Hypodermic needle protection device

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is the primary object of the invention to provide the needle/syringe with a protective cap device having a radially extending (annular) flange that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture by being easily molded.
It is further the object of the invention to provide a device of the character above which reduces the likelihood of self inflicted injury by interposing a special protective flange between the combined syringe/needle and the hand-held hypodermic needle cap.
It is further the object of this invention to provide a device as characterized above which lends itselt to mass productive techniques.
More particularly, these objects and other related objects will become evident when considering the following detailed specification when taken in conjunction with the appended drawing figures.
Specifically, however, the instant invention is directed to an instrumentality adapted to overlie the needle portion of a syringe and frictionally engage the needle base where it attaches the syringe so that needles can be successively replaced.
In order to cause the needle to be placed within the cap, alignment of the needle with the bore of the cap must be effected, and when misalignment occurs, the hand of the person holding the cap can be contaminated by inadvertent needle injection.
Thus a radially extending flange is provided on the outer wall of the cap to locate the hand on one side of the flange remote from the opening of the blind bore of the cap.
Thus misalignment between the needle and the bore will cause the needle to more likely engage the flange rather than the hand of the person holding the cap.
The cap itself is provided with a closure which allows a needle to be stored within the cap free from contamination and available for use upon demand.
A plurality of caps and closures are contained in a receptacle.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES FIG.
1 is a sectional view taken along a longitudinal axis of the apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG.
2 is a top plan view of that which is shown in FIG