Needle Protector Assembly Locking Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Healthcare workers face a significant risk of contracting blood-borne pathogens like HIV, HBV, and HCV from accidental needle stick injuries during invasive procedures, highlighting the need for a reliable and inexpensive safety needle protector that prevents accidental pricking and ensures safe disposal.
Innovation Solution
A needle protector assembly with a locking mechanism that secures the needle hub inside a protective cover, utilizing interlocking arrangements between the needle hub and the protective cover to prevent the needle from protruding, ensuring safe storage and disposal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a protective cover is used to prevent accidental needle pricking, then safety against accidental contact is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the need for locking mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The protective cover is designed to receive and contain the needle hub, creating a nested structure where the smaller component (needle hub) is housed within the larger component (protective cover). This nesting approach provides protection while maintaining a compact and relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism is designed to automatically engage when the needle hub is inserted into the protective cover, securing the needle in place before use. This preliminary locking action ensures safety is established in advance, preventing accidental pricking without requiring complex manual locking procedures.
2Reliability
If a locking mechanism is added to secure the needle hub inside the protective cover, then protection against inadvertent protrusion is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is designed to be self-actuating, where the act of inserting the needle hub into the protective cover automatically triggers the locking action. The resilient locking tongue engages with the needle hub without requiring additional actuators, motors, or complex control systems, thereby reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism uses a simple resilient tongue design that relies on elastic deformation and mechanical engagement rather than complex mechanical systems with multiple moving parts. This substitution of a simple elastic mechanism for a complex mechanical system reduces manufacturing complexity and cost.
3Ease of operation
If the needle hub is made movable relative to the protective cover between use position and retracted position, then ease of needle access is improved, but the risk of accidental protrusion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism applies a preliminary restraining force to the needle hub, preventing it from moving outward inadvertently. The resilient locking tongue engages with a feature on the needle hub to create a mechanical barrier that must be deliberately overcome, thereby preventing accidental protrusion while allowing intentional access when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed with dynamic characteristics where the needle hub can move between positions when force is applied, but the locking mechanism provides automatic restraint when no force is applied. The resilient nature of the locking tongue allows it to flex during intentional operation while providing rigid restraint during storage and disposal.
Data Source
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Figure 5~6B
AI summary
The invention relates to a needle protector assembly comprising a needle of a disposable medical device and a protective cover for the needle, wherein the needle is attached to a needle hub which can be moved relative to the protective cover between a position of use in which at least the tip of the needle is outside of the protective cover, and a retracted position in which the needle is fully received in the protective cover, wherein the needle protector assembly further comprises a locking mechanism adapted to secure the needle hub inside the protective cover when the needle hub is in the retracted position.