Automatically retractable needle safety syringe
OwnerLewis R. Van Dykeinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automatically retractable needle safety syringe apparatus having an integral safety feature that automatically and immediately retracts the piercing tip end of the needle body after a single use, due to a punch which frictionally engages the foundation of the ferrule and a vacuum created within the syringe body during the process of injecting fluid therefore causing the piercing tip end of the needle body to permanently reside enclosed within the syringe body protectively pressed against the inner surface of the tube thus alleviating needle reuse and accidental needle prickings with contaminated syringe needles and therefore ultimately preventing the transmission of blood-borne pathogens and other diseases by contaminated syringe needles. The method of operation is also disclosed.
Claims17
An automatically retractable needle safety syringe apparatus, comprising:
- a syringe body having seal means on an end thereof;
- a needle body having attachment means for temporarily attaching said needle body to said syringe body;
- and
- a plunger having seal means and punch means, said seal means of said plunger and said seal means of said syringe body together creating a vacuum within said syringe body, said punch means of said plunger for engaging and withdrawing said needle body within said syringe body.
An automatically retractable needle safety syringe apparatus, comprising:
- a syringe body having a pair of opposing ends and a variable vacuum compartment within said syringe body, said variable vacuum compartment located at a first end of said syringe body;
- a needle body having a surface temporarily attached to said syringe body at a second end of said syringe body;
- and
- a plunger slidably engageable with said syringe body having a punch attached to said plunger, said punch having a piercing edge for piercing said surface of said needle body and a pair of internal, longitudinally offset tabs for frictionally engaging said needle body.
A method of permanently and protectively retracting a hollow needle automatically within a safety syringe apparatus, said safety syringe apparatus having a syringe body, a plunger and a needle body, the syringe body having a variable vacuum compartment and an inner surface, the plunger having a punch, said punch having internal, longitudinally offset tabs, the needle body having a ferrule and a piercing tip end, the ferrule of the needle body having a grommet and a foundation, comprising the steps of:
- creating a vacuum within the variable vacuum compartment of the syringe body;
- severing the grommet of the ferrule with the punch of the plunger;
- frictionally engaging the foundation of the ferrule;
- automatically retracting the piercing tip end of the needle body to a position within the syringe body, as a result of the vacuum created within the variable vacuum compartment;
- permanently enclosing the piercing tip end of the needle body within the syringe body;
- and
- protectively pressing the piercing tip end of the needle body against the inner surface of the syringe body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.