Patent ID: 7578805

Claim:
A shieldable needle device comprising: a housing including a forward end, a rearward end and an internal opening extending therethrough, said housing including a longitudinal slot extending along a wall of said housing between said forward end and said rearward end and through said wall into said internal opening; a needle cannula including a forward end and a rearward end, said needle cannula extending from said forward end of said housing; a tip guard axially movable along said needle cannula between a retracted position where said forward end of said needle cannula is exposed and an extended position where said tip guard protectively surrounds said forward end of said needle cannula; and an elongated flexibly resilient drive mechanism bent within and having at least a portion surrounded by said housing during movement thereof, said drive mechanism including a first end extending through said longitudinal slot at a position adjacent said forward end of said housing and a second end attached to said tip guard, wherein movement of said first end of said drive mechanism along said longitudinal slot causes said second end of said drive mechanism to extend, thereby moving said tip guard from said retracted position to said extended position protectively surrounding said forward end of said needle cannula.