Break-away safety shield for needle cannula
AssigneeBecton, Dickinson and Company
InventorLawrence Partika
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A safety shield assembly is provided for safely enclosing a needle cannula. The safety shield assembly includes an inner shield that is slidably movable along the needle cannula. The inner shield includes a locking structure which locks the inner shield with respect to the distal end of the needle cannula. The safety shield assembly also includes an outer shield that is in releasable engagement with the inner shield. The outer shield will separate from the inner shield in response to excessive force exerted thereon, and hence avoids failure of the structure locking the inner shield to the needle cannula.
Claims17
A safety shield assembly comprising:
- a needle cannula having a proximal end, a distal end and a lumen therethrough;
- an inner shield slidably movable along said needle cannula from a proximal position at least partially on said needle cannula where said distal end of said needle cannula is exposed, to a distal position at least partially on said needle cannula where said distal end of said needle cannula is shielded;
- locking means for helping to prevent said inner shield from moving distally with respect to said needle cannula when said inner shield is in said distal position on said needle cannula;
- an outer shield disposed in surrounding relationship to said inner shield;
- and
- means for selectively disengaging said outer shield from said inner shield in response to a distally directed force of a selected magnitude exerted on said outer shield, said distally directed force being less than a force required to move said inner shield distally off the needle cannula, after said inner shield is in said distal position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.