JPH0523657A - Treating device for medical treatment waste - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve heat transfer efficiency and to shorten the time for a heating treatment as well as to prevent local heating so as to efficiently execute the sterilization and volumetric reduction treatments of medical treatment waste by admitting circulating hot wind only into a treating matter container housing the medical treatment waste and irradiating the treating matter container with microwaves. CONSTITUTION:The treating matter container 18 having a hole 20 for passing the hot wind is housed into a heating chamber 16 which has an entrance door 10, a hot wind outlet 12 and a hot wind inlet 14. A microwave generator 22 is connected to the heating chamber 16. The hot wind outlet 12 and the hot wind inlet 14 are connected in a hot wind circulating part having a hot wind heater 24 and a hot wind circulating blower 26. Further, the aperture 30 of the treating matter container 18 is shielded by a perforated plate 32 and the perforated plate 32 is moved by a perforated plate moving device 34. On the other hand, the peripheral part 36 of the perforated plate 32 and the wall of the heating chamber 16 are connected by a free expansion wall 38. Only the treating matter container 18 housing the medical treatment waste 17 is irradiated with the circulating hot wind and microwaves, by which the medical treatment waste 17 is efficiently subjected to the efficient sterilization and volume reduction treatment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for efficiently sterilizing and reducing the volume of medical waste such as used hemodialyzers, used syringes, used injection needles, used gauze and used containers. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to prevent secondary infection due to infectious medical waste discharged from hospitals, dialysis facilities, etc., there is a guideline of the Ministry of Health and Welfare that defines a method for treating such waste.
It was announced on November 7, 2012, and has come into effect on April 1, 1990. Therefore, in principle, hospitals, dialysis facilities, etc. are obliged to sterilize medical waste in hospitals or facilities. To heat and sterilize medical waste, steam heating, band heater heating, hot air circulation heating, high-frequency heating, etc. can be considered.

Conventionally, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-176486, a used synthetic resin syringe and an injection needle are housed in a heat-resistant container and heated and melted at a predetermined temperature by an electric heater and a far infrared heater to be sterilized. , A method and an apparatus for cooling and solidifying are described. In addition, the actual Kaihei 1-144040
The publication describes a waste heating and sterilizing apparatus that heats and sterilizes waste with hot air and then crushes and reduces the volume with a crusher. Also, Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-25470 discloses that
A plastic waste treatment device is described in which plastic waste is placed inside a cylinder, heated by a heater incorporated in a bottom plate and a piston, and compressed, and at the same time, the surface is mainly melted and integrally molded. In addition, JP-A 1-3
Japanese Patent No. 15383 describes a device that heats and sterilizes a used disposable syringe with an electric heater provided on a side surface and a bottom surface of a heating furnace and a far infrared heater. Further, as an example, a method is described in which a processed product is melted in a heat-resistant container, cooled as an integrated product including a needle, and then taken out. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-263410 describes a device for heating waste by microwave to dry, burn and incinerate.

[0004]

The steam heating has a problem of generation of waste water and legal regulation of the pressure vessel, and the heating by a band heater or the like causes local overheating, resulting in poor heat transfer. Further, in the heating by circulating the hot air, the heat transfer is poor with a simple spraying, and there is a risk of local overheating. Further, the high-frequency heating has a problem that after the evaporation of water, the material locally causes overheating. Further, the above-mentioned JP-A-1-1
When using the processing method and apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 76486, particularly when processing a material composed of a plurality of plastics having different melting points such as a hemodialyzer, there are many materials that do not melt depending on the processing temperature. Therefore, the volume reduction (molding) is insufficient. Further, since heating is performed by the electric heater and the far-infrared heater, local overheating is likely to occur in a large waste such as a hemodialyzer, and harmful gas such as hydrogen chloride gas may be generated from polyvinyl chloride. Further, in the crushing method by the crusher in the waste heating and sterilizing apparatus described in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,094, the effect of volume reduction is not necessarily great, and in addition, maintenance of the cutter of the crusher is necessary. In addition, there are inconveniences such as large noise and vibration, requiring many power sources, and the like. Further, in the apparatus for treating plastic waste described in the above Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-25470, sterilization is not intended at all, and since only the surface is coated with the melt, the stability of the molded article is improved. There is a disadvantage that it is poor in sex.

Further, in the apparatus described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-315383, for a large-sized processed product such as a used hemodialyzer, and a processed product containing water inside, it is easy to raise the temperature by only hot air circulation. I can't warm it up, it ’s not sterilized enough,
In addition, there are many problems such as long processing time. further,
Since the hemodialyzer is composed of a plurality of plastics, some melt and some do not melt depending on the treatment temperature, and the volume cannot be sufficiently reduced.
Further, in the apparatus described in the above-mentioned JP-A-1-263410, when treating a treated product composed of a plurality of plastics such as a used hemodialyzer and tubes, a large amount of harmful substances such as hydrogen chloride is harmful. Because gas is generated,
Along with the measures for the material of the device and the measures for treating the exhaust gas, a large-capacity exhaust gas treatment device is required, which makes the device complicated and large. Moreover, the method of reducing the volume by performing ashing with microwaves requires a lot of electric power, and the apparatus itself has a high temperature, which is not suitable for installation in a hospital or a clinic. Further, in the conventional processing apparatus using microwaves, since the microwaves are radiated to the entire heating chamber, many microwaves are wastefully consumed, and the efficiency of heating, sterilizing, and reducing the volume of the processed objects is not good. In addition to the above-mentioned adverse effects, there is also a problem that the structure of the heating chamber door becomes complicated in order to prevent microwave leakage from the device and maintain airtightness.

On the other hand, medical waste contains a plurality of types of plastics. For example, blood circuit (tube etc.),
When the raw material ratios of the materials constituting the hemodialyzer set including a syringe and a physiological saline solution container were analyzed, the following results were obtained. (1) Polyvinyl chloride 50% by weight (2) Polystyrene or polycarbonate 30% by weight (3) Cellulose or synthetic film 5% by weight (4) Polyethylene or polypropylene or silicone 5% by weight (5) Polyurethane and SUS 10% by weight By the way, Among the above materials, the main plastic properties are shown in Table 1.

[0007]

[Table 1]

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, in which medical waste is stored in a dedicated processed product container, and the circulating hot air is forced to flow into the container only, and the microwave is supplied to the container. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device capable of improving heat transfer and preventing local overheating by irradiating only the inside, and capable of achieving volume reduction without using a pressing mechanism. ..

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the medical waste treatment apparatus of the present invention comprises a carry-in door 10, a hot air outlet 12 and a hot air inlet 14 as shown in FIG. A hermetically sealed heating chamber 16, a processed material container 18 that is housed in the heating chamber 16 and has a hot air passage hole 20, a microwave generator 22 connected to the heating chamber 16, and a hot air outlet of the heating chamber. A hot air circulation unit including a hot air heater 24 and a hot air circulation blower 26, which connects the hot air inlet 14 and the hot air inlet 14.
Perforated plate 32 for shielding the opening 30 of the processed material container
And a perforated plate moving device 34 for moving the perforated plate 32.
And a stretchable wall 38 that connects the peripheral portion 36 of the perforated plate and the wall of the heating chamber 16 that is adjacent to the perforated plate in a substantially parallel manner.

[0010]

The medical waste (processed material 17) is put in the processed material container 18 and then stored in the heating chamber 16. Then, the container 18 and the medical waste are heated by the microwave and the circulating hot air. At this time, the circulating hot air is forced to flow into only the container 18, and at the same time, the microwave is applied only to the container 18. As a result, the processed product is efficiently heated, sterilized, melted or softened, and then the processed product is easily reduced in volume by the pressure of hot air without pressing. After heating the medical waste, the hot air in the processed material container 18 flows out from the hot air passage hole 20 and is again heated and circulated.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the materials, shapes, and relative arrangements of the constituent devices described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to only those, unless otherwise specified, and simply It's just an example. Embodiment 1 In FIG. 1, 16 is a heating chamber that can be sealed, and is a loading door 10.
And a hot air outlet 12 in the lower part and a hot air inlet 14 in the upper part. Reference numeral 18 denotes a processing object container for accommodating the processing object 17, which is made of metal or the like so that microwaves do not pass through or be absorbed, and has a large number of hot air passage holes 20 in the lower part. The hot air passage holes 20 are sized so that microwaves do not leak. 22 is a microwave generator, which is a waveguide 40
It is connected to the heating chamber 16 via. The microwave generator 22 may be directly connected to the heating chamber 16 without the waveguide 40. The hot air outlet 12 and the hot air inlet 14 of the heating chamber 16 are the hot air heater 24 and the hot air circulation blower 26.
Are connected by a hot air circulation duct 28. In addition,
Instead of the hot air circulation duct 28, a double heating chamber structure (double shell or the like) having the same function as the duct can be used.

Reference numeral 32 is a perforated plate for shielding the opening 30 of the processed material container, and is provided with ventilation holes 44 for passing hot air as shown in FIG. These ventilation holes 44 have a size that does not prevent the passage of microwaves. If the perforated plate is not made of metal (made of a material that allows microwaves to pass through), the ventilation holes 4
4 may have any size. In this perforated plate 32,
Perforated plate moving device 34 for moving (elevating) the perforated plate
Are connected via a piston 52. Reference numeral 38 denotes an expandable wall that connects the peripheral portion 36 of the perforated plate to the wall of the heating chamber 16 that is adjacent to the perforated plate in a direction substantially parallel to the perforated plate. That is, the expandable wall 3
8, the wall of the processed material container 18, the peripheral portion 36 of the perforated plate, the choke structure portion 47, and the choke structure portion mounting plate must be made of a material such as metal that does not allow microwaves to pass therethrough. The processed material container 18 is installed in the heating chamber 16, the perforated plate 32 is moved to a predetermined position by the perforated plate moving device 34, and the peripheral portion 36 of the perforated plate and the opening 30 of the processed material container are shielded. To confirm this, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a device such as a limit switch 46 can be installed to set conditions for irradiating the microwave. 42 is a stirrer fan for uniformly dispersing microwaves, 4
Reference numeral 7 is a choke structure portion, 48 is an induction fan, and 50 is an exhaust gas treatment device. In some cases, no induction fan is provided. Instead of using the hot air circulation duct 28 as the exhaust gas outlet to the exhaust gas treatment device 50, as shown by the chain line,
It is also possible to use the upper part of the heating chamber. In the above, the case of using the medical waste treatment device in a vertical position has been described, but it is also possible to use it in a horizontal position.

Embodiment 2 In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of pistons 52 (for example, 2 to 4) of the perforated plate moving device 34 are arranged outside the expandable wall 38. It is a thing.
Other configurations and operations are similar to those of the first embodiment.

[0014]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects. (1) Since the circulating hot air is forced to flow only into the processed material container and the microwave is radiated only into the processed material container,
The heat transfer efficiency is improved and the heat treatment time is shortened. At the same time, local overheating can be prevented and uniform heating can be performed, so that it is not necessary to raise the hot air temperature so much. Further, when the waste treatment containing polyvinyl chloride is performed, it is possible to suppress the generation of harmful gas such as hydrogen chloride gas due to local overheating. (2) Since the microwave is radiated only into the processed material container and does not leak into the heating chamber, the heating chamber door only needs to be considered to maintain airtightness, and the structure is simplified. (3) The force of the forcedly flowing hot air accelerates the contraction and volume reduction of the processed material.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of a medical waste treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view showing an example of a perforated plate and a shielding structure portion of a processed material container according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view showing another example of the perforated plate and the shielding structure portion of the processed material container according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view showing still another example of the shielding structure portion of the porous plate and the processed material container in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment of the medical waste treatment apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Carrying Door 12 Hot Air Outlet 14 Hot Air Inlet 16 Heating Chamber 17 Treated Material 18 Treated Material Container 20 Hot Air Passing Hole 22 Microwave Generator 24 Hot Air Heater 26 Hot Air Circulating Blower 28 Hot Air Circulating Duct 30 Opening 32 Perforated Plate 34 Perforated Plate Movement Device 36 Peripheral plate peripheral part 38 Telescopic wall 40 Waveguide 42 Stirrer fan 44 Ventilation hole 46 Limit switch 47 Choke structure part 48 Induction fan 50 Exhaust gas treatment device 52 Piston

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A sealable heating chamber (16) having a carry-in door (10), a hot air outlet (12) and a hot air inlet (14).
And a hot air passage hole (20) housed in the heating chamber (16)
And a microwave generator (2) connected to the heating chamber (16).
2), the hot air outlet (12) and the hot air inlet (14) of the heating chamber are connected to each other, the hot air heater (24) and the hot air circulation blower (26).
A hot air circulation unit, a perforated plate (32) for shielding the opening (30) of the processed material container, and a perforated plate moving device (3) for moving the perforated plate (32).
4) and an expandable wall (38) for connecting the peripheral portion (36) of the perforated plate and the wall of the heating chamber (16) that is adjacent to the perforated plate in a substantially parallel manner,
A medical waste treatment device comprising: