Safety intravenous catheter assembly with automatically retractable needle
First Claim
1. A safety intravenous catheter assembly with retractable needle, comprising an elongate safety receptacle for needle retraction following intravenous catheter emplacement;
- a catheter having a slim forward end portion for receiving a sharp venipuncturing end portion of an intravenous needle and for intravenous emplacement following needle puncturing of a vein of a patient and having a rearward end portion;
an elongate needle received by and having a sharp, venipuncturing end portion protruding forwardly from said forward end portion of the catheter and having a needle stem portion extending backwardly therefrom into said safety receptacle;
coupling means securing the catheter to the safety receptacle, said coupling means having a forward portion and an elongate coupling stem portion that extends backwardly into said safety receptacle;
means normally removably fastening said catheter to said coupling means, with the rearward face of the former to the forward face of the latter, whereby pushing said catheter forwardly following venipuncture of a vein will emplace said forward end of the catheter in the vein;
needle-stopping means positioned within said safety receptacle to normally prevent retraction of said needle;
means for automatically releasing said needle-stopping means when the related placement of said coupling means and said safety receptacle is changed to enable displacement of said needle-stopping means from needle-stopping position; and
resilient means for automatically forcing retraction of said needle into said safety receptacle upon displacement of said needle-stopping means from needle-stopping position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A safety intravenous catheter assembly is provided by interconnecting a safety receptacle for a retractable intravenous needle with a catheter that carries the needle and is advancible into a vein punctured by the needle. A coupling that is removably fastened to the catheter has an elongate stem portion that extends backwardly into the safety receptacle past a needle-stopping member within such receptacle. Such needle-stopping member is active to normally prevent backward movement of the needle into the receptacle. However, ultimate forward movement of the coupling with respect to the needle-stopping member following catheter emplacement into the vein permits movement of such needle-stopping member to non-stopping position, so that a tensioned spring can automatically urge the needle backwardly to a position wholly within the safety receptacle that protects against any accidental pricking, whereupon such receptacle, with its protectively contained needle, is discardable following removal of the coupling and the protectively encased needle from the emplaced catheter to prepare the catheter for IV connection and to prevent reuse of the contaminated needle.
The needle-stopping member may be a stop gate that is cammed into open position or that is provided with a spring tensioned to open the gate when the rearward end of the coupling stem has passed through it in the manual advancement of the catheter into emplaced position in a vein of a patient. However, the presently contemplated best mode is to provide the needle-stopping member as a latching member carried by the needle stem, slidable within the safety receptacle, and arranged to be normally latched into needle-stopping position.
385 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A safety intravenous catheter assembly with retractable needle, comprising an elongate safety receptacle for needle retraction following intravenous catheter emplacement;
- a catheter having a slim forward end portion for receiving a sharp venipuncturing end portion of an intravenous needle and for intravenous emplacement following needle puncturing of a vein of a patient and having a rearward end portion;
an elongate needle received by and having a sharp, venipuncturing end portion protruding forwardly from said forward end portion of the catheter and having a needle stem portion extending backwardly therefrom into said safety receptacle;
coupling means securing the catheter to the safety receptacle, said coupling means having a forward portion and an elongate coupling stem portion that extends backwardly into said safety receptacle;
means normally removably fastening said catheter to said coupling means, with the rearward face of the former to the forward face of the latter, whereby pushing said catheter forwardly following venipuncture of a vein will emplace said forward end of the catheter in the vein;
needle-stopping means positioned within said safety receptacle to normally prevent retraction of said needle;
means for automatically releasing said needle-stopping means when the related placement of said coupling means and said safety receptacle is changed to enable displacement of said needle-stopping means from needle-stopping position; and
resilient means for automatically forcing retraction of said needle into said safety receptacle upon displacement of said needle-stopping means from needle-stopping position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- a catheter having a slim forward end portion for receiving a sharp venipuncturing end portion of an intravenous needle and for intravenous emplacement following needle puncturing of a vein of a patient and having a rearward end portion;
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8. A safety intravenous catheter assembly, comprising a catheter;
- a retractable venipuncture needle protectively encased in the catheter for venipuncture and having a rearwardly extending needle stem;
a safety needle-retraction receptacle normally connected to said catheter rearwardly thereof;
coupling means releasibly engaging said catheter and having an elongate coupling stem extending into said safety receptacle;
needle-stopping means normally held in needle-stopping position within said safety receptacle for automatic release coaction with said coupling stem when relative placement of said safety receptacle and said coupling stem is changed to enable displacement of said needle-stopping means to needle non-stopping position; and
resilient means for automatically forcing retraction of said needle into said safety receptacle upon displacement of said needle-stopping means from needle-stopping position. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
- a retractable venipuncture needle protectively encased in the catheter for venipuncture and having a rearwardly extending needle stem;
Specification