Patent ID: 7578806

Claim:
A syringe with a retractable needle, comprising a reservoir having an open rear end, a piston element slidably inserted in said rear end, the piston having an end facing toward the inside of the reservoir, the reservoir having a front end open and surrounded by a lip, a needle carrier carrying said needle and slidable in said lip toward and away from said piston, a spring within the lip continuously urging the needle carrier toward the piston, an inwardly extending shoulder on the lip, an inwardly extending shoulder on the needle carrier, and a flexible element secured to and movable with the needle carrier, said flexible element having portions that engage with said shoulder on the lip when the spring urges the needle carrier toward the piston thereby to limit movement of the needle carrier toward the piston, said flexible element having a member thereon engageable by the piston to press a portion of the flexible element into the needle carrier, said portion of the flexible element having hooks thereon that, when pressed into the needle carrier, engage beneath the shoulder on the needle carrier to retain the flexible element in a deformed position in which the needle carrier is deformed out of contact with the shoulder on the lip, whereupon, when the piston is retracted in a direction away from the needle, the spring can press the needle carrier and the needle and the deformable element in a direction toward the piston thereby to retract the needle within the lip, said flexible member having a plurality of lateral lugs thereon of V-shaped configuration with each having an apex, said apex of the V being the portion of the flexible member that engages beneath the shoulder on the lip.