Safety syringe abstract
A safety syringe for taking blood has a hollow barrel, a seal,
a tube and a needle hub. The hollow barrel has an outside surface,
a proximal open end and a distal closed end. The seal with an inner
needle is mounted inside the hollow barrel. The tube has a proximal
open end and a distal open end and is attached longitudinally to
the outside surface of the hollow barrel. The needle hub is mounted
inside the tube, and the needle can extend out of the distal open
end of the tube. A first through hole defined in the hollow barrel
and a second through hole is defined in the tube align with the
first through hole. When taking blood, the needle is extended out
from the distal end of the tube to take a blood sample and a vacutainer
is inserted into the hollow barrel to collect a blood sample. The
used needle is retracted into the tube after use to keep people
from getting injured or infected.
Safety syringe claims
What is claimed is:
1. A safety syringe for taking blood comprising a hollow barrel
having a distal closed end; a proximal open end; a sidewall; an
outside surface; and a first through hole defined through the sidewall;
a seal mounted inside the hollow barrel; an inner needle being L-shaped
with an inner channel and mounted on the seal; a tube connected
to the hollow barrel, being cylindrical and having a proximal open
end; a distal open end; a sidewall; a lip defined inside the distal
open end; a guide slot defined longitudinally through the tube and
having a proximal end and a distal end; two locking slots defined
through the tube and locking slots being perpendicular to the guide
slot and communicating with the guide slot; a second through hole
defined through the sidewall of the tube and aligning and communicating
with the first through hole of the hollow barrel; and a needle hub
slidably mounted inside the tube and having a stopper having a top
surface, a bottom surface and a cylindrical surface; a needle with
a longitudinal fluid passage and mounted in the bottom surface of
the stopper; a fluid channel defined through the stopper and having
a first end defined through the bottom surface of the stopper and
connected to the needle; and a second end; a guide stub attached
to the cylindrical surface of the stopper and moveably received
in the guide slot in the tube; and a tapered hole formed in the
cylindrical sidewall and communicating with the second end of the
fluid channel so the tapered hole aligns with the second through
hole when the needle of the needle hub is fully extended out the
tube.
2. The safety syringe for taking blood as claimed in claim 1 wherein
the hollow barrel and the tube are integrally formed together.
3. The safety syringe for taking blood as claimed in claim 1 wherein
the seal and the hollow barrel are integrally formed together.
4. The safety syringe for taking blood as claimed in claim 1 wherein
the hollow barrel further comprises a dovetail keyway defined longitudinally
on the outside surface; the tube further comprises a dovetail key
engaged into the dovetail keyway on the hollow barrel; the first
through hole is defined through the dovetail keyway; and the second
through hole is defined through the dovetail key and aligns with
the first through hole.
5. The safety syringe for taking blood as claimed in claim 1 further
comprises a spring mounted inside the tube and the needle is inserted
through the spring.
6. The safety syringe for taking blood as claimed in claim 5 further
comprises a plug mounted inside the proximal open end of the tube.
7. The safety syringe for taking blood as claimed in claim 1 wherein
the locking slots comprises a retracted locking slot formed near
the proximal end of and perpendicular to the guide slot, and an
extended locking slot is formed at the distal end of and perpendicular
to the guide slot.
8. The safety syringe for taking blood as claimed in claim 1 wherein
the inner needle further comprises an elastic sheath mounted on
the inner needle.
Safety syringe description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a syringe, and more particularly
to a safety syringe that can safely hold a used needle and prevent
users from getting hurt by the used needle.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] There are two types of conventional syringes used for taking
blood, one has a hollow barrel, a plunger and a needle hub, and
the other has a short holder, an inner needle and a needle hub.
The plunger of the first type is received inside the hollow barrel,
and the needle hub is connected to the hollow barrel. The short
holder of the second type has an outside surface, a bottom surface
and an inner space. The needle hub is mounted on the bottom surface
of the outside surface and the inner needle mounted on inner space
and connects to the needle hub.
[0005] When using the first type of the conventional syringe, a
user takes blood into the hollow barrel then inserts the collected
blood into a vacuum tube. When using the second type of the conventional
syringe, the needle hub is inserted into a vein and a vacutainer
is connected to the inner needle inside the short holder. Because
of the attraction of the vacutainer and the blood pressure, blood
will flow into the vacutainer slowly.
[0006] However, the used needles extended outside the hollow barrel
or the short holder of the conventional syringes are easily hurt
users after taking blood. To keep nurses, doctors or health workers
who deal with discarded syringes from getting injured or infected
by used needles, a safety syringe for taking blood is needed. In
another aspect, the short holder of the second conventional syringe
is too easily reused to hold a new needle and unscrupulous staff
may be tempted to reduce costs in this way whereby serious unsanitary
conditions will be met.
[0007] To overcome the shortcomings of conventional syringes, the
present invention provides a safety syringe to mitigate or obviate
the aforementioned problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide
a safety syringe for taking blood. The safety syringe for taking
blood in accordance with the present invention comprises a hollow
barrel, a seal, a tube and a needle hub.
[0009] The hollow barrel has a proximal open end, a distal closed
end, an outside surface, a dovetail keyway and a first through hole.
The seal with an inner needle is mounted inside the hollow barrel.
The tube has a proximal open end and a distal open end and is mounted
on the hollow barrel. The needle hub and a spring are mounted inside
the tube, and the needle selectively extends from the proximal open
end of the tube. The first through hole is defined in the hollow
barrel through the dovetail keyway, and a second through hole is
defined in the tube. The first through hole faces the second through
hole.
[0010] When using the syringe in accordance with the present invention,
the needle hub extends out of the tube to draw a blood sample and
a vacutainer is inserted into the hollow barrel to collect blood
sample. When taking a blood sample is finished, the used needle
hub is retracted inside the tube to keep the used needle from injuring
or infecting a person.
[0011] Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention
will become more apparent from the following detailed description
when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment
of a safety syringe for taking blood in accordance with the present
invention;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a side plan view in partial section of the safety
syringe for taking blood in FIG. 1 with a covered needle in the
tube;
[0014] FIG. 3 is an operational side plan view in partial section
of the safety syringe for taking blood in FIG. 1 with a vacutainer;
[0015] FIG. 4 is an operational side plan view in partial section
of the safety syringe for taking blood in FIG. 1 with the needle
extended out the tube and the inner needle is inserted into the
vacutainer;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a side plan view in partial sectional of a second
embodiment of the safety syringe for taking blood in accordance
with the present invention; and
[0017] FIG. 6 is a side plan view in partial sectional of a third
embodiment of the safety syringe for taking blood in accordance
with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0018] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 a safety syringe of a first
embodiment in accordance with the present invention has a hollow
barrel (10), a seal (20), a tube (30) and a needle hub (40).
[0019] The hollow barrel (10) is cylindrical and has a distal closed
end (not numbered), a proximal open end (not numbered), a sidewall
(not numbered), an outside surface (not numbered), an annular flange
(I 1), a dovetail keyway (12) and a first through hole (13). The
annular flange (11) is defined radially around and extends out from
the proximal open end. The dovetail keyway (12) is formed longitudinally
on the outside surface of the hollow barrel (10). The first through
hole (13) is defined through the sidewall in the dovetail keyway
(12) near the distal closed end.
[0020] The seal (20) has a proximal end (not numbered), a distal
end (not numbered), an inner needle (21) and an elastic sheath (23)
and is mounted inside the distal end of the hollow barrel (10).
The inner needle (21) is L-shaped with an inner channel and has
a proximal end (not numbered) and a distal end (not numbered). The
distal end is perpendicular to the proximal end and is mounted inside
the seal (20) and the inner channel defines a hole (22) at the distal
end forms an egress in the seal (20). The elastic sheath (23) is
mounted on the inner needle (21). With further reference to FIG.
5 a second embodiment of the safety syringe for taking blood is
shown, wherein the seal also can be inside the hollow barrel (80)
in other ways such as integrally formed together with the hollow
barrel (80).
[0021] The tube (30) is connected to the hollow barrel (10) and
has an outside surface (not numbered), a dovetail key (31), a lip
(32), a distal open end (not numbered), a proximal open end (not
numbered), a guide slot (33), a sidewall (not numbered) and a second
through hole (36). The dovetail key (31) is formed longitudinally
on and extends from the outside surface and engages the dovetail
keyway (12) on the hollow barrel (10). The lip (32) is formed at
the distal open end and protrudes radially inward so that the diameter
of the distal open end is smaller than the proximal open end. The
guide slot (33) has a proximal end (not numbered), a distal end
(not numbered), a retracted locking slot (34) and an extended locking
slot (35) and is defined longitudinally through the sidewall of
the tube (30) diametrically opposite from the dovetail key (31).
The proximal end of the guide slot (33) can be open and is at the
proximal open end of the tube (30). The retracted locking slot (34)
is formed near the proximal end of and perpendicular to the guide
slot (33). The extended locking slot (35) is formed at the distal
end of and perpendicular to the guide slot (33). The second through
hole (36) is defined through sidewall of the tube (30) and the dovetail
key (31) and faces and aligns with the first through hole (13) defined
through the hollow barrel (10). With further reference to FIG. 6
a third embodiment of the safety syringe is shown, wherein the tube
(91) also can connect to the hollow barrel (90) in other ways such
as being integrally formed together with the hollow barrel (90).
[0022] The safety syringe in accordance with the present invention
further comprises a spring (50) and a plug (60). The spring. (50)
has a distal end (not numbered) and a proximal end (not numbered)
and is inserted into the tube (30). The distal end of the spring
(50) abuts the lip (32) in the distal open end of the tube (30).
[0023] The needle hub (40) is slidably mounted inside the tube
(30) and has a needle (41), a stopper (42), a guide stub (43), a
fluid channel (not numbered) and a tapered hole (44). The stopper
(42) is cylindrical and has a top surface (not numbered), a bottom
surface (not numbered) and a cylindrical surface (not numbered).
The bottom surface abuts the lip (32) of the tube (30). The needle
(41) has a longitudinal fluid passage (not shown), and passes through
the spring (50) and is mounted in the bottom surface of the stopper
(42). The fluid channel has a first end (not numbered) and a second
end (not numbered). The first end is extended through the bottom
surface of the stopper (42), and the second end is extended through
the cylindrical surface of the stopper (42). The first end of the
fluid channel is connected to the needle (41), and the second end
of the fluid channel is connecting to the tapered hole (44) that
is formed in the cylindrical surface. With further reference to
FIGS. 3 and 4 the guide stub (43) is attached to the cylindrical
surface of the stopper (42) so the tapered hole (44) aligns with
the second through hole (36) when the guide stub (43) is fully seated
in the extended locking slot (35).
[0024] The needle hub (40) may optionally include a needle cap
(400). The needle cap (400) is detachably attached to the bottom
surface of the stopper (42) to cover the needle (41) to protect
the needle (41) from contaminants and to keep the needle (41) from
injuring a person when the needle (41) is being extended from the
tube (30). The needle cap (400) is removed from the needle (41)
and discarded to draw a blood sample into a vacutainer (70) inside
the hollow barrel (10).
[0025] The plug (60) is cylindrical and is mounted securely inside
the distal open end of the tube (30) to hold the needle hub (40)
inside the tube (30).
[0026] With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 when taking blood from
a patient's body, the user moves the stopper (42) from the retracted
locking slot (34) to the guide slot (33) by means of holding the
guide stub (43). The stopper (42) is slid toward the distal end
of the guide slot (33) and is moved into the extended locking slot
(35) to hold the needle (41) outside the distal open end of the
tube (30) and to align the tapered hole (44) with the second through
hole (36) in the tube (30). The spring (50) is compressed between
the lip (32) at the proximal open and the bottom surface of the
needle hub (40).
[0027] The vacutainer (70) is inserted toward the proximal end
of the hollow barrel (10) and the elastic sheath (23) is pushed
toward the seal (20) so a blood sample can be drawn through the
needle (41), the fluid channel, the second through hole (36) and
the first through hole (13) of the hollow barrel (10), and then
into the vacutainer (70).
[0028] The guide stub (43) is released from the extended locking
slot (35), and the spring (50) pushes the guide stub (43) toward
the proximal end of the guide slot (33). The spring (50) also holds
the needle hub (40) and the needle (41) in the tube (30).
[0029] The needle hub (40) of the safety syringe for taking blood
in accordance with present invention can be retracted inside the
tube (30) so that the used needle (41) will not injure users or
contaminate the users. Also, the safety syringe for taking blood
can be discarded and prevents the used hollow barrel (10) from being
reused.
[0030] Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the
present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description,
together with details of the structure and function of the invention,
the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in
detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of
parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent
indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the
appended claims are expressed. |