Safety syringe needle device with interchangeable and retractable needle platform

• US 6,344,031 B1
• Filed: 08/15/2000
• Issued: 02/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Inviro Medical Devices Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Donald A. Mclean, Fraser R. Sharp, Laurel A. Novacek
• Inventors: Sharp, Fraser R., McLean, Donald A., Novacek, Laurel A.
• Primary Examiner(s): KENNEDY, SHARON E
• Application Number:
  US09/637,873
• Time in Patent Office: 539 Days
• Field of Search: 604/195, 604/110, 604/187, 604/192, 604/218, 604/228, 604/240-243, 604/263
• US Class Current: 604/195
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 1/18 Arrangements for indicating condition of container contents, e.g. sterile condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/28 Devices for testing the effectiveness or completeness of sterilisation, e.g. indicators which change colour apparatus involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M1/34; methods involving enzymes or microorganisms C12Q1/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/3101 Leak prevention means for proximal end of syringes, i.e. syringe end opposite to needle mounting end
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/3104 Caps for syringes without needle
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/3106 Plugs for syringes without needle
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/3118 via the distal end of a syringe, i.e. syringe end for mounting a needle cannula
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/3121 via the proximal end of a syringe, i.e. syringe end opposite to needle cannula mounting end
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/31506 formed as a single piece, e.g. moulded
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/3223 Means impeding or disabling repositioning of used needles at the syringe nozzle
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/3224 Means to disalign the needle tip and syringe nozzle
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/3231 Proximal end of needle captured or embedded inside piston head, e.g. by friction or hooks
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/5073 by breaking or rupturing the connection parts
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/583 by visual feedback
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/002 Packages specially adapted therefor, e.g. for syringes or needles, kits for diabetics needle protection, e.g. caps, A61M5/3202; for sharps A61B50/3001
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/3134 characterised by constructional features of the distal end, i.e. end closest to the tip of the needle cannula
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/3135 characterised by constructional features of the proximal end
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/3202 Devices for protection of the needle before use, e.g. caps A61M5/50 takes precedence; for infusion spikes A61M5/1626; protectors for sharps A61B50/3001
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/322 Retractable needles, i.e. disconnected from and withdrawn into the syringe barrel by the piston devices for protecting guide needles in combination with catheters A61M25/0612
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/347 rotatable, e.g. bayonet or screw A61M5/344 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/5086 for indicating if defective, used, tampered with or unsterile

Abstract

The syringe includes a barrel, a plunger, and an adapter for mounting the needle in the distal end of the barrel. The adapter includes a protrusion projecting away from the needle end and into the barrel defining an annular space between the barrel and the protrusion. The plunger and protrusion have complementary surfaces whereby the plunger may grip the adapter for removal of the adapter into the interior of the barrel after use. These complementary surfaces afford initial resistance to further axial movement of the plunger toward the adapter, signalling the user that further axial pressure will permanently lock the plunger and adapter to one another whereby, upon application of full axial pressure on the plunger, the complementary surfaces of the plunger and adapter permanently lock to one another to enable joint unitary movement of the plunger and adapter together with the needle carried by the adapter into the barrel. The adapter includes vent passages communicating between the central passage through the adapter and the annular space whereby air can be vented from the barrel after receiving fluid within the barrel and prior to injection. Thus, the syringe may be oriented in a vertical position needle end uppermost with the vent passages forming the most superior portion of the barrel interior whereby air may be vented.

Claims

1. A syringe comprising:

(a) an axially elongated barrel having a wall defining a hollow interior;

(b) an adapter carried by said barrel adjacent a distal end thereof and removable therefrom in response to rotation relative to and about the axis of said barrel, the adapter having a passage for providing fluid communication with the interior of said hollow barrel and with a needle carried by the adapter;

(c) a plunger having first and second opposite ends and axially movable in said barrel between positions axially spaced from said adapter and engaging said adapter;

(d) adapter engagement structure on said plunger including on said first end an axially extending projection spaced radially from the wall of said barrel, said projection having drive and connective engagement surfaces, plunger engagement structure on said adapter including an axially extending recess opening from said adapter in a direction toward said plunger, said adapter having drive and connective engagement surfaces in said recess, said drive surfaces on said projection being engageable with said drive surfaces on said adapter in said recess when said plunger engages said adapter and jointly movable to enable rotation of the adapter relative to the barrel in response to relative rotation of the plunger and barrel to cause the adapter to part from the distal end of the barrel, said connective surfaces on said projection and on said adapter in said recess being engageable with one another to connect the plunger and adapter one with the other and enable said adapter and the needle carried thereby when said adapter is parted from the end of the barrel in response to joint rotation of said adapter and said plunger relative to said barrel, to be withdrawn wholly into the interior of the barrel in response to joint axial movement of said plunger and said adapter in a direction away from the distal end of the barrel.

2. A syringe according to claim 1 including alignment surfaces carried by said plunger projection and said adapter in said adapter recess inclined to an axis of the barrel and engageable with one another in response to axial movement of said plunger toward said adapter, causing relative rotation between said plunger and said adapter.

3. A syringe according to claim 1 wherein said connective engagement surface carried by said adapter engagement structure includes a generally radially outwardly opening groove carried by said projection and spaced axially from said plunger drive surfaces on said projection in a direction away from said adapter, said connective engagement surface carried by said plunger engagement structure including a generally radially inwardly projecting rib carried by said adapter within said recess and spaced axially from said adapter drive surfaces in said recess in a direction toward said plunger.

4. A syringe according to claim 3 including alignment surfaces carried by said plunger projection and said adapter in said adapter recess inclined to an axis of the barrel and engageable with one another in response to axial movement of said plunger toward said adapter, causing relative rotation between said plunger and said adapter.

5. A syringe according to claim 4 wherein said groove and rib are engageable with one another in response to relative axial movement of said plunger and said adapter toward one another.

6. A syringe according to claim 5 wherein said alignment and drive surfaces on said projection comprise a plurality of circumferentially spaced teeth about said projection and said alignment and drive surfaces on said adapter in said recess comprise a plurality of circumferentially spaced teeth about the recess and generally complementary to said plunger teeth, said rib and groove being dimensioned, respectively, relative to said recess and said projection to engage one another upon meshing engagement and final seating of the teeth of the projection and the teeth of the adapter in the recess with one another at an end of the axial movement of the plunger and adapter toward one another.

7. A syringe comprising:

(a) an axially elongated barrel having a wall defining a hollow interior;

(b) a needle and a needle hub carried by said needle, said needle hub being releasably secured to and adjacent a distal end of the barrel and having a passage for providing fluid communication between the interior of the barrel and the needle;

(c) a plunger having first and second opposite ends and axially movable in said barrel between a position axially spaced from said hub and a fully depressed position engaging said hub; and

(d) hub engagement structure carried by said plunger including on said first end a hook extending axially therefrom and having a radial extension for engaging said hub, said hook being engageable with said hub upon full depression of the plunger in the barrel solely in a direction toward the distal end thereof and jointly movable with said hub in an axial direction away from the distal end of the barrel to part the hub from securement from the distal end of the barrel, thereby enabling the needle to be withdrawn into the interior of the barrel in response solely to axial movement of the plunger in a direction away from the distal end of the barrel.

8. A syringe according to claim 7 wherein the radial extension of said hook engages said hub at a location off the axis of the barrel causing the needle, upon withdrawal into the barrel, to tip in a direction causing the axes of the needle and barrel to be angularly related relative to one another.

9. A syringe according to claim 7 wherein said plunger has reputable structure intermediate said first and second ends thereof for detachably coupling said first and second ends relative to one another whereby said second end of said plunger can be detached from said first end when said needle and needle hub are withdrawn into the interior of the barrel.

10. A syringe according to claim 7 wherein the hook and the needle hub irreversibly engage one another upon full depression of the plunger toward the distal end of the barrel.