Patent ID: 7297152

Claim:
A lancing apparatus comprising: an apparatus body including a housing and a movable member for advancing a needle, the movable member being arranged movably in the housing; a plurality of front end covers each for coming into contact with a portion to be lanced in lancing, the plurality of front end covers having different structures adapted for lancing different portions, the plurality of front end covers being removably attachable to a same portion of the apparatus body individually, one of the plurality of front end covers suitable for the portion to be lanced being selected in use for attachment to the apparatus body; a suction mechanism for generating negative pressure in said one of the plurality of front end covers attached to the apparatus body; and an operation member accommodating the housing, wherein the operation member is reciprocally movable axially of the housing relative to the housing, the suction mechanism being capable of adjusting the negative pressure for different values in accordance with number of times of the reciprocal movement of the operation member axially of the housing, wherein the movable member is provided with a first contact portion, whereas each of the plurality of front end covers is provided with a second contact portion for contacting the first contact portion for controlling movement of the movable member toward a front-end side, wherein lancing depth of the needle relative to the portion to be lanced is adjustable by selecting a contact position in the first contact portion or the second contact portion, wherein at least one of the first contact portion and the second contact portion includes a plurality of flat contact surfaces which differ from each other in distance from a front end surface of a selected front end cover when the front end cover is attached to the apparatus body.