GB2518703B

GB2518703B - Medical waste disposal containers

Info

Publication number: GB2518703B
Application number: GB1407578.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hatton Maurice
Original assignee: Mauser UK Ltd
Current assignee: Mauser UK Ltd
Priority date: 2013-09-29
Filing date: 2014-04-30
Publication date: 2019-06-12
Anticipated expiration: 2034-04-30
Also published as: BE1024620B1; BE1024620A1; ES1138082Y; GB201317233D0; FR3011173A1; AU2014233645B2; CH708635B1; FR3011173B1; ITBO20140079U1; GB201407578D0; AU2014233645A1; GB201821334D0; GB2518703A; ES1138082U; NZ700522A; DE202014104657U1; CH708635A2

Description

MEDICAL WASTE DISPOSAL CONTAINERS

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to medical waste disposal containers that are typically used for the disposal of so-called sharps, such as, needles and used hypodermic syringes.

Background to the Invention

Medical waste disposal containers, often referred to as sharps bins, typically comprise two major components; a hollow container portion in which the waste is stored and a lid for the container. It is preferable from the point of view of transportation costs that such sharps bins are shipped to the end user in a disassembled condition for assembly at the point of use. This allows the parts to be stacked one inside another, thereby reducing the transportation volume and the amount of packaging required.

It is known to provide sharps bins that comprise a hollow container portion having an upper end that defines an opening through which waste is received and a top cover positioned over the opening. The top cover has an opening through which used medical waste and in particular needles or hypodermic syringes, with or without their needles, can be inserted into the sharps bin.

The opening of the top cover is provided with a lid or other form of closure to permit the sharps bin to be securely closed once full.

Summary of the Invention

The invention provides a medical waste disposal container as specified in claim 1.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the disclosure that follows, reference will be made to the drawings in which:

Figure lisa schematic side elevation of a medical waste disposal container;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a top cover of the medical waste disposal container;

Figure 3 is a section on line III-III in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a schematic side elevation of a closure of the medical waste disposal container; and

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the closure.

Detailed Description

Referring to Figures 1 to 5, a medical waste disposal container 10 comprises a hollow container portion 12 to contain medical waste, a top cover 14 provided with an opening 16 through which medical waste can be inserted into the container portion and a closure 18 to close the opening. The closure 18 is slidable by a planar movement between positions in which the opening 16 is open and closed. The top cover 14 has a major surface 20 and a recess portion 22 in which the opening 16 is defined such that it is spaced from the major surface 20 whereby when the medical waste container is in an inverted condition (ie rotated through 180° from the position shown in Figure 1 about the line 24, as indicated by the arrow 26), the opening 16 is situated above and spaced from the major surface 20.

Referring particularly to Figure 1, the container portion 12 may be a cylindrical body having a circular cross section. This container portion 12 comprises a generally upright sidewall 28 and a transverse bottom wall 30. In the illustrated example the bottom wall 30 serves as a base for the container portion 12. However, in other examples the bottom wall 30 may be provided with formations that serve as feet on which the container portion 12 can stand. An annular collar 32 is provided on the outer surface of the sidewall 28 adjacent the end of the sidewall disposed remote from the bottom wall 30. An annular rim 34 projects upwardly from the collar 32 and forms the free end of the container portion 12. The container portion 12 is open at the end defined by the rim 34 to allow medical waste inserted through the opening 16 in the top cover 14 to be received in the container portion. As shown in Figure 1, the container portion 12 is tapered in its lengthways, or depth, direction. This allows the stacking of multiple container portions 12, one within another, for transportation and storage.

Referring particularly to Figures 2 and 3, the top cover 14 is a disc-like body having a transverse wall 40 that defines the major surface 20 and a cylindrical sidewall 42 depending from the outer periphery of the transverse wall. An annular lip 44 is provided on the inner side of the sidewall 42. Although not essential, the lip 44 is provided at the free, or lower, end of the sidewall 42. The collar 32 and lip 44 are configured so that when the top cover 14 is fitted onto the container portion 12, the lip engages the underside of the collar to secure the top cover to the container portion. Engagement of the collar 32 and lip 44 may be by snap-fitting, for example, by making the top cover 14 sufficiently resilient, at least in the region of the lip 44, to expand sufficiently to pass over the collar and then resile to a condition in which it snaps under the collar. Alternatively, engagement may be achieved by a twist fitting arrangement.

The top cover 14 has an annular wall 46 depending from the transverse wall 40 and disposed radially inwardly of the sidewall 42. When the top cover 14 is fitted on the container portion 12, the rim 34 and wall 46 are in abutting side by side engagement and cooperate to provide a barrier to prevent liquid escaping from between the container portion and top cover 14 in the event the medical waste disposal container 10 is inverted from the position shown in Figure 1.

Although not essential, an upwardly projecting bulge 48 may be provided in the transverse wall 40. As best seen in Figure 3, the bulge 48 is disposed radially inwardly of the periphery of the transverse wall 40 just above the annular wall 46. The bulge 48 serves to stiffen the top cover 14 in the region of the wall 46 to improve the liquid barrier provided by the engagement of the rim 34 and wall 46. The bulge 48 may define a continuous ridge projecting upwardly from the transverse wall 40 or, as shown in Figure 2, be broken to define two separate ridges. The purpose of providing the breaks in the bulge 48 is to allow the recess portion 22 to be provided sufficiently close to the periphery of the transverse wall 40 to allow sliding movement of the closure 18 between its open and closed positions.

The recess portion 22 is located off centre of the top cover 14 and defined by sidewalls SO-56 that depends from the transverse wall 40 and a bottom wall 58 that extends between the lower ends of the sidewalls 52-56. The opening 16 is defined in the bottom wall 58. As can be seen in Figure 2, the bottom wall may be provided with one or more additional openings 60. The additional openings and profile features, such as the profile feature 62 of the opening 16, may be shaped to assist in removing sharps from hypodermic syringes and the like.

The sidewalls 52, 56 of the recess portion 22 are disposed in generally parallel spaced apart relation. The sidewalls 52, 56 are provided with respective elongate ribs 64 that extend in the lengthways direction of the sidewalls 52, 56. The undersides of the ribs 64 and upper surface of the bottom wall 58 define respective guide tracks 66 for the closure 18. A gap 70 is provided between the sidewall 50 of the recess portion 22 and the bottom wall 58 to allow for movement of the closure 18 between its open and closed positions (as will be described in more detail below). The sidewall 50 may be generally upright in the same way as the sidewalls 52-56. Alternatively, the sidewall 50 may be inclined at an angle to the vertical, for example at 45°, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The lowermost end of the sidewall 50 may be provided with an extension 72 that extends generally parallel to the bottom wall 58. The respective ends of the extension 72 are joined to the sidewalls 52, 56. The extension 72 may provide additional guidance for the closure 18 to prevent tipping during movement between its open and closed positions and also stiffen the structure. The stiffening effect of the extension 72 may assist in providing a stable liquid barrier as will be described in more detail below.

Referring Figure 3, the opening 16 is defined in a plane indicated by the line 74 that is spaced a distance d from the major surface 20. The result is that the opening 16 and lower end of the annular wall 46 are both a greater distance from the major surface 20 than the depth di of a well defined by the transverse wall 40, annular wall 46 and sidewalls 52-56 of the recess portion 22. The maximum effective depth of the well is defined by the lowermost end of the sidewall 50.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, the closure 18 is a generally planar member having a leading end 82 and an oppositely disposed trailing end 84. In plan, the closure 18 is generally rectangular. A depression 86 extending from the leading end 82 is provided in the upper surface 88 of the closure 18 to define thickened side rails 90, 92 and a thickened back wall 94. The side rails 90, 92 and back wall 94 increase the stiffness of the closure 18 where needed, while avoiding the use of material in areas that do not require such stiffness. The closure 18 is provided with a gripping member 96 configured to allow a user to move the closure 18 forward from a retracted position in which the opening 16 is open to an extended position in which the opening is closed. The bottom surface 98 of the closure 18 is provided with one of more stops 100. The stop(s) 100 taper in the lengthways direction so as to project further from the bottom surface 98 in the direction towards the trailing end 84 of the closure.

When assembled to the top cover 14, the closure 18 extends through the gap 70 and the side rails 90, 92 are received in the respective guide tracks 66 with the leading end 82 and gripping member 96 disposed in the recess portion 22 and the trailing end 84 disposed outside of the recess portion between the side wall 56 and annular wall 46.

In use, the closure 18 is placed in a retracted position in which it is disposed mainly outside of the recess portion 22 and the gripping member 96 abuts, or is at least disposed adjacent, the extension 72 so as to completely uncover, and so open, the opening 16. Medical waste, including sharps, can be placed in the container portion 12 by insertion through the opening 16. Once the container portion 12 is full, or when the user wishes to dispose of the medical waste container 10 and its contents, the user grips the gripping member 96 and draws the closure member 18 away from the extension 72 so that the leading end 82 moves towards the side wall 54. The movement of the closure 18 is guided by the engagement of the side rails 90, 92 in the guide tracks 66 and by engagement of the side rails 90, 92 between the bottom wall 58 and the underside of the extension 72. The bottom wall 58 acts as a bearing surface for the closure 18 as it slides forward from the retracted position. As the leading edge 82 of the closure 18 nears the sidewall 54, the stop(s) 100 slides over the relatively narrow strip of the bottom wall 58 disposed between the opening 16 and gap 70 by slightly deforming the strip. Once the closure 18 reaches its fully extended position in which it completely closes the opening 16, the stop(s) 100 is received in the opening 16 and due to its tapered shaped, any attempt to move it back, is prevented by engagement of the stop(s) 100 with rear edge of the opening.

Although the medical waste disposal container 10 is not intended to be a receptacle for liquids, liquid will be present in at least some of the waste contained in the container portion 12. Should the medical waste disposal container 10 be dropped or otherwise inverted, this liquid is prevented from escaping between the container portion 12 and top cover 14 by the liquid barrier formed by engagement of the rim 34 on the container portion and annular wall 46 on the top cover 14. The well defined by the top cover 14 has a capacity corresponding to a desired percentage of the volume of the container portion 12. In some examples, the well has a volume that is at least 0.085% of the container portion volume. Thus, liquid having a volume up to a desired percentage of the capacity of the container portion volume can be held in the well before the liquid barrier provided by engagement of the thickened back wall 94 of the closure 18 and the extension 72 is reached. Thus, in normal use in which there will only be a limited volume of liquid held in the medical waste container 10, the likelihood of the liquid escaping from the medical waste container 10 via the opening 16 is reduced.

Claims

1. A medical waste disposal container comprising a hollow container portion to contain medical waste and having a top cover provided with an opening through which medical waste can be inserted into said container portion, and a closure to close said opening, wherein: said top cover has a transverse top wall defining a major surface and a recess portion defined by a plurality of sidewalls depending from said major surface to a transverse bottom wall, said closure is planar slidable on a bearing surface provided by said bottom wall through a gap between said bottom wall and a first of said sidewalls between a fully open position in which said closure is partially received within said waste disposal container and a fully closed position in which said opening in fully covered by said closure said opening, said closure, said gap and said bearing surface are spaced from said major surface in a common plane such that when said medical waste container is in an inverted condition, and said opening, said gap and said bearing surface are situated above and spaced from said major surface such that a liquid level exceeding a depth defined by said spacing is required to immerse said closure.

2. A medical waste disposal container as claimed in claim 1, wherein said container portion and top cover are provided with respective formations by which said top cover is snap-fit securable to said container portion.

3. A medical waste container as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further comprising respective formations provided on a second and third of said sidewalls, said second and third side walls being disposed opposite one another and said formations cooperating with said bottom wall to define respective guide tracks for said closure.

4. A medical waste container as claimed in claim36, wherein said closure is a planar member provided with a centrally disposed depression that defines respective thickened side rail portions that are received is said guide tracks.

5. A medical waste disposal container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said container portion comprises a rim and said top cover further comprises a cylindrical side wall depending from said transverse wall and an annular wall depending from said transverse wall and disposed radially inwardly of said cylindrical side wall, said annular wall being disposed in abutting side by side engagement with said rim and said major surface being a planar surface extending radially inwardly from said annular wall to said plurality of side walls that define said recess portion.