Patent ID: 8043268

Claim:
A safety needle for insertion into the body of a patient comprising a hypodermic needle having a needle axis and a needle point and being mounted in a needle support, a protective sheath having an axis and comprising a mounting sleeve for mounting said sheath to the needle support, a needle sleeve with an open distal end for housing said needle point and a passage through which the needle is adapted to pass, and flexible means for supporting said needle sleeve from said mounting sleeve, said flexible means comprising at least one rib having two ends, said rib being connected at one end to said mounting sleeve and at the other end to said needle sleeve, said rib having an unflexed, at rest condition and a flexed condition such that in the unflexed condition the rib is bowed inwardly toward said needle and in the flexed position the rib is bowed outwardly away from the needle, said rib being automatically movable from the flexed condition to the unflexed condition when the needle is withdrawn from the body of the patient so as to automatically position the needle point within the needle sleeve without the assistance of any additional biasing or restoring means.