Needle shield device for surgical packages

Abstract: A needle shield (10) for suture-needle assemblies (34) constructed of a fibrous material and foldable about at least two score lines (24, 28) to provide a protective device against needle damage and accidental sticking of the user's fingers.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to surgical suture-needle packages, and more particularly to a needle shield device for protecting the tip of the needles from damage and to eliminate the possibility of accidental sticking of a person's finger by the needles. 2. Discussion of the Prior Art Packaging devices for needles and suture needle assemblies which include protective flaps or covers are well known in the art. These packages generally include a fold over flap or cover which encloses the needles or the needle tips in the package. In many cases, the flap is integrally formed as part of the package so that the flap or cover comprises a tear away portion which exposes the needles upon opening of the package. Several tear away type needle covers for use with surgical suture-needle assembly packages are provided in the prior art. These packages generally comprise a panel having either perforations or score lines which facilitate tearing a portion of the panel from the package to expose the needles after the package is opened. After the tear away cover or flap is removed, the needle and suture assembly may be removed from the package in the conventional manner. In the prior art, several packages having tear away cover flaps are disclosed, such as U.S. Patent No. 4,063,638 to Marwood. The package disclosed in Marwood comprises a three panel package, where the suture is wound and held at the center panel and the needle is held in an outer panel. A panel having the tear away flap is provided on the outer panel opposite the needle retaining panel, and the tear away flap is folded over the sutures followed by the needle retaining flap. Upon opening the package, the flap is torn away, thus revealing the needle so that the needle may be removed in the conventional manner. US Patent No. 4,572,363 to Alpern, US Patent No. 4,406,363 to Aday, US Patent No. 4,412,614 to Ivanov et al., and US Patent No.4,427,109 to Roshdy disclose tear away flaps or covers similar to that disclosed in Marwood above. Another type of package prevalent in the prior art provides a fold over flap which covers the needles within the package. When the package is opened, the fold over flap is unfolded to reveal the needles so that the needles may be removed in the conventional manner. Such a device is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,574,948 to Huck et al. Huck et al. provides a packaging device in which the suture-needle assembly is secured on one panel of the package and the needles are secured on a second panel. A fold over flap is provided to cover the needles to prevent sticking of the user and to prevent damage to the needle tips. As the package is opened, the fold over flap is unfolded to reveal the needles so that the needles may be removed in a conventional manner. A similar type device is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,708,241 to Black. Other fold over cover flaps for packaging devices are disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,120,395 to Mandel et al., U.S. Patent No. 4,391,365 to Batchelor, and U.S. Patent No. 4,884,681 to Roshdy et al. Mandel et al. and Roshdy et al. disclose a cover flap to which the needles are attached, so that as the flap is folded over the needles are folded with it to cover and protect the needles. Batchelor discloses a device similar to Huck et al. above. The devices disclosed in the prior art suffer from several disadvantages in which the risk of accidental sticking of the needle into the fingers of the user is not significantly reduced or eliminated, and further, many of these devices suffer the disadvantage in that the cost of packaging is increased due to the necessity for additional packaging material as well as increasing the number of packaging steps during assembly. Surgical suture-needle assembly packages and needle packages are generally constructed of a material which resists folding and bending and which is strong enough to hold a coiled suture in place without the risk of the suture unraveling during shipment. The package must also be rigid enough to resist bending or folding to eliminate the risk of creasing the suture during shipment, so that when the package is opened the suture may be removed from the package without creases or bends. There is significant emphasis in the surgical suture industry placed on the "memory" retention of the suture material, so that the suture retains its original shape upon removal from the package with a minimum of bends and creases, even after extended periods of time within the package. In view of this, many of the packages disclosed above which provide a needle retaining member which is folded over the package increase the amount of bends in the suture material during packaging, which may lead to an undesirable suture-needle assembly upon removal from the package. A further disadvantage of the prior art packages is that in using the package itself to protect the needles, such as those packages disclosed above having a tear away portion, there is a requirement that additional packaging material must be provided to cover the needle. Given the fact that many of these packages employ rigid panels, sometimes in laminate form, the cost of packaging is necessarily increased to provide the needle cover. In addition, the step of forming the packaging material must include the addition of score lines or perforations to facilitate the tear feature to expose the needles. An additional disadvantage to these fold over devices lies in the fact that the needles are hidden from view until that portion of the package is either torn away or unfolded to reveal the needles. Consequently, the user is at risk of accidentally sticking himself with the needles since he cannot see the needles during the tear away or unfolding step. US Patent No. 3,959,947 discloses a suture-needle package as in the preamble of claim 1 with a separate needle protective cover. The novel needle shield device for surgical packages having needles or suture-needle assemblies of the present invention obviates the disadvantages encountered in the prior art and provides a needle shield device for use with a suture-needle assembly package which provides the user with protection against sticking while further providing protection for the needle tips against damage. The needle shield device is conveniently made of light weigh material. The needle shield of the present invention eliminates the requirement for providing additional packaging material and the requirement for complex folding arrangements of the rigid packaging material to cover the needles. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is in accordance with the claims below and provides a novel needle shield device for surgical packages having needles or suture-needle assemblies packaged therein. The device may also be used with syringes or hypodermic-type needles to protect the needle and to guard against sticking during opening of the package. The device provides the useful beneficial effect of allowing the user to view the needle during the opening procedure so that the user knows at all times where the sharp tips of the needles are located. The needle shield of the present invention essentially comprises a sheet of fibrous material which is attachable to the needle or suture-needle assembly package in the vicinity of the tips of the needles, and is preferably secured by adhesives, glue or the like. One embodiment of the needle shield of the present invention has a substantially rectangular shape, and is provided with a series of score lines or fold lines along the edges of the rectangle from which outwardly directed projections extend. Along one edge, a series of fork-like projections extend from the needle shield, and it is at this location that the needle shield is secured to the package of needles. Preferably, an adhesive-backed foam needle park is secured across the fork-like projection and then is secured directly to the package in the area of the needle tips. The spaces between the fork-like projections allow the adhesive-backed needle park to adhere to the package. In this manner, the needles are retained in the needle park so that their tips lie on the fibrous material which forms the needle shield. Intermediately spaced between the edge having the fork-like projections and the opposite parallel edge, is a scored line which forms a first fold line of the needle shield and which is parallel to the edge forming the forked projections. Preferably, two additional scored fold lines are provided which are perpendicular to the first scored line and the edge of the device having the forked projections. It is these two scored lines, preferably parallel to each other, which form the side edges of the needle shield. Wing-like projections extend outwardly from the scored lines which are folded about the body of the shield in a manner described below. In use, the foam needle park is positioned across the fork projections and the needle shield and foam park are adhered to the package adjacent the needles. The needles are then positioned in the needle park so that the tips of the needles lie on the needle shield. The shield is then folded over itself at the first scored line, to wrap the body of the shield about the needle tips. The wing-like projections are then folded along the perpendicular side score lines under the bottom of the sheet to hold the needle shield about the needle tips. It is also contemplated that the needle shield be provided with an end guard member which comprises a projection which extends upwardly from the edge of the needle shield opposite the fork projections so that when one of the side wing-like extensions is folded under the needle shield, the fold line extends through this projection so that the shield is wrapped about the suture-needle connection point of the endmost suture-needle assembly. The fibrous material which comprises the needle shield is preferably a material such as Tyvek (a registered trademark of DuPont), which is constructed of polyolefin fibers which are bonded by heat and calender pressure. While this is the preferred material, other, similar fibrous materials such as pressed paper or fiberboard are also contemplated for use as the needle shield of the present invention. The scored fold lines may also be perforated lines which may facilitate easier folding and unfolding. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features of the present invention will become more readily apparent and may be understood by referring to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the needle shield for surgical packages and its novel construction, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 illustrates a top plan view of a needle shield Figure 2 illustrates the needle shield of Figure 1 positioned on a suture-needle package in the open position to reveal the needles of the package; Figure 3 illustrates the needle shield of Figure 2 in the closed position; Figure 4 illustrates a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of the needle shield ; Figure 5 illustrates the needle shield of Figure 4 positioned on a suture-needle package in the open position; Figure 6 illustrates the needle shield of Figure 5 positioned on a suture-needle package in the fully closed position; Figure 7 illustrates a top plan view of a further embodiment of the needle shield Figure 8 illustrates the needle shield of Figure 7 in position on a suture-needle package in the open position; and Figure 9 illustrates the needle shield of Figure 8 in position on a suture-needle package in the closed position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now in specific detail to the drawings, in which like reference numerals identify similar or identical elements throughout the several views, Figure 1 shows a needle shield 10 Needle shield 10 comprises a flat sheet of fibrous material, preferably a non-woven fibrous sheet such as Tyvek (a registered trademark of DuPont) which comprises spun bonded polyolefin fibers pressed together to form a sheet of fibrous material. While it is contemplated in the preferred embodiment that needle shield 10 be constructed of Tyvek, it is clear that any fibrous material may satisfy the requirements for protecting packaged needles from damage and eliminating the possibility of accidental sticking of a person's finger by the needles. The body portion 12 of needle shield 10 is provided with a series of fork-like projections 14 which extend outwardly from body 12 and are spaced from each other as shown. A score line 18 is provided on body 12 which essentially separates body 12 into two halves. Bottom half 16 and top half 20 are described in more detail in relation to Figures 2 and 3. Wing-like projections 22 and 26 extend outwardly from body 12 and are further defined by score line 24 which allows projection 22 to be folded onto body 12, and score line 28 which allows projection 26 to be likewise folded. A third projection 30 is provided along the edge of top sheet 20 opposite the edge defined by score line 18. Projection 30 will be described in more detail below in reference to Figures 2 and 3. Turning now to Figure 2, a suture-needle package 32 is shown having needle shield 10 positioned thereon. Needle shield 10 is preferably secured to package 32 in the vicinity of needle assemblies 34, so that the tips of the needles rest on bottom sheet 16. To secure needle shield 10 to package 32, any adhesives or glue materials may be used. However, it is preferred that an adhesive backed needle retaining member, such as foam needle park 36 be provided to secure needle shield 10 to package 32. Needle park 36 is provided with an adhesive backing which secures the needle shield 10 to the back of needle park 36 at projections 14. The spacing between projections 14 allows the needle park to be further secured to package 32 so that needle shield 10 is secured to the package between the package and foam needle park 36. Needle park 36 also provides a means for holding the needle assemblies 34 in position, which assists needle shield 10 in protecting the tips of the needles from damage and protects a user from accidental sticking. In use, after needle shield 10 has been secured to the package through needle park 36, a needle assemblies 34 are secured in needle park 36 so that the tips of the needles rest on bottom sheet 16 as shown in Figure 2. Needle shield 10 is then folded on score line 18 so that top sheet 20 covers the tips of the needles as shown in Figure 3. Needle shield 10 is so dimensioned that the upper edge of top sheet 20 engages the front edge of needle park 36 to completely enclose the tips of the needles. At this point, wing-like projections 22 and 26 are folded along score lines 24 and 28, respectively, and tucked under bottom sheet 16 to hold needle shield 10 in place. Projection 30 is provided to cover the suture connection to the endmost needle assembly 34a as been seen in Figure 3. Finally, top flap 38 of suture package 32 is folded at perforated line 35 over the suture ends of needle assemblies 34 to completely enclose the needles as shown in Figure 3. A second perforated line 37 is provided to allow the top flap 38 and upper portion of suture package 32 to be folded over in the open position to provide 360° access to the needles 34 from the front or back of the package, so that the needles may be removed from either side of the package. Turning now to Figure 4, needle shield 40 is an alternate embodiment of needle shield 10 of Figure 1. A sheet of fibrous material 42 is provided having fork-like projections 44 which are spaced from each other as shown. A score line 48 is provided to allow sheet 42 to be folded over itself in much the same manner as shown in relation to Figure 1. Folding needle shield 40 along score line 48 provides a bottom sheet 46 and a top sheet 50, where top sheet 50 has wing-like projections 52 and 56 which are defined by score lines 54 and 58, respectively. A further projection 60 is provided along the upper edge of top sheet 50, and projection 60 will be described further below in reference to Figures 5 and 6. As best seen in Figure 5, needle shield 40 is positioned on a suture-needle package 62 in the vicinity of needle assemblies 64. Needle shield 40 is secured to package 62 through the provision of an adhesive backed foam needle park 66 which is similar to needle park 36 as shown in Figure 2. Again, needle shield 40 is secured to the package between the adhesive backed needle park 66 and the face of package 62, where the needle park 66 secures to the package to hold fork-like projections 44 in place. Needle assemblies 64 are then secured in needle park 66 as seen in Figure 5. In use, after needle shield 40 is secured to package 62, needle assemblies 64 are positioned in needle park 66 so that the tips of needle assemblies 64 rest on bottom sheet 46. Needle shield 40 is then folded at score line 48 so that top sheet 50 covers the needle tips which are now positioned between top sheet 50 and bottom sheet 46. As seen in Figure 6, score line 48 is so positioned that when needle shield 40 is folded at score line 48, the upper edge of top sheet 50 completely covers needle park 66. At this point, wing-like projections 52 and 56 are folded on score lines 54 and 58, respectively, and tucked under bottom sheet 46 to secure the needle shield. As been seen in Figure 6, upper projection 60 provides a protective cover for the suture end of endmost needle assembly 64a. Finally, top flap 68 of package 62 is folded over the suture ends of the needle assemblies 64 to completely enclose the needles as shown. Turning now to Figure 7, a further alternate embodiment of the needle shield is shown. Needle shield 70 is constructed of a sheet of fibrous material 72 having fork-like projections 74 which are spaced from each other along top edge 84. A score line 78 is provided which allows sheet 72 to be folded over on itself to define bottom sheet 76 and top sheet 80. A wing-like projection 86 is provided which is foldable about score line 88 which will be described below. As best seen in Figure 8, needle shield 70 is positioned on a suture-needle package 90 through the provision of an adhesive backed foam needle park 96. Foam needle park 96 secures needle shield 70 to package 90 in much the same manner as described above in reference to Figures 2 and 5. In this embodiment, upper edge 84 is positioned at an angle to score line 78, and needle park 96 is positioned along upper edge 84 to secure needle shield 70 through fork-like projections 74. After needle shield 70 is secured to package 90, needle assemblies 94 are secured in needle park 96 as shown. In use, needle assemblies 94 are positioned in needle park 96 so that the tips of the needles are positioned on bottom sheet 76. Needle shield 70 is then folded on score line 78 so that the needle tips are positioned between bottom sheet 76 and top sheet 80. Edge 82 of top sheet 80 is angled relative to score line 78 so that when top sheet 80 is folded onto bottom sheet 76, edge 82 is aligned with the edge of foam needle park 96 as best seen in Figure 9. At this point, wing-like projection 86 is folded about score line 88 and tucked under bottom sheet 76 to secure the needle shield about the needle. Flap 92 is then folded down onto the suture ends of the needles to secure the needles therein while providing a view of the needles as best seen in Figure 9.

Claims: A surgical suture-needle package (32) containing a plurality of sutures, each of which has a surgical needle (34) at one end of the suture, the suture-needle package comprising at least a front sheet and a back sheet, with the sutures lying between said sheets and the needles on top of the front sheet, and a needle shield (10) which comprises a sheet of fibrous material formed separately from the front and back sheets characterised by the needle shield having a plurality of scored lines (18, 24, 28) to facilitate folding of said material about said needles, and further characterised in that the needle shield (10) is adhered to said front sheet adjacent said needles, said scored lines being positioned such that said shield encloses the tips of said needles upon folding of said material. A package according to claim 1, wherein said scored lines (18, 24, 28) comprise compressed areas forming creases in said material. A package according to claim 1, wherein said scored lines (18, 24, 28) comprise perforations in said material. A package according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said scored lines comprise a pair of parallel lines (24, 28) intersected by at least one perpendicular line (18). A package according to any one of the preceding claims,, wherein said needle shield (10) includes a plurality of parallel projections (14), said projections having gaps therebetween, and the projections (14) are adhered to the retainer. A package according to claim 5, including an adhesive whereby said projections are secured to said package. A package according to claim 6, including an adhesive-backed needle park (66) with which said projections are secured to said package, said needle park (66) having a length direction positioned perpendicular to the length of each of said projections (14) and parallel to a scored line (18, 48, 78) of said shield opposite said projections. A package according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a first fold line (48) of the needle shield facilitates folding of said material over onto itself to form a top (50) and bottom (46) sheet, and a second (54) and third (58) scored line, parallel to each other and perpendicular to said first scored line, facilitate folding of wing-like extensions (52, 56) of said material under said bottom sheet to enclose said needles within said shield. A package according to claim 8, with an extension (30, 60) above an upper edge of the top sheet when said shield is in said folded position, said extension facilitating shielding of an endmost needle (34a, 64a) of said suture-needle package. A surgical suture-needle package (32) including a plurality of surgical suture-needle assemblies (34), said package having a front sheet and a back sheet forming an envelope enclosing said suture-needle assemblies therebetween with said needles exposed adjacent a top edge of said front sheet, and a needle shield (10) formed separately from said envelope and then adhered to the front sheet, said needle shield comprising: a sheet of fibrous material secured to said front sheet of said package at a first edge adjacent said needles, said sheet of fibrous material having a plurality of fold lines (18, 24, 28) for facilitating folding of said sheet about said needles to form said shield.

Inventors: BROWN DAVID L, BROWN, DAVID L.
Applicants: UNITED STATES SURGICAL CORP, UNITED STATES SURGICAL CORPORATION
Application year: 1991
Main classification: A61B17
IPC codes: A61B17