Disposable Syringe For The Blind

Abstract

A disposable syringe for blind persons or those with greatly impaired vision has a protecting sheath removably mounted over the hypodermic needle, and the end of the sheath fits into a recess of the piston to form a piston rod thereon; and a swab with a skin disinfectant solution is removably mounted on the cylinder and sealed against evaporation of the solution and to prevent the entry of the solution into the medication holding cylinder.

Description

The invention relates to disposable syringes for the blind or the nearly blind, particularly for diabetics who require injections at regular intervals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many persons, such as some diabetics, require injections of medications, for instance insulin, at regular intervals. A great number of these persons, again for example some diabetics, are furthermore either blind or near blind; yet these persons may not always count on the availability of others to help them with the regular, such as daily, injections.

SUMMARY

It is therefore among the principal objects of the invention to provide a disposable syringe for self-administering hypodermic injections by blind persons or those with greatly impaired vision.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a syringe that is easy to handle and contains all that is necessary for preparing the skin and injecting the medication.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a syringe that has means for tactile recognition indicating numerically the dosage of the medication in the cylinder.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following specification and in part will be obvious therefrom without being specifically referred to, the same being realized and attained as pointed out in the claims hereof.

With the above and other objects of the invention in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of various devices, elements and parts, as set forth in the claims hereof, one embodiment of the same being illustrated in the accompanying drawing and described in the specification.

Generally speaking, the above objects are attained by providing a disposable syringe in which the hypodermic needle is sheathed, and the sheath is removable from its needle protecting position and insertable into a recess of the piston to engage the piston as a form of piston rod; and a swab containing a skin disinfectant solution is removably mounted on the cylinder and shielded against evaporation of the solution.

The syringe includes a predetermined amount of medication pre-filled into the cylinder of the syringe. The exterior of the cylinder has a plurality of projections that indicate, for tactile recognition by the blind, the numerical dosage of the medication; for instance, transverse rods may indicate dekadic units and bosses individual units of dosage. This arrangement excludes any error on the part of the self-injecting patient, even when there are changes in the medication quantities involved; thus, the diabetic may exactly determine different dosages, such as, for example, 40 units in the morning and 12 units in the evening, as may be prescribed by the physician.

The aforedescribed swab is easily removed from the cylinder, and facilitates the necessary pre-injection dabbing of the skin.

The needle, as customary with disposable syringes, is secured to the cylinder, but for the instant purpose is short and narrow; the sheath is correspondingly short and narrow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view of a disposable syringe in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is perspective view thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In carrying the invention into effect in one of the embodiments which has been selected for illustration in the accompanying drawing and for description in this specification, and referring now particularly to FIG. 1, there is provided a swab 1 which is mounted on a piston plate 6 that is formed at the upper end of the syringe cylinder 5. The piston plate 6 has an opening 7. A piston 8 is provided on the interior of the cylinder 5.

The piston 8 has a recess 9 that is tapered downwardly in the direction towards the interior of the cylinder. The opening 7 in the plate 6 is tapered somewhat similarly, and the opening 7 and recess 9, in the position shown in FIG. 1 when the syringe has been pre-filled with the medication, are aligned.

A sheath 4 is secured, preferably by threading, to the underside of the piston 5, in which position it provides a closed sheath for the hypodermic needle 3 that is secured to the cylinder 5 and communicates interiorly therewith.

The sheath 4 may be dismounted, such as unsrewed, from its needle surrounding position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and be inserted with its closed end portion 10 into the recess 9 through the opening 7. The end portion 10 is tapered similarly to the recess 9, so that it will fit into it to engage the piston as a piston rod.

A swab 1 is removably mounted near said piston plate 6. The swab 1 is connected to a sheet 11. The sheet 11 is removably connected to the plate 6 and may be composed of a tin foil, a thin aluminum sheet or a synthetic plastic sheet. The swab 1 is carried on the underside, namely the side of the plate 6, on the sheet 11, and is formed of a layer of muslin or cellulose and contains a skin disinfectant solution.

The sheet 11 forms a part of shielding means to restrain evaporation of the solution from the swab 1. The shielding means may include sealing means, such as a thin sheet 12 which seals the interior of the cylinder 5, and thereby the medication therein from contact by the solution or its vapors.

On the exterior of the cylinder there are provided projections 2 and 13. The projections 2, as best shown in FIG. 2, may be arcuate rods, and the projections 13, bosses. They serve to indicate for tactile recognition the numerical dosage in dekadic and individual units, respectively.

Each syringe will come pre-filled with a predetermined dosage, and the dosage will be indicated by means of the projections 2 and 13 for tactile recognition by a blind or near blind, of the contents of the particular syringe. The size of the cylinders 5 will be chosen in accordance with the desired quantity of medication pre-filled therein, so that no large volume cylinders need be provided. Several of these disposable syringes may be pre-packed into a single package and may thus easily and cleanly be retained for long times, and easily transported and stored.

THE OPERATION

The operation of the above-described embodiment is as follows:

The operator using the syringe will first tear off the sheet 11 and the swab 1, and apply the swab 1 to the skin at the point of the subsequent injection.

Removal of the sheet 11 and swab 1 will uncover the aligned opening 7 and recess 9. The plate 6 restrains the piston 8 from removal out of the cylinder 5.

The operator will then remove the sheath 4 from its position near the needle 3 preparatory to placing it with its closed end portion 10 through the opening 7 into the recess 9 of the piston 8, for engaging the recess 9 to form a piston rod on the piston 8.

Prior to the engagement of the sheath 4 on the piston 8 to form a piston rod, however, the operator will insert the needle through the skin.

A right-handed operator will hold the syringe with the right hand during the subcutaneous insertion of the hypodermic needle, and will hold with the left hand the loose sheath 4, and with the thumb and fourth or fifth finger the fold of the skin into which the hypodermic needle is to be injected; the operator will then take the sheath 4 with his right hand and insert it with its end portion 10 into the recess 9 and apply force to the thus formed piston rod to complete the injection.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Claims

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A disposable syringe, particularly for use by the blind or those with greatly impaired vision, the combination of a cylinder for holding on the interior a pre-filled injectable medication and a hypodermic injection needle projecting from one end portion of said cylinder and intercommunicating interiorly with said cylinder,

a protecting sheath removably mounted over said needle on said cylinder,

a piston in said cylinder having a recess opening towards the other cylinder end portion shaped to receive an end portion of said sheath, said sheath having an end portion operable to fit into said recess for engaging it, said sheath being operative to be removed from said cylinder and to be positioned to engage with its end portion said recess thereby to form a piston rod on said piston,

a swab containing a skin disinfectant solution removably mounted on said other end portion on said cylinder, and

shielding means covering said swab operable for restraining evaporation of said solution, said swab in said mounted position covering said recess, and when removed uncovering said recess for the engagement in said recess of said sheath.

2. A disposable syringe, as claimed in claim 1, said needle being short and narrow and secured to said cylinder, said sheath having a size correspondingly short and narrow.

3. A disposable syringe, as claimed in claim 1, and

said shielding means including sealing means restraining the entry of said solution or its vapors into the interior of said cylinder in the mounted position of said swab.

4. A disposable syringe, as claimed in claim 1, a plurality of projections mounted on the cylinder exterior adapted to indicate for tactile recognition numerically the dosage of the medication pre-filled in said cylinder.

5. A disposable syringe, as claimed in claim 4, said projections including rods and bosses indicating respectively the dekadic and individual units of dosage.