Protective guard for a hypodermic needle

Abstract

A protective guard is provided which may be taped, or otherwise attached, to the arm or other part of a patient's body to provide a cover or guard for a hypodermic needle during an intravenous injection, or the like. The protective guard is formed of a flexible plastic material, and it is configured to assume a variety of shapes to adapt itself to different inclinations of the hypodermic needle and to different parts of the body in which the needle may be injected.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Intravenous feeding is a technique by which nourishment is introduced directly into a vein of the patient. The usual prior art apparatus for intravenous feeding comprises a bottle of intravenous solution which is inverted over a drip chamber, and which includes a tube extending from the bottom of the drip chamber to a hypodermic needle which is inserted into the vein of the patient.

Problems have been encountered in the past in assuring that the needle will not inadvertently be knocked out of the vein during the intravenous feeding operation. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a protective guard which may be made of plastic, or other appropriate material, and which may be disposable. The protective guard of the invention forms an open-ended enclosure for the hypodermic needle, and it is intended to be taped over the needle during the insertion so as to shield and protect the needle without interfering with the needle in any way, or affecting the inclination with which it is inserted into the vein of the patient.

The protective guard of the invention is constructed so that it may be set to different heights and inclinations to accommodate different needle inclinations, and it also may be set to a variety of configurations to adapt itself to the different parts of the patient's body in which the needle may be inserted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic representation of an intravenous feeding apparatus in which a hypodermic needle is inserted into a vein in the arm of a patient, and showing the manner in which the protective guard of the invention is taped to the arm to protect the needle;

FIG. 2 is a perspective representation of one embodiment of the protective of the invention; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a variety of configurations which the protective guard may assume, so as to adapt it to be fitted to various parts of the body in which the needle is inserted, and to accommodate various needle inclinations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes, for example, a bottle of intravenous solution designated 10 which is suspended in an appropriate bracket 12 which, in turn, is mounted on a stand 14. The intravenous solution from the bottle 10 passes through a drip chamber (not shown) and through a tube 16 to a hypodermic needle 18 which is injected into the vein of a patient.

In the illustration of FIG. 1, the hypodermic needle 18 is shown as inserted into a vein in the arm of the patient. However, in accordance with usual medical practice, the needle may be inserted into other parts of the body. As explained above, an important feature of the structure of the present invention, is that it may be set to various configurations to accommodate the different parts of the body in which the needle 18 may be injected, and to different inclinations of the needle 18.

As shown particularly in FIG. 2, the protective guard of the invention, as designated 20, includes an elongated body having a concave-shaped cross-section and which, in turn, defines an open-ended closure for the hypodermic needle 18. The guard is formed, preferably, of a flexible plastic material, and it may be disposable.

In the particular embodiment illustrated in the drawing, the guard is provided with integral tabs 22 and 24 at the forward end, and with integral tabs 26 and 28 at the rear end. The guard is also provided with a central notch 30 at each side which permits the body to be turned about an intermediate transverse axis. Further elongated mounting tabs 32 and 34 extend longitudinally from the respective tabs 22 and 24.

As shown in FIG. 1, the protective guard 20 may be positioned over the needle 18 with the tabs 22, 24, 26 and 28 turned outwardly, and with the mounting tabs 32 and 34 extending around the arm of the patient. The guard may be securely taped in place by appropriate adhesive tape 21. When in place, the guard forms a protective enclosure for the hypodermic needle 18, but does not interfere with the needle in any way, so that its injection into the vein of the patient is in no way affected.

As shown in FIG. 3, the protective guard may have a configuration A, which is the configuration of FIGS. 1 and 2, in which its body section is straight, and the tabs are flat. The representation at B in FIG. 3 is similar to that of A, but in which the body section is bent in one direction; whereas in the representation C the body section is bent in the opposite direction. In the representation D of FIG. 3, the tabs 22 and 24 are bent down from the body section, with the mounting tabs 32 and 34 being turned flat at right angles to the tabs 22 and 24. In the representation E of FIG. 3 the tabs 26 and 28 are turned down, and the tabs 22, 32, 24 and 34 are turned flat. Further configurations are shown in the representations F-K of FIG. 4.

It will be appreciated, therefore, that the guard of FIG. 2 may be bent to a variety of configurations, such as shown in representations A-K of FIG. 3, and additional combinations thereof, to accommodate different inclinations of the injected hypodermic needle so as to have universal application and to fit different parts of the body in which the needle may be inserted. In each instance, the guard is taped securely to the patient, so as to form a protective shield for the needle without in any way interfering with the original position in which the needle was inserted into the patient.

The guard of the invention is inexpensive, and may be produced by mass production techniques, so as to be disposable. As described, the guard has a general form, or shape, which is constructed so that the guard may have universal bending and forming capabilities so that it may be fitted to any part of the body to achieve its intended purpose.

It will be understood that although a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, modifications may be made. It is intended in the claims to cover the modifications which come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A universal guard for a hypodermic needle, and the like, constructed to fit different parts of the body of a patient into which the needle may be inserted, and which is adapted to be taped to the body and to be bent to a variety of configurations to form a protective shield for the needle without interfering with the position in which the needle is inserted into the body, said guard including: an elongated open-ended channel-like body portion formed of flexible plastic material adapted to be mounted in an inverted position over the needle inserted into the body of the patient to form an enclosure for the needle, said body portion having an intermediate notch therein on each side thereof to permit said body portion to be bent about an intermediate axis, a first pair of deformable integral tabs mounted at one end of the channel-like body portion, a second pair of deformable integral tabs mounted at the other end of the channel-like body portion, and a further pair of elongated mounting tabs integral with and extending outwardly from the tabs of the second pair, said tabs permitting the body portion to be set to different heights and inclinations.

2. The universal guard defined in claim 1, in which said elongated body portion tapers from one end to the other.