Smiths Medical Asd, Inc.

David R MacLean

Robert Simas, Jr

Lawrence P Hudon

Frank Blinkhorn

Marius Hauri

Troy M Derby

Daniel E Alesi

The present invention safety device is a one-piece needle assembly that has a base and a housing pivotally connected to the base. The base has a distal portion to which a needle is fitted. At the base there is formed longitudinally along its distal portion a catch mechanism that may be in the form of an anchor projection. At the back wall of the housing there is extended another catch mechanism that may be configured in the form of two clasping fingers. Also providing in the housing is an integral hook. As the housing and the base are pivoted relative to each other, and as the needle makes contact with the hook, the respective catch mechanisms at the base and the housing also make contact with each other, resulting in the coupling of the catch mechanisms and the coupling of the needle to the hook. As a result, the catch mechanisms are interlocked and the needle is fixedly retained by the hook within the housing. The catch mechanisms may also be configured as a hook and a latch in the form of a rib with an opening whereto the hook is fixedly coupled. The catch mechanisms may further be configured as respective interlockable pairs of loops and bosses. The gauge of the needle may be determined by the color of both the base and the housing, which are molded as a unitary single unit.

Safety needle device with snap feature and method of making same

A safety device to be used with a vial, or capsule, has a collar dimensioned to slidably fit about the body of the vial. Extending from the collar is a neck member that has connected to its other end a housing pivotable to a position along the longitudinal axis of the vial. A latch member having a lip is integrated to the neck member and extends out from the neck member in a direction towards the center of the collar. Neck member is fabricated to have an elastic characteristic so that if it is not biased by any external force, it will return to its original position. As the collar of the safety device is moved along the body of the vial, neck member is biased away from the vial as the latch member maintains contact along the outer surface of the vial, and then the outer surface of the hub formed at the top end of the vial. Once the collar of the safety device is moved to a position adjacent the hub, given the configuration of the neck member forms a space between the top of the collar and the lip of the latch member, the hub of the vial would fit within the space thus formed, as neck member snaps back to its original position. At which time the lip of latch member latches onto a shoulder portion of the hub. Once latched onto the hub, the latch member would prevent the safety device from being removed from the vial. Instead of the neck member, another embodiment of the inventive safety device has extending from the collar a rigid support frame and an elongate elastic latch member.

Safety device for use with a vial

A safety needle assembly has a collar or ring that is rotatably mounted to a needle hub. The needle assembly may be connected to a syringe by the user grasping the needle hub in first and second embodiments, or turning of the needle sheath in other embodiments. The collar of the needle assembly may be rotated by turning the needle sheath. The needle hub may also interact with the collar by rotating the needle sheath. Mechanisms are provided at both the collar and the housing so that once the contaminated needle is covered, the needle assembly may be removed from the syringe for disposal by rotating the needle housing.

Safety needle assembly

A safety needle assembly has a needle hub and a collar. Integrally formed from the proximal portion of the needle hub is a ring that surrounds its luer base. At the distal portion of the needle hub there are coaxially formed circumferential flanges which act to allow the collar to be rotatable about the needle hub. A needle protection housing is connected to the collar and is pivotable to cover the needle that extends from the distal end of the needle hub. Before use, the needle extending from the needle hub is covered by a needle sheath that has a groove formed circumferentially at its proximal end that snap-fits to a circumferential rib formed at the distal end of the collar.

Safety needle assembly and method for making the same

A safety needle assembly has a collar or ring that is rotatably mounted to a needle hub, which may be connected to a medical device such as a syringe. The needle assembly may be connected to the syringe by the user grasping the needle hub in first and second embodiments, or turning of the needle sheath in other embodiments. In all of the embodiments, the collar of the needle assembly may be rotated by turning the needle sheath, which is designed to interact with the collar. In some of the embodiments, the needle hub likewise interacts with the collar in such a way that by rotating the needle sheath, the needle hub is likewise rotated for connection to a syringe. When an exposed needle is to be covered, after the needle sheath has been removed, a housing connected to the collar is pivotally moved to cover the needle. Mechanisms are provided at both the collar and the housing so that once the contaminated needle is covered, the needle assembly may be removed from the syringe for disposal by rotating the needle housing. In all of the embodiments disclosed, the needle sheath does not come into contact with the needle hub and the collar is rotatable about the needle hub.

A prepackaged safety needle device has fitted to a holder a double-ended needle assembly and a needle protection housing pivotally connected to the neck of the housing. The hub of the double-ended needle is mated to the neck of the holder. A circumferential sleeve extending from the neck of the holder envelops the hub so that when the needle that extends away from the holder is capped by a sheath, the lower portions of the sheath would coact with the sleeve to form a relatively tight fit. The configurations of the sleeve and the sheath with respect to the needle hub, at their respective interacting portions are such that a tortuous path is established which allows sterilizing gas to pass into the space capped by the sheath, but yet prevents bacteria or other contaminants from intruding into the space. The opening at the end of the holder away from the needle assembly is sealed by a porous cover that allows sterilizing gas to pass into the interior of the holder while acting as a barrier to prevent bacteria from entering into the holder. Thus, configured, the prepackaged device is a convenient to use device that remains sterile until use.

Needle safety device with tortuous path

A fluid transfer system has a holder that is made of a cylindrical member having a closed end and an open end. The closed end has fitted thereto a luer and a cannula that extends into the interior of the holder. The holder has a distal portion that has a first cross section and a proximal portion that has a second cross section. The cross section of the distal portion is smaller than the cross section of the proximal portion. The distal and proximal portions are joined by a shoulder. The fluid transfer system also includes an adapter that is inserted to the holder from the open end of the holder. The adapter has a base having a central opening and a cylindrical tube that extends from the central opening. The diameter of the cylindrical tube is slightly smaller than the diameter of the distal portion and is configured to accept a first type of fluid collection store such as a vacuum tube. With the adapter removed, the holder can accept a differently dimensioned fluid collection store such as for example a blood culture collection bottle.

Growing community of inventors

Chesterfield, NH, United States of America

David R MacLean