Patent ID: 8323303

Claim:
A lancing device comprising: a housing including an opening at a front end thereof; a lancet holder for holding a lancet within the housing, the lancet holder being movable in a back and forth direction of the housing to be able to advance the lancet toward the opening from a retreated position spaced from the opening; a control member which is movable from a predetermined wait position in a first and a second directions, movement of the control member in the second direction from the wait position enabling a lancet retreat operation for retreating the lancet holder to locate the lancet at the retreated position, movement of the control member in the first direction from the wait position enabling a lancet detachment operation for pushing out the lancet forward of the lancet holder; a return member for returning the control member to the wait position after the lancet retreat operation is performed and returning the control member to the wait position after the lancet detachment operation is performed; a front stopper and a rear stopper provided in the housing in contact with a front end and a rear end of the return member to restrict movement of the front end and the rear end in a back and forth direction; and a first and a second engagement portions provided at the control member and positioned to sandwich the return member in the back and forth direction; wherein: during the lancet retreat operation, the first engagement portion retreats to compress the return member between the first engagement portion and the rear stopper so that the return member pushes the first engagement portion forward after the lancet retreat operation; and during the lancet detachment operation, the second engagement portion advances to compress the return member between the second engagement portion and the front stopper so that the return member pushes the second engagement portion backward after the lancet detachment operation.