Patent ID: 8425547

Claim:
A disposable skin pricker, comprising: an elongate housing having a forward end and a rearward end; a longitudinally movable lancet carried in said housing and having a body and a lancet tip at a forward end, the lancet tip normally being within the housing; a spring spring-loading said lancet; a trigger mechanism to retain the lancet in a fully retracted position in which it energizes the spring, the trigger mechanism being actuable to release or fire the lancet to cause the lancet tip to have a momentary position projecting from the forward end of the housing; and an arrangement for preventing re-use comprising a spring finger extending rearwardly from the lancet alongside but spaced from the body thereof, an abutment on the inside of the housing projecting inwardly past which a tip of the finger will snap during forward motion of the lancet, and an aperture disposed in the side wall of the housing such that any attempt to push the lancet back with a greater than a predetermined force after firing results in the abutment deflecting the tip of the finger out through said aperture to an exterior of the housing thereby to prevent return of said lancet to its fully retracted position.