WO1991008786A1

WO1991008786A1 - Hypodermic needle sheath

Info

Publication number: WO1991008786A1
Application number: PCT/AU1990/000597
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wayne Crawford; Paul Muir
Original assignee: Wayne Crawford; Paul Muir
Priority date: 1989-12-18
Filing date: 1990-12-18
Publication date: 1991-06-27

Abstract

A holder for used hypodermic syringe needles comprising a sheath (1), having a U-shaped body (2): with a recess (3) in the sheath (1) accessible from one side for receiving a needle (13). The receptacle including locking flaps (7) extending inwardly from the sides of the holder and shaped into the recess (3), so that on deposition of the needle (13), the locking flaps (7) are deflected from the sides of the sheath (1) to allow needle (13) into the recess (3). The flaps (7) then do not allow the needle (13) to be removed from the sheath (1) as the locking flaps (7) abut against the barrel (11) of the needle (13). One end (6) of the sheath (1) has a slot (9) of a width less than the barrel (11) of the needle (13). This allows the syringe (14) to be separated from the needle (13) on withdrawal from the sheath (1).

Description

HYPODERMIC NEEDLE SHEATH

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for the disposal of hypodermic needles and more particularly to the disposal in a safe manner with little or no likelihood of any person being pricked or otherwise contaminated by the needle.

Description of the Prior Art

A major problem associated with the disposal of hypodermic needles is the risk of "needle-stick" injuries, where an exposed needle pierces the skin of an individual handling the needle after use, potentially causing infection of that individual. Numerous proposals for alleviating the problem have been made, including the provision of a sheath into which the needle can be inserted from one end and within which the needle can be frictionally captured, so that removal of the needle once inside the sheath is difficult.

A difficulty with this sort of sheath however is that the needle is to be inserted from one end into the tubular sheath, and a hand may be needed to either hold the sheath or simply to steady the sheath if it is supported in a rack, and an accidental bumping or simply careless placement may cause the steadying hand to be pricked by the needle.

It is an object of this invention to provide a needle holder in which the needle is presented to the holder in a safe manner so that the danger of the user being pricked or contaminated by the needle is remote.

In a preferred form it is an object of the invention to provide a hypodermic needle holder that is automatic in operation and which merely requires the user to insert the needle while attached to the syringe and withdraw the syringe from the needle, should the user require to do so, with the needle being safely located within the holder. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to this invention there is provided a hypodermic needle holder adapted to capture a needle while said needle is attached to a syringe, said holder comprising a sheath having a longitudinally open recess adapted to accommodate a portion of the needle including the sharpened end, said recess being adapted for entry by said portion of the needle by a radial movement of the needle into said recess, said holder including locking means adapted to lock said needle in place so that the said portion of the needle is captured within the recess.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In order to more fully describe the invention reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows the holder and the needle approaching the holder,

FIG. 2 shows the hand position with the needle approaching from the side,

FIG. 3 shows an end view with the needle barrel deflecting the locking flaps,

FIG. 4 shows the needle barrel held captive, and

FIG. 5 shows an end view of the needle barrel held captive.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the drawings, the holder, which, for convenience will be called a sheath 1 , has a U-shaped body 2 having a recess 3 surrounded by a flange 4. The flange 4 serves to assist in the placement of the needle within the recess 3, and the portion of the recess closest to the flange are tapered to assist in this placement.

At one end 5 the body 2 is closed and sufficiently long to accommodate the range of needles to be retained within it, and at the other end 6, is provided with resiliently deformable locking flaps 7. The end 6 is closed by a wall 8 with a slot 9, the width of the slot 9 is less than the diameter of flange 10 on the needle barrel 11 , but sufficiently wide to accommodate the end of the syringe to which the needle barrel is attached. The slot has a generally inwardly sloping upper portion to assist with the placement of the needle into the recess 3.

The bottom of the sheath 1 has a handle flange 12 to provide a grip so that the sheath can be easily and safely handled. The locking flaps 8 have a length generally as long as the needle barrel 11. In the rest position the locking flaps 7 slope into the holder so that the needle barrel 11 can enter the holder; the locking action of the locking flaps 7 will be described in more detail below

As shown in FIG. 2 the holder 1 is held by the handle 12 in one hand, and the syringe 14 by the other hand. The needle and syringe is presented to the holder with the needle extending away from the user with the needle in line with the recess 3. Shown in FIG. 1 is the needle barrel approaching the holder and entering the slot ready to deflect and pass the locking flaps. In FIG. 3 the needle barrel 11 is shown deflecting the locking flaps 7. When the needle barrel is fully within the holder the locking flaps return to their free position so that if an attempt were made to remove the needle from within the recess the locking flaps would flex upwardly to block passage of the barrel out of the holder. The locking flaps are moulded from a resilient material, and as can be seen from FIG. 1 they are tapered so that they are most flexible where the needle barrel 11 comes in contact with them.

As the locking flaps are generally as long as the needle barrel itself, the flaps hold the needle in the recess and prevent the needle within the recess from tilting axially and thereby to expose the sharpened end of the needle for possible contact with the handler of the disposed needle. Also it is to be realized that at the end of the locking flaps adjacent to the recess there is a further wall 15 with a further slot 16 which is of a width less than the end of the needle barrel while allowing the needle to pass therethrough. The distance between the walls 8 and 15 is such as to provide for a close fit of the needle barrel and when in place by reason of this arrangement the needle is secured in the recess 3 by the retention and locking of the needle barrel 11. Wall 8 has around the non-receiving portion of its periphery a supporting flange 17 to support the free end of the barrel 11. The upper edge of the supporting flange 17 is shown by broken line in FIGS. 1 and 5. The needle barrel 11 is also supported by the upper surface of andle 12, which slopes complementary to and adapted to support the tapered needle barrel 11.

The placement of the needle is facilitated by the tapered nature of slots 9 and 16. In use the barrel of the needle is moved to the position where the hand holding handle flange 12 is, the tapered nature of slots 9 and 16 ensure that the barrel is fed into the locking mechanism and the tubular portion of the needle follows the movement of the barrel 11.

FIG. 4 shows the syringe being removed from the needle barrel with the needle securely locked in the holder. The flange 10 at the end of the needle bears against wall 8 when the syringe is pulled axially away from the holder. The end of the syringe onto which the needle is fitted can slide through slot 9 and the needle can thus be removed whereas the syringe stays captured within the holder. It is to be understood that the syringe with holder retaining the needle can be disposed together, without first separating the needle from the syringe, although for compactness usually the syringe would be separated from the needle.

It will be seen that the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a versatile unit which can be of use anywhere a hypodermic needle is used, whether it be in a hospital, doctor's surgery, at an accident scene, in the home or wherever a patient has to be treated and can be kept in the coat pocket of an individual ready for use.

The holder completely accommodates the hypodermic needle after it has been used, and thereby prevents the needle from piercing the skin of any individual who subsequently handles the needle perhaps for disposal purposes.

The holder has a recess to take needles of various lengths, and the needle approaches the opening oriented generally in line with the recess and from a direction generally transverse to the opening, and thus ensures that the point of the needle is directed away from the user, particularly with the hand held units.

Once inserted the needle is mechanically locked to ensure safe retention of the needle, and this mechanical locking makes it possible to remove the syringe from the needle without any possibility of the needle becoming unsheathed. Although it may be possible to forcibly remove the needle from the recess 3 once locked in, this locking inhibits persons such as may have a drug habit from attempting to scavenge the needle for their own use.

This then describes the preferred embodiment of the invention however it is to be understood that variations may be made whilst still fall within the spirit and the scope of the invention and some of the variations are discussed below.

The holder may be a single hand held unit, a multiple recess hand held unit, a portable receptacle incorporating either a single recess or a multiple of recesses, or a bench or wall or other surface mounted unit.

It is to be understood that the locking means need not take the form of the locking flaps and need not lock onto the barrel of the tubular portion of the needle, the needle itself can also be locked into place.

The sheath need not be closed at end 5 but need only be sufficiently long to shield the range of needles intended to be retained within it.

The body of the sheath need not be U-shaped, provided that it has a recess of such dimensions sufficient to accommodate the range of needles to be stored within it.

The sheath need not be hand held but as an alternative may be retained in a non-hand held device such as a rack or other bench held retention device.

Claims

1. A hypodermic needle holder adapted to capture a needle while said needle is attached to a syringe, said holder comprising a sheath having a longitudinally open recess adapted to accommodate a portion of the needle including the sharpened end, said recess being adapted for entry by said portion of the needle by a radial movement of the needle into said recess, said holder including locking means adapted to lock said needle in place so that the said portion of the needle is captured within the recess.

2. A hypodermic needle holder as in claim 1 wherein said needle is of the type comprising a tubular portion with a sharpened end and a barrel at an opposite end, said barrel adapted for engagement with an end of a syringe, and wherein said locking means is adapted to lock onto said barrel, and when locked said barrel is captured in said holder so that the opposite end of the needle cannot tilt axially out of the recess to expose the sharpened end.

3. A hypodermic needle holder as in the immediately preceding claim wherein the locking means comprising a pair of resiliently deformable flaps spaced apart and located oppositely one of the other and both sloping away from the direction of entry of the needle so as to allow entry therethrough of the needle barrel into the holder and to prevent exit of said needle therefrom.

4. A hypodermic needle holder as in either claims 2 or 3 wherein said needle holder includes a locking portion axially adjacent the recess, and said locking portion including said locking means, a first wall between said recess and said locking means, and a second wall adapted to abut the free end of the barrel, said first wall including a slot having a width narrower than a width of said barrel and wider than said tubular portion of the syringe, and said second wall including a second slot having a width narrower than said barrel, and wider than the end of the syringe onto which the barrel fits, so that on capture of a needle by said holder, the syringe can be withdrawn from said needle by pulling said holder away from said syringe.

5. A hypodermic needle holder as in the preceding claim wherein said first and second walls are adapted to closely abut opposite ends of said barrel and said locking flap adapted to fit closely over said barrel, said locking portion further including support means adapted to support said barrel against a side opposite said locking flaps, and said walls, said locking flaps and said support means collectively providing for positive capture of the barrel so that said needle can not be axially tilted out of said recess.

6. A hypodermic needle holder as in any one of the preceding claims wherein at least a portion of said recess adjacent the longitudinal opening has walls tapering inwardly away from the direction of entry of the needle so as to provide a guide for guiding the needle into the recess.

7. A hypodermic needle holder as in any one of the preceding claims wherein said holder includes a flange substantially extending around said recess and lateral to the direction of entry of said needle.

8. A hypodermic needle holder as in any one claims 4 to 7 wherein a web of material extends away from the locking portion of the holder opposite to the direction of entry of the needle, said web providing a grip for holding of said holder.

9. A hypodermic needle holder substantially as described with reference to the illustrations.