Patent ID: 7153318

Claim:
A lancet, comprising: a body; a neck located at a first end of the body; a cap connected to the body at the neck and integrally moulded with the body, the cap being of a cup form with, at a front end, a base having a central aperture, an exterior surface of the cap flaring outwardly from the base into an approximately elliptical cross-section at a break circumference, the exterior surface extending beyond the break circumference, to a rear end of the cap, as a constant approximately elliptical cross-section portion, two axially spaced ribs located on the body and defining a gap therebetween; two inwardly-directed opposed lugs, limited in position to an internal part of the constant approximately elliptical cross-section portion, the two inwardly-directed opposed lugs located on an inner surface of the constant approximately elliptical cross-section portion on the minor axis thereof; and a needle with a tip projecting into the neck, wherein, the rear end of the cap connects to a cylindrical forward end of a firing device by squeezing the constant approximately elliptical cross-section portion along the major axis of the approximately elliptical cross-section to deform the approximately elliptical cross-section into a circular cross-section, upon firing the lancet the needle tip momentarily projects through the aperture and then retracts so that the needle tip is within the cap and the opposed lugs are proximate the gap between the two ribs, and upon removal of the firing device from the cap, the constant approximately elliptical cross-section portion resumes the approximately elliptical cross-section with the opposed lugs closing towards each other and engaging the gap between the two ribs to capture the ribs and to capture the body within the cap.