Patent ID: 8870828

Claim:
A medical needle assembly, comprising: a cannula; a base secured to a proximal end of the cannula and including at least one base retention member; and a needle cover comprising a proximal hub portion including an inner bore with at least one hub retention member which mates with said base retention member to secure the hub portion to the base; a distal cap portion substantially enclosing at least a distal end of the cannula; and a frangible portion proximal the cap portion and adapted to be broken to separate the cap portion, allowing removal thereof to expose the distal end of the cannula, characterized in that the base includes separate, substantially co-planar flat portions positioned adjacent to the base retention member, with the base including only one flat portion positioned proximally of the base retention member and only one flat portion positioned distally of the base retention member, the distal end of the cannula includes a heel aligned with said flat portions of the base, and at least part of one of said flat portions extends outside of the inner bore of the hub portion and is indicative of the orientation of the heel.