Needle-based device with external safety cap and a needle guide element thereof

Inventors

Moleda, Jaroslaw • Zurawicz, Maciej • Grzelak, Robert

Assignees

Medivena Sp zoo

Abstract

A needle-based device includes a needle-shield that encompasses an entirety of a length of a needle protruding from a body associated with the needle-based device or a needle mount coupled to the body, and an external cap that completely encompasses the needle shield in the first state of disuse of the needle-based device. The needle-based device also includes a guide element protruding inward from an end of the external cap farthest away from the body or the needle mount. The guide element is internal to the external cap, parallel to a length of the external cap and extends through the needle shield such that, in the state of disuse, the guide element at least partially envelops the needle therewithin to prevent significant lateral movement of the needle and prevents the end of the external cap from touching the needle.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to a needle-based device that includes a needle protruding from a body or from a needle mount, with a needle shield that encompasses an entirety of the protruding length of the needle in a first state of disuse. An external cap completely encompasses the needle shield in the first state of disuse, and the external cap further includes a guide element that protrudes inward from an end of the external cap farthest away from the body or the needle mount, where the guide element is internal to the external cap and parallel to a length of the external cap.

The guide element extends through the needle shield such that, in the first state of disuse, the guide element at least partially envelops the needle therewithin to prevent significant lateral movement of the needle. The guide element has an inner cross-sectional width internal to the external cap that is significantly less than that of the needle shield, and only slightly more than an external cross-sectional width of the needle. The geometry is defined so that the end of the external cap from which the guide element protrudes internal thereto is prevented from touching the needle.

To prevent contact, the guide element length protruding from the end of the external cap internal thereto is more than the entire protruding length of the needle but less than a sum of the entire protruding length of the needle, and the claim further specifies a first distance between an end of the needle farthest away from the body or the needle mount and an end of the needle shield farthest away from the body or the needle mount, and a second distance related to a clearance space between the end of the needle shield farthest away and the end of the external cap from which the guide element protrudes internal thereto.

The document further describes broader needle-based device construction and safety concepts including needle shield retraction and redeployment, spring and locking embodiments, and transitions between a first state of disuse and a second state of use. In these embodiments, the external cap can be removed and the needle shield can be unlocked and retracted by a force to cause the needle to emerge, with some embodiments returning automatically to the first state of disuse using a second force in a direction diametrically opposite to the first force.

Claims Coverage

The patent provides three independent claim sets directed to the same core needle-shield-and-cap geometry using an internal guide element to prevent significant lateral needle movement while avoiding needle contact. Each independent claim includes multiple inventive geometric relationships, and dependent claims further add optional components and state-transition behavior.

Overall, the independent claims cover a needle-based device where an external cap completely encompasses a needle shield in a first state of disuse, and an internal guide element extending through the needle shield envelops the needle to prevent significant lateral movement. The key constraints include a guide element inner cross-sectional width significantly less than the needle shield but only slightly more than the needle, and specified guide element length and distance/clearance relationships to prevent the external cap end from touching the needle. Dependent claims further add a spring encompassed by the needle shield, a lock button with hook-and-groove locking under the external cap, and state-transition behavior including emergence for a second state of use and optional automatic return to the first state of disuse.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications