Safety needle container

Abstract

A universal safety adapter which is usable with different types of needles and syringes has integral first and second sections and a housing flexibly connected to one of the sections. In the case of the first section being adaptable to be mated with the hub of a needle assembly, the housing is flexibly connected thereto by way of a living hinge. The needle assembly is threadedly mated with an internally threaded annular collar surrounding a protrusion which is to be coupled to the hub of the needle assembly. The second section of the safety adapter, in a first embodiment, includes a female luer that is adaptable to be mated with different types of syringes, such as a luer slip syringe or a luer lock syringe. Once the needle assembly has been threadedly mated to the first section of the safety adapter, to ensure that the cannula of the needle assembly is not exposed so as to preclude accidental pricking by the needle, the housing is pivoted to a position whereby it completely envelops the cannula. At least one integral retainer mechanism in the housing prevents relative movement between the cannula and the housing once the housing has been pivoted to envelop the cannula. The dead space volume at the junction where the needle is connected to the syringe can be substantially reduced by a second embodiment of the safety adapter of the present invention which includes a male extension within the female luer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.