Multi-celled safety package, needle guard and safety disposal module with sleeve for prefilled medication cartridges

摘要

A self-packaging safety syringe set (2) uses a unitary molded set of enclosure units (8, 104) sized for housing conventional cartridge- needle units (12) therein. The set of enclosure units are connected to one another by frangible connections (64, 66; 130, 138). The cartridge- needle unit has a hollow barrel (14) with a needle assembly (24) mounted to one end and a piston (16) mounted therein. Each enclosure unit includes a body section (38, 106), a stem section (44, 108) frangibly connected to one end of the body section, and an end cap (52, 110) connected to the other end of the body section. The frangible connection (48, 118) is broken to free the stem section from the body. The removed stem section is used to drive the piston within the barrel. After use, the barrel is pulled back through the body section so that the needle is completely housed within the body section. In one embodiment of the invention, a spring finger (84) engages the hub (34) of the needle assembly to keep the needle assembly from being withdrawn from the body section to permit a safe disposal package for the used syringe. In an alternative embodiment, a plurality of spring fingers are used (132, 134) to secure the needle assembly. In an additional embodiment, a sleeve (15) is frangibly connected to the body portion (38) and can be positioned about the body portion to inwardly bias a detent (174) to engage the hub (34) of the needle assembly to secure it in place. In still a further embodiment, stabilizing tabs (218) are pivotally connected to the body portion (38) and can be positioned in a locked position to centrally position the cartridge needle unit (12) within the body portion (38). The syringe set needs no special packaging and no holders for the cartridge- needle units, the enclosure units serving as both.