Patent ID: 8439870

Claim:
A safety needle assembly, comprising: an elongate body including a body wall defining an internal passageway and including an opening in the body wall; a needle hub engaging a proximal end of the body and being stationary with respect to the body; a needle extending distally from the needle hub and through the body internal passageway, the needle including a sharp distal tip; a needle shield disposed within the body internal passageway and surrounding a portion of the needle, the needle shield being slidable with respect to the body and with respect to the needle and having a body portion comprising a proximal end having a proximal opening with at least one retention latch extending from the proximal end of the needle shield; a biasing element engaging the needle shield and biasing the needle shield toward a distal end of the needle; and a release latch extending from the needle shield, the release latch comprising a leaf spring formed as a cut-out on the body portion of the needle shield having a detent located thereon; wherein when the assembly is in a ready-to-use configuration, the detent on the release latch engages an edge of the opening in the body wall and prevents movement of the needle shield distally with respect to the body and with respect to the needle, and further wherein digital pressure applied to the release latch disengages the detent from the edge of the opening in the body wall and enables movement of the needle shield distally with respect to the body and with respect to the needle.