Intravenous needle assembly with air bleed plug

Abstract

An intravenous needle assembly and an associated manufacturing method, wherein the needle assembly comprises a hypodermic needle attached to a hub at its trailing end, a transparent blood detection chamber integral with the hub, a catheter disposed around the needle and the needle hub and a plug closing the blood detection chamber, the plug having air breathing capacity so that upon venipuncture blood from a vein may flow through the needle into the blood detection chamber without substantial air resistance to such flow to visually confirm the accuracy of the introduction of the needle into a vein. The plug is centrally hollow and has an axially directed leading projection connected to an annular shoulder or flange. The projection comprises a symmetrical hollow truncated conical extension with a hollow interior and walls having pairs of longitudinally directed ribs insuring ready passage of air from the flashback chamber along the outside of the projection under pressure of the heart. The annular flange contains a plurality of triangular openings disposed in alignment with each pair of ribs, through which air passes from between the ribs to the atmosphere. The ribs, the space between the ribs and the openings are sized to permit the mentioned air flow while preventing equivalent blood flow.