Protected needle assembly
OwnerVincent L. Vaillancourtinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The protected needle assembly is provided with various enhancements for improved use. In one embodiment, a V-shaped slot is provided at the rear of the guide slot so that the retractable sheath can be locked in a retracted position. In another embodiment, a cam surface is provided at the front of the guide slot to direct the projection on the sheath into a position to lock of the sheath in an extended position. An additional inclined guide portion may be provided at the forward end of the guide slot for intramuscular injection use. The movable sheath may also be mounted on a syringe without need for a resilient bias or may incorporate a coiled spring or rubber strip to bias the sheath into an extended position. Another embodiment allows for multiple or universal use of the needle assembly.
Claims19
A protected needle assembly comprising
- a housing including a hub at a proximal end for mounting on at least one of a drug delivery system, a syringe and a blood receiving receptacle and a rigid tube;
- a needle mounted on said hub and within said tube, said needle extending beyond said tube;
- a sheath disposed concentrically about said needle with one end extending beyond said needle in protective relation, said sheath being movable longitudinally of said needle and said tube between an extended position covering over said needle and a retracted position exposing said needle;
- at least one projection on one of said sheath and said tube;
- a guide slot in the other of said sheath and said tube receiving said projection, said guide slot having a circumferentially directed portion at one end receiving said projection in said extended position of said sheath and an inclined portion at an opposite end directed toward said one end to receive and retain said projection in said retracted position;
- and
- resilient means for biasing said sheath from said retracted position to said extended position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.