Patent ID: 7223258

Claim:
A safety needle assembly comprising a needle hub with proximal and distal ends and a passage extending between said ends, a needle cannula mounted to said passage of said needle hub and having a pointed distal end projecting beyond said distal end of said hub, a shield having proximal and distal ends, said proximal end of said shield being hingedly mounted to said hub for rotation from a first position where said shield is spaced from said needle cannula to a second position where said shield substantially surrounds said needle cannula, said shield comprising a top wall and opposed first and second sidewalls extending from said top wall, said sidewall having bottom edges remote from said top wall, a resiliently deflectable cannula finger lock projecting from said first sidewall angularly toward said top wall, and a substantially rigid cannula shelf lock projecting from one of said sidewalls in a direction toward the opposed sidewall, said cannula shelf lock having a bottom edge sloped toward said top wall and a flat top edge spaced from said top wall such that said bottom and top edges intersect at a corner, wherein said top edge of said cannula shelf lock comprises a concave region facing said top wall for trapping said needle cannula, whereby the cannula finger lock deflects during rotation of said shield toward said second position for trapping said needle cannula, and whereby said cannula shelf lock generates deflection of said needle cannula during said rotation of said shield to said second position, such that said needle cannula is trapped below said top wall and above said cannula finger lock and said cannula shelf lock.