WO1998008559A1

WO1998008559A1 - Needle assembly for use with a syringe

Info

Publication number: WO1998008559A1
Application number: PCT/CA1997/000613
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joe Debreczeni
Original assignee: Moldex Plastics & Tool Inc.
Priority date: 1996-08-29
Filing date: 1997-08-26
Publication date: 1998-03-05
Also published as: AU4007697A; CA2184439A1

Abstract

The disclosure herein describes a needle assembly for use with a syringe which includes a needle device having a holder and a needle, and a needle guard which is defined by a hollow cylindrical sheath that partially surrounds the needle; the guard has a first end mounted to the needle holder and an opposite closed end in proximity to the needle pointed end. Elongated slots and pivot pins cooperate to anchor the needle guard to the holder. Thumb gripping projections are provided on the first end of the needle guard to allow the sheath to be pivoted back at substantially 180° relative to its needle surrounding initial position while ensuring no thumb contact with the needle during the pivotal movement.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

Needle assembly for use with a syringe.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to a needle

assembly which is adapted to be fitted to a syringe and

which comprises a needle guard, mounted to a needle holder, which can be finger manipulated using one hand

only.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Needle assemblies consisting of a needle and of

a needle guard protecting the needle and being hingedly

connected so that it can be finger manipulated between a

needle covering position to a needle using operation are well known.

For example, U.S. patent No. 5,116,325 issued

May 26, 1992 to Donald . Patterson describes a needle

assembly which comprises a needle device, having a needle

base and a hollow needle, and a needle guard which

consists of a protective sheath around the needle such that the pointed end of the needle is protected by the

sheath. The assembly includes hinge components on the

sheath and hinge components on the base cooperating with

each other such that the needle guard is pivoted from a

primary position in which the needle end is protected by

the sheath to a secondary position in which the needle

point is exposed for use.

However, in this assembly, the particular

construction of the hinge components on the needle base

and on the needle sheath is such that, when the sheath is

pivoted so that the needle may be used, it can only

rotate rearwardly to a position of 90° maximum to the

needle covering position. This has one major drawback in

that, during the needle using operation, the sheath's

presence is an encumbrance to the operator.

In applicant's U.S. patent No. 5,462,534 issued

October 31, 1995, there is described a needle guard which

is defined by a hollow cylindrical sheath that partially

surrounds the needle; the guard has a first end mounted

to the needle holder and an opposite closed end in

proximity to the needle pointed end. Elongated slots and pivot pins cooperate to anchor the needle guard to the

holder. In one of the embodiments described, the slots

are provided on the needle guard and the pins on the

holder. This cooperating arrangement of the slot and

pins allows the sheath to be pivoted back at

substantially 180° relative to its needle surrounding

initial position thus removing the presence of the sheath

as much as possible from the needle puncturing operation.

However, the needle assembly described in this

patent does not fully ensure that, during pivotal

movement of the needle guard, a finger, such as the

user's thumb, will not contact the needle which may be

contaminated.

OBJECTS AND STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to

provide a novel needle assembly for use with a syringe

which avoids the above described problems of known needle

assemblies .

This is achieved by providing a needle guard

which can be retracted to a complete rearward position which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis

of the syringe and which ensures that no finger contact

can occur during this pivotal movement .

The present invention therefore pertains to a

needle assembly for use with a syringe which comprises :

a needle device including a needle holder and

a needle having a pointed free end protruding from the

holder along a longitudinal axis, the sheath defining a

needle passage therein;

a needle, guard including a hollow cylindrical

sheath around the needle and having a first end mounted

to the needle holder and an opposite closed end in

proximity to the needle pointed end;

cooperating means mounted to the needle holder

and the needle guard to anchor the needle guard to the

holder; the cooperating means including elongate slot

means extending parallel and offset to the longitudinal

axis of the needle and pivot means engaged in the slot

means and extending along an axis perpendicular and offset to the longitudinal axis of the needle whereby the

needle guard may be pivoted about the offset axis from a

first position in which the pointed end is protected by

the sheath to a second position in which the needle guard

extends rearwardly in substantially parallel proximity to

a syringe to which is mounted the needle assembly and in

which the needle point is exposed for use; the slot means

defining an elongated opening whereby the pivot means may

be engaged at least at two positions, including a primary

position and a secondary position, and whereby the sheath

is displaceable in a longitudinal direction with respect

to the needle from the primary position in which the

needle pointed end is protected by a portion of the

sheath to the secondary position in which the needle

guard may be pivoted between the first and second

positions; and

thumb gripping means on the first end of the

needle guard adjacent to the secondary position allowing

a user to single-handedly apply thumb pressure on said

first end to cause pivotal movement of the needle guard

from said first position to said second position. In one form of the invention, the thumb

gripping means consist of a pair of small projections at

one end of the said first end of the needle guard.

In another form of the invention, the elongated

opening displays three pin receiving areas corresponding

to the primary and secondary positions as well as to a

tertiary position in which the needle guard is fixedly

secured to the needle holder after needle use.

Other objects and further scope of

applicability of the present invention will become

apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter.

It should be understood, however, that this detailed

description, while indicating preferred embodiments of

the invention, is given by way of illustration only,

since various changes and modifications within the spirit

and scope of the invention will become apparent to those

skilled in the art.

IN THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a needle

assembly made in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof showing

the needle assembly mounted to a syringe and with the

needle guard in a locked engagement with the needle

holder;

Figure 3 is a side elevation, similar to that

of figure 2, showing the needle guard in the needle

surrounding position;

Figure 4 is side elevation, similar to that of

figures 2 and 3, showing the needle guard at

substantially 180° to the sheath covering position shown

in figures 2 and 3 ;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view as seen from

line 5-5 of figure 3 ;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view as seen from

line 6-6 of figure 3; and

Figure 7 is an enlarged side view of one end of

the needle guard.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERJREP EMBODIMENT

Referring to figures 1 and 2, there is shown

one embodiment, generally denoted 10, of a needle

assembly made in accordance with the present invention. The needle assembly comprises a needle device

12 and a needle guard 14 pivotally mounted to one another

as explained hereinbelow.

The needle device 12 comprises a needle holder

16 having an open end adapted to fit onto the open end of

a syringe 18 and a needle 20 protruding from the opposite

end of the holder and displaying a pointed end 22.

The needle guard 14 defines a hollow

cylindrical sheath 24 surrounding the needle. The sheath

has one end 24a pivotally mounted to the needle holder as

detailed hereinbelow and an opposite closed end 24b in

proximity to the needle pointed end 22. The underside of

the sheath has a longitudinal slot 26 (see figure 5) , the

length of which extends from the opened end 28 of the

sheath to an area 30 of the end 22b of the sheath. Two

areas 32 and 33 on the top surface of the sheath 24 are

serrated to provide frictional contact to an operator's

thumb during operation as described hereinbelow.

Referring also to figure 6, the needle holder

16 has an upper protruding portion 34 to which is anchored the rear portion 24a of the sheath. From

opposite sides of this portion 34 projects a pair of

pivot pins 36 and 38 which extend along an axis which is

perpendicular and offset to the longitudinal axis of the

needle 20, which axis is also coincident with the axis of

the holder opening 40. Pivot pins 36 and 38 each

protrude through a pair of elongated openings 42 and 44

provided on each side of two wing portions 46 and 48 of

the sheath area 24a.

Each elongated opening 42, 44 is a longitudinal

passageway defining three enlarged areas 50, 52 and 54

and two restricted passages 56 and 58 (see figures 2 and

3) .

As can be seen in figure 3 as well as in figure

4, the enlarged area 54 of the opening has a shape which

is complementary to the shape of the pivot pins 36 and 38

so that, when the pins are in the area 54, they are

locked in this position due to the engagement of the pins

against the shoulders 54a and 54b of the opening. The longitudinal axes of openings 42 and 44 are

parallel, but offset, with respect to the longitudinal

axis of the needle holder and syringe.

An important feature of the present invention

is the provision, on the top portion of the sheath end

24a, of a pair of thumb gripping projections 70 and 72

(the function of which will be described hereinbelow)

which are integral with respective wing portions 46 and

48 of the needle guard. By applying a downward thumb

pressure on these wing portions (as indicated by arrow

64) , the latter pivot about pins 36 and 38 to reach the

position shown in figure 4. To achieve a full 180°

position, a small concavity 74, 75 is made on each

opposite side of the top part of the needle holder to

enable passage of these projections 70 and 72 to reach

this 180° position. To facilitate the pivotal movement

caused by thumb pressure, the vertical axis 76 (see

figure 7) passing through these projections is offset

slightly relative to the vertical axis 78 passing through

the pins 36, 38 when in the opening area 50 of the needle

guard slot . The operation of the needle assembly will now

be given. When the needle assembly is mounted to a

syringe for use, it is in the position shown in figure 3

where the pivot pins 36 and 38 are in their corresponding

central enlarged areas 52 of the openings. As can be

seen, in this position, the needle pointed end 22 is

protected from contact as it is surrounded by the

extremity 24b of the needle guard.

When it is intended to use the needle, the

syringe is held in one hand with the needle holder 16

resting on the index and the thumb contacting portion 24a

of the sheath. The thumb exerts a pressure on the sheath

in the direction indicated by arrow 60 moving the sheath

in the position shown by the dotted lines in figure 3.

In this position, pins 36 and 38 move through passageway

56 to the enlarged circular area 50 of the opening. The

user's thumb then grips the projections 70 and 72 and by

applying a rearward force the sheath is caused to pivot

rearwardly as indicated by arrow 64 in figure 4 as a

result of the offset between axes 76 and 78 until it

reaches the rearward position where it extends at 180°

relative to its original position. There, it lies in a plane parallel to the plane of the syringe holder and

needle with the projections 70 and 72 above their

respective concavities 74 and 75.

In figure 4, there are illustrated in dotted

lines a syringe 18' having a larger diameter and a second

syringe 18" having an even larger diameter. It will be

obvious that, in these two cases, the sheath 24 will not

extend in a plane entirely parallel to the axis of the

syringe due to contact of the sheath with the corner area

of these larger syringes.

However, in all cases, the sheath extends

sufficiently rearwardly so that the sheath may be grasped

together with the syringe by the hand of the user so that

its presence is not an encumbrance during the needle

incision operation.

During the entire manipulation of the needle

guard relative to the needle holder, there is no

possibility of accidental contact of the thumb on the

needle. The entire needle assembly, except for the

needle, may be made of plastics material so that, after

use, the entire needle assembly may be discarded.

After the needle incision operation, the sheath

is pivoted back, again by the thumb, as indicated by

arrow 66 in figure 2 to a needle surrounding position.

To prevent further use of the needle, a locking position

of the sheath to the needle holder is achieved by having

the user's thumb contacting area 33 and moving the sheath

rearwardly in the direction of arrow 68 until pins 36 and

38 are engaged in their corresponding areas 54 of the

elongated openings. As explained above, in this

position, shoulders 50a and 50b prevent any further

relative displacement of the needle guard to the needle

holder.

Although the invention has been described above

with respect to two specific forms, it will be evident to

a person skilled in the art that it may be modified and

refined in various ways. It is therefore wished to have

it understood that the present invention should not be

limited in scope, except by the terms of the following

claims .

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which anexclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined asfollows :

1. A needle assembly for use with a syringe

comprising:

a needle device including a needle holder

and a needle having a pointed free end protruding from

the holder along a longitudinal axis;

a needle guard including a hollow

cylindrical sheath around the needle and having a first

end mounted to the needle holder and an opposite closed

end in proximity to the needle pointed end said sheath

defining a needle passage therein;

cooperating means mounted to said needle

holder and said needle guard to anchor said needle guard

to said holder; said cooperating means including elongate

slot means extending parallel and offset to the

longitudinal axis of said needle and pivot means engaged

in said slot means and extending along an axis

perpendicular and offset to the longitudinal axis of said

needle whereby the needle guard may be pivoted about said offset axis from a first position in which the pointed

end is protected by the sheath to a second position in

which the needle guard extends rearwardly in

substantially parallel proximity to a syringe to which is

mounted the needle assembly, and in which the needle

point is exposed for use; said slot means defining an

elongated opening whereby said pivot means may be engaged

at least at two positions, including a primary position

and a secondary position, and whereby said sheath is

displaceable in a longitudinal direction with respect to

the needle from said primary position in which the needle

pointed end is protected by a portion of the sheath to

said secondary position in which said needle guard may be

pivoted between said first and second positions; and

thumb gripping means on said first end of said

needle guard adjacent to said secondary position allowing

a user to single-handedly apply thumb pressure on said

first end to cause pivotal movement of said needle guard

from said first position to said second position.

2. A needle assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said thumb gripping means are disposed in a vertical plane which is rearwardly offset to a vertical

plane including said axis of said pivot means.

3. A needle assembly as defined in claim 2,

wherein said thumb gripping means consist of a pair of

projections on said first end of said needle guard.

4. A needle assembly as defined in claim 1,

wherein said needle holder displays small concavity means

on an outer wall thereof to facilitate said pivotal

movement .

5. A needle assembly as defined in claim 1,

wherein said elongated opening includes a tertiary

position, spaced longitudinally from the secondary

position, in which the needle guard is in a locked

engagement with said needle holder.

6. A needle assembly as defined in claim 5,

wherein said slot means consist of a pair of opposite

elongated openings on said needle guard and wherein said pivot means consist of a pair of pivot pins protruding

from said needle holder.

7. A needle assembly as defined in claim 6,

wherein said opposite elongated openings each define a

longitudinal passageway having three enlarged pin

receiving areas defining said primary, secondary and

tertiary positions.

8. A needle assembly as defined in claim 7,

wherein said pivot pins and said enlarged area

corresponding to the tertiary position have complementary

cross-sectional shapes so as to define a locking

engagement between the needle guard and the needle holder

in said tertiary position.

9. A needle assembly as defined in claim 1,

wherein a portion of the needle guard in the area of said

cooperating means has a frictional surface to facilitate thumb manipulation of said needle guard.