Hinged Shield Assembly with Ball-and-Socket Hinge and Stop Pieces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Recapping of hypodermic needles often leads to misalignment, causing needlesticks and potential injuries, as well as damage to the needles due to over-rotation, resulting in safety hazards and medication wastage.
Innovation Solution
A hinged shield assembly with a ball-and-socket hinge mechanism and stop pieces to prevent over-rotation, ensuring the needle is securely covered and protected after use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a hinged shield is used to cover the needle, then needlestick prevention is improved, but the shield may over-rotate causing needle damage
Solution Approach 1:
The stop piece is pre-positioned on the needle hub to prevent over-rotation of the shield before it can occur. This preliminary constraint applies a counter-action to the shielding motion, limiting the rotation angle to prevent needle damage while maintaining needlestick protection functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The stop piece is installed in advance on the needle hub structure, establishing a predetermined rotation limit. This preliminary setup ensures that when the shield is closed, it automatically stops at the correct position without requiring additional control mechanisms during the closing action.
2Ease of operation
If the shield is allowed to rotate freely to close over the needle, then ease of operation is improved, but over-rotation causes needle damage and safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The stop piece provides a pre-positioned mechanical constraint that automatically prevents over-rotation during the shielding operation. This preliminary anti-action maintains ease of operation by requiring no additional user effort while eliminating the harmful over-rotation effect.
3Reliability
If recapping is performed to protect the needle between uses, then needle protection is improved, but misalignment causes needlesticks and over-rotation damages the needle
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the recapping function entirely by replacing it with an automatic hinged shield mechanism. This eliminates the harmful misalignment and over-rotation issues associated with manual recapping, as the shield automatically closes over the needle without requiring user manipulation of caps.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinged shield acts as an intermediary protective element between the needle and the external environment. Instead of using caps that require manual alignment and attachment, the shield provides automatic protection through its hinged closing mechanism with built-in rotation limits.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively prevents accidental exposure of the needle, reducing the risk of needlesticks and needle damage, thereby enhancing user safety and minimizing medication wastage.
Implementation Method 1
The shield (108) is hinged to the needle hub (106) such that the shield (108) is pivotably secured to the needle hub (106). In one embodiment, the shield (108) is hinged to the needle hub (106) by way of a ball-and-socket hinge.
Implementation Method 2
at least one stop piece is provided on the needle hub to abut the shield and to then stop the shield from over rotating along one rotational directional when the shield is in a closed position over a needle attached to the needle hub
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments of the shield assemblies include a shield that is pivotably secured to a needle hub. A ball-and-socket hinge secures the shield and the hub to one another. The assembly includes a reversible shield lock to hold the shield in the needle-protected position. The assembly further includes at least one stop piece to stop the shield from over-rotating.