Needle protection apparatus used with a vial

• US 20010004970A1
• Filed: 02/07/2001
• Published: 06/28/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smiths Medical ASD, Inc. (Smiths Group International Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Portex, Inc. (Smiths Group International Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hollister, William H., Simpson, Roddi J.
• Granted Patent: US 6,551,287 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 206/365
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/24 Ampoule syringes, i.e. syringes with needle for use in combination with replaceable ampoules or carpules, e.g. automatic ampoules or carpules A61J1/06
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/3216 Caps placed transversally onto the needle, e.g. pivotally attached to the needle base

Abstract

A needle protection device for a vial has a collar at the base of which a number of finger grippers extend. The collar is placed about the hub of a vial and pushed therealong until the gripper fingers snap over the bottom surface of the needle hub so as to fixedly couple the collar to the needle hub of the vial. Flexibly extending from the collar is a housing that is pivotable to a position in alignment along the longitudinal axis of the vial for enveloping the needle, to thereby prevent the needle from being exposed to the environment. A hook integrated to the inside of the housing ensures that the needle and the housing could no longer move relative to each other once the hook snaps over and traps the needle, as the housing is pivoted to its alignment position. For those vials that have a needle hub that extends smoothly from the vial, a second embodiment of the instant invention has, in place of the collar, a base that has two extending arms with coacting ends. Once the base is slipped over the vial and positioned appropriately therealong, the arms are pressed towards each other until the two coacting ends lock into place to thereby fixedly couple the base to the vial. A housing flexibly extending from the base is pivoted to a position in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the vial for enveloping a needle that extends from the hub of the vial.

Claims

1. Needle protection apparatus, comprising:

a vial having a needle hub mated to one end, a needle extending away from said vial along a longitudinal axis; and

a needle housing having extending therefrom a collar configured to slidably fitted to said hub, said collar having extending therefrom away from said housing at least one gripper means for gripping said needle hub so that said collar is non-removably attached to said hub once it is fitted to said hub;

wherein said housing is hingedly connected to said collar so as to be pivotable into alignment with said longitudinal axis for covering said needle.

2. Apparatus of

claim 1

, wherein said vial has a second end to which a push rod device is removably attached;

and

wherein once said push rod device is connected to said vial, fluid stored in said vial can be ejected out of said needle when said push rod of said push rod device is moved towards said vial.

3. Apparatus of

claim 1

, wherein said gripper means is configured such that once said hub is gripped by said gripper means, said collar is rotatable about said hub even though it is non-removably attached to said hub.

4. Apparatus of

claim 1

, wherein said housing comprises a hook mechanism for preventing relative movement between said needle and said housing once said housing is pivoted into alignment along said longitudinal axis to cover said needle and said needle is held by said hook mechanism.

5. Apparatus of

claim 1

, wherein said gripper means comprises a plurality of fingers extending from said collar, each of said fingers having a hook-like member extending from its end, said collar being non-removably held in place with respect to said hub once said hook-like members of said fingers snap over the lower edge of said hub and remain engaged with at least the bottom surface of said hub, said collar being rotatable about said hub while said hook-like members remain in contact engagement with the bottom surface of said hub.

6. A needle protection device, comprising:

a collar configured to slidably fitted to a hub of a vial from which a needle extends, said collar having extending therefrom gripper means for non-removably attaching said collar to said hub once said collar is mated to said hub; and

a needle housing flexibly connected to and extending from said collar, said housing pivotable into alignment with said vial to cover said needle.

7. Needle protection device of

claim 6

, wherein said gripper means comprises a plurality of hook-like fingers that snap and grasp onto the bottom surface of said hub to thereby non-removably attaching said collar to said hub, said collar being rotatable about said hub once said collar is attached to said hub.

8. Needle protection device of

claim 6

, wherein said housing comprises a hook means integrated inside said housing for fixedly retaining said needle within said housing once said housing is pivoted into alignment with said vial and said hook means snaps over said needle.

9. Needle protection apparatus, comprising:

a vial;

a needle mated to said vial;

a substantially circular base positioned about said vial said base including two coacting arms, said base to be placed around said vial when said two arms are not in coacting relationship with each other, said arms being pressed into a locking relationship to thereby fixedly attach said base to said vial once said base is appropriately placed around said vial;

a housing flexibly connected to said base, said housing pivotable towards said needle;

wherein once said base is fixedly attached to said vial, said housing is pivoted to be in alignment with said needle to cover said needle.

10. Needle protection apparatus of

claim 9

, wherein one of said arms has at its end thereof a hook extension that snaps onto the end of the other of said arms when said arms are pushed towards each other to thereby lock said base into position around said vial.

11. Needle protection apparatus of

claim 10

, wherein said arms each have a shoulder extending towards the other arm so that when said arms are pushed towards each other, the shoulders of said arms prevent said arms from being compressed beyond a given point to thereby ensure that further compressing of said arms will not free the end of said other arm from said hook extension of said one arm.

12. A needle protection device, comprising:

a clamp-like base having two integral arms extending away from said base, one of said arms having a first end that coacts with a second end of the other of said arms when said arms are moved towards each other, said arms being locked with each other when said first end mates with said second end as said arms are pressed together to surround the a vial wherefrom a needle extends, said base being fixedly coupled to said vial when said arms are locked with each other; and

a housing flexibly extending from said base and pivotable to a position along the longitudinal axis of said vial, said housing being configured to prevent said needle from being exposed to the environment when it is pivoted to said position.

13. Needle protection device of

claim 12

, wherein said first end comprises a hooked extension and said second end comprises a blunt extension, said hooked and blunt extensions being locked when said hooked extension snaps over said blunt extension.

14. Needle protection device of

claim 12

, wherein said housing comprises a hook integral of said housing that locks onto said needle to thereby prevent further relative movement between said needle and said housing when said housing is pivoted to said position.