Abstract
A blood collection tube holder having a retractable single needle and a body comprising substantially parallel and laterally spaced apart barrel and needle retraction cavities separated by a partial wall that facilitates lateral movement of the single needle from the barrel cavity into alignment with the needle retraction cavity to initiate needle retraction. The barrel and a frontal attachment to the barrel are cooperatively configured to facilitate relative sliding movement between in a direction that is transverse to the longitudinal axis through the retractable single needle to initiate needle retraction.
Claims
1. A blood collection tube holder comprising a single retractable needle having oppositely directed venipuncture and fluid discharge needle ends, and a body comprising substantially parallel and laterally spaced apart barrel and needle retraction cavities separated by a partial wall configured to allow lateral movement of the single retractable needle from the barrel cavity into alignment with the needle retraction cavity to initiate needle retraction.
2. The blood collection tube holder of claim 1 wherein the barrel and a frontal attachment to the barrel are cooperatively configured to facilitate relative sliding movement of the barrel and the needle along an axis that is transverse to the longitudinal axis through the needle to initiate needle retraction.
3. A blood collection tube holder comprising: a substantially cylindrical body comprising a barrel and a needle retraction cavity; a frontal attachment; and a retractable single needle comprising a venipuncture end and a fluid discharge end that are oppositely directed; wherein the body and the frontal attachment are cooperatively configured to facilitate sliding lateral movement of the body relative to the retractable single needle prior to needle retraction.
4. The blood collection tube holder of claim 3 wherein the body further comprises a substantially cylindrical barrel cavity and an integrally formed needle retraction cavity, wherein the barrel cavity and the needle retraction cavity are substantially parallel and separated by a partial wall.
5. The blood collection tube holder of claim 4 wherein the partial wall is configured to facilitate sliding lateral movement of the fluid discharge end of the retractable single needle from a first position where retractable single needle is substantially centered inside of and coaxially aligned with the barrel cavity to a second position where the retractable single needle is substantially aligned with the needle retraction cavity.
6. The blood collection tube holder of claim 3 wherein the venipuncture end of the retractable single needle projects forwardly from the frontal attachment.
7. The blood collection tube holder of claim 3 wherein the venipuncture end of the retractable single needle is covered by a selectively releasable needle cap prior to use.
8. The blood collection tube holder of claim 3 wherein the frontal attachment further comprises a slide member and a tube holder connector.
9. The blood collection tube holder of claim 8 wherein the tube holder connector engages and partially covers the open front end of the barrel.
10. The blood collection tube holder of claim 9 wherein the slide member slidably engages the tube holder connector along an axis that is substantially transverse to a longitudinal axis through the retractable single needle.
11. The blood collection tube holder of claim 3 wherein the slide member is configured to seat and support a rearwardly biased needle holder attached in fixed relation to the retractable single needle.
12. The blood collection tube holder of claim 3 wherein the tube holder connector further comprises a transverse slot that facilitates relative lateral movement of the retractable single needle between the first and second positions when oppositely directed manual pressure is applied to the body and to the slide member.
13. The blood collection tube holder of claim 7 wherein the selectively releasable needle cap further comprises a locking arm that prevents the slide member and the needle retraction cavity from becoming substantially aligned prematurely and thereby initiating needle retraction prior to use of the blood collection tube holder for drawing blood.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The apparatus of the invention is further described and explained in relation to the following drawings wherein:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of one embodiment of the blood collection tube holder of the invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the blood collection tube holder of FIG. 1 with the needle cap removed;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the blood collection tube holder of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a blood collection tube holder substantially as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 except that indicia are also shown in dashed outline in FIG. 4;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a front view of the blood collection tube holder of FIG. 1 but rotated 90 degrees in a clockwise direction around its longitudinal axis;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a rear view of the blood collection tube holder of FIG. 5;
[0016] FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the blood collection tube holder of FIG. 4 with the needle cap removed;
[0017] FIG. 8 is a right side elevation view of the blood collection tube holder of FIGS. 1 and 3;
[0018] FIG. 9 is a left side elevation view of the blood collection tube holder of FIG. 1 rotated 180 degrees in a clockwise direction around its longitudinal axis;
[0019] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 5;
[0020] FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the blood collection tube holder of FIG. 1;
[0021] FIG. 12 is the blood collection tube holder of FIG. 7 with the venipuncture needle retracted;
[0022] FIG. 13 is the blood collection tube holder of FIG. 5 with the needle cover removed and the venipuncture needle retracted;
[0023] FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C or FIG. 13;
[0024] FIG. 15 is the blood collection tube holder of FIG. 2 with the needle retracted;
[0025] FIG. 16 is an enlarged detail view of the needle support member of FIG. 11;
[0026] FIG. 17 is a rear perspective view of the needle support member of FIG. 16 rotated 180 degrees in a clockwise direction around the longitudinal axis through the subject blood collection tube holder;
[0027] FIG. 18 is an enlarged detail view of the tube holder connector of FIG. 11;
[0028] FIG. 19 is a rear perspective view of the tube holder connector of FIG. 18 rotated 180 degrees in a clockwise direction around the longitudinal axis through the subject blood collection tube holder; and
[0029] FIG. 20 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 4.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0030] Referring to FIGS. 1-11, blood collection tube holder 10 comprises body 12, a frontal attachment further comprising tube holder connector 24 and slide member 38, needle cap 40 (FIGS. 1 and 3), and retractable single needle 30 (FIG. 2). Body 12 further comprises barrel 16, barrel cavity 14, needle retraction chamber 20 and rear flange 22 disposed around the rear opening of barrel 16. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 7, retractable single needle 30 projects forwardly from needle support member 46 of slide member 38 of the frontal attachment.
[0031] Referring to FIGS. 4-6 and 8-10, blood collection tube holder 10 is depicted in its pre-use position in which selectively removable needle cap 40 is installed over retractable single needle 30 and frictionally engages axially extending, circumferentially spaced ribs disposed around needle support member 46 (visible in FIG. 7). Locking support arm 42 (visible in FIGS. 10-11) is provided to prevent relative sliding movement between body 12 and slide member 38 prior to using retractable single needle 30 to draw blood from a patient. Slide member 38 further comprises front surface 44 from which needle support member 46 projects forwardly around part of retractable single needle 30 as best seen in FIG. 7.
[0032] Referring to FIGS. 10-11, retractable single needle 30 further comprises forwardly facing venipuncture end 32 and rearwardly facing fluid discharge end 34. Prior to insertion of a blood collection tube (not shown) into barrel cavity 14 and use of blood collection tube holder 10 for collecting blood from a patient, selectively releasable needle cap 40 is in place as discussed above, and collapsible elastomeric sheath 26 covers fluid discharge end 34 of retractable single needle 30 to shield fluid discharge end 34 from inadvertent contamination. When a blood collection tube is inserted into barrel cavity 14 of barrel 16 of body 12, sheath 26 is collapsed rearwardly around retractable single needle 30, allowing fluid discharge end 34 to penetrate an elastomeric stopper in the blood collection tube to establish fluid communication between venipuncture end 32 of retractable single needle 30 and the inside of the blood collection tube into which the drawn blood is discharged. When single retractable needle 30 is in its pre-use position as shown in FIG. 10, needle 30 is substantially centered inside barrel cavity 14 and is laterally spaced apart from needle retraction cavity 76 inside needle retraction chamber 20 of body 12.
[0033] Referring again to FIGS. 10-11, retractable single needle 30 is desirably attached in fixed axial relation to needle holder 28, 92, which further comprises a rearwardly extending annular projection 94 provided for use in frictionally engaging the forwardly extending end of collapsible elastomeric sheath 26, which is preferably a rubber sleeve. A biasing member such as compressible coiled spring 36 is desirably seated inside bore 60 (FIG. 16) of needle support member 46 around a centrally disposed portion of needle 30 and the forwardly facing shaft portion of needle holder 26, and when compressed during assembly of blood collection tube holder 10, abuts and engages the front side of head 92 of needle holder 28. For so long as retractable single needle 30 remains in its forwardly projecting position, head 92 of needle holder 28 is biased rearwardly relative to the frontal attachment and body 12 of blood collection tube holder 10.
[0034] Referring to FIGS. 11,16-17 and 20, slide member 38 of the frontal attachment to body 12 (FIG. 7) further comprises opposed positioning blocks 54, 56 that are engageable with cooperatively configured head 92 of needle holder 28 (FIG. 11) to move needle holder 28 laterally as discussed below. Laterally extending top and bottom rails 50, 52, respectively, are cooperatively configured and slidably engageable with laterally extending top and bottom rails 68, 70 of tube holder connector 24. Referring to FIGS. 17-18, projections 96, 98 (FIG. 17) on slide member 38 are desirably provided to engage cooperatively configured and aligned recesses 100 (bottom recess not visible) of tube holder connector 24 to properly position retractable single needle 30 within slot 72 of tube holder connector 24 during assembly and use of blood collection tube holder 10. Referring to FIGS. 11,18-19, circumferentially extending arcuate ring 64 and cooperating circular wall 62 of tube holder connector 24 are provided to establish frictional engagement between tube holder connector 24 and the forwardly facing edge of barrel 16 of body 12. The frictional engagement is desirably sufficient that tube holder connector 24 remains attached to the front end of barrel 16 as oppositely directed pressure is applied to textured touch surfaces 74, 48 as discussed below.
[0035] FIGS. 5-6 and 13 further depict opposed flat edges 84, 86 in relation to opposed arcuate edges 88, 90 of flange 22 and the relative positions of slide member 38 and tube holder connector 24 whenever needle 30 is in the unretracted and retracted positions, respectively.
[0036] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 7-11, slide member 38 and tube holder connector 24 of the frontal attachment to body 12 are provided with textured touch pads 48, 74, respectively, to facilitate the application of oppositely directed manual pressure to each touch pad to produce lateral sliding movement of body 12 relative to slide member 34, needle holder 28, compression spring 36 and retractable single needle 30. This movement is desirably in a transverse direction that causes discharge needle end 34 of retractable single needle 30 to move laterally past reduced height portion 80 of partial wall 82 (FIG. 10) until needle 30 is substantially aligned with needle retraction cavity 76, which allows needle holder 28 and discharge needle end 34 to move rearwardly into needle retraction cavity 76 as compressed coil spring 36 expands to the position shown in FIG. 14. The length of retractable single needle 30 is desirably such that venipuncture end 32 of needle 30 is fully contained inside needle support member 46 of slide member 38 when in the position as shown in FIG. 14. FIGS. 12-15 depict blood collection tube holder 10 of the invention with retractable single needle 30 in the fully retracted position.
[0037] Other alterations and modifications of the invention will likewise become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading this specification in view of the accompanying drawings, and it is intended that the scope of the invention disclosed herein be limited only by the broadest interpretation of the appended claims to which the inventor and/or Applicant are legally entitled.
