FR2726202A1 - SINGLE USE RACK FOR TEST TUBES - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a single-use rack for test tubes having a plurality of reception sites (1) of said tubes, characterized in that it is made of a disposable material and in that it comprises an upper plate (2) pierced with orifices (3) delimiting the entrance to said reception sites (1), an essentially solid lower plate (4) forming a bottom positioned parallel to said upper plate (2) and at least two spacers (5) separating said plates and keeping them at a constant distance from each other. The invention also relates to a flat blank (10) for making such a disposable rack.

Description

Single-use rack for test tubes.

  The invention relates to the field of biology and in particular, but not

  exclusively, the field of external or hospital medical analysis laboratories.

  Medical analysis laboratories receive and use large quantities of test tubes intended to contain bodily specimens, including specimens

  of blood. During the analyzes carried out on the samples collected in these tubes, they

  these are placed on racks. These racks are conventionally constituted by a set of elements irreversibly mounted between them by means of tools. They can also be in the form of a lattice of wires welded together delimiting

  a plurality of sites for receiving the test tubes.

  The racks for test tubes of the prior art are made of materials allowing them to withstand relatively harsh conditions of use (frequent handling, washing, repeated passages in ovens and in autoclaves etc ...) . As such, they are generally metallic or very plastic

rigid.

  These known racks have many drawbacks.

  It will be noted in particular that they are relatively difficult to handle without becoming soiled, in particular when all the reception sites which they present are occupied by a test tube. Indeed, these racks are generally not equipped with any handle or

another gripping organ.

  Furthermore, they also have a volume which makes their storage bulky.

  However, their main drawback remains related to the contaminating nature of

  media for which they are used.

  The bodily samples contained in the test tubes are often likely to contain pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses) or carcinogenic chemicals. It is therefore of course necessary to handle these tubes with great care but it happens that during their handling the racks supporting these tubes are soiled. It is therefore necessary to clean or better, to sterilize them regularly in order to minimize the risk of contamination for

  laboratory assistants. This operation is generally carried out by heating in autoclaves.

  Besides the fact that such sterilization consumes energy, it also has the disadvantage of complicating the cycle of use of such racks. In fact, such an operation is generally not carried out regularly and according to established procedures.

  except in molecular biology laboratories, for analytical reasons.

  After the biological specimen has been collected, the single-use collection tubes, called primary tubes, are transported to the biology laboratory, in plastic bags or on racks. As soon as they arrive at the laboratory, after verification of conformity and seizure, the tubes are sorted by biological discipline or work station and transferred to other racks. If necessary, they undergo a pretreatment such as centrifugation and are then possibly decanted in identified secondary tubes, placed on a new rack. After the analyzes have been carried out, the samples are generally eliminated and the racks are put back into circulation, most often without special precautions. Thus, the racks used to transport the sampling tubes undergo numerous manipulations, which increases the risk

  contamination of the people who carry them out.

  The objective of the present invention is to provide a rack for test tubes having the particularity of being for single use, thereby reducing the risks of

  contamination related to its use.

  Another objective of the invention is to describe such a rack that can be stored and

  destroyed after use, in planar form.

  Yet another objective of the invention is to present such a rack which can be

  easier to handle, especially when full.

  These various objectives, as well as others which will appear subsequently, are achieved by virtue of the invention which relates to a single-use rack for test tubes having a plurality of sites for receiving said tubes, characterized in that it is produced in a disposable material and in that it comprises an upper plate pierced with orifices delimiting the entrance to said reception sites, a substantially solid lower plate forming a bottom positioned parallel to said upper plate and at least two spacers separating and maintaining said plates at constant distance

one from the other.

  Preferably, said rack comprises at least one central plate pierced with orifices coming opposite the orifices of said upper plate and being positioned between said upper plate and said lower plate forming the bottom, essentially

parallel to these.

  Also preferably, said reception sites are distributed on said upper plate in at least one circle. Such an arrangement of reception sites facilitates the handling of the tubes present on said rack. In this regard, it should be noted that provision may be made for reception sites on several concentric circles. However, the

  arrangement on a single circle makes it easier to enter tubes.

  Advantageously, said rack has at least one handle formed in said disposable material constituting it. Such a handle makes it easier to handle the rack

  without risking dropping the tubes containing the samples.

  Also advantageously, said handle is provided inside said circle. In this way, the handle does not interfere with the positioning side by side of the racks. Note, however, that in other embodiments, the rack may also be provided with

two side handles.

  According to a preferred variant of the invention, the plates have the shape of a regular octagon. Such a shape makes it possible to position the racks side by side without losing space between the racks and by maximizing the number of test tubes that can be placed on it, for example in a number of circles as already

mentioned above.

  In such a configuration, the rack preferably comprises four

  spacers distributed regularly.

  Also advantageously, said lower plate has a central opening facilitating the gripping of said rack when the latter is supported by placing the

hand under the rack.

  Preferably, said upper plate includes a numbering of said tube reception sites. Such a numbering makes it possible to quickly identify the

  test tubes placed on racks.

  Advantageously, said disposable material is chosen from the group consisting of cardboard, follicular materials and plastic materials. In particular when the racks have to undergo during immersion in a double boiler or

  a very humid environment, we will choose said disposable material from plastic materials.

  Preferably, said rack is obtained by setting up a flat cut made in said disposable material. Such a flat cut can easily be stored, for example in plastic bag, without taking up space and just volume

before use.

  The invention also relates to a flat cutout for the production of such a rack, characterized in that it has a first plate pierced with orifices intended to form said upper plate and a second plate of substantially identical but essentially solid shape intended to form said lower plate, said plates being interconnected by a connecting tab intended to form one of said spacers and at least one of said plates having a free tab intended to form the other spacer. Preferably, said cutout comprises a third plate intended to form said intermediate plate, said second plate being linked to said first plate by a first connecting tab and to said third plate by a second connecting tab, said second connecting tab having a height lower than that of said

first connecting leg.

  Also preferably, said first plate has two incisions in

  double semicircle intended to form a handle, when they are set in volume.

  According to a variant of the invention, said plates are in the form of regular octagons, said first plate being provided with three free legs, said second

  plate and said third plate each being provided with two free legs.

  Advantageously, said free tabs of said first plate are extended by closing tabs which can be inserted into openings in the second

  plate so as to block said cut in position when it is set in volume.

  Also advantageously, at least one of said openings is obstructed until the said cutout is put into volume, the part obstructing said opening being ejected during the insertion of said closing tabs. Such a characteristic makes it possible to visualize unequivocally, on a plane cutout, the fact that it has already been set in volume a first time and that it should therefore not be used a second

  times. Indeed, in such a scenario, the opening or openings are not blocked.

  According to a preferred variant of the invention, said free tabs of said second plate are extended by lugs capable of snapping into slots provided

  at the free legs of said first plate.

  Also according to a preferred variant, said third plate is provided with a lug capable of snapping into a central slot provided at said tab.

  link connecting the first plate to the second plate.

  These lug-slot pairs make it possible to reinforce the holding in position of the

  cut once it is set in volume.

  The invention also relates to a method of using such a flat cutout for the use of a single-use rack as described above, characterized in that it comprises the steps consisting in: conditioning said flat cutout in closed packaging , - deliver the cutout to the site of use, - remove said flat cutout from its packaging and proceed with the volume of said cutout on said site of use in order to obtain said rack for test tubes, - place tubes in the reception sites of said rack,

  - destroy the rack after use.

  Preferably, said last step of destroying the rack is preceded by a step of flattening and / or packaging said rack. Such a flattening reduces the volume of waste to be eliminated and the packaging reduces the

  risks of contamination linked to soiled racks before their destruction.

  The invention, as well as the various advantages which it presents, will be better

  understood through the following description of a non-limiting example of embodiment, in

  reference to the drawings, in which: - figure 1 represents a perspective view of an octagonal single-use rack according to the invention, - figure 2 represents the planar cutout used for the realization of the single-use rack shown in figure 1; - Figures 3 and 4 show the essential steps of the operation of volume setting of the cutout shown in Figure 2 to obtain the rack shown in Figure 1. With reference to Figure 1, the single-use rack according to the invention has sixteen receiving sites 1 for test tubes and consists mainly of an upper plate 2 pierced with sixteen orifices, a lower plate 4 essentially full except for a central opening (not appearing not in FIG. 1 but visible in FIGS. 2 and 3) and of an intermediate plate 6 also pierced with sixteen orifices 7 coming opposite the orifices 3 of the upper plate 2 and delimiting therewith said receiving sites 1 of tubes. The intermediate plate 6 is positioned at approximately equal distance from the upper plate 2 and the lower plate 4. These three plates 2,4,6, parallel to each other, all have the shape of a regular octagon. They are kept at a constant distance from each other by means of four spacers 5 arranged regularly (one side of the octagon on two) around the periphery of the rack. It will be noted that in other embodiments, the rack may not have an intermediate plate, for example when such a rack will be used with tubes of low height. The reception sites 1 of the rack are arranged in a circle and numbered on the outer periphery of said circle (in the diagram only the first six sites are numbered). In this way, the laboratory assistant can easily identify a tube by its

number and enter it quickly.

  A handle 8 making it very easy to grasp the rack is produced by the vertical junction of two arms 8a and 8b cut from the upper plate. The junction of the two arms is carried out in the context of the present example using an adhesive

  present on the cutout (described below) used for the realization of such a rack.

  The rack is made of light and resistant follicular cardboard. Note that the nature of this material allows the user to easily associate the concept of

disposable product.

  Referring to Figure 2, the cutout used for the volume of the rack shown in Figure 1 consists of three plates 12, 14, 16, corresponding to the plates 2, 4, 6 of the rack, interconnected by two legs 13 and 15. The connecting tab

  is provided with a temporarily blocked longitudinal opening 20.

  The plate 12 intended to form the upper plate of the rack 8 shows two incisions 17, 18 in double arc of a circle arranged concentrically with the circle formed by the reception sites 1. These two incisions delimit the arms 8a, 8b (visible on the

  Figure 1) which will later form the handle 8.

  The plate 12 also has three free tabs 11, 1a and 1 lb extended by closing tabs 19, 19a, 19b. These free tabs are intended to form, with the connecting tab 13 provided between the plates 12 and 14, the spacers 5 of the rack

shown in Figure 1.

  Finally, the plate 12 has, at the grooves delimiting the free legs 1a and 1b, openings 22a and 22b. The connecting tab 13 is in turn provided with a longitudinal slot 24. The roles of this central slot 24 and the openings 22a and 22b

  will appear in the description which follows of FIGS. 3 and 4.

  The plate 14 intended to form the lower plate 4 forming the bottom of the rack has two free tabs 14a and 14b extended by lugs 21 a and 2 lb. It will be noted that the free legs 14a and 14b are connected to the plate 14 by means of double grooves 25a and 25b making it possible, during the passage of these free legs vertically, to provide openings 20a and 20b which can accommodate the closing tabs 19a and

  19b of the free legs 1 la and 1 lb of the plate 12.

  As already mentioned above, the plate 14 also has an opening

  central 9 intended to facilitate gripping of the rack.

  The plate 16 intended to form the intermediate plate 6 of the rack has, in addition to the orifices 7 arranged in a circle, a central opening 27 making it possible to lighten the cut. This plate 16 also comprises two free legs 16a, 16b and a lug 23. The free legs 16a and 16b, and the connecting tab 15 connecting the plates 14 and 16 between them show a height equal to about half the free leg height

  11, 1 la and 1 lb of the plate 14 intended to form the spacers 5 of the rack.

  Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the volume of the cutout shown in Figure 2 for obtaining the rack according to Figure 1 is carried out by placing the free legs 11, 1 la and 1 lb of the vertical turntable 14. This step is indicated on the

figure 3.

  Then, the free legs 14a, 14b of the plate 14 and the free legs 16a, 16b of the plate 16 are also placed vertically. The plate 16 is then inverted on the plate 14 so that the raised free legs 16a and 16b abut against the plate 14 and provide a constant space between the plates 14 and 16. The cutting

  partially set in volume then takes the form shown in FIG. 4.

  It then suffices to reverse the assembly formed by the plates 14 and 16 on the plate 12 to allow the latching of the lug 23 in the central slot 24, and the latching of the lugs 21a and 21b respectively in the slots 22a and 22b then inserting the closing tabs 19, 19a and 19b into the openings 20, 20a and 20b in order to lock the cut-out in position. During this operation, the piece of cardboard blocking the opening 20 is ejected which will signal, if the cut was later flattened, that it has already been set in volume and therefore

should not be reused.

  Note that the shape of the closing tabs 19, 19a and 19b makes everything

  difficult way such a flattening.

  The rack can then be turned over and the two arms 8a and 8b placed vertically and

glued to form the handle 8.

  Such a rack can easily be mounted on site of use. For this purpose it can be delivered on site in a sealed plastic bag. After use, and

  possible disassembly, it can easily be destroyed for example by incineration.

  The embodiment described here is not intended to reduce the scope of the invention. It may in particular be envisaged to give the rack a shape other than that shown (for example square or rectangular) without departing from the framework thereof. It could also be envisaged to make the cut from a material other than cardboard

as already mentioned.

Claims (18)

  1. Single-use rack for test tubes having a plurality of receiving sites (1) of said tubes characterized in that it is made of a disposable material and in that it comprises an upper plate (2) pierced with orifices (3) delimiting the entrance to said reception sites (1), a substantially solid lower plate (4) forming a bottom positioned parallel to said upper plate (2) and at least two spacers   (5) separating said plates and keeping them at a constant distance from each other.   2. Rack according to claim 1 characterized in that it comprises at least one central plate (6) pierced with orifices (7) coming opposite the orifices (3) of said upper plate (2) and being positioned between said plate upper (2) and said plate   lower (4) forming a bottom, essentially parallel to these.   3. Rack according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that said reception sites   (1) are distributed on said upper plate (2) in at least one circle.   4. Rack according to one of claims 1 to 3 characterized in that it has at   at least one handle (8) formed in said disposable material constituting it.   5. Rack according to claim 3 or 4 characterized in that said handle (8) is   provided inside said circle.   6. Rack according to one of claims 1 to 5 characterized in that said plates   (2,4,6) have a regular octagon shape.   7. Rack for test tubes according to claim 6 characterized in that it   comprises four spacers (5) distributed regularly.   8. Rack according to one of claims 1 to 7 characterized in that said plate   lower (4) has a central opening (9) facilitating the gripping of said rack.   9. Rack according to one of claims 1 to 8 characterized in that said plate   upper (2) comprises a numbering of said reception sites (1) of the tubes.   10. Rack according to one of claims 1 to 9 characterized in that said material   disposable is chosen from the group consisting of cardboard and plastic materials.   1 1. test rack according to one of claims 1 to 10 characterized in that it is obtained by the volume of a flat cutout (10) made of said material disposable.   12. Planar cutout (10) for the production of a rack according to claim 11 characterized in that it has a first plate (12) pierced with orifices (3) intended to form said upper plate (2) and a second plate (14) of substantially identical but essentially full shape intended to form said lower plate (4), said plates (12,14) being connected together by a connecting lug (13) intended to form one of said spacers (5) and at least one of said plates (12) having a   free tab (11) intended to form the other spacer (5).   13. Planar cutout according to claim 12 characterized in that it comprises a third plate (16) intended to form said intermediate plate (6), said second plate (14) being linked to said first plate (12) by a first tab of connection (13) and to said third plate (16) by a second connection tab (15), said second tab   link (15) having a height less than that of said first link tab (13).   14. planar cutout according to claim 12 or 13 characterized in that said first plate (14) has two incisions (17,18) in double semicircle intended for   form a handle (8), when they are set in volume.   15. Planar cutout according to one of claims 12 to 14 characterized in that   said plates (12,14,16) are in the form of regular octagons, said first plate (12) being provided with three free legs (11,1 la, 1 lb), said second plate (14) and said third plate ( 16) being each provided with two free legs (14a, 14b, 16a, 16b).   1 6. Planar cutout according to claim 15 characterized in that said free tabs (11,1 la, I lb) of said first plate (12) are extended by closing tabs (19,19a, 19b) which can be inserted into openings (20,20a, 20b) of said second plate so as to lock said cutout (10) in position when it is put in volume.   17. Planar cutout according to claim 16 characterized in that at least one of said openings (20) is obstructed until the volume of said cutout, the part obstructing said opening being ejected during the insertion of the closing tabs ( 19.19a, 19b). 18. Planar cutout according to one of claims 15 to 17 characterized in that said free tabs (14a, 14b) of said second plate (14) are extended by lugs (21a, 21b) able to snap into slots (22a, 22b) provided at the legs   free (1 la, 1 lb) of said first plate (12).   19. Planar cutout according to one of claims 13 to 18 characterized in that said   third plate (16) is provided with a lug (23) capable of snapping into a central slot (24) provided at the level of said connecting tab (13) connecting the first plate (12) to the second plate (14).   20. A method of using the flat blank according to claims 12 to 19 for the   implementation of a single-use rack for test tubes according to claim 11 characterized in that it comprises the steps consisting in: - conditioning said flat blank in closed packaging, - delivering the blank to the site of use, - remove said planar blank from its packaging and proceed with the volume of said blank on said site of use in order to obtain said rack for test tubes, - place tubes in the receiving sites of said rack,   - destroy the rack after use.   21. The method of claim 19 characterized in that said last step of destroying the rack is preceded by a step of flattening the cutout and   optionally packaging said rack in the original packaging.