US 11,752,266 B2
Syringe support and autoinjector
Thomas Mark Kemp, Ashwell (GB); and Louise Hodgson, Herts (GB)
Assigned to Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GMBH, Frankfurt am Main (DE)
Filed by Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GMBH, Frankfurt am Main (DE)
Filed on Feb. 6, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/106,278.
Application 18/106,278 is a continuation of application No. 17/738,644, filed on May 6, 2022.
Application 17/738,644 is a continuation of application No. 17/666,696, filed on Feb. 8, 2022, granted, now 11,400,216, issued on Aug. 2, 2022.
Application 17/666,696 is a continuation of application No. 15/579,146, granted, now 11,266,782, issued on Mar. 8, 2022, previously published as PCT/EP2016/062461, filed on Jun. 2, 2016.
Claims priority of application No. 15170596 (EP), filed on Jun. 3, 2015.
Prior Publication US 2023/0181828 A1, Jun. 15, 2023
Int. Cl. A61M 5/20 (2006.01); A61M 5/32 (2006.01); A61M 5/315 (2006.01)
CPC A61M 5/2033 (2013.01) [A61M 5/31578 (2013.01); A61M 5/3204 (2013.01); A61M 5/3157 (2013.01); A61M 2005/2013 (2013.01); A61M 2205/581 (2013.01)] 30 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An auto-injector comprising:
a housing;
a syringe disposed in a distal portion of the housing, the syringe comprising a proximal flange and a needle and containing a medicament;
a protective needle sheath removably coupled to the syringe to cover the needle;
a syringe carrier disposed within the housing and configured to support the syringe within the housing to limit distal movement of the syringe relative to the housing;
a sleeve-shaped needle shroud telescopically coupled to the housing and movable between an extended position in which a distal end of the sleeve-shaped needle shroud extends beyond a distal end of the needle and a retracted position in which the distal end of the needle extends beyond the distal end of the sleeve-shaped needle shroud;
a shroud spring configured to bias the sleeve-shaped needle shroud in a distal direction relative to the housing;
a syringe support coupled to a proximal portion of the housing, the syringe support comprising (i) a flexible portion disposed at a distal end of the syringe support and engaged with the proximal flange of the syringe to bias the syringe in the distal direction relative to the housing, (ii) a first longitudinally-extending opening in which a portion of a first deflectable arm of the auto-injector is disposed, (iii) a second longitudinally-extending opening located circumferentially opposite of the first longitudinally-extending opening and in which a portion of a second deflectable arm of the auto-injector is disposed, and (iv) a third longitudinally-extending opening located circumferentially between the first longitudinally-extending opening and the second longitudinally-extending opening and having a width that is greater than a width of the first longitudinally-extending opening;
a hollow plunger rod slidably disposed along a longitudinal axis of the syringe support such that the hollow plunger rod is disposed between the first longitudinally-extending opening and the second longitudinally-extending opening, the hollow plunger rod configured to move in the distal direction relative to the housing to dispense the medicament from the syringe through the needle; and
a compression drive spring disposed within the hollow plunger rod and configured to bias the hollow plunger rod in the distal direction relative to the housing.