Needle

Details Needle Needle

1990-11-01

1994-03-22

Yasko, John D.

Surgery

Means for introducing or removing material from body for...

Treating material introduced into or removed from body...

604198, 604263, A61M 532

Patent

active

052959635

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a needle and in particular to a hypodermic needle, acupuncture needle or other needle which is intended to puncture the skin of a person or animal.
Such needles and, in particular, hypodermic needles which are intended to administer medicine or take blood samples may become contaminated if the patient or animal is suffering from a disease such as AIDS, hepatitis or the like. Although these needles are usually used by trained medical staff there is always a possibility that a person can puncture himself or herself whilst holding the syringe supporting the needle or by dropping the syringe thereby puncturing a leg or foot. If the needle is contaminated, it is possible that the accidental puncturing of a person will transmit the disease to that person.
The object of this invention is to provide a needle and a device to prevent accidental puncturing by a needle which overcome these problems.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention, in a first aspect, may be said to reside in a needle, said needle having a cover member for covering a point of the needle and biasing means for biasing said covering means into a position wherein the point of the needle is covered by the covering means.
The invention, in a second aspect, may be said to reside in a device to prevent accidental puncturing by a needle, said device comprising a cover member and biasing means for biasing said cover member into a position wherein a point of said needle is covered by said cover member.
Since the point of the needle has a cover means biased into a position wherein the point of the needle is covered by the cover member, if the needle is dropped or pressed against a person, the cover member will prevent the needle from puncturing the person's skin thereby preventing the transmission of diseases.
Preferably, said cover member is in a first position remote from the point of the needle prior to use of the needle and after the needle has been used, said biasing means biases said cover member into a position wherein the point of the needle is covered.
Preferably, the cover member, when biased into a position covering the point of a needle, prevents access to the point of the needle thereby ensuring that a contaminated needle cannot puncture a person's skin.
Preferably said biasing means is curved and the end cap has an aperture through which the needle can project, said biasing means biasing said end cap into a position where the point of the needle is covered by said end cap and is within the confines of the end cap, the curved biasing means causing said end cap to be moved transversely with respect to said needle so that the needle is not aligned with said aperture.
In one embodiment of the invention, a clamp is used to maintain the spring in a compressed state prior to use of the needle. In a second and preferred embodiment, the spring is maintained compressed by a deformable member which engages the cap and holds the cap inwardly of the end of the needle to, in turn, hold the spring compressed. The deformable member is deformed so that it releases the cap so that, in turn, the spring can bias the cap to the end of the needle so that it covers the end of the needle.


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a side view of a needle and the device embodying the invention;
FIG. 2 is a view along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view of a spring used in the embodiment of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a view of the needle in use;
FIG. 5 is a view of the needle immediately after withdrawal from a patient;
FIG. 6 is a view of the needle after use;
FIG. 7 is a view of a second embodiment;
FIG. 8 is a view of the embodiment of FIG. 7 in the after use condition;
FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of part of the embodiment of FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 is a cross-section view along the line 10--10 of FIG. 7; and
FIG. 11 is a side view similar to FIG. 7 incorporating a protector.


DETAILED DESCR

REFERENCES:
patent: 2674246 (1954-04-01), Bower
patent: 2876770 (1959-03-01), White
patent: 3134380 (1964-05-01), Armao
patent: 3306290 (1967-02-01), Weltman
patent: 4564054 (1986-01-01), Gustavsson
patent: 4664654 (1987-05-01), Strauss
patent: 4725267 (1988-02-01), Vaillancourt
patent: 4767413 (1988-08-01), Haber et al.
patent: 4775369 (1988-10-01), Schwartz
patent: 4795432 (1989-01-01), Karczmer
patent: 4804371 (1989-02-01), Vaillancourt
patent: 4813940 (1989-03-01), Parry

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