Lancet assembly

Abstract

A lancet assembly includes an injection molded housing with a metal stylet mounted therein and a cap or shield. The stylet is held in position by adhesive and a plurality of supports that retain a centrally located hub within a lower portion of the housing. An improved cap is provided for mounting over the stylet on the lower portion of the housing to shield the stylet prior to use. The cap also includes an octagonal flange at its lower end to ease removal of the cap from the housing and to provide a flat octagonal surface for independent standing during reshielding. The housing of the lancet assembly includes a plurality of molded-in longitudinal splines that provide a textured surface on the exterior of the housing to make the housing easier to handle and manipulate when loading the lancet assembly into a blood sampling instrument and includes an annular flange extending from the exterior surface of the housing to make insertion/removal of shielded lancet assembly into/from a blood sampling instrument easier.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.