U.S. patent number 3,874,383 [Application Number 05/343,564] was granted by the patent office on 1975-04-01 for hypodermic needle with distortable hub liner.
Invention is credited to John J. Glowacki.
United States Patent |
3,874,383 |
Glowacki |
April 1, 1975 |
HYPODERMIC NEEDLE WITH DISTORTABLE HUB LINER
Abstract
A hypodermic needle which comprises a cannula and metal hub
together with a plastic insert which is non-rotatably fitted within
the hub and interlocked therewith to prevent axial movement. The
liner is heat-distortable during an attempted sterilization so as
to render the needle non-reusable.
Inventors: |
Glowacki; John J. (Orange,
CT) |
Family
ID: |
23346628 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/343,564 |
Filed: |
March 21, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
604/110; 604/240;
604/199 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61M
5/32 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61M
5/32 (20060101); A61m 005/32 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/215,221,348,218N,214.4 ;206/63.2R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
|
|
|
336,365 |
|
Oct 1930 |
|
UK |
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316,516 |
|
Jun 1930 |
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UK |
|
649,918 |
|
Oct 1962 |
|
CA |
|
Primary Examiner: Gaudet; Richard A.
Assistant Examiner: McGowan; J. C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: DeLio and Montgomery
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A hypodermic needle comprising a cannula, a metal hub having
walls defining a well and a smaller nose portion, said nose portion
receiving said cannula and securing said hub to said cannula, a
plastic liner received within said hub well and having walls
defining an inner well and covering the walls of said hub, said
cannula extending into said liner, and means defined on the
interior of said hub and the exterior of said liner in interlocking
engagement to prevent rotational and axial movement of said liner
with respect to said hub, said liner being of a material which is
heat distortable at normal sterilizing temperatures.
2. The needle of claim 1 wherein the means preventing rotation are
a plurality of surfaces defined on said hub wall and disposed at an
angle of less than 90.degree. to the center line of the needle, and
a like plurality of complimentary surfaces defined on said liner
and in contact with said hub surfaces.
3. The needle of claim 1 wherein the means preventing rotation are
a plurality of outstanding ribs defined on one of said hub and said
liner and a plurality of rib-receiving slots defined in the other
of said hub and said liner.
4. The needle of claim 1 wherein said means preventing axial
movement comprise an annular recess defined in said hub walls and
an annular ridge on said liner received in said recess.
5. The needle of claim 1 further including a locking flange defined
on said liner and extending radially outwardly from said liner
beyond said hub.
6. The needle of claim 1 wherein said liner is internally
threaded.
7. The needle of claim 2 wherein said surfaces are disposed at an
angle of substantially 27.degree. to the center line of the
needle.
8. The needle of claim 3 wherein said ribs are on the hub.
Description
This invention relates to hypodermic needles.
A hypodermic needle generally comprises a cannula which is the tube
and piercing point, together with a hub to which the needle is
attached. The hub is then adapted to receive a syringe for either
injection or medication to a patient or possibly used for blood
collecting.
Conventionally, the hub includes a nose piece which is crimped
about the periphery of the needle at a plurality of points to
produce a liquid tight fitting and to secure the cannula to the
hub. A seal may be included between the hub and the cannula. Hubs
are primarily made of aluminum while the cannula is made of
stainless steel. It has been determined, in many cases, that
medications to be injected into a patient should not contact
aluminum. As a result, efforts have been made to produce a
hypodermic needle with a plastic hub. However, secure joining of
the cannula to plastic hubs has not always proven successful due to
the inability to obtain a tight fit of the cannula in the plastic
hub.
Additionally, in some cases, needles which have been manufactured
as so-called disposables have been attempted to be used again, and
in fact used again after being sterilized primarily through a
process known as autoclaving.
The present invention, accordingly, presents a hypodermic needle
construction which while utilizing a metal hub for attachment to
the cannula further utilizes a plastic insert construction which
prevents contact of medication with the metal hub, and further
which will heat distort upon sterilizing so that a disposable
needle can not be reused.
Briefly stated, the invention in one form thereof comprises a
cannula which is received through the nose portion of a metal hub
and the nose portion crimped or swaged thereto. Within the metal
hub is a plastic insert which is so fitted therein that it will not
have any rotational or longitudinal movement therein, and further
which is so chosen that it will heat distort upon autoclaving or
sterilizing so as to render the needle unusable.
An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved
hypodermic needle.
Another object of this invention is to provide a disposable
hypodermic needle which will be rendered unusable should an attempt
be made to sterilize it.
A further object of this invention is to provide a hypodermic
needle having all the desirable properties of attaching a metal hub
to a metal cannula but which prohibits contact between medication
and the material of the hub .
The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are
particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding
portion of this specification. However, the invention both as to
its organization and operation, together with further objects and
advantages thereof, may best be appreciated by reference to the
following detailed description taken in conjunction with the
drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a side view of a hypodermic needle embodying the
invention;
FIG. 2 is a view of the needle of FIG. 1 seen looking into the open
end of the hub thereof and with the liner partially cut away;
FIG. 3 is a view seen in the plane of lines 3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a view of a hypodermic needle with a Luer lock flange
seen from the piercing end of the needle;
FIG. 5 is a partial longitudinal half section of the needle of FIG.
4 as seen in the plane of lines 5--5 of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a view in longitudinal half section of another needle
embodying the invention and having an insert within the hub;
FIG. 7 is a view of the needle of FIG. 6 looking into the hub with
the insert partially cut away;
FIG. 8 is a view of the liner of the needle of FIG. 6 as seen from
the nose end;
FIG. 9 is a longitudinal half-section of another needle embodying
the invention;
FIG. 10 is a view of the needle of FIG. 8 looking into the hub with
the insert partially cut away; and
FIG. 11 is a view of the needle of FIG. 10 seen from the nose end
thereof.
A construction embodying the invention as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3
comprises a needle 10 including a cannula 11, a metal hub 12, and a
plastic insert 13 within the hub. The hub 12 has a nose portion 14
which is crimped or swaged about cannula 11. The hub defines a well
15 adapted to receive a syringe. The cannula is preferably made of
stainless steel and one end is ground to a piercing point 16. The
hub is formed of aluminum.
The bottom of the well 15 of hub 12 is formed with a series of
planar surfaces 17 shown as four in number, which surfaces are
mutually inclined to the axis of the needle. The wall of hub 12 is
formed with an annular indentation or groove 18 in the inner
periphery thereof. Insert 13 has a mating exterior annular bead 19
which is received in groove 18. Insert 13 has four planar surfaces
20 which are complimentary to the surfaces 17 and in contact
therewith. The liner is received within the hub in substantially
full surface contact along its outer periphery.
With this construction, bead 19 mating in recess 18 prevents axial
movement of the insert while the engagement of the inclined
surfaces 17 with surfaces 20 prevents any rotational movement of
the insert in the hub. The insert also provides a further seal
about the cannula.
The insert is chosen to be of a plastic material which has a
substantially rigid defined shape but which has some resilience to
allow it to be snapped into hub 12.
If desired, the hub may be formed with the well-known Luer lock
flange thereon. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, insert 13' is provided
with Luer lock flanges 21. Otherwise, the construction is the same
as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3.
The insert 13 is formed of a material which heat distorts at normal
sterilizing temperatures. In this regard, the normal technique of
sterilizing medical instruments is autoclaving which is
accomplished at 230.degree.F. A suitable plastic material is
polyethylene which may be easily molded to any desired shape and
which will heat distort at 150.degree. F.
The surfaces which prevent rotation may be in any convenient form
but for purposes of simplifying manufacture, it is preferred that
there be four surfaces or six to prevent the rotation of the
plastic liner.
Any type of convenient interlocking means may also be utilized to
prevent relative axial movement of the hub and liner, and the
annular recess and bead exemplified is merely illustrative.
If an attempt should be made to sterilize or autoclave the liner it
will heat distort and lose its predetermined shape, shrivel up and
probably fall out of the hub. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 -
3 this would render the hub too large for the tapered fitting
syringe and in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 would remove
the Luer lock flanges so that a second syringe could not be fitted
to the hub. In either case, the needle then becomes truly
disposable because it can not be reused again.
FIG. 6 exemplifies another construction embodying the invention. A
needle 30 comprises a metal hub 31 having an annular groove or
recess 32, a nose portion 33 which is crimped or swaged about a
cannula 25. Defined on the outside of the hub 31 are a plurality of
ribs 34 which may be grasped when the syringe is inserted or
rotated with respect to the hub, either by hand or by engagement
with abutments on a casing covering the cannula. The bottom of the
well of the hub is defined with four flats 35 separated by sections
of an otherwise conical shape 36. The opposed flats are preferably
formed at an angle of about 54.degree. or at 27.degree. to the
axial center line of the needle. A plastic liner 37 is formed with
an annular ridge 38 adapted to be received into the recess or
groove 32 of the metal hub 31.
The liner 37 is further formed with mating flats 39 complimentary
to the flats 35 and portions 39a complimentary to the otherwise
conical surface portions 36.
The mating groove and ridges 32 and ridge 38 prevent relative axial
motion of the hub and liner, while the mating flats prevent
relative rotation.
FIGS. 9 - 11 exemplify another needle construction of the type
wherein the syringe is threadably received in the hub. A needle 40
comprises a hub member 41 having an annular recess 42 located
toward the open end of the well and a nose 43 which is crimped or
swaged about a cannula 44. In this embodiment the cannula is of the
type in which the rear end 45 may extend outwardly to pierce a seal
on the syringe. The hub further includes a plurality of outstanding
ribs 41a designed to interlock with a needle guard (not shown) to
provide a wrenching function. A plastic liner 46 has an annular
ridge 47 adapted to be received in annular recess 42 and is further
provided with a plurality of slots or recesses 48 in the bottom
outer wall thereof (FIG. 11) adapted to receive complimentary ribs
49 defined on and outstanding from the bottom of the well of hub
41. The inner periphery of the liner 46 is threaded as indicated at
50 to receive mating threads on a syringe. The mating ribs and
slots will prevent any turning of the liner within the hub well
while the annular groove and ridge will prevent any axial movement
between the two. The mating ribs and recesses may be reversed with
respect to the hub and the liner.
The location of the complimentary flats, and the complimentary ribs
and recesses may be defined anywhere on the hub and liner. As a
practical matter, it is more convenient to form the hub with a
round side wall and locate the hub flats, recesses, or ribs on the
bottom of the hub well during machine forming operations on the
hub.
The embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 - 11 permits a more economical
construction for needles of this type in that no threading is
required on this metal hub. This relatively costly operation is
avoided by the provision of the plastic liner molded with the
threads therein.
The constructions embodying the invention provide additional
advantages. The metal hub member offers a conventional technique of
cannula-hub attachment which has been proven over many years of
use. It is esthetically sound and acceptable to doctors. The
plastic liner insures that medication will not contact the metal
hub, only the stainless steel cannula and the plastic liner.
It may thus be seen that the objects of the invention set forth as
well as those made apparent from the preceding description are
efficiently attained. While preferred embodiments of the invention
have been set forth for purposes of disclosure further embodiments
of the invention as well as modifications to the disclosed
embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the
invention may occur to others skilled in the art. Accordingly, the
appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments and
modifications of the invention which do not depart from the spirit
and scope of the invention.
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