Patent ID: 8702653

Claim:
A barrel adapter for a safety syringe having a barrel and a plunger assembly adapted to move within the barrel, the adapter comprising: a barrel tip adapted to be sealingly engaged with a distal end of the barrel, a needle assembly including a needle, a needle hub through which the needle extends, and a needle seal, the needle assembly being disposed at least partially within the barrel tip, the needle adapted to move from an injection position in which the needle extends from a distal end of the barrel tip to a retracted position in which the needle is disposed within at least one of the barrel tip or the barrel, and a needle retraction mechanism, the needle retraction mechanism including a biasing member and an actuable locking arrangement, the actuable locking arrangement including a locking mechanism, a portion of the needle assembly being disposed proximal to the locking mechanism and extending through the locking mechanism, the locking mechanism being disposed to releasably engage the barrel tip to maintain the biasing member in an energized position when the locking arrangement is locked and release the biasing member when actuated, the locking arrangement being actuable to release the locking mechanism from the barrel tip and to release the biasing member from the energized position by depression of the plunger assembly, the biasing member being disposed to move the needle from the injection position to the retracted position when the biasing member is released from the energized position.