Tethered conical shield for phlebotomy needles
OwnerJack W. Shieldsinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
I describe a puncture-resistant hollow cone with a leading tether, a slanted leading aperture and a trailing bore of decreasing diameter for shielding and preventing accidental injuries from a hollow-bore steel needle after use for giving an intravenous (IV) infusion or withdrawing blood through trailing tubing. When the puncture-resistant hollow cone is slid over trailing tubing to overlie the needle hub, and the tether is held down with one finger over a venipuncture site, the other hand retracts trailing tubing attached to the needle hub until the trailing end of the needle hub becomes wedge impacted in the trailing bore of the puncture-resistant hollow cone, leaving the needle shaft and tip safely shielded within the leading bore of the puncture-resistant hollow cone in a space inaccessible to a user's finger.
Claims6
A shield for safely enclosing a hollow-bore steel needle, said needle having a round or rectangular needle hub which is affixed to trailing tubing, said shield comprising:
- a. a hollow cone with a slanted leading aperture whose smallest internal diameter exceeds the greatest external diameter of said needle hub, a trailing aperture whose internal diameter approximately equals the external diameter of said trailing tubing, and a conical cavity whose length between said slanted leading aperture and said trailing aperture is substantially longer than the combined axial length of said hollow-bore steel needle and said needle hub;
- and
- b. a tether having an expanded leading portion and a flexible trailing portion affixed to the leading portion of said hollow cone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.