Lancet

• US 20050240207A1
• Filed: 06/12/2003
• Published: 10/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Owen Mumford
• Original Assignee: Owen Mumford
• Inventors: Marshall, Jeremy
• Granted Patent: US 7,914,546 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/181
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150022 for capillary blood or interstitial fluid
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150282 for piercing elements, e.g. blade, lancet, canula, needle
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150412 Pointed piercing elements, e.g. needles, lancets for piercing the skin blade-like piercing elements A61B5/150442
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150519 Details of construction of hub, i.e. element used to attach the single-ended needle to a piercing device or sampling device
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150549 Protectors removed by rotational movement, e.g. torsion or screwing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150618 Integrally moulded protectors, e.g. protectors simultaneously moulded together with a further component, e.g. a hub, of the piercing element
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150717 manually removed
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/15186 Devices loaded with a single lancet, i.e. a single lancet with or without a casing is loaded into a reusable drive device and then discarded after use; drive devices reloadable for multiple use

Abstract

Plastics material injected through an entry point of a mould at the location (8) is caused to deflect around a pin which creates the hole (9) in a guard (5), so as to increase the balance of flow of material to either side of the pin (9). In order to minimise the tendency for the plastics material to bend out of shape the tip of the needle embedded within an enlarged portion (13) the mould is formed such that the mould material is initially encouraged to divide and flow through outer thickened regions (10) surrounding a thinner portion. At point (12) the plastics material is therefore caused to slow down resulting in greater equalisation of the flow speed of the plastics material to either side of the needle tip.

Claims

1-11. -11. (canceled)

12. A lancet having a support body enclosing a needle such that a pointed tip of the needle projects beyond the end of the support body and a removable guard located over the pointed tip of the needle and interconnected with a support body holding the needle via a breakable neck portion moulded with the guard and the support body, and the guard being formed of a moulded plastics material with an outer edge thickened region leading from the end of the guard remote from the needle tip to a thinner section of the plastics material approaching the needle tip, the plastics material forming a further thickened region about the needle tip, but separated from the outer edge region by said thinner section.

13. A lancet according to claim 12, wherein the guard is formed with a centrally positioned hole close to the end of the guard remote from the needle point.

14. A lancet according to claim 12, wherein the guard is of generally tab-like form, with the thickened region forming arc-like portions on the two side edges of the guard which lead to the thinner section of plastics material adjacent to the needle tip.

17. A lancet according to claim 13, wherein the guard is of generally tab-like form, with the thickened region forming arc-like portions on the two side edges of the guard which lead to the thinner section of plastics material adjacent to the needle tip.

15. A method of forming a lancet in which a needle is held in a mould formed to create a support body for holding the base portion of the needle and a removable guard about the pointed needle tip and to form a breakable neck portion between the support body and the guard, the mould having an entry point for plastics material, at the end of the guard remote from the needle point, leading to an outer edge thickened hollow region which in turn leads to a thinner hollow section approaching the needle tip and a further enlarged hollow region about the needle tip, and plastics material is injected into the mould via the entry point to create the guard about the needle tip.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the plastics material flows around both sides of a pin located close to said entry point towards said edge thickened hollow region.