US2546229A - Telephone mouthpiece sterilizing device - Google Patents

Description

March 27, 1951 A. P. M CLOSKEY ETAL 2,546,229

TELEPHONE MOUTHPIECE STERILIZING DEVICE Filed June 1, 1948 Patented Mar. 2 7, 1951 TELEPHONE MOUTHPIECE maimed DEVICE Hopkins, Hih'Sdiilie, Ill. said Hopkins assignor Application dune l, 194, Serial 1 18. 36,4254 2 Glaims; M (01; 21- 61)" .4 Th ns i n qnreletss is te "pli rssii lil f isf devi s rp ii'qslarlr ll WP Q L 1$ r 3 1 1 m ns r marties aser dal 66 11 position effective in a vapor state for destroying rm 9 e siae Ql l'ith fipe um. t. 1 ,A variety of ssc iie e avebs np e f6? the treatment oftelephone mouthpieces to destroy pathogenic bacteria thereon ah d preventing the spread of diseases throug f contac with germs n telepliore qyih ieqs Su s an a l D h of the suggested structures have peen adopted and several reasonsare obvious which prevent their adoption Some of the materials employed are dangerous andthe proposeduse of them involves too great a hazard. The germicidal compositions invariably liquids and these re uire" containefs which are d ifiidult to su ort safely and which ma seer/enema, etc. Some ofth'e suggested materials" vaporize at a' high rate for a short pe; r'icd ortirire arid are then exhausted; further, the vaporized mate a1- rormsan undesirable cemp'one'nt of the 1 ornatm osphrea Certain of the suggested supporting devices" are eduipped with financierengae'e'merit by the mouthpiece in c'fder to open the" container for evaporation only v'vher'r the mouthpieceis in positionon the sup port;- The-structure is not satisfactory because the mouthpiece may shift longitudinally of the support'and thus fail to open the container Substantially all of the structures" suggested are expensive and" complicated. For the successful treatment of themillions of'tel'phohes' empzeyea, t-h'e'in'eed for many decades has been for an extremely simple" structure supporting a germidical composition in an effective position with respect to the mouthpiece while at the same time pro viding a unit containing the germicidal composition-Which maybe replaced readily from time to k time.

a structure filling the need abcvereferred to and having the desired qualities set out. Yet another object is to provide a simple structureand means for disinfecting telephone mouthpieces which will avoidthe undesirable ualities in the structures stav referred to while providing an extremely simple and inexpensive arrangen'ient in whicha simpledi'sc structurencloses the germicidal composition in a protective manner. A still further object to provide; a protective disc ofa porous or'fibrous'compo'siti containing therein a solid disinfectant in ajprotectedmanner, thedisc being supported in effective germicidal position with ls'pect to'the nid lith'pic'eand being re laceabl a's'iiede'd. Other' specific Objects and advantages w'i11;;app a;r as the Specification proceeds.

Theirive'ntibn is illustrated'in a single embodimnt; y the'a'ccoh'ipanying rawing, in which lisa"perspectivefview of a telephone ref, civ'er 'or'stahdequippedwitha speaker arm and An olcject of; the present invention isto provide mouth""'ec thfl stliictur being provided with spanning or. disinfectin means embodying Our invention; Fig, 2, a' b1'oke n Vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale; Fig. 3, a detail transverse section riw,.,the.sectioiiheing taken as indicated at line 3 01 Fig. 3,; Fig} 4, a perspective and partly sectional viewer a disc structure embodying our invehtiorif ah'd Fig Q5 a tic et View in vertical section showing a modified structure embodying our invention. 7 I In t'e illustration given; A' designates the usual telephone stand apes which is supported a speaker and receiver arm B. The arm B is provided .with a circular speaker ring or mouthce i s i V In the illustration, giveninFig'sZ 1 to 4 inclusiveywe provide a base plate l3 having an inwardly extending bottom flange ll upon which thestand A adapted to rest. The member ll! isprovided with" a vertical portion having inwardl'y extending arms l2 forming a channfel s. The arms l2 are turned outwardly" at their ends [4 and arewelded to a U -'s haped channel member, I5. The Ui-ishaped' channel member l'5 re; delves the outerflange l6 of the telephone stand A; asshown more 'clearly in Fig.2; and the outer lip l! of th'eu-shaped rnember'lfili s against the innerwall of the casing member [6. By this means; th'e'frame wall [5 islocked tightly about the f ange is and the member la is anchored firmly in the position illustrated in Fig. 2. a Ajsli'dablesuppcrt' arm I 8 provided with a screw l9" which extends through the arm [8 and through a slot 29 in the vertical flange of member l0; The screw 59 is provided on itsdnner end with a nut?! which is received within the channel I3. The arm I3 is thus adjustably mounted upon the support l0. 7 V As shown more clearly in High 2, th"e upper end of the support i8 is inclined forwardly .at an angle of about 25 to providea supporting flangeIZZ which is'wel'ded or otherwise secured to a shallow pan 23. t v The shallow pan 23 is open at its top and is supported with the bottom wall of the pan ad jacent to and in substantially parallel alignment with theloottom wall, of themouthpiece B as shownhefst inf Fig. 2. V5' ithinthe shallow pan is supporteda germicidal disc 25. v 4 x The germicidal di sc 25 may] be formedlof any suitable'material' We' pr'efer to formlthe disc of porous .material and to place ,the' germicidal substance within the central'port'iohfof the" disc so that thef'discfservjesas a protective body about the germicidal suhstance. The disc .may be formed of cotton pad-5 pressed together, plaster of Paris, molded paper piilpQet'c. i

Formaldehyde and paraformaldehvde have been heretofore suggested'jfdr vusefor the fumigation of infected'preiriises. To render the solid polymer, paraformaldehyde, effective, other chemicals or heat have been employed to produce evolution of the vapors. Such vaporization has been employed for brief periods and in the absence of human beings. The literature indicates that the normal vaporization from the solid polymer resulted in too low concentrations in the air to have germicidal effect.

We have discovered that the solid polymer, paraformaldehyde, is unusually effective as a means for disinfecting telephone mouthpieces and particularly when employed apart from any heat or reacting material. By incorporating the solid within a porous disc, and preferably by means of a non-reactive adhesive, we find that the telephone mouthpiece can be effectively sterilized within a brief period and maintained sterile over long periods of time, the disc which supports the paraformaldehyde being replaced only after a substantial period of days. The solid polymer supported within the interior of the disc is found to have effective germicidal action with respect to the telephone mouthpiece after periods of about a month. The slow vaporization, however, of the material does not render a room unpleasant and, in fact, does not require a masking vapor odor.

In the illustration given in Fig. 5, the telephone stand body is received within a simple tray 26. The tray supports a channel member 2? which is slotted to receive a screw 28 and a member 3a similar to the support I8 already described is employed for supporting the pan 23. this structure, it will be noted that the supporting mechanism is not in any way connected to the telephone apparatus, the stand A merely resting freely within the tray. 7

The disc 25, in the specific illustration given, is formed in two parts. There is an upper cotton pad 29 and a lower similar cotton pad 30. Paraformaldehyde powder was mixed with a vegetable adhesive, sodium alginate, and applied to the upper surface of the lower pad 30 in concentric circles approaching the center of the pad, as illustrated in Fig. 4. Thus the paraformaldehyde was fairly evenly distributed over the top of the lower disc. The two pads were then pressed together and the adhesive served to bind them into a united disc. The viscosity of the adhesive was such as to prevent penetration of the lower disc to any substantial degree and the fibrous pads thus provided ample protection to prevent the user from coming into contact with the solid polymer.

In another example, the dry paraformaldehyde powder was mixed with gum arabic and deposited in the manner above described to provide a good. product.

In another example, the paraformaldehyde powder was mixed with gum tragacanth and the viscous material applied fairly evenly over the lower pad but spaced inwardly, as in the previous examples, from the extreme edge of the pad. The two pads were then pressed together and united.

In another example, the above mixtures were used with molded paper pulp to form the porous pads. Similarly, we have united separate discs of plaster of Paris by means of the adhesives employed. We find that any vegetable adhesive may be used. It is important that an adhesive be employed which does not contain nitrogen.

We prefer to support the pan 23 at an angle of about with the horizontal plane, this being the plane of the mouthpiece ring 24 and we prefer to adjust the pan so that it is at a distance of With 4 about 8 mm. from the mouthpiece 24. At lesser distances, even more effective results are obtained.

G ermicidal tests were carried out by applying diluted broth cultures of certain pathogenic bacteria to sterilized telephone mouthpieces with cotton swabs. After drying for a fixed interval, one-half of the mouthpiece was swabbed, and plate cultures made from the swab. The mouthpiece was then placed on the support above a disc 25 containing paraformaldehyde, and after a definite period of time the second half of the mouthpiece was swabbed and the swab cultured. In many of the tests, as many mouthpieces were reserved as controls as were exposed to the germicide, in order to determine any lethal eifect of holding the dried bacteria during the time necessary to carry out the test. The time of exposure to the germicide extended from one hour down to periods of five minutes or less. Most of the tests were made in periods of about five minutes and it was at this time that the effect of the paraformaldehyde contained in the disc became very apparent in the percentage kill of bacteria on the telephone mouthpiece. In testing for Staphylococcus aureus at 8 mm. distance, five minutes exposures, it was found that when the disc contained paraformaldehyde in a quantity of 0.50 gram and more, that the number of the bacteria killed increased, the best results being obtained when the content of paraformaldehyde in the disc was from 1.0 to 2.0 grams. From about 1.5 to 2.0 grams, substantially all of the organisms were destroyed within the five minute exposure. While the percentage kill was from to in the period mentioned, obviously the destruction would be far greater for longer periods. Since in normal use the mouthpiece would be subjected over extremely long periods to the action of the germicidal vapor, a much lower content of paraformaldehyde could be employed than was used in the above tests.

Tests of the same kind were performed with other pathogenic bacteria. In general, most types of bacteria of concern in human disease are less resistant to drying than is Staphylococcus aureus, and as some of the results show, some of the organisms may be dying off during the period of the experiment without any other treatment than drying. In a test with the organism Klebsiella pneumoniae, the organisms were totally destroyed in the five minute period using 2.0 grams of paraformaldehyde. A similar test gave like results in the treatment of Streptococcus pyogenes.

The various tests demonstrated that paraformaldehyde when incorporated in a porous supporting material, exerts strong germicidal action in periods of five minutes and less at distances up to 8 mm. The tests further demonstrated that the solid polymer in the discs was effective for bringing about the above described results even after periods of from two to four weeks. The solid polymer was incorporated within glass wool and sponges, plaster of Paris, and similar materials by forming a solution of the paraformaldehyde and allowing it to penetrate the porous material while a liquid, the material solidifying then within the porous carrier. The paraformaldehyde on the outer surfaces was then removed.

While in the foregoing description, we have set forth structures in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating one embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that such details may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of our invention.

We claim:

1. A sterilizing pad adapted for use in the sterilizing of a telephone mouthpiece, comprising a pair of fibrous discs having interposed between them a thin layer of a high-viscosity vegetable adhesive having powdered paraformaldehyde carried therein in a state of suspension, the vegetable adhesive being operative to hold the paraformaldehyde in the space between the disks and'operative also to secure the pads together to form a porous body through which vapors from the paraformaldehyde may pass.

2. A sterilizing pad adapted for use in the sterilizing of a telephone mouthpiece, comprising a pair of cotton pads having interposed between them a thin layer of sodium alginate solution having powdered paraformaldehyde carried therein in a state of suspension, the sodium alginate being operative to hold the paraformaldehyde in the space between the pads and operative also to secure the pads together to form a porous body through which vapors from the paraformaldehyde may pass.

ARTHUR P. McCLOSKEY. ERVIN W. HOPKINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Algin Finds New Uses in Pharmacy by 20 Gordon A. Bergy, article in Amer. Prof. Pharmacist. July 1939, pages 367-368, 398.

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