Patent ID: 7306199

Claim:
A medical fluid connector configured to allow fluid to flow through the connector when a cannula is inserted into the connector, the connector comprising: a housing including a first port sized to receive the cannula, a second port, a first inner housing portion adjacent the first port and having a first internal diameter, and a second inner housing portion having a second internal diameter greater than the first internal diameter; and a moveable element providing a fluid passageway through the moveable element connecting the cannula and the second port of the housing, the moveable element disposed within the housing to contact the cannula as the cannula is inserted into the housing, the moveable element being moveable between a first position in which the cannula has not been inserted into the housing and a second position in which the cannula has been inserted into the housing, the moveable element having: a head element moveable in an axial direction away from the first port in response to insertion of the cannula into the housing; a compressible section having a first wall element, a second wall element, and a variable internal volume between the first and second wall elements, the compressible section configured to self-expand from a compressed configuration to an expanded configuration, the first and second wall elements being spaced farther apart when the compressible section is in the expanded configuration, the compressible section being moveable to a location adjacent the second inner housing portion when the moveable element is in the first position, the compressible section being moveable to a location away from the second inner housing portion when the moveable element is in the second position, the compressible section comprising a plurality of flexible membrane elements that connect the first wall elements to the second wall elements, the first wall elements and the second wall elements being relatively inflexible; wherein when the moveable element is in the first position, the second inner housing portion wall applies a radially compressive force to the compressible section sufficient to move the first wall element toward the second wall element; and wherein when the moveable element is in the second position, the compressible section self-expands during which the first wall element moves away from the second wall element.