Claims
- 1. A passively shieldable needle device comprising:
a needle cannula having opposed proximal and distal ends; a hub mounted to said proximal end of said needle cannula; a tip guard slidably movable along said needle cannula from a proximal position substantially adjacent said hub to a distal position where said tip guard protectively surrounds said distal end of said needle cannula; and a collapsible guard drive for propelling said tip guard into said distal position, said collapsible guard drive comprising a pair of resilient deformable leaves, each said leaf having a proximal end connected to said hub and a distal end connected to said tip guard, said leaves being foldable or collapsible onto said hub for retaining said tip guard in said proximal position, the folding and collapsing of the leaves being defined such that each said leaf includes a proximal fold and a distal fold, the proximal fold being disposed interiorly of portions of said leaves defining said distal folds.
- 2. The needle device of claim 1, wherein said leaves are formed from silicone.
- 3. The needle device of claim 1, wherein said leaves are formed of a thermoplastic elastomer.
- 4. The needle device of claim 1, wherein said leaves are disposed on opposite sides of said needle cannula, said leaves further having a width for substantially preventing contact with portions of said needle cannula between said hub and said tip guard when said leaves have propelled said tip guard into said distal position on said needle cannula.
- 5. The needle device of claim 1, wherein externally facing portions of said leaves in proximity to said hub define gripping regions configured and disposed to enable gripping of the proximal folds for holding said guard drive in said condition.
- 6. The needle device of claim 5, wherein said collapsible guard drive comprises a mounting block unitary with said proximal ends of said leaves, said mounting block being engageable on said hub.
- 7. The needle device of claim 6, wherein said hub comprises a plurality of locking recesses formed therein, said leaves having locking projections engageable with said locking recesses on said hub for securely holding said distal ends of said leaves adjacent said hub.
- 8. The needle device of claim 6, wherein said tip guard comprises a tip guard housing having a plurality of locking apertures formed therein, said distal end of each said leaf having a locking projection securely engaged in one of the locking apertures of the tip guard housing.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of pending application Ser. No. 09/521,078 filed on Mar. 7, 2000.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09521078 |
Mar 2000 |
US |
Child |
09994604 |
Nov 2001 |
US |