Retractable needle single use safety syringe
First Claim
1. A safety syringe assembly, comprising:
- an elongated, generally cylindrical barrel having a hollow interior forming a hollow nozzle located at a distal end of said barrel and opening into the interior of said barrel and an expanded proximal segment;
a plunger slidably mounted in said barrel and having a longitudinal open channel;
a needle;
a needle holder mounting said needle at a distal end thereof and slidably mounted in said longitudinal open channel of said plunger for movement between an advanced position in which said needle on the distal end of said needle holder projects from a distal end of said nozzle, and a retracted position in which said needle is retracted within said barrel;
a compression spring mounted inside of said barrel, and a spring retainer element located in said expanded proximal segment of said barrel and having a stabilizing surface extending along and about a portion of the internal wall of said barrel, and a spring support portion extending from said stabilizing surface interiorly of said barrel and supporting a distal end portion of said spring against expansion, said spring retainer also having a through opening for freely receiving said needle holder therethrough;
said spring urging said needle holder toward its retracted position; and
a latch having an engaged position in which said needle holder is latched relative to said barrel to hold said needle holder in its advanced position against the urging of said spring, and a disengaged position in which said needle holder is unlatched relative to said barrel to allow said spring to expand in a proximal direction to move said needle holder to its retracted position.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A safety syringe assembly includes an elongated, generally cylindrical barrel having a hollow interior forming a hollow nozzle located at a distal end of the barrel and opening into the interior of the barrel. A plunger is slidably mounted in the barrel and has a longitudinal open channel. A needle holder mounts a needle at a distal end thereof and is slidably mounted in the longitudinal open channel of the plunger for movement between an advanced position in which the needle on the distal end of the needle holder projects from a distal end of the nozzle, and a retracted position in which the needle is retracted within the barrel. A compression spring is mounted inside of the barrel, and a spring retainer element has a spring support portion extending from the interiorly of the barrel to a portion for mounted within the barrel and supporting a distal end portion of the spring against expansion. The spring urges the needle holder toward its retracted position. A latch has a closed position in which the needle holder is latched relative to the barrel to hold the needle holder in its advanced position against the urging of the spring, and an open position in which the needle holder is unlatched relative to the barrel to allow the spring to expand in a proximal direction to move the needle holder to its retracted position.
37 Citations
132 Claims
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1. A safety syringe assembly, comprising:
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an elongated, generally cylindrical barrel having a hollow interior forming a hollow nozzle located at a distal end of said barrel and opening into the interior of said barrel and an expanded proximal segment;
a plunger slidably mounted in said barrel and having a longitudinal open channel;
a needle;
a needle holder mounting said needle at a distal end thereof and slidably mounted in said longitudinal open channel of said plunger for movement between an advanced position in which said needle on the distal end of said needle holder projects from a distal end of said nozzle, and a retracted position in which said needle is retracted within said barrel;
a compression spring mounted inside of said barrel, and a spring retainer element located in said expanded proximal segment of said barrel and having a stabilizing surface extending along and about a portion of the internal wall of said barrel, and a spring support portion extending from said stabilizing surface interiorly of said barrel and supporting a distal end portion of said spring against expansion, said spring retainer also having a through opening for freely receiving said needle holder therethrough;
said spring urging said needle holder toward its retracted position; and
a latch having an engaged position in which said needle holder is latched relative to said barrel to hold said needle holder in its advanced position against the urging of said spring, and a disengaged position in which said needle holder is unlatched relative to said barrel to allow said spring to expand in a proximal direction to move said needle holder to its retracted position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. A retraction control unit for a retractable needle syringe comprising:
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a cylindrical spring retainer with a distal axial cantilever extension, inserted co-axially and locked within a barrel of a syringe;
a plunger with a compressibly engaged resilient cap, one or more radial projections and a central channel, and capable of reciprocal linear movements, and inserted within said spring retainer clearing the cantilever;
a needle holder slidably mounted in said central open channel of said plunger for movement between an advanced position in which a needle on the distal end of said needle holder projects from a distal end of said nozzle, and a retracted position in which said needle is retracted within said barrel;
the distal axial cantilever extension of the said spring retainer retaining a compression spring wrapped around said needle holder, such that said needle holder passes distally through an opening in the said axial extension;
a proximal surface of said spring retainer having a stabilizer plate to support the needle holder and a deflectable anchoring plate that releasably holds the needle holder against an expansion force of the spring until it is radially deflected by the projections of said plunger, in response to a force that exceeds a fluid injection force.
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22-44. -44. (canceled)
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45. A retractable needle safety syringe assembly, comprising:
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a hollow generally cylindrical barrel, with a wider proximal segment and a distal hollow nozzle communicating with the barrel;
a needle holder holding a hollow hypodermic needle mounted at a distal end and a side aperture in said needle holder communicating with the needle;
a compression spring wrapped around the needle holder biasing said needle in a direction for retracting the needle;
a spring retainer located in the wider segment of the said barrel and supporting said compression spring;
a plunger slidably inserted in the barrel, and having an elastomeric piston at a distal end and a central cavity enclosing the needle holder and needle, the plunger having linear axial mobility in barrel independently of said spring and needle holder; and
a ring-like switch encircling the barrel and rotatably locked onto the barrel surface, and engaging with said needle holder to releasably compress the spring, said switch being inseparable from said syringe at least until release of said needle holder by said switch for retraction of the needle within the syringe assembly.
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46-53. -53. (canceled)
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54. A retractable needle safety syringe assembly, comprising:
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a hollow generally cylindrical barrel having an increased diameter proximal segment and a distal hollow nozzle communicating with the said barrel;
a hollow needle;
a plunger slidably arrested in the barrel and having a longitudinal open channel;
a needle holder mounting said needle at a distal end thereof and slidably mounted in said longitudinal open channel of said plunger for movement between an advanced position in which said needle on the distal end of said needle holder projects from a distal end of said nozzle, and a retracted position in which said needle is retracted within said barrel;
a compression spring;
a spring retainer located in said increased diameter proximal segment of said barrel and supporting said compression spring around said needle holder, said needle holder having a lateral port communicating with the hollow needle;
wherein said barrel includes a track slot and wherein said needle holder includes a lateral arm extending laterally from said plunger open channel into said track slot, whereby said needle holder is guided by said track slot as it moves toward its retracted position;
an elastomeric piston at a distal end of the plunger;
a ring switch encircling the barrel and rotatably locked onto the barrel, distal to a pair of flanges and proximal to a pair of detents on the barrel surface, engaging with the arm of the said needle holder to compress the spring to bias the needle out through the nozzle, and inseparable from the syringe until the needle is retracted within the syringe assembly by release of the needle holder;
the nozzle of the syringe having a male taper on its outer surface; and
a needle protector with a complementary female taper on a mating surface to form an air and water tight seal between the barrel nozzle and needle protector, whereby pneumatic and hydraulic forces caused by sealed fluids in the barrel prevent advance of plunger and inadvertent retraction of the said needle. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. (canceled)
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60. A retractable needle safety syringe assembly, comprising:
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an elongated, generally cylindrical barrel having a hollow interior forming a hollow nozzle located at a distal end of said barrel and opening into the interior of said barrel;
a plunger slidably mounted in said barrel and having a longitudinal open channel;
a needle holder receiving said needle at its distal end and slidably mounted in said longitudinal open channel of said plunger for movement between an advanced position in which said needle projects form a distal end of said nozzle, and a retracted position in which said needle is retracted within said barrel;
wherein said barrel includes a track slot and wherein said needle holder includes a lateral arm extending laterally from said plunger open channel into said track slot, whereby said needle holder is guided by said track slot as it moves toward its retracted position;
a rotatable ring switch that encircles said barrel and engages with the needle holder arm projecting from the barrel wall;
a compression spring mounted around the needle holder and assembled to the barrel and biasing the needle holder for retracting the needle proximally when expanded;
the nozzle having a male taper on its outer surface, and a needle protector with a mating female taper to form an air and water tight seal between the barrel and needle protector;
whereby the retractable needle syringe assembly is sealed at the nozzle by the needle protector, such that in an operative state the syringe contains a quantum of air to prevent accidental advance of the plunger and to avoid premature retraction of the needle and disablement of the syringe.
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61-68. -68. (canceled)
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69. A retractable needle safety syringe pre-filled with a liquid to be administered to a patient, said syringe comprising:
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an elongated, generally cylindrical barrel of biocompatible thermoplastic forming a medicine chamber traversed by an axial biocompatible needle holder with a hypodermic needle attached to its distal end, and retained in the chamber by a reversible interlock of said barrel with said needle holder;
said needle holder being mounted for longitudinal movement between retracted and advanced positions within said elongated cylindrical barrel;
a releasable latch for releasably locking said cylindrical barrel and said needle holder to each other;
a compression spring within said cylindrical barrel for biasing said needle holder toward said retracted position;
a plunger carrying said needle holder and mounted for longitudinal movement between retracted and advanced positions within said elongated cylindrical barrel, the distal end of said plunger including a resilient piston which seals against an internal wall of the barrel;
wherein said needle holder is sealed by an “
O”
ring at a distal nozzle formed on said barrel, while the needle is also mechanically closed by a luer locked needle protector at the nozzle;
wherein proximally, the barrel including the needle holder is sealed by the resilient piston;
the plunger having a channel that permits an advance of the plunger for injection of medicine as well as retraction of the needle holder and the needle within the barrel when the medicine has been injected, and the latch has been released;
wherein the integrity of needle holder location and the retraction and locking of the needle holder in the barrel is achieved by the compression spring installed on a spring retainer and engaged with the needle holder; and
wherein sealing of the medicine chamber prior to injection of the medicine is additionally supported by the spring retainer.
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70-72. -72. (canceled)
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73. A retractable needle, single use syringe comprising:
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a hollow generally cylindrical barrel, with a wider proximal segment and a distal hollow nozzle communicating with an interior of said barrel;
a needle;
a plunger slidably inserted in the barrel, said plunger having an elastomeric piston at a distal end, said plunger having linear axial mobility independent of movements of a needle holder and spring;
the needle holder mounting said needle at a distal end thereof and slidably mounted in a longitudinal open channel of a plunger for movement between an advanced position in which said needle projects from a distal end of said nozzle, and a retracted position in which said needle is retracted within said barrel;
a compression spring mounted inside said barrel and urging said needle holder toward its retracted position; and
a switch mounted to said barrel and having an engaged position in which said needle holder is latched relative to said, barrel to hold said needle holder in its advanced position against the urging of said spring, and a disengaged position in which said needle holder is unlatched relative to said barrel to allow said spring to expand in a proximal direction to move said needle holder to its retracted position to disable the syringe and prevent reuse of the syringe;
axially spaced flanges and detents on said barrel;
wherein the switch encircles the barrel and is locked onto the barrel, distal to the flanges and proximal to the detents on the barrel surface;
said switch engaging with said needle holder to compress the spring and being inseparable from said barrel until the needle holder is released by the switch and the needle is retracted within the syringe. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
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83-122. -122. (canceled)
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123. A retraction control module for retractable needle safety syringe, said module comprising:
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a hollow cylindrical tube with a distal axial extension forming a central cantilever with a central through opening, and a proximal eccentric anchoring plate forming an engagement geometry to engage and anchor a needle holder to the module;
said needle holder having an advanced position in which a needle on the distal end of said needle holder projects from a distal end of said syringe, and a retracted position in which said needle is retracted within said syringe;
a helical compressed spring encircling the needle holder and supported by said axial extension and the central cantilever with the needle holder and an attached needle passing through the central through opening of said cantilever, and within the tube;
a plunger compressibly engaged with a resilient cap passing through said cylindrical tube and having two parallel walls defining a central open channel that contact with the eccentric anchoring plate without deflecting said anchoring plate;
said plunger having a distally advanced position and ramps on said parallel walls which deflect the anchoring plate radially to disengage the needle holder and cause retraction of the needle when the plunger is advanced to said distally advanced position;
said needle holder being slidably mounted in said central open channel of said plunger;
said anchoring plate with extension arising from the opposite surface of the hollow cylinder from said distal axial extension and engaging with a proximal part of the needle holder preventing the expansion of said spring. - View Dependent Claims (124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131)
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132. (canceled)
Specification