Patent ID: 7549979

Claim:
A safety needle device for percutaneous drug delivery to a patient, said safety needle device comprising: a substantially L-shaped, hollow needle for drug delivery therethrough, said needle having a first portion and a second portion, said second portion being aligned with a needle axis and extending substantially perpendicular to said first portion, said second portion having a forward end, said forward end including a bend and terminating at a tip, said tip being offset from said needle axis; a handle body having a pair of opposed flexible wings for facilitating insertion of said needle into said patient and removal of said needle from said patient, a spine extends from an upper surface of said pair of opposed flexible wings and a retainer extends from a lower surface of said pair of opposed flexible wings, said first portion of said needle extending through said spine and said second portion of said needle extending downwardly from said lower surface of said pair of opposed flexible wings; a housing slidably mounted on said second portion of said needle, said housing including a chamber provided between a sleeve which resides in the housing above the chamber and a passage disposed below the chamber, said chamber sized for receiving said forward end of said needle in at least a partially undeflected state such that said needle tip when in said chamber is out of alignment with said passage, said forward end of said needle being slidable through said passage into said chamber, said passage being sized to force said needle into a deflected state as said tip of said needle travels toward said chamber; wherein, said forward end is restricted from exiting said chamber in an upward direction by said sleeve and in a downward direction by the needle tip being out of alignment with said passage, said sleeve portion having a bore sized to restrict passage of said bend of said forward end therethrough, the sleeve having a length cooperating with the housing to hold the needle substantially in alignment with the needle axis to maintain said bent forward end within said chamber when said tip of said needle is received in the chamber.