Abstract:
A protective cover type safety device for syringes includes a first buckle seat, a second buckle seat which can be engaged with the first buckle seat, and a protective cover which is pivotably connected with the first buckle seat. The first buckle seat and the second buckle seats are clamped and positioned to a needle seat of a syringe, and the protective cover is able to swing between a first position and a second position, and limited at a third position. The protective cover at the third position covers a needle body of the syringe to prevent the needle body from being exposed or piercing or hurting people.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to safety of syringes, and particularly relates to a protective cover type safety device placed over used syringes for protection purpose, by means of a one-finger motion made by the user. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
       [0002]    For safety concerns, syringes are required to be covered/capped by safety devices in order to prevent the needle body from contacting or hurting other people. The problems for the design and production of safety devices include that the shape, structure, and actuation patterns have to be individually made according to the individual syringe types. Currently, there are no known “universal” syringe safety devices, namely, those that can be used on two or more different safety devices. The shapes and structures of the current safety devices are excessively complex, so that the production cost is high and it is hard to be mass-produced. Safety devices increase the volume and weight of the syringes such that they can be inconvenient for medical personnel may to handle. Moreover, waste syringe recycling costs are calculated based on the volume and weight of syringes, therefore, the safety devices that are overweight or oversized increase the waste syringe recycling costs, which have become a financial burden for medical treatment institutions. Besides, the need to change the original shape of needle seats of syringes to fit with the safety devices makes the production more difficult. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The purpose of the present invention is to provide a protective cover type safety device for solving the difficulties and problems mentioned above. 
         [0004]    In order to achieve the above said purpose, a protective cover type safety device for syringes comprises a first buckle seat, a second buckle seat and a protective cover. 
         [0005]    The first buckle seat includes a positioning portion and a wing coupled to each of two sides of the positioning portion, and each of the two wings has a fastener. The exterior of the positioning portion of the first buckle seat has a pivoting portion. 
         [0006]    The second buckle seat includes a positioning portion and a wing coupled to each of two sides of the positioning portion, and each wing of the second buckle seat has a fastener. A limiting member extends from the top of each wing of the second buckle seat, and the fastener of the second buckle seat is connected with the fastener of the first buckle seat to clamp and position the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat to the exterior of the needle seat of a syringe. 
         [0007]    The protective cover includes a back plate, two side plates respectively coupled to both sides of the back plate, a top plate coupled to the top of the back plate and the top of the two side plates. The back plate, the side plates and the top plate form a first accommodating space and a second accommodating space of the protective cover. The first accommodating space communicates with the second accommodating space. The bottom edge of the back plate has a round shaft, two extension arms are formed on the two side plates and extend toward the left and right sides. A hugging arm extends from an end of each of the two extension arms, and the two hugging arms are parallel to each other. 
         [0008]    The protective cover is pivotably connected to the first buckle seat by the round shaft and can swing reciprocally between a first position and a second position about the round shaft. The protective cover is pushed from the first position and latched to a third position by an external push, and thus unable to return to the first position. 
         [0009]    The protective cover at the second position embraces the needle cover of the syringe by the two hugging arms. The protective cover swings outwardly from the second position to the first position. The protective cover is offset from the needle cover of the syringe, so as to remove the needle cover and the needle body is ready for injection. After the needle body is used, an external pushing force is applied to the protective cover. The protective cover swings from the first position to the third position, and the protective cover of the third position is latched to the bottom of the limiting members by passing the two hugging arms through the limiting members of the second buckle seat. The protective cover accommodates the needle body and needle seat of the syringe by the first accommodating space and the second accommodating space. 
         [0010]    In the embodiment, the fastener of the first buckle seat is a square fastener with a square hole and the fastener of the second buckle seat is a protruding member which is combined with the fastener. 
         [0011]    In the embodiment, a flange extends from an upper end of the positioning portion of the first buckle seat. The needle seat has a platform with an expanded diameter and located at a position above the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat, and the flange is stopped at the platform. 
         [0012]    In the embodiment, a flange extends from a lower end of the positioning portion of the first buckle seat. A plurality of ribs are formed on an outer wall of the needle seat and parallel to an axial direction of the needle seat. The ribs extend from the bottom of the needle seat, so that a plurality of outwardly protruding latching portions are formed at the bottom edge of the needle seat. The flange at the lower end of the first buckle seat is stopped at the latching portions. 
         [0013]    In the embodiment, the flanges at upper and lower ends of the positioning portion of the first buckle seat have an arc end surface. 
         [0014]    In the embodiment, an anti-slip structure is disposed on opposite surfaces of the positioning portions of the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat. 
         [0015]    In the embodiment, the protective cover has a bevel face disposed at a bottom of the two hugging arms. The second buckle seat has a guiding portion formed at a top of the limiting members for guiding the bevel faces to move downward, the hugging arms are guided below the limiting members, so that the protective cover enters into the third position. The bottom of the limiting members has a stop portion, the hugging arms are pushed below the limiting members and stopped by the stop portions. The hugging arms cannot be separated in an opposite direction. 
         [0016]    In the embodiment, the two side plates of the protective cover have protruding clamping ribs disposed on two opposing inner surfaces of the second accommodating space. 
         [0017]    In the embodiment, the back plate of the protective cover has a pushing surface. 
         [0018]    In the embodiment, the positioning portions of the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat have opposite surfaces in the same geometric shape as that of the cross-section of the needle seat. 
         [0019]    The function of the present invention: 
         [0020]    By means of clamping a needle seat of a syringe between a first buckle seat and a second buckle seat that are combined face to face, the present invention ensures easy installation on a syringe. 
         [0021]    By means of a protective cover that can swing, the position of the protective cover can be changed according to different situations. When the protective cover is in the second position, it can grasp the needle cover of an unused syringe so that the needle cover wouldn&#39;t swing. The protective cover can be swung from the second position to the first position, thus allowing the needle cover to be removed so that the needle body can be used for injection. When the protective cover is in the first position, it does not hinder the injection operation. When the protective cover is moved from the first position to the third position, it covers the used need body so as to prevent the needle body from hurting people. Moreover, the protective cover at the third position can not return back to the first position or the second position, so that after use of the needle body, the needle body will not be exposed. 
         [0022]    The first buckle seat and the second buckle seat are connected to each other by the two fasteners so as to be tightly fit to the needle seat of the syringe. Since the fasteners are connected to each other and difficult to be separated from each other, the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat are not easily separated from the needle seat so as to ensure that the safety device of the present invention is not separated from the needle seat. 
         [0023]    By means of the flanges at the top end and the bottom end of the first buckle seat, the safety device of the present invention is further secured at the platform and the latching portion of any known type of the intravenous catheter, so that the safety device of the present invention does not move along the axis of the needle seat of the syringe and thus provide more stability. 
         [0024]    The arc end surfaces of the flanges avoid the flanges from interfering with the needle seat of the syringe, so that the flanges can easily be restricted at the platform and below the latching portion. 
         [0025]    By means of the anti-slip structures disposed at the opposite surfaces of the positioning portions of the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat, the friction and therefore the stability are enhanced when the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat are connected with the needle seat of the syringe so as to prevent sliding movement relative to each other. 
         [0026]    The bevel faces at the bottoms of the two hugging arms of the protective cover as well as the guiding portions of the second buckle seat enable the protective cover to move from a first position or a second position to a third position. By means of the restriction provided by the stop portions of the second buckle seat and the two hugging arms, the protective cover is restricted at the third position, and cannot return to the first position or the second position anymore. 
         [0027]    The clamping ribs at the two side plates of the protective cover clamp the needle body in the second accommodating space. 
         [0028]    The pushing surface of the back plate of the protective cover allows a user to push the protective cover from the first position until the third position with only one finger. 
         [0029]    The opposite surfaces of the positioning portions of the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat have the geometrical shapes that are identical to the cross section of the needle seat, so that the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat can be installed on syringes with different shapes, so that changing the original shape of needle seats of syringes would not be necessary. 
         [0030]    The safety device of the present invention can be produced independently, and its production line is not combined with the production line of syringes, so that the problems encountered during alteration of the production lines of syringes and the costs of solving these problems would be avoided. 
         [0031]    The present invention can be used with any known types of syringes such as intravenous catheter, butterfly syringes, attached syringes etc. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0032]      FIG. 1  is a three dimensional exploded view of the syringe safety device of the present invention. 
           [0033]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the combined first buckle seat and the second buckle seat as well as the protective cover of the syringe safety device of the present invention. 
           [0034]      FIG. 3  is the first assembled side view of the syringe safety device of the present invention. 
           [0035]      FIG. 4  is the second assembled side view of the syringe safety device of the present invention. 
           [0036]      FIG. 5  is an outer view of the syringe and the needle cover used together with the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat of the syringe safety device of the present invention. 
           [0037]      FIG. 6  is an outer view of the first buckle seat and the second buckle seat of the syringe safety device of the present invention assembled to the syringe and the needle cover. 
           [0038]      FIG. 7  is a side view of the syringe safety device of the present invention assembled to the syringe and the needle cover. 
           [0039]      FIG. 8  is a side view of the syringe safety device of the present invention assembled to the syringe. 
           [0040]      FIG. 9  is a side view of the syringe safety device of the present invention in use for protection and covering of the syringe. 
           [0041]      FIG. 10  is a view in the direction of the arrow X shown in  FIG. 9 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0042]    In order to provide a better understanding of the structure and functions of the present invention, specific embodiments will be described in detail below. Various different objects disclosed in the embodiments are described roughly in accordance with the relative proportions, dimensions, deformations, or displacements provided in the specification, and are not necessarily drawn according to actual component scale. The directional descriptions made in the present invention such as above, below, left, right, inside, outside etc. are made in accordance with the orientation of the figures, and made in terms of relative directions, instead of absolute directions. 
         [0043]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the protective cover type safety device for syringes according to the present invention comprises a first buckle seat  10  and a second buckle seat  20  which can be combined face to face with each other, as well as a protective cover  5  that can be connected to the first buckle seat  10 . The first buckle seat  10 , the second buckle seat  20 , and the protective cover  5  are all made of plastic material. 
         [0044]    The first buckle seat  10  comprises a flat board-shaped positioning portion  11  and wings  12  orthogonally extending from the positioning portion  11  at two sides thereof. Each of the two wings  12  comprises a fastener  16  which is a square fastener with a square hole. The positioning portion  11  comprises flanges  13 ,  14  that protrude towards the second buckle seat  20  at the upper and lower ends, and the flanges  13 ,  14  each comprise an arc end surface  131 / 141 . The surface of the positioning portion  11  that faces the second buckle seat  20  is the inner face  111 , while the other side surface is the outer face  112 . The inner face  111  comprises an anti-slip structure, and the anti-slip structure can be formed of distributed bumps/embossed points or fine ribs. The outer face  112  has a pivoting portion  15 , and the pivoting portion  15  is a structure that can receive a round shaft  57  and allow free rotation of the round shaft  57 . 
         [0045]    The second buckle seat  20  comprises a flat board-shaped positioning portion  21  and wings  22  orthogonally extending from the positioning portion  21  at two sides thereof. Each of the two wings  22  comprises a fastener  26  and the fasteners  26  are protruding pieces that can be combined respectively with the above said fasteners  16  in a way that they cannot be easily separated. The top of the two wings  22  each comprise a limiting member  23  that extends towards each other. The top surfaces of the limiting members  23  each have a guiding portion  231 , and the guiding portion  231  is an inclined surface that guides a contacted object towards the inside of the second buckle seat  20 . The bottom of the limiting member  23  has a stop portion  232 , and the stop portion  232  serves to stop a contacted object from moving upwards and thus from being separated out. The surface of the positioning portion  21  that faces the second buckle seat  10  is the inner face  211 . The inner face  211  comprises an anti-slip structure, and the anti-slip structure may be formed of distributed bumps/embossed points or fine ribs. 
         [0046]    Initially, the first buckle seat  10  and the second buckle seat  20  are made as two independent portions (See,  FIG. 1 ), but the first buckle seat  10  and the second buckle seat  20  can be connected to each other (see  FIG. 2 ), in which case, the second buckle seat  20  is positioned in between the two wings  12  of the first buckle seat  10 . The inner side surfaces of the two wings  12  of the first buckle seat  10  contact the outer side surfaces of the two wings  22  of the second buckle seat  20 , where the two fasteners  16 ,  26  are respectively fastened to each other. A distance is formed between the positioning portion  11  of the first buckle seat  10  and the positioning portion  21  of the second buckle seat  20 . 
         [0047]    The protective cover  5  comprises a back plate  51 , two side plates  52  that are respectively connected to the two sides of the back plate  51 , and a top panel  53  that is connected to the top surface of the back plate  51  and the top surfaces of the two side plates  52 . The geometrical shapes and dimensions of the back plate  51 , side plates  52 , and the top panel  53  define two accommodating spaces which are the first accommodating space  54  and the second accommodating space  55  of the protective cover  5 . The second accommodating space  55  is narrower than the first accommodating space  54 . The two side plates  52  comprise protruding clamping ribs  56  on the inner side surface of the second accommodating space  55 . The back plate  51  comprises a round shaft  57  at the bottom thereof. The two side plates  52  comprise two extension arms  58  respectively extending towards the left and the right sides. The distal end of each one of the two extension arms  58  also comprises a hugging arm  59 , and the two hugging arms  59  extend parallel to each other. The outer distance between the two hugging arms  59  (the distance between their respective outer side surfaces) is equal to the inner distance between the two wings  22  of the second buckle seat  20  (the distance between its respective inner side surfaces). The outer side surfaces of the two hugging arms  59  both comprise a bevel face  591  at the bottom thereof. The back plate  51  comprises a pushing surface  511  at a position near the round shaft  57 . 
         [0048]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the protective cover  5  is connected to the pivoting portion  15  of the first buckle seat  10  via the round shaft  57 . The protective cover  5  can be circularly swung about the round shaft  57  between a first position P 1  and a second position P 2 . 
         [0049]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , when an external pushing force is applied on the protective cover  5 , the protective cover  5  is moved from the first position P 1  (or the second position P 2 ) into a third position P 3  and is engaged at the third position P 3 . In other words, by means of a pushing force applied on the pushing surface  511  of the protective cover  5 , the protective cover  5  is circularly swung about the round shaft  57  from the first position P 1  (or the second position P 2 ) further on towards the direction of the first buckle seat  10  and the second buckle seat  20 . As the hugging arms  59  are pushed downward by the pushing force, the guiding portion  231  of the limiting member  23  come in contact with the bevel faces  591  of the hugging arms  59 , and the hugging arms  59  are pushed against the limiting members  23 , then the hugging arms  59  bend inward slightly, and the limiting members  23  bend outward slightly. Therefore the hugging arms  59  can pass the limiting members  23  and reach underneath the limiting members  23 , and the protective cover  5  enters into the third position P 3 . As shown in  FIG. 9 , when the hugging arms  59  are engaged under the limiting members  23 , due to the obstruction of the stop portions  232 , the hugging arms  59  cannot move back and separate from the second buckle seat  20 , and the protective cover  5  can no longer swing anymore. The protective cover  5  cannot move from the third position P 3  back to the first position P 1  or the second position P 2 . 
         [0050]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the syringe  6  is a medically used intravenous catheter already known in the prior art. The syringe  6  comprises a needle seat  60 , and the needle seat comprises a fixed portion  61  to be fixedly connected with a needle body  62 , as well as a pipe joint part  63  to be connected to a pipe casing  64 . The pipe casing  64  is fitted with an infusion tube (now shown) for intravenous injection. Intravenous injection flows out from the needle body  62  via the pipe joint part  63 . A platform  65  with a large external diameter is connected between the fixed part  61  and the pipe joint part  63 . The outer walls of the pipe joint part  63  comprise several protruding ribs  66  that are parallel to the axial direction of the pipe joint part  63 . One end of the protruding ribs  66  is connected to the platform  65 , while the other end of the protruding ribs  66  extends to the distal end of the pipe joint part  63 , and thus the distal end of the pipe joint part  63  comprises several latching portions  67  that radially protrude outward. A long cylindrical plastic needle cover  68  is mounted to the outer portion of the platform  65 , and covers the fixed part  61  and the needle body  62 . The needle cover  68  comprises an opening  681 . 
         [0051]    As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the first buckle seat  10  and the second buckle seat  20  are two individual parts. They both face the pipe joint part  63 , and are combined as shown in  FIG. 2 . The pipe joint part  63  is tightly clamped between the first buckle seat  10  and the second buckle seat  20 . By means of the anti-slip structure at the inner faces  111  of the first buckle seat  10  and the inner face  211  of the second buckle seat  20 , the first buckle seat  10  and the second buckle seat  20  are force-fitted to the pipe joint part  63 . In addition, the flange  13  at the top end of the first buckle seat  10  contacts and restrict the platform  65  via the opening  681  of the needle cover  68 . The flange  14  at the bottom of the first buckle seat  10  is restricted beneath the latching portions  67  of the pipe joint part  63 , such that no upward and downward movement of the first buckle seat  10  and the second buckle seat  20  relative to the pipe joint part  63  is allowed. The first buckle seat  10  and the second buckle seat  20  are tightly mounted around the pipe joint part  63  of the needle seat  60 . The limiting members  23  of the second buckle seat  20  are located below the platform  65 . As shown in FIG..  7 , the protective cover  5  can swing freely between the first position P 1  and the second position P 2 . Preferably, at the second position P 2 , the protective cover  5  holds the plastic needle cover  68  by the two hugging arms  59 . The friction between the plastic hugging arms  59  and the plastic needle cover  68  is sufficient to restrict the protective cover  5  from easily overturning outward and getting separated from the needle cover  68 . 
         [0052]    As shown in  FIG. 8 , when injection is to be made, by applying a light force, the hugging arm  59  of the protective cover  5  are separated from the needle cover  68 , and then the protective cover  5  is set at the first position P 1 , and the needle cover  68  is dismounted, so that the injection can be made with the needle body  62 . Since the first buckle seat  10  and the second buckle seat  20  are planar structures, medical personnel can carry out injection while stably holding the first buckle seat  10  and the second buckle seat  20 . Besides, the protective cover  5  at the first position does not interrupt the injection operation. 
         [0053]    As shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , after use, the user&#39;s forefinger that holds the needle device applies a pressure to the pushing surface  511  to push the protective cover  5  towards the needle body  62 . The hugging arms  59  are pushed by the pressure and guided by the bevel faces  591  and the guiding portions  231 , the hugging arms  59  are guided towards underneath the limiting members  23  of the second buckle seat  20 . The protective cover  5  is connected to the first buckle seat  10  in an upright position, and the platform  65  and the fixed part  61  are accommodated in the first accommodating space  54 , and the needle body  62  is accommodated in the second accommodating space  55 . The side plates  52  clamp and hold the needle body  62  via the clamping ribs  56 . At this point, the protective cover  5  completely covers and protects the needle body  62  after use. Also, as shown in  FIG. 7  and disclosed above, when the hugging arms  59  are stopped by the stop portions  232 , the hugging arms  59  cannot move from the third position P 3  back to the first position P 1  or the second position P 2 , and the needle body  62  is covered by the protective cover  5  and is not exposed. 
         [0054]    In the above given figures and embodiments, the present invention is able to fit with an already known intravenous catheter, but it is not restricted to this kind of syringes. The present invention can be adapted to other types of syringes such as butterfly syringes, attached syringes, etc. simply by making the inner faces  111  of the positioning portions  11 , the inner face  211  of the positioning portion  21  of the present invention into a shape that accommodates the cross sectional shape of the needle seat of the conventional syringes.