A safety needle
assembly has a rigid housing that encloses a
locking mechanism cooperable with
actuator that slides over the tip of the needle to prevent accidental sticks after the needle has been used. The
locking mechanism operates to place into interference two members, one of which is fixed relative to the outer housing, while the other is formed on the
actuator that is slidably mounted in the housing for movement in response to the
syringe plunger reaching the end movement at the bottom of the
syringe barrel to move from an exposed position into a covered position. In one embodiment, the
actuator includes a pair of axially extending legs having
cam members formed thereon to engage a bridge member spanning diametrically across the housing. A safety cap is formed with ribs around the mounting end to prevent the safety cap from rolling across a planar surface.