Storage container for at least one hypodermic needle

• US 6,880,701 B2
• Filed: 11/07/2002
• Issued: 04/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ares Trading SA (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Ares Trading SA (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Bosset, Grégoire, Bergeron, Luc, Soldini, Laurent, Moulin, Jérôme
• Primary Examiner(s): Gehman, Bryon P.
• Application Number:
  US10/289,854
• Publication Number:
  US 20030121815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 894 Days
• Field of Search: 206365-366, 220/908, 604/110, 604/192, 604/263, 600/576, 600/577, 292/40
• US Class Current: 206/365
• 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 5/3205 Apparatus for removing or disposing of used needles or syringes, e.g. containers; Means for protection against accidental injuries from used needles for sharps A61B50/362; disintegrating apparatus in general B02C, e.g. B02C19/0075, B23H9/001; disposal of medical waste in general B09B3/00; receptacles for refuse disposal in general B65F1/00

Abstract

The connecting end of this storage container for at least one hypodermic needle has connectors complementary to the connectors on the tip of an injection instrument, one of the connectors having radial elasticity and devices for converting an axial force exerted between the needle and the injection instrument into at least one radial component which can deform the elastic connectors. The container has a housing fore the needle designed to hold this needle in a given position and an opening giving access to the housing. The shape and dimensions of the exterior wall bounding the housing are selected to create with the needle an ergonomic positioning and/or handling interface so as to facilitate the connection of the complementary connectors of the needle and the tip, respectively.

Claims

1. A storage container for a hypodermic needle, the hypodermic needle having a connecting end which has connectors complementary with connectors on the tip of an injection instrument, one of the connectors having radial elasticity and devices for converting an axial force exerted between the needle and the injection instrument into at least one radial component capable of deforming the elastic connectors, the container having a housing designed for holding the needle in a determined position, and an opening giving access to the housing;

wherein an exterior wall bounding the housing has a cylindrical guiding surface coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the housing and designed to engage with a complementary guiding surface of the instrument so that the engagement of these guiding surfaces with each other allows the complementary connectors to be put in the assembling position, following the exertion on the devices for converting an axial force into at least one radial component of a pressure coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the housing, wherein the housing holding the hypodermic needle in a determined position has two coaxial openings at a distance from each other, the first of these openings having a fixed diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the connecting end, while the second opening is delimited by elastically radial devices so as to allow its diameter to vary between the minimum diameter and the maximum diameter, and in that a ring having an internal diameter approximately equal to that of the first opening grips the connecting end while projecting from its rear face, thus keeping back the locking elements, this ring having, at a distance from its projecting end equal to the distance between the two said openings, passages whose dimensions allow the locking elements to pass through them and to project within the ring, so that, once the complementary connectors are connected together displacing the injection instrument outwards along its axis causes the hypodermic needle and the ring to shift until the ring rests against the rim of the first opening, in which position the locking elements pass through the passages and the ring separates from the connecting end, while the reinsertion of the connecting end into the housing causes this connecting end to be held in position by the locking elements.

2. A container according to claim 1, wherein the shape and dimensions of the exterior wall bounding the housing are selected to create, with the needle, an ergonomic positioning or handling interface, in order to facilitate the connection of the complementary connectors on the needle and on the tip, respectively.

3. A container according to claim 2, wherein a number of housings are arranged side by side on a shared stand.

4. A container according to claim 2, wherein the wall of the housing is of a tubular form and that in it a number of hypodermic needles are placed successively in equivalent positions so as to be accessible to the injection instrument from one end of the wall, while the other end has the radially elastic locking elements to allow its diameter to vary between a minimum diameter and a maximum diameter at least equal to the diameter of the connecting end and at least one piece associated with the locking elements for the purpose of converting an axial force exerted on the piece into at least one radial component which can be applied to the locking elements in order to deform them radially so as to increase the diameter of the opening.

5. A container according to claim 1, wherein the exterior wall has a flat surface extending perpendicularly to the axis of the hypodermic needle held in the determined position, the area of this surface being capable of imparting to the needle a stable vertical position when the flat surface is placed on a horizontal supporting surface.

6. A container according to claim 5, wherein a number of housings are arranged side by side on a shared stand.

7. A container according to claim 1, wherein the exterior wall bounding the housing has, in addition, devices for separating the connecting end of the hypodermic needle from the tip of the injection instrument, the container having an opening delimited by locking elements with radial elasticity allowing its diameter to vary between a minimum diameter and a maximum diameter at least equal to that of the connecting end and at least one device associated with the locking elements for converting an axial force exerted on the device into at least one radial component which can be applied to the locking elements to deform them radially so that the diameter of the opening is increased when the connecting end is displaced along its axis with its needle pointing forwards through the opening and the initial diameter is resumed after the connecting end has passed through and the locking elements are allowed to engage with the rear face of the connecting end, thereby allowing the connecting end to be separated from the tip by the application of tractional force along the axis of the instrument.

8. A container according to claim 7, wherein a number of housings are arranged side by side on a shared stand.

9. A container according to claim 7, wherein the opening delimited by the radially elastic locking elements serves as the access opening of a closed housing.

10. A container according to claim 1, wherein a number of housings are arranged side by side on a shared stand.

11. A container according to claim 1, wherein the access opening is closed by a cap which can be pierced.