NZ221093A - Waste trap sterilisation by heat: housing of heater and sensor controls - Google Patents

Description

221093 Priority Date's): .'J .

Complete Specification Filed: Clasc: . Ak I k-MQM-V. t WH./.Cte>;| .£.<P.3.C Publication Dale: .? APR 1988 .... P.O. Journal, No: .. J SQ7.

NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT. 1953 OS3er tKc provisions of Regulation 23 (i) cf:e Cbw^pJe+e Cpccificnticn h~s beenantc-^ted-... I?SJL.. >»« /I ' X initials T>i Divided out of No. 197,768 Date: 20th July 1981 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION "DEVICE FOR DESTROYING BACTERIAL FLORA" 1/J4&, LESLIE WALLACE GEMMELL, an Australian citizen, of 72 Silverdale Road, Eaglemont, Victoria, Australia, hereby declare the invention for which I / W4iC pray that a patent may be granted to meAJ6*i and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: - 221092 This invention relates to a device for destroying bacterial flora by the sterilization of contaminated waste which contains the bacterial flora.

In hospitals, for example, waste materials are often disposed of by pouring the material down sinks and the like. This waste material may therefore gather in the S-bends or the like, of drainage pipes where bacterial flora in the waste material flourishes.

The bacterial flora which builds up on the drainage pipe is extremely dangerous, particularly in hospitals where » it i'si possible that sterile equipment may be contaminated by the bacterial flora. Indeed, it has been known for a patient in a hospital to contract a sickness which has been attributed to bacterial flora contamination of instruments which have been used in connection with the patient. The present invention seeks to overcome this problem by providing a device which will destory bacterial flora which gathers in the drainage pipes.

Reference is made to my New Zealand Patent Specification No. 197768 relating to one form of device of the present invention which will destroy bacterial flora which gathers in drainage pipes.

My New Zealand Patent Specification No- 211,876 describes a device for destroying bacterial flora by sterilization contaminated waste which contains the bacterial flora, said device comprising a housing, said housing has an inlet to allow waste material to pass into said housing, heating means in said housing for heating the waste material such that any bacterial flora which gathers in or on said housing may be sterilized by heat from said heating means, a liquid temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of liquid within the housing, a housing temperature sensor for sensing 221093 the temperature of the housing, a probe mounted in the housing for sensing the level of liquid within the housing so as to change states % if the level falls below a predetermined level, and temperature controlling means electrically connected to the liquid temperature sensor, the housing temperature sensor, the probe and the heating means, said temperature controlling means energizing the heating means for a predetermined time period if the sensed liquid temperature is below a first predetermined level; provided that, the housing temperature remains less than a second predetermined temperature value and the liquid level remains above its predetermined level.

Preferably the housing includes —— means for inspecting the interior of the housing and further wherein the heating means comprises a heating element and the housing comprises a cylinder located in a water plug of the drainable pipe, the heating element extending longitudinally in the cylinder such that waste material flushed down the sink with water gathers in the cylinder whereby the water is boiled by the heating element and heat is conducted through the drainable pipe via steam and boiling action of the water and waste material to destroy bacteria in the water as well as bacteria which collects on the inside of the drainage pipe.

Preferably the temperature controlling means includes a relay which is actuated when the temperature sensed by the liquid temperature is below the first predetermined temperature value and when the liquid level sensed by the probe is above the predetermined level, said relay, when actuated, allowing the heating means to be energized.

Preferably the outputs from the probe and the liquid temperature sensor are applied to gate means which turns on a switching transistor when the liquid level is above 2 21U 9 J the predetermined level and the temperature is below the first predetermined temperature value, said switching transistor, when switched on, causes the relay to be energized and thereby activates the heating means.

Perferably there is a timer means to de-energize the heating means after the heating means has been energized for (a) the predetermined time period.

Preferably said timer means comprises counter means which are provided with a signal of the corr-mencement of operation of the heating means to set the counter means counting; a second gate means, the said counter means applying an output to the second gate means after a predetermined number of counts indicative of the predetermined time internal; a switchinc transistor ^ connected to the second gate means and a relay controlled by the switching transistor so that upon an output generated by the counter means the switching transistor de-activates the relay so as to de-energize said heating means.- Preferably the housing temperature sensor includes a bellows and a switch such that when the bellow expands, it opens the switch to de-energize said heating means when the temperature exceeds the second predetermined temperature value.

. My New Zealand Patent: Specification No. 218271 describes a waste trap device for destroying bacterial flora by sterilization of contaminated liquid waste which contains the bacterial flora, said device comprising an elongate housing including means for connection, to a drainage pipe, the longitudinal axis of the housing being transverse to that of the drainage pipe so as to form at least part of water plug and thereby facilitate connection and maintenance of the device, heating means in said housing for heating the waste material such that any bacterial flora which gathers in or on said*'" "Y ~ If-A FEB 1988^ Z Z1 u*J housing may be sterilised by heat from said heating means, Beans for controlling the heating means so as to naintain the tenperature in the liquid waste above a predetermined value, said te;nperature controlling means further comprising means for sensing the temperature in the housing, said temperature sensing means being located in a lower portion of said housing, and a low level probe mounted through an upper portion of the housing so as to project into said housing the probe interfaced with said heating melns for sensing when liquid in the j housing drops below a predetermined level and for causing the heatinc means to be de-ener3i2ed when the liquid level drops below this predetermined level, the means for controlling the heating means responsive to the housing temperature sensing means for de-energizing the heatinc means when the housing exceeds a second predetermined temperature value, whereby the device safely destroys bacterial flora associated with contaminated waste.

Tfte present invention consists in a device for destroying bacterial flora by sterilization of contaminated waste which contains the bacterial flora, conprising a housing (120), said housing having an inlet (122) to allow waste material to pass into said housing (120), and heating means (160) in said housing for heating the waste material such that any bacterial flora which gathers in or on said housing may be sterilized by heat from said heating means, to thereby destroy said bacterial flora wherein said device further includes means (130, IC2, IC3, IC4 A, B) for controlling said heating means to maintain the temperature in said housing above a first predetermined value said means Including sensing means for sensing (IC2) the temperature of water in the housing and energizing the heater means when the temperature drops below the predetermined value, and second sensing means (164) to determine if the temperature in the housing exceeds a second predetermined value and to cause the heating means to be de-energised if the temperature exceeds the second predetermined value, said housing being elongate and being arranged, in use, such that the longitudinal axis of the housing is substantially horizontal, a compartment arranged at one ^ end of said housing, said compartment containing a control circuit for power## " said heating means and operating said sensing means and said second sensing £| means. ! — 6- ^ c \ ^ 221093 A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a circuit diagram for the embodiment of figure 1.

Referring first to figure 1 the device 100 embodying the invention is shown located in a water plug section 150 of a drainage pipe for example an S-bend. The device 100 includes a housing 120 having an inlet pipe 122 and an outlet pipe 124 both of which form part of the S-bend. The inlet and outlet pipes 122 and 124 are preferably provided with coupling flanges (not shown) and heat resistant gaskets which allow the pipes 122 and 124 to be connected to the remainder of the drainage pipe (not shown).

The housing 120 has one end provided with a removable plug 126 and a heat resistant gasket 128 which allows the interior of the housing to be inspected for purposes of maintenance and the like. The other end is permanently closed by a member 130 which has two openings, the purpose of which will be evident from the following. A first opening 140 receiving a closed sleeve 132 for housing an IC temperature sensor (not shown)y The sleeve 132 is screwed into opening 140 t - 221093 by- co-operating screw threads on the sleeye and opening. The second opening 14 2 receiyes a screw threaded plug 144 which carries a heating element 160 and a temperature sensor probe pocket 162 and the plug 144 is screwed into opening 142 to close that opening.

The pocket 162 carries a sensor probe 164 for measuring the temperature in the interior of the housing 120.

The probe 164 is preferably a bellows type heat sensor preferably made by TL.L, Thermatic Controls Ltd.

Canada, No. 53438.

The housing 120 also has a liquid level detecting probe 170 projecting thereinto. The probe 170 is preferably a "low level probe" made and sold by L.W. Gemmell, 72 Silverside Road, Eaglemont Victoria 3084, Australia and the heating element 160 is made and sold by Stokes Australia Ltd., Sullon Street, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia.

The probe 172 is located in a housing 170 provided on the top of the housing 120 and the probe monitors the 'liquid level in the housing. If the liquid level falls below the level of the probe the operation of the unit will be stopped as will be described hereinbelow. Should the probe 170 fail, the probe 164, as will be described hereinbelow, also cuts off operation of the device and the device will not operate again until manual reset button 180 is depressed, to close manual reset switch SWl. 221093 As cap be seen froi^ figure 1 a compartment 200 is located at one end of the housing JL20 and the IC temperature sensor in sleeve 130, heating element 160 and probe 162 communicate with the compartment. Also the probe 170 comraunic-. ates with the compartment 200 by cable 173. The compartment 200 housing the circuitory and timer etc. for operating the device which will be described with reference to figure 2.

As shown in figure 2 a conventional 240V ^power supply 220 is stepped down to 12V by a transformer 222. The stepped down 12V supply is regulated by a voltage regulator, IC1 which is a 12VDC voltage regulator No. 7812 made by Fairchild, and smoothed by filter capacitors as shown. The 12V supply is converted to DC by a rectifier diode (not shown) and is used to power the logic circuit to be described hereinafter. A 5 amp fuse 111 is provided in the 240V power supply as shown.

The 240V supply is also connected with heating element 160 through switches RLl/2 and RLl/3 to power the heating element 160. A neon indicator lamp 224 is provided in parallel with the heating element to indicate that power is being supplied to the heating element 160, The heating element is controlled by the IC temperature sensor IC2 which is located in sleeve 130. The sensor IC2 is preferablly a temperature sensor no. AD 590JH made by Analog Devices. The sensor IC2 produces a constant 3 -J®- 221093 .current, output proportional to the temperature of the liquid in. housing 1201 which cqryent is fed to ground via a resistor as shown to develop a voltage proportional to temperature.

This voltage is compared with a preset voltage of 3,08V across variable resistor R1 which is equal to a temperature of 35°C. An operation amplifier IC3 (no. 741C made by National Semiconductors) with open loop gain is used to compare the sensor and the voltage across resistor R1 and produce a high output when the temperature is below 35°C. The output of the operational amplifier is applied to one input of a two input NAND gate IC4A. The other input to NAND gate IC4A comes from probe 170 which will be described in detail hereinafter.

The output of gate IC4A is fed to a similar gate IC4B and then through a resistor to a switching transistor TRl. The swtiching transistor is connected to a relay which closes switches RL1/1, RLl/2 and RLl/3 when power is supplied to the relay. Accordingly if the sensor IC2 senses a temperature below 35°C the output of the operational amplifier IC3 is high. The output from probe 170 is high if the water level in housing 120 is in the safe level condition i.e. above a certain level so that gate IC4A is supplied with two high inputs and therefore supplies a low input to gate IC4B which applies a high signal to transistor TRl to turn the transistor on. This in turn powers realy RLl/3 to close switches RLl/1 to RLl/3 and power is supplied to heating element 160 to heat 221093 the water and w^ste materia^ in housing 120. The switch RLl/1 ensures that relay RLl/3 remains latched to continue supply power to the heating element.

The probe 170 ensures that heating element 160 is not powered if the water level in housing 120 is below a predetermined level i.e, below the probe 170, wherein the heating element may burn out or be otherwise damaged due to lack of water in the housing 120.

If the liquid level is above a predetermined level i.e.-above element 160^the output from the probe 170 and Fluid Detector ICS, which is preferably a Fluid Detector LM 1830 made by National Semiconductors is high thereby operating gate IC4A as described above. If the liquid level is lower ( than the predetermined level established by probe 170 the ^ output from sensor ICS is low and accordingly the output from gate IC4A is high the output from gate IC4B is low and transistor TRl is not switched on. Therefore realy RLl/3 does not close switches RLl/1 to RLl/3 and power is not supplied to heating element 160.- Power will not be supplied to heating element 160 until the liquid level is above the probe 170 and the temperature sensor IC2 senses a temperature below 35°C.• The probe 170 and temperature sensor IC5 will also stop supplying power to the heating element 16 0 if during a heating cycle the liquid drops below probe 170, which may V.C -a- 221093 occur if many heating cycles have occurred and no water has passed into the housing 120, The output of sensor ICS is applied to a input of a two input NAND gate IC4C. The other input to IC4C is from digital timer 250 which will be described hereinafter. During a heating cycle input to gate IC4C from timer 250 will be high. Accordingly gate IC4C will apply a low output to gate IC4D which will ayply a high signal to transistor TR2 to turn the transistor on. It will therefore be seen that relay RLl/3 is powered by the circuit label 260.

If the liquid level in housing 120 drops below the level of probe 170 the output from sensor ICS will go low therefore causing the gate IC4C to go high and the output of gate IC4D to go low thereby turning off transistor TR2 and i disrupting power supply to relay RLl/3 to open switches RLl/1 to RLl/3 to cut off power to heating element 160.

The NAND gages IC4A to C are preferably made by National Semiconductor under no. 4011C.

The time the heating element 160 is powered to heat the liquid in the housing 120 is desirably about 17 minutes. This time is controlled by digital timer 250 which comprises„ an oscillator 252 which includes NAND gates IC6A and IC6B and which is continually in operation, counter IC7 and IC8 and NAND IC6C. The period of oscillation of the oscillator 252 is set by variable resistor R2 and applies a pulse to counter IC7 once every two seconds. o 22109 The counter IC7 is a seven stage counter and supplies a pulse from pin 3 to XC8 for every 128 pulses received from the oscillator 252. The counter IC8 is the same as the counter IC7 but applies a pulse from its pin 4 for every 32 pulses received. The output from counter IC8 is applied to gate IC6C which applies a lower output to NAND gate IC4C after every 4,096 oscillations of oscillator 252. Accordingly a high output is applied to gate IC4D and a low output is • applied to transistor TR2 to turn the transistor off thereby disrupting power supply to relay RLl/3 to cut off power supply • » to the heating element 160.

The counters IC7 and IC8 are reset and commence counting on receiving of signals on line 270. When no power i is supplied to relay RLl/3 due to transistor TR2 being in 15 the off state point 272 experiences a high voltage which when applied to pin 2 of the counters IC7 and IC8 prevents the counters from counting. When the relay is powered to in turn close switches RLl/1 to RLl/3 the point '272 experiences low voltage which is applied to pin 2 of counters IC7 and IC8 and 20 this results in the counters resetting to zero and allows the counters to commence counting,, until the counter IC8 applies its high signal gate IC6C which as noted above cuts off the V power to heating element 160 to end a heating cycle. The counters IC7 and IC8 are seven stage counters no. 4024 made 25 by Texas Instruments and the gates IC6A to IC6C are Quad 2 a -V p-.r.z^pV"p C 221093 input NAND gates no. 4011C m^de by National Semiconductors.

Further still a oyer temperature cut out switch SW1 is provided which is connected to bellows type probe 164.

If the temperature in housing 120 reaches 120°c the probe 164 expands and opens the switch SW1 to deactivate relay RLl/3 and cut off power to the heating element 160. The swtich SW1 must be manually closed to allow the relay to be reactivated. Accordingly if for some reason the probe 170 etc should fail and not cut off power to the heating element 160 the probe 10 164 •will sense that the heating element 160 is over heating and disrupt power to the heating element. r*\ ' Accordingly the device will automatically heat the contents of the housing 120 for a period of 17 minutes and i will automatically shut off power to the heating element 15 after that time has elapsed and again activate the heating element if the temperature in the housing drops below 35°C.

Also if the liquid level drops below a certain level or -the temperature in the housing rises above a certain level power to the heating element will be disrupted thereby prevent 20 damage to the heating element 160 or to the device itself.

When actuated the heating element 160 which is in contact with water and waste material in the S bend of a" I i W drainage pipe in which the device accordingly to the present embodiment is located, boils the water and waste material which 25 forms the water plug in the S bend and which is located in \Z -fcr O 221093 the housing 160 to destroy bacteria therein. The boiling action is the cylinder causes boiling water to bubble through the S bend 150 and heat from the boiling water is circulated . f< throughout the inlet and outlet pipe to the S bend to destory > 5 any bacteria which may adhere to the surfaces of these members.

Any bacteria which of course passes out of the S bend is not < ♦ a problem since it is not capable of contaminating sterile * equipment.

Heat resistant washers (not shown) may also be | provided for coupling the device 100 in a pipe to prevent heat 1 * 1 $ conduction beyond the heat resistant washers. Steam trap | (not shown) may also be provided at the top of the pipe | „ I between a sink or the like and the device 100 to prevent steam | i * from escaping from the pipe. * | It should also be noted that the integrated circuits ! r shown in figure 2 will have power supplied to them from the 12V J \ supply and have their other pins connected in accordance with j >i the details shown in figure 2 and the manufacturers specifics- j tion.

Since modifications within the spirit and scope of_ j the invention may readily be effected by persons skilled within the art, it is to be understood that this application is not ! limited to the particular embodiment described by way of example hereinabove. 14 221 09 J>

Claims (2)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A device for destroying bacterial flora by sterilization of contaminated waste which contains the bacterial florat comprising a housing said housing having an inlet to allow waste material to pass into said housing and heating means in said housing for heating the waste material such that any bacterial flora which gathers in or on said housing may be sterilized by heat from said heating means, to thereby destroy said bacterial flora wherein said device further includes means for controlling said heating means to maintain the temperature in said housing above a first predetermined value said means including sensing means for sensing the temperature of water in the housing and energizing the heater means when the teiperature drops below the predetermined value, and second sensing means to determine if the temperature in the housing exceeds a second predetermined value and to cause the heating means to be de-energised if the temperature exceeds the second predetermined value, said housing being elongate and being arranged, in use, such that the longitudinal axis of the housing is substantially horizontal, a compartment arranged at one end of said housing, said compartment containing a control circuit for powering said heating means and operating said sensing means and said second sensing

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the accompanying drawings. means. A. J. PARK & SON