Hypodermic needle protection device

Claim 1

A safety cap for carrying a hypodermic needle therein to promote hygiene and to help prevent subsequent self-contamination after the needle has been used, comprising in combination: an interior within which the needle is to be disposed, an access opening allowing a syringe to be placed adjacent a needle base for removable connection thereto, means for negating the effect of misalignment and puncturing the person utilizing said special receptacle, and an overlying cover for occluding the opening; wherein said negating means includes a radially extending flange disposed substantially one-third from said opening; and wherein a plurality of caps are disposed in a special receptacle formed from a bottom wall, a plurality of upwardly extending side walls having a closeable flap thereover, said receptacle including a shelf having a plurality of holes oriented such that a plurality of said caps can be disposed therein, said caps adapted to be stored in a series of N×N clusters, such that sufficient clearance provided in the center of each of said N×N clusters allows disposition therein of an additional cap overlying the cluster, and a matrix is formed whereby N+1 rows and columns are provided to define a central area adapted to receive an N×N cluster overlying said N+1×N+1 matrix.