retracted position within the housing, and a retraction plunger movable between an advanced position and a retracted position within the drive sled.
16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the drive sled comprises a pair of arms, each arm having an intermediate barb for retaining the retraction plunger in its advanced position.
17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein each arm further comprises an inwardly directed free end for retaining the retraction plunger in its retracted position.
18 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the housing comprises at least one plunger retention track for limiting flexure of the arms along a portion of a stroke of travel of the drive sled.
19 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the housing further comprises at least one resilient retention tab for retaining the drive sled in its retracted position when the drive mechanism is energized.
20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising an actuation button for releasing the drive sled from the at least one resilient retention tab.
21 . The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the actuation button comprises a plunger setting shaft for resetting the retraction plunger into its advanced position within the drive sled when the drive mechanism is energized.
22 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the drive sled comprises a seat for engaging an arm of the retraction plunger for retaining the retraction plunger in an advanced position.
23 . The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the drive sled further comprises a shelf for retaining the retraction plunger in its retracted position.
24 . The apparatus of claim 22 , further comprising a post projecting from the housing for disengaging the arm of the retraction plunger from the seat of the drive sled to allow the retraction plunger to retract.
25 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the post is interchangeable for use with different types of syringe.
26 . The apparatus of claim 22 , and further comprising a retraction yoke for retracting the drive mechanism to an energized position.