An inner elongated tubular member having a plurality of arms which extend from one end thereof and a concentric outer sleeve slideable relative to the tubular member for urging each of the arms into engagement with the hub of a needle attached to one end of a medicament cartridge to lock the cartridge and its needle to the tubular member and form a hypodermic needle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a device for holding a cartridge having a 
needle attached thereto and for dispensing medicament from the cartridge 
or drawing blood into the cartridge. When coupled together, the holding 
device, cartridge and needle form a hypodermic syringe. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
One form of hypodermic syringe typically includes a generally cylindrical 
barrel including a piston rod therein. The rod includes a handle at one 
end to facilitate reciprocating movement of the rod within the cylindrical 
barrel. In such a hypodermic syringe a cartridge is provided having a 
needle attached thereto, the cartridge being inserted into the cylindrical 
barrel to work in combination with the piston rod to dispense or receive 
liquid such as medicament or blood, respectively, in response to movement 
of the piston rod within the barrel. In this form of syringe the piston 
rod is connected to a plunger in the inserted cartridge, axial movement of 
the piston rod causing corresponding axial movement of the plunger to 
dispense the medicament from the cartridge or receive blood within the 
cartridge depending upon whether such movement is a dispensing movement or 
aspirating movement. Such hypodermic needles are well known in the art and 
examples include embodiments described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,524,367 to 
Smith and 4,744,790 to Jankowski et al. 
One problem that occurs during use of such a hypodermic syringe is that of 
accidental exposure of the user of the syringe to whatever contaminants 
might be present upon or within the needle or cartridge after use thereof. 
For example, in those instances where the needle and cartridge are to be 
removed from the barrel and disposed of, heretofore it has been necessary 
for the user to grasp the needle to remove the needle and cartridge 
assembly from the barrel. Such grasping can expose the attendant to any 
contaminant which is on the exterior surface of the needle and cartridge, 
particularly if the attendant is not wearing a glove. In addition, not 
infrequently the attendant might be accidentally punctured by the needle 
while attempting to remove the needle and cartridge and corresponding 
contamination of the user will obviously result. Somewhat related to these 
problems is the not unlikely possibility that the attendant might drop the 
needle and cartridge assembly while removing the assembly from the barrel 
structure resulting in undesirable contamination of the area exposed to 
the needle and cartridge. A similar problem is the possibility that the 
needle and cartridge assembly might prematurely fall out of the 
barrel-like holder during the disposal operation. In any event, accidental 
contamination of a medical attendant or anyone else can present a serious 
health problem especially if the contaminant is an infectious disease such 
as hepatitis, AIDS and the like. 
In order to prevent undesirable contamination, it is highly desirable to 
provide a hypodermic syringe wherein a medical attendant can remove a 
cartridge and needle assembly from an associated holder without grasping 
or otherwise touching the assembly. Similarly, it is also desirable to 
provide a hypodermic syringe wherein a medical attendant can remove such 
an assembly without the assembly prematurely falling out of the holder as 
a result of the attendant carelessly attempting to grasp the assembly and 
without the attendant inadvertently dropping the assembly. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention achieves these and other results by providing apparatus for 
use with a cartridge to form a hypodermic syringe. The cartridge includes 
an elongated body having a first end and a second end and having a needle 
attached to the first end by means of a hub which is attached to one end 
of the needle. The device comprises an elongated tubular member having one 
end which includes a plurality of arms extending therefrom and an opposite 
other end. The arms are moveable in a radial direction relative to a 
longitudinal axis of the elongated tubular member and are resiliently 
biased away from the longitudinal axis. The elongated tubular member is 
configured such that the cartridge is insertable into the elongated 
tubular member at the second end of the cartridge until the hub is 
adjacent the plurality of arms and the needle is extending from the 
elongated tubular member in the direction of the longitudinal axis. Means 
is positioned around the elongated tubular member and is slidable relative 
to the elongated tubular member in the direction of the longitudinal axis, 
for urging each arm of the plurality of arms towards the longitudinal 
axis, and into locking engagement with the hub when the cartridge has been 
inserted into the elongated tubular member, as the means is moved towards 
the one end and engages the plurality of arms. Means is associated with 
the elongated tubular member for dispensing and aspirating the hypodermic 
syringe which is formed when the cartridge is inserted into and coupled to 
the elongated tubular member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The embodiments of this invention which are illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 are 
particularly suited for achieving the objects of this invention. FIGS. 1 
to 6 depict apparatus for use with a cartridge to form a hypodermic 
syringe 2. The cartridge 4 includes an elongated body 6 which is 
preferably glass. Body 6 includes a first end 8, a second end 10 and a 
needle 12 which is attached to first end 8 by means of a hub 14 which is 
attached to one end of the needle in a known manner. 
An elongated tubular member 16 is also provided having one end 18 which 
includes a plurality of arms 20 extending therefrom and an opposite other 
end 22. The elongated tubular member 16 is preferably polycarbonate. The 
individual arms which comprise the plurality of arms 20 are moveable in a 
radial direction relative to a longitudinal axis 24 of the elongated 
tubular member 16 and are resiliently biased away from longitudinal axis 
24 as depicted in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5. The elongated tubular member 16 is 
configured such that the cartridge 6 can be inserted into member 16 at 
second end 10 of the cartridge, the cartridge being inserted to the point 
where the hub 14 is adjacent the plurality of arms 20 and the needle 12 
extends from the member 16 in the direction of the longitudinal axis 24, 
as depicted in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6. 
In the preferred embodiment the elongated tubular member 16 and the 
plurality of arms 20 are formed by a unitary structure. In such structure, 
the member 16 includes a body portion 26, and each of the plurality of 
arms 20 is integrally hinged to the body portion 26 and extends at an 
angle away from the body portion at a respective hinge 28, as depicted in 
FIGS. 1, 3 and 5. In the preferred embodiment, the plurality of arms 20 
comprises two pairs of opposing arms, such as, for example, the first pair 
of opposing arms 30 and the second pair of opposing arms 32 depicted in 
FIG. 1. In the embodiment depicted in the drawings the plurality of arms 
20 comprise two pairs of opposing claw-like arms. For example, as depicted 
in FIG. 1, opposing arms 30 include claw-like ends 34 and opposing arms 32 
include claw-like ends 36. Preferably, each arm of the plurality of arms 
20 is circumferentially spaced at about ninety degrees from an adjacent 
arm, as depicted in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5. 
Means is positioned around the elongated tubular member 16 and is slidable 
relative to member 16 in the direction of longitudinal axis 24 for urging 
each arm of the plurality of arms 20 radially towards axis 24 as such 
means is moved towards end 18 and engages the plurality of arms. In this 
manner the arms of the plurality of arms 20 will be urged into locking 
engagement with the hub 14 in those instances when the cartridge has been 
inserted into the elongated tubular member 16 and such means has been 
moved in the direction of the arrow 38. In the preferred embodiment, a 
body portion 26 is provided which is cylindrical and an urging means is 
provided in the form of a polypropylene sleeve having an inner diameter 
which is greater than an outer diameter of the body portion. Such a 
configuration facilitates sliding movement of the sleeve relative to the 
body portion along longitudinal axis 24. For example, in the embodiment 
depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, body portion 26 is cylindrical and the urging 
means is a sleeve 40 having an inner diameter 42 which is greater than 
outer diameter 44 of body portion 26 to facilitate sliding of the sleeve 
40 relative to the body portion 26. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 the 
length of sleeve 40 is less than the length of the body portion 26 
measured in the direction of the axis 24. 
Referring to FIG. 2, it will be readily apparent that by sliding sleeve 40 
towards end 18 of the elongated tubular member 16 the inner surface of 
sleeve 40 will engage the arms of the plurality of arm 20 and by virtue of 
a camming action urge the arms radially towards the axis 24 into locking 
engagement with hub 14 to thereby lock the hub and its needle in place 
vis-a-vis the elongated tubular member to form the hypodermic syringe 2. 
The subsequent sliding of sleeve 40 in the opposite direction towards end 
22 will allow the arms to move radially away form axis 24 and disengage 
the hub 14 due to the resiliency and original angular orientation of the 
arms. In this manner the cartridge can be removed from the elongated 
tubular member without the attendant touching the cartridge or needle. 
In the alternative embodiment of FIGS. 3, 4 and 4A, an elongated sleeve 46 
is provided. Sleeve 46 is preferably polypropylene. Sleeve 46 includes an 
end 48 adjacent the plurality of arms 20 and an opposite end 50. Referring 
to FIG. 4A, the sleeve further includes a first rest 52 which extends from 
an inner surface 54 of the sleeve 46. The elongated tubular member 16 in 
FIGS. 3, 4, and 4A is preferably polypropylene and includes a second rest 
56 at end 22 of member 16. A stainless steel compression spring 58 is 
provided, spring 58 being externally concentric with elongated tubular 
member 16 and internally concentric with sleeve 46 as depicted in FIG. 4A. 
A first end 60 of spring 58 bears against the first rest 52 and a second 
end 62 of the spring bears against the second rest 56. Means is provided 
for facilitating sliding movement of the sleeve 46 relative to the 
elongated tubular member 16 in the direction of longitudinal axis 24. For 
example, in the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4, an outwardly 
expanding section 64 of the sleeve 46 is provided. 
In the operation of the embodiment of FIGS. 3, 4 and 4A, the sleeve 46 can 
be grasped at the section 64 and caused to move in the direction of 
longitudinal axis 24 towards rest 56 by compressing spring 58 between 
rests 52 and 56. Such movement will cause the plurality of arms to move 
radially away from axis 24 as depicted in FIG. 3 due to the resiliency and 
original angular orientation of the arms. Such movement of the arms 
provides access to the interior of the elongated tubular member 16, and 
the cartridge 4 can therefore be inserted therein until the hub 14 is 
adjacent the arms. When the cartridge is so positioned, releasing of the 
section 64 will allow spring 58 to decompress causing the sleeve to move 
along axis 24 towards end 18 of member 16. Such movement causes a camming 
action between the sleeve 46 and the arms 20 which urges the arms in a 
radial direction towards axis 24 and into locking engagement with the hub 
14 as depicted in FIG. 4. 
In the alternative embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6, an elongated sleeve 66 is 
provided including a keyway 68 which extends in the direction of 
longitudinal axis 24 and outward from outer surface 70 of the sleeve. Body 
portion 26 of the elongated tubular member 16 includes a corresponding key 
72 which extends from outer surface 74 of the body portion. Preferably, 
the elongated sleeve 66 and elongated tubular member 16 are polypropylene. 
When the body portion 26 is inserted into the sleeve 66 the key 72 mates 
with the keyway 68 to facilitate sliding movement of the sleeve relative 
to the elongated tubular member along axis 24. As in the embodiments of 
FIGS. 1 to 4A, a camming action of the sleeve relative to the arms moves 
the arms in a radial direction for engagement with, and the locking in 
place of, the cartridge. In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6, the 
keyway 68 includes aperture 76 through a surface 78 thereof, and key 72 is 
in the form of a resilient locking tab which mates with aperture 76 in a 
locking position when the plurality of arms 20 have been urged towards 
axis 24 as depicted in FIG. 6. Preferably, the locking tab 72 and 
elongated tubular body member 16 are formed by a unitary structure. 
Depression of the tab allows for movement of the member 16 away from the 
sleeve 66 so that the resilient arms spring outward relative to the axis 
24 to thereby unlock the cartridge 16. 
In the embodiments depicted in the drawings each cartridge 4 includes a hub 
14 which includes at least one, and preferably a plurality, of recessed 
areas 80 and the plurality of arms 20 include corresponding arms which 
mate with such areas when the cartridge has been inserted into the 
elongated tubular member 16 and the arms have been urged into locking 
engagement with the hub as discussed herein. For example, in the 
embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, claw-like ends 34 and 36 mate with recessed 
areas 80 of hub 14. Hub 14 can be formed from any suitable material but is 
preferably metal such as stainless steel. 
All of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 through 6 include means associated with 
the elongated tubular member 16 for dispensing and aspirating the 
hypodermic syringe 2 which is formed when cartridge 4 is inserted into and 
coupled to the member 16. For example, and by way of example only, the 
embodiment of FIG. 1 is depicted as including a piston rod 82 having a 
handle 84 at one end to facilitate reciprocating movement of the rod in a 
known manner. Similarly, cartridge 4 includes a typical plunger 86 therein 
which is coupled to the piston rod 82 in a known manner such that axial 
movement of the piston rod causes corresponding axial movement of the 
plunger to dispense the medicament from the cartridge or receive blood 
within the cartridge depending upon whether such movement is a dispensing 
movement or aspirating movement. Piston rod 82 and handle 84 are 
preferably formed from acetal. In the embodiment of FIG. 1 the piston rod 
82 can be coupled to plunger 86 by means of the threaded protuberance 88 
and corresponding threaded bore 90. In the embodiments described herein 
each apparatus can include the section 64 to facilitate operation of the 
hypodermic syringe when the apparatus is assembled and ready for use. 
The preferred materials for forming the embodiments of the present 
invention have been discussed herein. However, the apparatus of the 
present invention can be formed from any material useful in the 
manufacture of hypodermic syringes. If desired various components can be 
transparent so that the content of the cartridge 4 can be viewed. For 
example, in FIG. 1 the elongated tubular member 16 can be transparent. 
It will be readily apparent that the present invention provides a 
hypodermic syringe wherein a medical attendant can remove a cartridge 
assembly including a needle attached thereto from a holder without 
grasping or otherwise touching such assembly and without such assembly 
falling out of the holder as a result of the attendant carelessly 
attempting to grasp the assembly and without the attendant inadvertently 
dropping the assembly. 
The embodiments which have been described herein are but some of several 
which utilize this invention and are set forth here by way of illustration 
but not of limitation. It is apparent that many other embodiments which 
will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art may be made without 
departing materially from the spirit and scope of this invention.