US2076121A - Hypodermic syringe needle hub - Google Patents

Description

F. S. DICKINSON HYPODERMIC SYRINGE NEEDLE HUB April 6, 1937.

Filed Feb. 21, 1934 WIT SS ,5. 2.4i@

Patented Apr. y 6, 1937 Umrao STATES PAU- 3yr OFFICE 9 Claims.

Theinvention relates to surgical instruments of the kind generally known as hypodermic syringes and has for its object to provide an improved needle carriage or hub member therefor and to provide means in the structure of said carriage for establishing a reliable connection between such needle carriage and a. metal locking sleeve mounted on the syringe barrel of the type shown in my Patent No. 1,793,068 of February 'I'he invention contemplates particularly the provision of a novel needle hub or carriage easy to manipulate and provided with means whereby a more facile connection is established between such member and the barrel member or sleeve.

Although the arrangement of parts illustrated in Patent No. 1,793,068 adequately performs the function of providing a positive mechanical interlock between the needle hub and the sleeve on the barrel, said interlock being auxiliary to and preservative of the normal connection between the conical engaging parts of the nozzle and needle hub, the mechanical features which were utilized to bring about these results did not fully satisfy all of the requirements of syringe users. There are numerous uses of syringes which require that the beveled point of the needle should be in approximate alignment with the scale of the barrel. As the needle hub can enter the camway of the barrel only in one of two positions and there is no relation between the position of the entrance of the camway with respect to the position on the glass barrel of the engraved scale, it

was only by accident that the desired relative position as between the beveled needle point and the scale was attainable at all. Furthermore, in the structure illustrated in the patent referred to the hub section of the needle required a very substantial extent of rotation before it reached the locked position, this feature having awkward and inconlvenient results.

One of the objects of the invention is therefore vto provide a construction of needle carriage which may be easily inserted into a sleeve mounted on the syringe barrel so as -to be positioned at will, when locked, approximately in any desired relation as between the beveled needle point and the scale on the barrel and to be retained in such sleeve in a positive locked position only slightly differing from the loose-position in which it was applied to the sleeve for positive securing therein.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction of needle carriage which may be easily grasped for insertion into the barrel -sleeve and which is provided withla plurality of posi- (Cl. 12S-221) tive gripping surfacesgwhereby the needle car riage may be grasped in the course of its manipulation. A still further object of the invention is to provide a, construction of needle carriage which is inexpensive to manufacture and is capable of" 5 being produced in large quantities without exacting mechanical operations or an undue amount of machining. A still further object of the invention is to provide a construction of needle carriage which will keep the hub section positively in a non-contacting position and yet will lie flat in any of a plurality of positions in which it may be placed on a at surface -and will also keep the needle proper out of contact with the surface upon which the carriage rests. Specific advantages indicated by the attainment of the above objects will be referred to hereinafter.

A particular embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is an elevation of the lower portion of a hypodermic syringe having my novel needle carriage applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the needle and needle carriage Fig. 4 is a section along the line 4 4 of Fig. 1; line 5-5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a section along the line 6 6 of Fig. 2.; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the needle and needle carriage; and Fig 8 is an end elevation of the carriage shown in Fig. 7.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawing, I

Fig. 5 is a section along the 2 indicates a. syringe, preferably made of glass, and which is provided with a dis- 'I'he hub 5 of the needle carriage 6 is relatively small, light in weight, and is provided with'the usual tapered bore] which ts upon, the correspondingly tapered nozzle 'I' of the unit 34. The needle 8 is supported in the outwardly extending end of the carriage 6 in the usual way. The outer surface of the carriage 6 includes a plurality of inset faces 9 and ridges I5 having line-contact carriage supporting edges I5 (see Figs. 5 and 8). At the open end of the hub 5 itis' provided with a flattened substantially square flan e Il having lateral faces Ill and corner portions on projecting anges i2. 'I'hese projecting flanges I/Zonstitute means -on the needle carriage, whereby a positive securing of the needle carriage within the barrel sleeve is obtained and whereby unintentional separation from such sleeve is prevented by the cooperation thereof with coaction means on the locking sleeve 4. These flanges I2, as indicated in Figs. 3 and '7, are slightly beveled at their camengaging surfaces, thereby tending to bring the effective interlocking portion of the anges with the cams into alignment with a radial line extending from the center of the hub to the apex of the flange. 'I'he spiral cams I3 and I4 disposed on the inner surface of locking sleeve 4, may be termed threads though the action is that of spiral cams, there being a plurality of cams to accommodate the two sets of diametrically opposed flanges I2' which interlock with the cams for holding the hub 5 in substantially the position shown in Fig. 2, when the said hub has been inserted with a slight rotary motion, into the locking sleeve.

It will be noted that in the described arrangement, the portions of the flange II which `are in actual locking contact with the camways I3 and I4, are of extremely small effective area, as shown at I2 in Fig. 6. This feature, upon initial consideration, would appear to be disadvantageous, especially in contrast with the relatively wide cam-engaging flanges of the needle hubs illustrated in my Patent No. 1,793,068 which afford more ample and apparently more reliable surface contacts with the camways. Tests and extended experiments have, howeverl shown that these semi-circular flanges of the prior structure cannot only be entirely dispensed with, and that diametrically disposed small triangular projections have suflicient rigidity, strength, and wear resistance to be quite as reliable and efficient, but that the use of such extremely small projections leads to a number of unexpected positive advantages which will be hereinafter referred to.

It is desirable, in any structure of this general type, that the finger-gripping portion of the carriage should be more massive than the locking flange portion of the hub. In the prior carriage, with semi-circular flanges, this result was obtained solely by increasing the longitudinal dimension of the finger-gripping portion, the exterior contour of said portion and cf the locking flange portion of the hub being substantially identical. In the new structure, the peripheral extent of the finger-gripping portions 8-I5 is much greater than that of the locking flange II.

-This result is readily obtained in a simple and inexpensive manner, not obvious from an inspection of the structure, by starting with a rod havlng the sectional outline shown in Fig. 5. Such rod is turned down to form the hub surface 5, and producing the flange II having diagonally disposed corners I2 of the finished product. The sides I0 of the flange I I and the inset portions 9 of the carriage 6, having been left unaffected by the turning operation, remain in alignment with each other, although, as a result of the turning operation, the flange II has assumed a square rconflguration, leaving projections I5 extending beyond the outermost parts of the flange I I, with the result that, as shown in Figs. '7 and 8, when the new needle carriage is laid upon a flat surface, two of the edges I5 will bear the weight of the entire structure in a balanced position, and, except for the contact lines I5', will maintain every other part of the structure positioned above the supporting surface. Thus. no part of the flange section I0, Il, and I2 (located near the medicinal entry end of the hub) ever't'ouches any supporting surface and consequently is, to that extent, protected against picking up contaminatory matter.

The corner elevations I5 are preferably angular in outline and assure a flrm gripping of the needle carriage by the fingers when inserting the needle carriage hub into the locking sleeve 4.

In inserting the needle carriage into the locking sleeve, the carriage is gripped by any two opposite surfaces 9, placed onto the nozzle 1', and

locked thereon below the locking cams by av gentle rotation ci the hub. The spiral cams I2 and I4 are spaced a sufficient distance apart to permit the hub 5 to freely rotate for the fraction of its revolution necessary to have one of the flanges I2 frictionally engage the spiral cams I3 and I4 to assure a flnal perfection of flt and at the same time lock the hub in its perfectly seated condition against accidental removal or accidental loosening. The final rotation of the hub, which by reason of the fact that several flanges I2 serving as points of contact with the cam surfaces are provided on the carriage, will be of a very small degree, and the resultant cam action between the projections I2 and the spiral cams I3 and I4 jams the parts together so that uncoupling by reverse rotation is resisted by the compound effect of the friction between 1 and 1' and the camming hold of the cams I3, I4 on the projection I2, to an extent sufficient to prevent unseating of the cams in all ordinary operations of the syringe or unless a special effort sufhcient to overcome the resistance is made. At the same time, the coupling is not so frictionally resistant as to prevent intentional uncoupling with great ease, involving a simple manual operation applied by gripping the needle carriage between two fingers of one hand and the barrel or locking sleeve with the other hand and imparting a slight reverse rotative movement to these elements.

The apertures shown at I6 in Fig. 1 are provided for the purpose that the knozzle 1' and the cams I3, I4 may be treated with cleansing, sterilizing or disinfecting fluids.

It will be seen that the new needle carriage and structure can be used with great facility and with an improved effect with glass syringes provided with the described sleeve structure.

The coupling of the needle carriage or hub to the sleeve of the syringe is an extremely simple operation. The construction of the hub, being providedwith the projections I2 on diametrically opposed sides thereof, is such that the mere placing of the substantially square flange I I upon the nozzle 1 and a slight turning of the carriage is sufficient to guide such flange II into and under the effective surface of the camway within the sleeve and to secure the carriage tightly within the sleeve. With the structures of the prior art, for instance, the hub having a pair of opposed semi-circular and relatively wide cam-engaging flanges illustrated in my Patent No. 1,793,068. it is in most instances of use necessary to turn the carriage or hub a substantial amount before the two flanges find their proper entry into the camway and come into positive engaging contact with the cam surfaces thereof. portions at opposite points of the flange periph-I ery at which the flange can engage the sleeve camway, necessitating a turning of the hub sometimes as much as 180 degrees before its flange comes into securing engagement with the sleeve. An attempt to secure such desired alignment of parts was made in some of the structures of the prior art where it has been suggested to provide Such hub has only two :,ovaiai the inner wall of the sleeve with an inwardly extending lug adapted to engage a mating slot incorporated in one oi the projecting senil-circular portions on the surface of the hub. With my novel construction of needle carriage the necessity of providing such a lug and a cooperating mating slot is entirely avoided as no particular meansv other than a mereglance at the parts heldin the hands during assembly is necessary to control the point of entry of the projections I2 into the cam and to determine the final seated position of the needle with relation to the scale.

By providingv two pairs of diametrically op- `posed triangular projections upon the cam-engaging flange, as in my novel hub structure, an extremely small fraction of revolution, of such hub is sufficient to have the flange engage the camway and become secured thereon within the sleeve, irrespective of the particular position of the hub when brought into juxtaposition with the nozzle 'I'. In other Words, whatever the relationship between the projections of the flange II and the starting point of the camway when the hub is placed uponthe Vnozzle 1', only a limited and minute amount of turning of the hub about its axis is necessary to have one of the projections I2 come into locking engagement with the cam surface of the sleeve 4. This enables the user to hold his needle in approximately the ultimately desired relative position (as between the scaled side of the syringe and the beveled point of lthe needle, for example) and then obtain a reliable interlock between the carriage and sleeve in the desired relative positions of the parts.

Itwill be noted that my improved needle carriage provides a plurality of finger grips which may be grasped in any position of the carriage, so that no matter in what position'the carriage is grasped from a supporting surface, it is ready for insertion into the syringe sleeve Without the necessity of turning it so as to bring one of the projecting portions of its flange into cooperative engagement with the camway of the sleeve. By

. providing four of such projecting portions on diametrically opposite sides of the hub and distributing the same equally about the periphery of the flange, the needle carriage may b e inserted into the sleeve in any of a plurality of positions, in any of which one of the projecting portions I2 will properly engage the camway. The linger grips of my novel carriage which are separated by elevated portions I5 at diametrically opposed corners of the stock from which the carriage is manufactured, provide convenient gripping means. The elevated portions I5 serve in the double capacity of facilitating the grasping of the gripping surfaces and also vas means for holding the hub and the needle from contact with the surface on which the carriage may rest o be mounted.

In a needle carriage for use in hypodermic ges, and comprising a hub portion and a flange forfentry into and locking engagement Vwitha helical cam groove on a sleeve supported on theY syringe, that improvement which consists in the provision of a locking flange consisting of foursubstantially triangular shaped projections arranged 90 apart extending and apexed out-'-` vwarlly from the hub, the apex portion of said Vprojections constituting the groove entering and engaging means, said flange being substantially j: squareeand all of the parts thereof between any consecutive two of the four triangu@ projections 'a needle carriage a being of lessy radial extent portions of said projections.

2. The combination comprising a hub having a'needle carriage portion, a needle end, and a butt end, said hub being provided with an interior tapered bore adapted to fit upon a correspondingly tapered nozzle -oi' a syringe, a needle positioned at the needle end of said hub, said needle carriage portion having at least two opposite parallel faces, said hub being provided with a section of reduced vdiameter between the needle carriage portion and the needle-carrying Portion and, between said reduced section and the needle-carrying section, with four substantially triangular projections arranged 90 apart and adapted to engage cam grooves carried by the syringe, said projections extending outward#- ly from said hub in approximate alignment with the axially parallel longitudinal edge portions'of the parallel faces of said carriage, all of the parts of the hub between any consecutive two of the fourtriangular projections being of less radial extent than the apex portions of said projections.

3. The combination comprisingl a hub having portion,v a needle end. and a butt end, said hub being' provided with an interior tapered bore adapted to fit upon a correspondingly tapered nozzle of a syringe, a needle positioned at the needle end of said hub, and a flattened substantially square locking flange, at the butt end of the hub, having lateral faces and two pairs of diagonally opposed projections, the needle carriage including a plurality of inset faces and ridges having line-contact supportythan the said apex.

carriage is laid upon a ilatsurface, two of the contact edges will bear the weightv of the entire structure in balanced position, and, except for such line-contact edges, every other part of the structure will vbe maintained above the supporting surface.

4. I'he combination comprising a hub having a needlecarriage portion, a needle end, `and a butt end, said hub being provided. with an interior tapered, boreadapted to lit upon a correspondingly tapered nozzle of a syringe, a needle positioned at the needle end of said hub, and a flattened substantially square locking flange at the vbutt end of the hub having lateral faces and a pair of diagonally opposed projections, the needle carriage portion of said hub including a plurality of inset faces and ridges having line-contact supporting edges, 4the finger gripping elements -of said carriage portion having a peripheral extent greater than that of the locking flange. l I e y 5. The" combination comprising a hub having a needle carriage portion, a needle end and a butt end, said hub beingprovided-with an intion only slightly differing from the loose posi-1 tion in which it was applied to said helical groove for'positive securing therein. the needle carriage portion of said hubincluding. a plurality of inset faces and ridges having line-contact supporting edges, the nnger gripping portions of said s carriage portion having a peripheral extent greater-than that of the locking flange, and the lateral faces of said flange being in alignment with the inset faces of the carriage, whereby, when the needle carriage is laid upon a dat sur- 10 face, two of the contact edges will bear the weight of the entire structure in balanced position, and except for such line-contact edges every other part'of the structure will be maintained above the surface. l5 6. In combination, in aliypodermic syringe, a

barrel, a tapered nozzle therefor, a sleeve surrounding the lower portion of said nozzle, said sleeve being provided with a pair of helical grooves whose outer ends are located opposite to one an- 20 other and in the same horizontal plane,andanee` die hub carrying a needle, the interior of said hub being provided' with an interior-ly tapered bore adapted to fit upon the tapered nozzle, said hub being provided with a substantially square lock- 25 ing flange consisting of four triangular projections. located at the four comers of the flange substantially 90 apart, all of the parts of the flange between any consecutive two of the four triangular projections being of less radial extent 30 than the apex portion of said projections.

7. The combination claimed in claim 6 in which the hub includes a body portion having a plurality of inset faces and ridges having line-contact supporting edges, said body portion serving as a positive finger-grip for said hub in any position thereof.

8. The combination'comprising a needle hub carrying a needle, the interior of said hub being lprovided with an interior tapered bore section adapted to ilt upon a correspondingly tapered nozzle of a syringe, said hub being provided with a substantially square locking flange consisting of four substantially triangular projections located at the four corners of the flange substantially 90, apart, all of the parts of the ilange between any consecutive two of the four triangular projections being of less radial extent than the apex portions oi' said projections, whereby any two oppositely located projections become available for cooperative locking engagement with a pair of helicalgrooves within a sleeve carried by a syringe around its nozzle.

9. The combination set forth in claim 8 in which the hub includes `a body portion having a plurality of inset faces and ridges forming nnger-gripping elements, said ridges being in approximate alignment with the four projections and extending outwardly to a greater radial extent than the four projections.

FAIRLEIGH B. DICKINBON.

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