Title of Invention

"SAFETY SYRINGE WITH A NEEDLE SLEEVE"

Abstract

A safety syringe with a needle sleeve is provided. The needle sleeve is put around a cap of the syringe, such that the cap, a hub tightly fitted in the cap, and the needle sleeve together form a needle sleeve assembly, which allows the hub to temporarily locate closely before but net engaged into a neck portion of a barrel of the syringe, so that the syringe may be sterilized under high temperature without stress and thermal deformations at the joint of the hub and the barrel. When the cap is depressed in a predetermined manner, the hub and a cannula held thereto are caused to move backward and be stably retained to the neck portion of the barrel in an airtight manner. And when the cap is pulled forward again, it brings the needle sleeve along with it to separate from the hub to expose the cannula for injection. The needle sleeve may be provided with two stoppers to prevent the cap from being undesirably depressed. When the cap is turned to disengage from the stoppers of the needle sleeve, the cap may be depressed to push the hub into the barrel.

Full Text

SAFETY SYRINGE WITH A NEEDLE SLEEVE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the medical practices of early days, a used syringe would be thoroughly sterilized for repeated use later. Any incomplete sterilization would dangerously cause a second time infection of a patent and/or any other people. To avoid such second disrenable .aes are largely produced. large amount of discarded disposable syringes also bring us new problems of environmental pollution ana safety of syringes in use. This is because no specific measures have been taken in disposing car.nuias of the discarded syringes and exposed cannulas tend to easily stab r.ursing or cleaning personnel and result in even more infected people. Therefore, many safety syringes are partioularly developed. US Patent Nos. 5,562,527; 5,405, 325 6,569,203; 5,899,887; 5,395,346, etc. all disclose safety syringes having specially associated hubs and barrels, as well as retractable barrels, so hubs and cannulas of used syringes can be pulled back into the barrels without the risk of unexpectedly stabbing other people. However, all these safety syringes of prior art developed to improve conventional syringes have a common issue, that is, the hubs of these safety syringes must be able to be stably connected to the barrels and be pulled back into the latter after the syringes have been used, and the hubs nust be connected to the barrels in an absolutely airtight manner that requires very high techniques to meet this requirement. As it is known that, when such safety syringes are assembled in the manufacturing process thereof, the hubs and the barrels must first be associated with one another before the syringes are sterilized, so that the assembled syringes would not be contaminated after the sterilization due to contact of any part of the syringes. However, the assembled hubs and barrels are subject to stress deformation and thermal deformation during the sterilization under high temperature and such deformation would have adverse influence on the stable and airtight connection of the hubs to the barrels. It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a further improved safety syringe to eliminate the drawbacks existing in the safety syringes of prior art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A primary object of the present invention is to provide a safety syringe with a needle sleeve that is particularly made to improve a conventional safety syringe with a retractable hub. The needle sleeve of the safety syringe of the present invention allows the syringe to be sterilized with the hub and the barrel thereof in a contacted but non-engaged state, so that no stress and thermal deformations of the syringe would occur to adversely affect the stable and airtight connection of the hub to the barrel of the syringe after the sterilization. Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety syringe with a netdfe sleeve, so that the needle sleeve firmly holds the cap, the hub and the barrel of the syringe together, allowing the cannula and the hub to be isolated from external environment and protected against contamination due to any external contacting of the cannula before the syringe is used to inject. The needle sleeve also allows easy retaining of the hub to the barrel of the safety syringe simply by depressing the cap. A further object of the present invention is to provide a safety syringe with a needle sleeve. The needle sleeve is provided at an inner wall with two stoppers against which a rear end of the cap abut, preventing the cap from being undesirably depressed to cause undesirecl early engagement of the hub with the barrel before the syringe is to be used for injection. In accordance with the present invention there is disclosed a safety syringe with a needle sleeve, comprising a barrel having a diameter-reduced front neck portion, a plunger slidably mounted in said barrel, a hub located at a front end of said barrel for holding a cannula thereto, and a cap into which said hub is tightly fitted so that said cannula is protectively covered by said cap, said safety syringe being characterized in a needle sleeve that is put around joints to said hub and said neck portion of said barrel and of said hub and said cap; Said needle sleeve being a hollow tube defining an inner space therein, a front part of said inner space of said needle sleeve having a reduced inner diameter, and an inner peripheral wall of this front part being tapered toward a front end of said safety syringe, that is, an end with said cannula, and a rear part of said inner space of said needle sleeve having an expanded inner diameter relative to said front part, and an inner peripheral wall of the rear part being tapered toward the front end of said safety syringe, too, whereby a first shoulder portion is formed between said front inner peripheral wall and said rear inner peripheral wall of said needle sleeve; and saicl needle sleeve being put around said hub and said cap from a front end of said cap, so that said first shoulder portion inside said needle sleeve abuts on a radially outward projected flange around a rear end of said cap and a part of said rear inner peripheral wall surface of said needle sleeve contacts with an outer peripheral wall of said diameter-reduced neck portion of said barrel in a tight fit manner, allowing said hub to locate closely before a front open end of said neck portion without being engaged into and retained to said neck portion; whereby when said cap is depressed, said hub tightly fitted in said cap is brought to move backward into said neck portion of said barrel and be retained thereto by a second shoulder portion inside said neck portion, and when said cap is pull forward again and said rear flange of said cap abuts against said first shoulder portion inside said needle sleeve, said needle sleeve along with said cap are removed from said hub to expose said cannula for injection. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective of a safety syringe with a needle sleeve according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 1A is a vertical sectional view of the needle sleeve shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective of a safety syringe with a needle sleeve according to a second embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the needle sleeve shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 3A is a cross sectional view of the needle sleeve of Fig. 3 taken on line A-A; Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a hub and a cap of the safety syringe of the present invention in an assembled state; Fig. 5 is an enlarged and fragmentary sectional view of the first embodiment of the safety syringe of the present invention, showing the manner of assembling the hub, the cap, and the needle sleeve, wherein the hub has not been retained to a neck 'portion of a barrel of the safety syringe; Fig. 5A is an enlarged and fragmentary sectional view of the second embodiment of the safety syringe of the present invention, showing the manner of assembling the hub, the cap, and the needle sleeve, wherein the hub has not been retained to a neck portion of a barrel of the safety syringe; Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 5 but with the hub being retained to the neck portion of the barrel of the safety syringe of Fig. 1; Fig. 6A is a sectional view similar to Fig. 5A but with the hub being retained to the neck portion of the barrel of the safety syringe of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 illustrates'the manner of removing the cap and the needle sleeve from the hub and the barrel of the safety syringe of Fig. 1; Fig. '7A illustrates the manner of removing the cap and the needle sleeve from the hub and the barrel of the safety syringe of Fig. 2; Fig. 8 shows the engagement of a plunger of the safety syringe of the present invention with the hub when the plunger has been fully pushed forward in the barrel; Fig. 9 shows the hub and the cannula of the safety syringe of the present invention are pulled backward by the plunger into the barrel when the cannula has been used; and Fig. 10 shows a needle sleeve and a cap for a safety syringe according to a third embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE.PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS •The present invention relates to a retractable safety syringe, components of which mainly include a barrel A/ a plunger E slidably mounted in the barrel A, a hub C connected to a front end of the barrel A for holding a cannula Cl thereto, and a cap D for covering the cannula Cl. Any structure of these components that is similar to that of a conventional safety syringe would not be repeated herein. The safety syringe of the present invention is characterized in a needle sleeve and structures of other components of the syringe cooperating with the needle sleeve. The needle sleeve is put around joints of the hub C and the barrel A and of the hub C and the cap D, as can be best seen in Figs. 5 and 5A. Please refer to Fig. 1 that is an exploded perspective of a safety syringe with a needle sleeve I according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen from Fig. 1A, the needle sleeve 1 is a hollow tube defining an inner space therein. A front part of the inner space of the needle sleeve 1 has a reduced inner diameter. And, an inner peripheral wall 12 of this front part is properly tapered toward a front end of the safety syringe, that is, an end with the cannula Cl. A rear part of the inner space of the needle sleeve 1 has an expanded inner diameter relative to the front part, and an inner peripheral wall 13 of the rear part is properly tapered toward the front end of the safety syringe, too. A first shoulder portion 11 is therefore formed between the inner peripheral wall 12 and the inner peripheral wall 13. Please refer back to Fig. 1. The hub C is formed near a middle portion thereof with a second shoulder portion C2, and at a rear portion thereof with two diametrically opposite engaging holes C3. The barrel A has a diameter-reduced neck portion A2 that defines a front open end of the barrel A. An inner peripheral wall Al of the front open end of the neck portion A2 inclines radially inward. And, a third shoulder portion A3 is formed between the inclined peripheral wall Al and a straight inner peripheral wall of the neck portion A2 behind the inner open end of the neck portion A2. In assembling the safety syringe of this first embodiment, first extend the hub C and the cannula Cl connected thereto into the cap D. The cap D is so designed that it has an inner diameter similar to an outer diameter of a portion of the hub C above the second shoulder portion C2, so that the hub C could b& tightly fitted in the cap D to form a needle assembly as shown in Fig. 4. Thereafter, the needle sleeve 1 is put around the needle assembly from a front end of the cap D, so that the first shoulder portion 11 inside the needle sleeve 1 abuts on a rear flange D2 of the cap D. At this point, a rear end portion of a forward tapered outer peripheral wall surface Dl and the rear flange D2 of the cap D fitly contact with the front and the rear inner peripheral walls 12, 13 of the needle sleeve 1, respectively, with the first shoulder portion 11 abutted against the flange D2. The needle assembly and the needle sleeve 1 put therearound therefore form a needle sleeve assembly. As can be clearly seen from Fig. 5, the hub C is completely covered by the needle sleeve 1 and isolated from external environment and accordingly, any contamination possibly caused by undesirably contacting the cannula Cl. The needle sleeve assembly is then assembled to the barrel A by engaging the inner peripheral wall 13 of the rear part of the needle sleeve 1 with an outer peripheral wall of the reduced neck portion A2 of the barrel A, as shown in Fig. 5, to form a syringe assembly, that is, the safety syringe according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Before being used to inject a medical liquid, this syringe assembly has a hub C that has a rear portion contacting with the inclined inner peripheral wall Al at the front open end of the neck portion A2 of the barrel A without being extended into and retained to the neck portion A2. The syringe assembly is then sterilized under high temperature in this state. Since the hub C is not fully extended into and retained to the neck portion A2 of the barrel A when the syringe assembly is sterilized under high temperature, there would not be any stress produced at this sterilization stage. Therefore, any stress deformation and any thermal deformation of the whole syringe due to such high temperature sterilization could be avoided. To use the syringe assembly for injection of any medical liquid, a user may depress a front end of the cap D, so that the hub C tightly fitted in the cap D is brought to move downward at the same time. When the second shoulder portion C2 on the hub C is downward moved to pass through the radially inward inclined peripheral wall surface Al and the third shoulder portion A3 at the front open end of the neck portion A2 of the barrel A, the hub C would not be able to be pulled forward again to separate from the barrel A. At this point, an outer peripheral wall surface of the rear portion of the hub C behind the second shoulder portion C2 would contact with the straight inner peripheral wall surface of the neck portion A2 behind the third shoulder portion A3 in a tight fit manner, as shown in Fig. 6, so that an airtight effect at the joint of the hut 2 ar.d the barrel A is accomplished. Finally, the cap D is pulled forward to expose the cannula Cl. when doing so, the rear flange D2 of the cap D would be moved to abut against the first shoulder portion 11 inside the needle sleeve 1 and therefore brings the needle sleeve 1 to separate from the hub C at the same time, as shown in Fig. 7. After the cap D and the needle sleeve 1 have been removed to expose the cannula Cl, the safety syringe according to the first embodiment of the present invention is ready for use. When using the safety syringe according no the first embodiment of the present invention to inject a patient with medical liquid, the plunger B is fully pushed forward in the barrel A until an engaging cone B2 provided at a front end of the plunger B engages with the engaging holes C3 provided at the rear portion of the hub C, as shown in Fig. 8. After the injection, the plunger B may be pulled backward to bring the hub C, which is now associated with the plunger B, and the cannula Cl, that is connected to the hub C, to move back into the barrel A, as shown in Fig. 9. Please now refer to Fig. 2 that is an exploded perspective of a retractable safety syringe with a needle sleeve 1' according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The needle sleeve 1' is similar to the needle sleeve 1 except it is provided with means to prevent the cap D from being undesirably depressed. Figs. 3 and 3A show vertical and cross sections, respectively, of the needle sleeve 1' . All parts on the needle sleeve 1' similar to that of the needle sleeve 1 are denoted with the same reference numerals. The means on the needle sleeve 1' to prevent the cap D from being undesirably depressed are two diametrically opposite square through holes 14 formed on the rear part of the needle sleeve 1' immediately behind the first shoulder portion 11. Two areas on the inner peripheral wall 13 separately immediately adjacent to rear edges of the holes 14 radially project inward to form two first stoppers 15. The safety syringe of this second embodiment has a cap D' similar to the cap D of the first embodiment but having two second stoppers D2' provided at the rear end thereof to replace the rear flange D2. The barrel A, the plunger B, the hub C, and the cannula Cl of the safety syringe of the second embodiment, and the assembling of these components are similar to those in the first embodiment, as shown in Figs. 4, 5A, 6A, 7A, 8 and 9. The needle sleeve 1' is put around the needle assembly from a front end of the cap D', so that the second stoppers D2' are located behind the first shoulder portion 11 inside the needle sleeve 1' and before the first stoppers 15, preventing the cap D' from moving rearward relative to the needle sleeve I' . Fig. 10 shows a needle sleeve 1" and a cap D' for a retractable safety syringe according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The needle sleeves 1" is structurally similar tc -he needle sleeve 1' except it includes two third stoppers 15' that separately axially extend from one end of the first stoppers 15 toward a front end of the needle sleeve 1". The second stoppers D2' on the cap D' would finally abut against the two third stoppers 15' when the cap D' is turned to locate the second stoppers D2' between the first shoulder portion 11 and the first stopperss15. The third stoppers 15' prevent the cap D' from being overly turned. As a matter of fact!, the fitted contact of the forward tapered outer peripheral wall surface Dl' of the cap D' with the front inner peripheral wall 12 of the needle sleeve 1' itself enables the cap D' and the needle sleeve 1' to stably connect to each other without, the risk of becoming turnable relative to each other, unless there is an external force applied to turn them. Thus, the cap D' and the needle sleeve 1' could still be stably connected without the third stoppers 15'. To enhance the stable connection of the needle sleeve 1' to the cap D' , it is also possible to provide the first stoppers 15 and the second stoppers D2' with inclined contact surfaces between them, so that a tightness of contact of the cap D' with the needle sleeve 1' increases with a degree of turning of the cap D' relative to the needle sleeve 1'. In both of the above two embodiments, the caps D' is turned counterclockwise to separate the second stoppers D2' from the first stoppers 15. And then, the caps D' may be depressed to firmly assemble the hub C to the barrel A for injection. With the above-described arrangements/ the safety syringe of the present invention is sterilized under high temperature before the hub C is tightly fitted into the front neck portion A2 of the barrel A. Therefore, any stress and thermal deformations at the joint of the hub and the barrel of the syringe possibly caused by such high temperature sterilization may be avoided. The safety syringe can therefore always maintain good airtightness at such joint. Moreover, the needle sleeve 1 protects the hub C and the barrel A of the safety syringe against any contamination due to undesirable contact of the hub before use. In the second and the third embodiments, the stoppers 15 and D2' serve as safety to further prevent the cap from being undesirably depressed. The safety syringe with a needle sleeve of the present invention is therefore superior to the conventional safety syringes and is practical for use. WE CLAIM: 1. A safety syringe with a needle sleeve, comprising a barrel having a diameter-reduced front neck portion, a plunger slidably mounted in said barrel, a hub located at a front end of said barrel for holding a cannula thereto, and a cap into which said hub is tightly fitted so that said cannula is protectively covered by said cap, said safety syringe being characterized in a needle sleeve that is put around joints to said hub and said neck portion of said barrel and of said hub and said cap; Said needle sleeve being a hollow tube defining an inner space therein, a front part of said inner space of said needle sleeve having a reduced inner diameter, and an inner peripheral wall of this front part being tapered toward a front end of said safety syringe, that is, an end with said cannula, and a rear part of said inner space of said needle sleeve having an expanded inner diameter relative to said front part, and an inner peripheral wall of the rear part being tapered toward the front end of said safety syringe, too, whereby a first shoulder portion is formed between said front inner peripheral wall and said rear inner peripheral wall of said needle sleeve; and said needle sleeve being put around said hub and said cap from a front end of said cap, so that said first shoulder portion inside said needle sleeve abuts on a radially outward projected flange around a rear end of said cap and a part of said rear inner peripheral wall surface of said needle sleeve contacts with an outer peripheral wall of said diameter-reduced neck portion of said barrel in a tight fit manner, allowing said hub to locate closely before a front open end of said neck portion without being engaged into and retained to said neck portion; 2. A safety syringe with a needle sleeve as claimed in claim 1, wherein said needle sleeve is provided immediately behind said first shoulder portion with two diametrically opposite square through holes, and areas on said rear inner peripheral wall separately immediately adjacent to rear edges of said two square through holes radially projecting inward to form two first stoppers; and said flange of said cap being replaced with two second stoppers. 3. A safety syringe with a needle sleeve as claimed in claim 2, wherein said two first stoppers are provided at their one end each with an axially and forward extended third stoppers, against which one end of said two second stoppers on said cap abut, so that said cap is prevented from being overly turned relative to said needle sleeve. 4. A safety syringe with a needle sleeve as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first and said second stoppers have inclined contact surfaces between them to allow tight contact with one another through turning said cap relative to said needle sleeve. 5. A safety syringe with a needle sleeve substantially as herein described with reference to foregoing description and the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

764-del-2000-abstract.pdf

764-del-2000-claims.pdf

764-del-2000-correspondence-others.pdf

764-del-2000-correspondence-po.pdf

764-del-2000-description (complete).pdf

764-del-2000-drawings.pdf

764-del-2000-form-1.pdf

764-del-2000-form-19.pdf

764-del-2000-form-2.pdf

764-del-2000-form-29.pdf

764-del-2000-form-3.pdf

764-del-2000-form-4.pdf

764-del-2000-gpa.pdf

764-del-2000-petition-137.pdf

764-del-2000-petition-138.pdf

764-del-2000-petition-others.pdf