Syringe mount for a medical fluid injector

Inventors

Strobl, Geoffrey S.

Assignees

Mallinckrodt Inc • Liebel Flarsheim Co LLC

Abstract

In certain embodiments, a syringe mount of the invention may include a plate, an actuator, and one or more movable members located between the plate and the actuator. Each of the plate and the actuator may have an orifice defined therein, and an imaginary reference axis of the syringe mount may extend through one or both of these orifices. The actuator may be movable relative to the plate in a direction substantially perpendicular to the reference axis. Further, the moveable member(s) may be designed to move (e.g., pivot) toward the reference axis due to movement of the actuator from a first position to a second position and to move (e.g., pivot) away from the reference axis due to movement of the actuator from the second position to the first position.

Core Innovation

The disclosed syringe mount for a medical fluid injector includes a drive ram with a longitudinal axis, a syringe mount having components that define an aperture and an interior cavity, and a separate orifice in a first component. The syringe is moved through an aperture of the syringe mount and into the interior cavity to insert the syringe into the separate orifice defined in the first component. The medical fluid injector drive ram is configured so that the syringe longitudinal axis is moved toward the longitudinal axis of the drive ram by moving a first component.

Movement of the first component is in a first direction that is substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the syringe, so that the longitudinal axis of the syringe is moved toward the longitudinal axis of the drive ram. This first-component motion causes movement of a second component of the syringe mount toward the longitudinal axis of the syringe while the syringe is located within the orifice. The mount uses pivoting movable members, including pins and shaped slots such as a V-shaped slot, arranged between a face plate and an actuator.

The coupling of the syringe plunger to the drive ram is described using mating coupling mechanisms so that the syringe plunger is coupled to the drive ram. The configuration permits syringe removal without returning the drive ram to a home position. The described arrangement aligns the syringe’s longitudinal axis with the injector drive ram axis during operation by controlling the relative positions of the first and second components.

Claims Coverage

The independent claims are clm-00001, clm-00012, clm-00022, and clm-00031. Across these independent claims, the coverage centers on inserting a syringe into an orifice defined in a first component and then moving the first component in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the syringe to reposition the syringe longitudinal axis relative to the drive ram and to cause movement of a second component toward the syringe longitudinal axis, including an end-state of substantially coaxial alignment in some independent claims.

The independent claims consistently require inserting a syringe into an orifice defined in a first component and then moving that first component in a direction substantially perpendicular to the syringe longitudinal axis to reposition the syringe longitudinal axis relative to the drive ram axis and to cause movement of a second component toward the syringe. In clm-00031, the method further requires an offset first position and an end-state where the syringe longitudinal axis moves into a substantially coaxial relationship with the drive ram longitudinal axis.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications