Sanofi-a Ventis Deutschland Gmbh

Cambridge Mechatronics Limited

Dominic George Webber

James Robert Howarth

Michael Harms

Steffen Raab

John David Cross

Geoffrey Philip Gray

Trevor John Beckett

Richard John Topliss

Andrew Benjamin Simpson Brown

Anthony Hooley

Stephen Matthew Bunting

Marc-Sebastian Scholz

Peter Van Wyk

Joshua Carr

Andreas Flouris

Thomas James Powell

David Kuan Wei Ooi

Thomas M Gregory

Robert John Leedham

David Charles William Richards

Shinichi Makino

Tevor John Beckett

David Charles Wilson Richards

Broadly speaking, embodiments of the present techniques provide haptic button assemblies in which the haptic button has a low profile while still providing a satisfying tactile response or sensation to a user. Advantageously, the haptic button assemblies may have a profile that, for example, enables the assembly to be incorporated into the free space along an edge of a portable computing device. The haptic assemblies may, for example, be arranged to move the button perpendicularly with respect to the edge of the device.

Haptic button with SMA

A medication delivery device and/or dosing mechanisms suitable for use in medication delivery devices, in particular in pen-type injectors, preferably having a dose setting system and a drive device enabling the administration of a medicinal product from a single- or multi-dose medication cartridge.

Medication delivery device

A medication delivery device having a housing having a proximal and a distal end, a medication receptacle designed to be engaged with the distal end of the housing by engagement of a first engagement feature with a second engagement feature and a dosing mechanism. The dosing mechanism includes a piston rod which is rotatable and moveable in a distal direction for medication delivery and a drive device for moving the piston rod in the distal direction for medication delivery. The medication receptacle includes an actuation element that brings a guiding element in a guiding position. The guiding element guides the piston rod for medication delivery. The first engagement feature and the second engagement feature are moveable into engagement by a movement of the medication receptacle which ends in a rotational movement without axial movement of the medication receptacle with respect to the housing.

A shape memory alloy actuation apparatus comprises a movable element supported on a support structure by a suspension system comprising a plurality of resilient flexures. A shape memory alloy actuator drives movement of the movable element on contraction. An end-stop limits the movement of the movable element in the opposite direction. Rather than using the resilient flexures of the suspension system as the sole biassing means, an additional Massing element biasses the movable element against the SMA actuator. When the moveable element is held against the end-stop, the force applied by the biassing element is greater than the force applied by the flexures of the suspension system. This reduces the design constraints, for example allowing a greater range of movement.

Shape memory alloy actuation apparatus

A medication delivery device comprising a housing, a medication receptacle, a piston rod which is moveable distally, and a drive device for rotating the piston rod in a first rotational direction. The piston rod comprises two threaded sections, a first threaded section for threaded engagement with a reset element and a second threaded section for threaded engagement with the drive device. In an operational state, the reset element is prevented from rotating and the piston rod prevented from moving proximally. In a resetting state, the reset element is allowed to rotate, such that the delivery device is resettable by rotating the piston rod and the reset element in a second rotational direction and moving the piston rod proximally.

A miniature camera lens actuation apparatus comprises a support structure, a camera lens element supported on the support structure by a suspension system; and an SMA actuator connected between the support structure and the movable element to drive movement of the camera lens element. The control circuit may include a drive circuit and a sensor circuit which have separate electrical connections to the SMA actuator to reduce the impact of the resistance of the electrical connections on the sensing. The control circuit may vary the drive signal in response to a temperature signal indicative of the ambient temperature. An endstop limits movement to prevent extension of the SMA actuator in its unheated state beyond a maximum length which is at or below the length corresponding the local maximum resistance of the resistance-length curve. Control of position is effected using resistance of the SMA actuator as a measure of position. The control employs a 'ratcheting' method to prevent a failure condition and an initial calibration step to derive a range of target resistance values. In manufacture, the position of a lens holder is adjusted relative to a carrier to provide focussing on the image sensor of an image of an object at a distance in the range from infinity to the hyperfocal distance when the SMA actuator is heated to a predetermined temperature greater than ambient temperature.

The present invention relates to a medication delivery device, to dosing mechanisms suitable for use in medication delivery devices, in particular in pen-type injectors, preferably having dose setting means and a drive device enabling the administration of a medicinal product from a multi-dose medication cartridge, to a use of such device, and to a method of manufacturing or assembling such device.

The present invention relates to a medication delivery device, to dosing mechanisms suitable for use in medication delivery devices, in particular in pen-type injectors, preferably having dose setting means and a drive device enabling the administration of a medicinal product from a single- or multi-dose medication cartridge, to a use of such device, and to a method of manufacturing or assembling such device.

A miniature camera lens actuation apparatus provides an auto-macro function in which a camera lens element has two focus positions. In one type of apparatus, a shape memory alloy actuator arranged to drive movement of the camera lens element relative to a support structure against an end-stop arranged to limit the movement. The shape memory alloy actuator is connected to one of the movable element and the support structure by a compliant connector. This limits the stresses on the shape memory alloy actuator and therefore increases its lifetime. In another type of apparatus, the suspension system supporting the movable element on the support structure provides the movable element with two stable positions along the movement direction.

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Dominic George Webber