Patent 6918891 was granted and assigned to LG on July, 2005 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A safety needle assembly has a hub and a needle cannula that projects distally from the hub. A shield is mounted on the needle cannula and can move from a proximal position adjacent the hub and a distal position for shielding the tip of the needle cannula. A fin projects from the hub to facilitate digital manipulation of the needle assembly. A proximal arm is hinged to the hub and a distal arm is hinged to both the proximal arm and the shield. The proximal arm is releasably engaged with the fin when the shield is in the proximal position. However, digital forces on the arms enables the shield to be propelled to the distal position.