SAFETY INTRAVENOUS CATHETER WITH FRICTION-BASED RETENTION AND DISABLING FEATURE

摘要

A catheter and introducer needle assembly, including a flexible catheter and a catheter hub having an uninterrupted outer surface portion, a Luer-connecting feature, and a disabling feature. The assembly includes an introducer needle disposed in the catheter, a needle shield having a resilient clip adapted to flex between first and second positions in a plane perpendicular to the introducer needle. The resilient clip includes a cantilevered arm with a pawl. In the resilient clip's first position, the cantilevered arm is flexed so that the pawl frictionally contacts the catheter hub's uninterrupted outer surface portion and frictionally retains the needle shield with the catheter hub, and the pawl is axially aligned with and spaced apart from the disabling feature. In the second position, the pawl no longer frictionally contacts the hub's uninterrupted outer surface, thereby permitting needle shield displacement relative to the catheter hub.

主权项

1. A catheter and introducer needle assembly, comprising:
a flexible catheter having a proximal end and a distal end; a catheter hub in fluid communication with the proximal end of the catheter and having a distal end connected to the proximal end of the catheter, the catheter hub having an uninterrupted outer surface portion and a Luer-connecting feature; an introducer needle disposed in the catheter and having a proximal end and a distal end, and an axis extending from the proximal end to the distal end; a needle shield having a proximal portion and a distal portion; a resilient clip adapted to flex between a first position and a second position in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the introducer needle, the resilient clip having a cantilevered arm with a pawl; and a disabling feature extending radially outward from a proximal portion of the catheter hub and being axially aligned with and spaced apart from the pawl when the resilient clip is in the first position; wherein, in the first position, the cantilevered arm of the resilient clip is flexed so that the pawl frictionally contacts the uninterrupted outer surface portion of the catheter hub and frictionally retains the needle shield with the catheter hub, and in the second position, the pawl no longer frictionally contacts the uninterrupted outer surface portion, thereby permitting displacement of the needle shield relative to the catheter hub.