NEEDLE TIP PROTECTOR

• US 20050182363A1
• Filed: 02/05/2005
• Published: 08/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smiths Medical ASD, Inc. (Smiths Group International Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Smiths Medical ASD, Inc. (Smiths Group International Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kulli, John C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,347,838 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 604/110
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/325 Means obstructing the needle passage at distal end of a needle protection sleeve
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0612 Devices for protecting the needle; Devices to help insertion of the needle, e.g. wings or holders
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0618 having means for protecting only the distal tip of the needle, e.g. a needle guard
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/3273 freely sliding on needle shaft without connection to syringe or needle

Abstract

A needle tip protector (10, 10′) including a pair of apertured members (28, 30 or 28′, 30′) with spring arms (22, 24) urging the apertured members (28, 30 or 28′, 30′) out of alignment to create a barrier to a needle tip (16). A needle gripping U-shaped clip (81) may also provide a needle tip protector (80).

Claims

1. A needle tip protector comprising:

a needle having a shaft and a sharp tip end;

a support member telescoped over the needle shaft;

a pair of spring arms extending from the support in a direction toward the sharp tip end; and

a pair of apertured members each connected to a respective one of the pair of spring arms, the spring arms providing a bias to urge the apertured members out of alignment, the needle shaft extending through the apertures of the apertured members in a loaded position of the needle, such that when the needle is retracted from the loaded position to an unloaded position with the shaft removed from at least one of the apertures, the apertured members will be urged out of alignment to provide a barrier to the needle tip whereby to impede movement of the needle from the unloaded position to the loaded position.

2. The needle tip protector of claim 1, the apertured members each comprising a disc-shaped element.

3. The needle tip protector of claim 1, the apertured members each being held to extend generally transverse to the needle.

4. The needle tip protector of claim 1, each apertured member including a face confronting the other apertured member.

5. The needle tip protector of claim 4, the confronting faces including cooperating ledges to limit the bias action of the spring arms.

6. The needle tip protector of claim 1, the apertured members being urged outwardly relative to each other by the spring arms.

7. The needle tip protector of claim 1, the apertured members being urged inwardly relative to each other by the spring arms.

8. The needle tip protector of claim 7, further comprising a catheter hub receiving the apertured members, the apertured members being urged against an interior wall of the catheter hub in the loaded position of the needle such that the apertured members move away from the catheter hub interior wall when the needle is retracted from the loaded position.

9. The needle tip protector of claim 1 further comprising a housing telescoped over the needle shaft, the support being defined by a portion of the housing.

10. The needle tip protector of claim 9 further comprising needle gripping structure within the housing.

11. The needle tip protector of claim 10, the needle gripping structure including a wall having an aperture therein for the needle shaft to pass easily therethrough in a first state of the wall and to grip the needle shaft in a second state of the wall.

12. The needle tip protector of claim 10, the needle gripping structure including a generally U-shaped clip member having an aperture in each leg thereof for the needle shaft to pass easily therethrough in a first state of the clip and to grip the needle shaft in a second state of the clip.

13. The needle tip protector of claim 9, wherein the needle shaft includes an irregularity, the housing having aperture sized to prevent passage of the needle shaft irregularity therethrough.

14. The needle tip protector of claim 1 wherein the needle shaft includes an irregularity, the support member defining an aperture sized to prevent passage of the needle shaft irregularity therethrough.

15. A needle tip protector comprising:

a needle having a shaft and a sharp tip end;

a generally U-shaped clip having an aperture in each leg thereof for the needle shaft to pass easily therethrough in a first state of the clip and to grip the needle shaft in a second state of the clip, the needle shaft extending through the aperture in each leg.

16. The needle tip protector of claim 15 further comprising a housing telescoped over the needle shaft, the clip being contained within the housing.

17. The needle tip protector of claim 15 further comprising a trigger operatively associated with the needle and the clip such as to hold the clip in the first state when the needle shaft is engaged with the trigger.

18. The needle tip protector of claim 15, the clip being resilient so as to naturally tend towards the second state.

19. The needle tip protector of claim 18 further comprising a trigger element operatively associated with the needle shaft such that the trigger member holds the clip member in the first state when engaged with the needle and releases the clip member when released from engagement with the needle.

20. The needle tip protector of claim 19 further comprising a housing telescoped over the needle shaft, the clip being contained within the housing.

21. The needle tip protector of claim 20, the trigger being contained within the housing.

22. The needle tip protector of claim 15 wherein the legs of the clip are angularly offset in the second state relative to a portion of the legs in the first state, the needle tip protector further comprising a cam positioned to urge an adjacent clip leg to further angularly offset.

23. The needle tip safety protector of claim 24, the cam presenting a surface extending at an angle from a plane perpendicular to the needle shaft.

24. The needle tip protector of claim 22 wherein the legs of the clip are angularly offset in the second state relative to a portion of the legs in the first state, the needle tip protector further comprising a pair of cams each positioned to urge an adjacent clip leg to further angularly offset.

25. The needle tip safety protector of claim 24, each cam presenting a surface extending at a respective angle from a plane perpendicular to the needle shaft.