Patent ID: 8133246

Claim:
A safety lancet assembly comprising: a housing; a lancet including a block and a piercing tip attached to the block; the lancet disposed within the housing and operatively aligned to move at least from a retracted position wherein the lancet is completely enclosed by the housing to a piercing position wherein a portion of the lancet temporarily extends from the housing; a driving assembly for moving the lancet from the retracted position to the piercing position, said driving assembly comprising a biasing element operatively disposed between the lancet and the housing, wherein said biasing element propels said lancet from the retracted position to the piercing position and then pulls said lancet back into the housing such that said lancet is again completely enclosed by the housing; said housing comprising an actuation assembly structured to actuate said driving assembly to release the lancet from the retracted position, said actuation assembly being pivotable relative to the remainder of said housing, said actuation assembly comprising in combination an outwardly extending release tab and a pair of inwardly extending arms, said arms abutting said lancet block and precluding movement of said lancet block from said retracted position until said actuation assembly is activated by pivoting said release tab relative to the remainder of said housing such that said arms pivot away from and no longer abut said lancet block, thereby allowing said biasing element to move said lancet from said retracted position to said piercing position; and a use indicator, said use indicator visually indicating whether said lancet has been released from the retracted position wherein after said lancet is released by said actuation assembly from said retracted position and pulled back into said housing such that said lancet is again completely enclosed by the housing, further movement of said lancet by said actuation assembly is preclude; said housing including a window; and said use indicator including a first and second indicator panel, wherein the first and second indicator panels are located directly below the window when the lancet is in the retracted position and the first indicator panel substantially obscures the second indicator panel from view in the window when the lancet is in the retracted position.