WO2001087719A1 - Medical waste segregation apparatus with moveable floor - Google Patents

Abstract

A medical waste segregation apparatus for segregating medical waste at the point of disposal within a medical facility in preparation for further segregated disposal outside the facility. The medical waste segregation device (10) is divided in half by a vertical plane extending through the mid point thereof and with color coding; i.e., one half red (18) and one half neutral (20), for easy recognition by busy medical staff to be sure to deposit red medical waste only in the red sector at the point of generation of such waste, whereby cost savings are available for recycled general waste in the form of cost avoidance as well as seeking to eliminate commingling of general waste inadvertently with medical waste, to achieve decreased disposal cost and increased opportunity for cost avoidance.

Description

MEDICAL WASTE SEGREGATION APPARATUS WITH MOVEABLE FLOOR

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention (Technical Field)

The present invention relates to waste segregation apparatus for use in hospitals and medical facilities for segregating medical waste at the point of disposal within such a facility in preparation for further segregated disposal outside the facility. More specifically it relates to an arrangement having two uniquely identified and separately divided waste receiving cavities in a unitary container under one divider lid operated by a foot pedal. Background Prior Art

Applicant is aware of prior art waste receptacle devices. For example U.S. PATENT 4,913,308 to Culbertson shows a waste receptacle unit employing a liner retainer being provided for retaining the mouth of a flexible liner bag open and in position for receiving objects in the bag. The following six U.S. PATENTS relate to garbage and waste receptacles having hinged foot activated mechanisms for opening and closing the lid: 1,174,136 to Filger relates to containers designed to provide airtight closures for such garbage receptacles as are to be placed therein; 1,714,332 to Ullrich relates to garbage and waste receptacles, and more particularly to improvements in the operating devices for their closures; 4,953,740 to Koda relates to a wastebasket having lid hinge and actuating mechanism protector; 4,972,966 to Craft, Jr. relates to a step-on wastebasket; 5,163,574 to Sosan relates to a pedal trash receptacle intended for use in public places; and 5,249,693 to Gillispie et al. relates to a plastic waste can for oily waste.

The following five U.S. PATENTS relate to waste containers with multiple compartments: 1,174,136 to Filger; 4,974,746 to Dickinson relates to a waste separation container; 5,033,641 to Martin relates to a refuse container with multi-position divider; 5,090,785 to Stamp relates to a multi-compartment container; and 5,277,312 to Vumbaca relates to a syringe container which holds both sterile and soiled syringes, separated by a dividing plate. The following two U.S. PATENTS relate to waste supports for trash containers:

5,085,342 to Strawder relates to a bag support for trash cans; and 5,348,222 to Patey relates to a garbage container including a horizontally pivoting waste supporting platform within the housing.

Disposal of bio-hazardous waste, hereinafter described as Medical Waste, has become very expensive for medical facilities. For example, the disposal cost of Medical Waste, defined as wet/saturated with blood and/or body fluids, is $500.00 per ton, whereas the disposal of General Waste is only $50.00 per ton. Furthermore, cost savings are available for recyclable general waste in the form of cost avoidance. However when general waste items are inadvertently commingled with medical waste, not only is the disposal cost increased, but the cost avoidance opportunity is lost. In the past, attempts have been made to provide disposal arrangements for segregation of medical waste, just as there have been attempts to recycle household trash. Each of these attempts has taken a long time to take hold, and as of yet still show only partial participation. However, a particular problem in the medical waste disposal arrangement is that conditions in those facilities that generate medical waste generally place a priority on matters other than segregation of trash, particularly in operating rooms and emergency facilities. As a result, general waste gets commingled with medical waste, as operators do not have the time to take those extra mental steps to properly segregate the medical waste from general waste.

Accordingly, there is a need in the waste receptacle art for a new and improved arrangement for reinforcing the principles of segregation by limiting disposal arrangements to a unitary two-in-one container which is color coded for ease of disposal of multiple classes of waste to provide for savings in the disposal of medical waste which overcomes at least some of the disadvantages of prior art.

The following is an example of recycling programs and their financial impact for a typical 180 bed hospital:

1) Mixed paper: The sample hospital typically recycles 7,000 pounds of paper per month. If it were to throw that paper away it would cost $48.00 per 2,000 pounds, which equals $168.00 per month or $2,016.00 per year. In addition, at each pickup the hospital would also have to pay a hauling or pickup fee of $150.00. At the hospital's current rate of paper recycling, haulage for the paper would cost $250.00 per month or $2,700 per year. Total projected yearly savings on mixed paper: $4,716.00.

2) Cardboard: The hospital typically recycles 18,000 pounds of cardboard per month. By recycling the cardboard it can attain a cost avoidance that is figured the same way as the paper savings. It would cost $432.00 per month and $5,184.00 per year to throw the cardboard away. It would also cost $750.00 per month and $9,000.00 per year to have it hauled away. Total projected yearly savings on cardboard: $14,184.00

3) Program for Sorting and Separating Medical and General Waste: The hospital's program is tied into both "plastics" and "red bag trash". In the waste stream are two basic classifications of trash, bio-hazardous and regular. In the regular trash are found 80% of the recyclable material. It is assumed that large amounts of plastics are being tossed into their bio-hazardous, or red bag, trash. Once this happens the hospital is unable to retrieve the plastics for possible recycling. The solution to this problem is to educate its staff on proper separation and disposal of its red bag and regular trash. Disposal of regular trash is $48.00 a ton and $150.00 per haul. The red bag trash cost is a flat rate of $7.62 per container (40 - 65 pounds per container).

The sorting and separating program is directed to an operating room where there is the largest amount of red bag trash and where the area is controlled. The sample operating room had been filling 125 containers of red bag trash per week on the day shift. Once the sorting and separating program was commenced that number was reduced to only five containers per week. This added up to a savings of $914.40 per week and an annual savings of $47,548.80 for the year. The sample Bio-hazard waste hauler pickups could be reduced from 2-3 times a week to one time per week. The total projected yearly savings for mixed paper, cardboard, and the segregation of red bag trash at the sample hospital: $114,511.00.

The hospital in this example can see recycling playing a huge part in its waste management for the future. By state mandate, landfills are being capped. Residents are required to separate household trash before bringing it to local landfills and in the future may be asked to pay for all non-separated and non-recyclable waste. The next step may be a mandate to all large employers, including hospitals, to recycle a certain percentage of their waste stream. The program this sample hospital has already put into effect will benefit it both now and in the future.

The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior technology expressed above by providing improved arrangements for segregation of medical waste for use in hospitals and medical facilities. More specifically the present invention was directed to an arrangement for reinforcing the principles of segregation by limiting disposal arrangement to a unitary two-in-one container which is color coded for ease of disposal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to providing improved refuse disposal arrangements for use in hospitals and medical facilities for achieving substantial cost savings. More specifically the present invention is directed to a waste receptacle arranged for reinforcing the principles of segregation by limiting disposal arrangement to a unitary two-in-one container which is color coded for ease of disposal. Cost savings are available for (a) recyclable general waste in the form of cost avoidance by eliminating co-mingling of general waste inadvertently with medical waste, to achieve (b) decreased disposal cost and (c) increased opportunity for cost avoidance.

The present invention is particularly directed to providing two uniquely identified and separately divided waste receiving cavities under one divider lid, operated by a foot pedal. In the specific arrangement of the invention one of the cavities is color coded red for medical waste such as found in medical facilities, and the other cavity is neutral (neutral being defined as non-red) for general waste which may include recyclable materials. Each cavity is lined with a separate disposable bag and each cavity employs a separate moveable floor, each moveable between an extended long bag position and a retracted, short bag position. The positioning of the floor in respect to receptacle internal walls is determined by the size of bag selected, which in turn is determined by the waste usage of the locale of the waste container. An advantage of the moveable platform members is that it provides for leveling of unequal bags in a unitary container for containing unequal amounts of medical and general trash material.

The preferred segregation means are adapted to provide a barrier throughout the full open and closed modes of operation. The barrier apparatus according to the invention may also include a sandwich channel portion into which the barrier wall extends when it is properly received therein. The purpose of the segregation means on the lid is to insure that there is no inadvertent commingling of waste .

Inasmuch as the device employs an adjustable floor in each cavity, a user may selectably place the device in any department of the facility and make adjustments to the cavity size according to the waste flow of that department. The unitary trash container according to the invention may also include a lid and lid raising mechanism. The lid is preferably pivotally connected on one side of the receptacle outside of the perimeter of the deposit opening and retainer channel, near the outer channel wall. The lid is adapted to pivot between an open position in which the receptacle deposit opening is exposed for receiving trash, and a closed position covering the deposit opening of the trash receptacle compartment. It is a general object of the present invention to provide a medical waste segregation device for segregating medical waste at the point of disposal within a medical facility in preparation for further segregated disposal outside the facility.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a waste container apparatus divided into dual compartments having a remotely operated top, an internal divider mechanism, all of which are color coded red or neutral depending on where each part is positioned, i.e. red if in the red medical waste half or neutral in the other half. Another object of the invention is to provide a disposal apparatus divided into dual compartments for receiving plastic trash bags, each having and a moveable floor, and each color coded red and neutral respectively, wherein said compartments are divided at the mid point by a segregator means.

A further object is to provide in each compartment, a moveable bottom to match the compartment size to the bag selected according to a daily usage factor such that the bags are disposed of on a high frequency, i.e. daily.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a two-in-one trash receptacle typically employing two side-by-side compartments separated by a barrier apparatus which operates to provide a complete barrier at all times between the two compartments.

A further object of the invention is to provide a system and method for segregating medical trash from general recyclable trash. To help facilitate segregation, reinforcing is provided in the forms of 1) providing unitary receptacle means for accepting and segregating the deposit of multiple classes of trash in each room;

2) providing dual compartment means for segregated containment of the segregated contents;

3) providing color coding means for segregating waste; 4) providing barrier means for providing a barrier throughout the open and closed mode; and 5) providing collection means for segregated collection of the contents of the receptacle means. The method of the device is to reinforce the simplicity of properly disposing of medical waste. By properly disposing of the medical waste, the user will reduce their waste disposal costs at the point of origin. These and other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments considered along with the accompanying drawings. The invention will be described for the purposes of illustration only in connection with certain embodiments; however, it is recognized that those persons skilled in the art may make various changes, modifications, improvements and additions on the illustrated embodiments all without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form a part of the specification, illustrate several embodiments of the present invention and together with the description serve to explain the principals of the invention. The drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and are not construed as limiting the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the unitary disposal receptacle of the present invention showing the lid closed; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the unitary disposal receptacle of Fig. 1 showing the lid open with the extender member of the divider apparatus extended;

FIG. 3 is a front view of Fig. 1;

FIG. 4 is a right side view of Fig. 1 ;

FIG. 5 is a left side view of Fig. 1; FIG. 6 is a back view of Fig. 1 ;

FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of Fig. 1 ;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of Fig. 1 ;

FIG. 9 is see-through view of Fig. 1 with cavity, moveable floor, and divider shown in dotted lines; FIG. 10 is a partial see-through view of Fig. 2 with cavity, moveable floor, and divider shown in dotted lines; FIG. 11 is a see-through perspective view of an alternate embodiment shown without color coding and including one floor and divider shown in dotted lines; FIG. 12 is a sectional view of Fig. 7 taken along line 12 -12 . FIG. 13 is a top view of the moveable floor showing tabs extended; FIG. 14 is a side view of Fig. 13; FIG. 15 is an end view of Fig. 13;

FIG. 16 is a cutaway view of Fig. 6 taken along lines 16-16 of Fig. 6 showing the preferred embodiment of the moveable floor with tabs extended for engaging shelf supports; FIG. 17 is a cutaway view of Fig. 14 taken along lines 17 - 17 showing the tabs fully retracted;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary end view of the slide block of Fig. 16. FIG. 19 is a top view of Fig. 18 with spring guide channels shown in phantom.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring to the Figs 1-10 and 12 -19, the preferred embodiment is directed to the inventive combination of a unitary disposal arrangement 10 for use in hospitals and medical facilities for controlling the segregation of medical waste 12 from general waste 13. Said disposal arrangement 10 includes a unitary disposal receptacle 14 having a deposit opening 16, at least two uniquely identified and separately divided waste receiving cavities comprising a first cavity 18 and a second cavity 20. Said first cavity 18 is color coded red for medical waste, such as found in medical facilities, and the second cavity 20 is neutral for general waste, which may include recyclable materials.

Referring to figs. 1 -10, said unitary disposal receptacle 14 is a two-in-one container divided in half by a vertical intermediate wall member 24 extending through the midpoint of receptacle 14 and is provided with color coding; i.e., one half red and one half neutral. The color coding is a critical feature of the invention as it provides for easy recognition by busy medical staff during surgery on a patient, when seeking to deposit medical waste. Such waste is colored red by blood released by a patient in the process of surgery and should be deposited in the red cavity 18 at the point of generation of such waste, i.e., during surgery. Said unitary disposal receptacle 14 includes wall member 24, positioned between said first cavity 18 and second cavity 20, for separately dividing said cavities. Said wall member 24 is of sandwich construction , having a hollow, interior channel 37 for associating with lid barrier member 39, for separately dividing the first cavity from the second cavity. A unitary lid 26 is positioned over said cavities 18 & 20 in hinged relationship therewith operated by a foot pedal 28. Said lid 26 includes barrier member 39 for cooperating with the interior channel 37 of interior wall 5 member 24 for providing a barrier between the first cavity 18 and the second cavity 20. As is shown in Fig. 9 liners consisting of a plurality of disposal bags each having a mouth 33 for receiving waste objects in said liner means comprising a disposal bag for each cavity comprising a first separate disposable bag color coded red 34 for medical waste for the first cavity, also color coded red and a second separate disposable

10 bag 36 color coded neutral for recyclable waste for the second cavity color coded neutral for recyclable waste. As shown in Fig 9 there is shown hanger device 38 means for receiving the mouth segment 33 of liners 34 & 36 , said hanger being formed on the perimeter of the deposit opening 16. Each cavity 18 & 20 is configured to hold a separate disposable bag 34 and 36; each

15 cavity has a moveable floor member shown as 29 positioned midway up the internal walls 22 to support variable sized bags in a manner such that two bags of unequal size are level with the deposit opening 16.

As is shown in Figs. 12 - 19, each moveable floor member 29 comprises outwardly extending tabs 58 & 59 mounted on a slide block 60 having a central channel

20 62 and a pair of spring guide channels 64 & 66 disposed within floor member 68 . Each tab 58 & 59 comprises a finger hole tab 70 including a finger hole 72 to be manually accessed for moving said tab between an extended engaged position shown in Fig. 13 & 16 to a retracted disengaged position, shown in Fig. 17. Said tabs further comprise a pair of spring shafts 74, each having a coil spring 76 for biasing the tab in an extended

25 position. Each pair of spring shafts is received in a pair of spring guide channels provided in the slide block. In operation the finger holes 70 of a floor member 29 are manually grasped and urged together to a position shown in Fig. 17 whereby tabs 58 & 59 are retracted inwardly from an extended position to a retracted position, toward the floor member 68 and away from a support member such as shelf tabs 50. In such

30 retracted position the floor member may be moved from a first position to a second position whereupon pressure on the finger holes is released such that the tabs move outwardly to an extended position in engagement with a support , i.e., shelf tabs. As is shown in Fig. 12 and 16 support for floor members 29 is provided by a plurality of shelving supports 50, each consisting of two pairs of tabs 51 with one pair positioned on the interior wall 22 of each cavity and a second pair 54 positioned on the intermediate interior wall 122 of each cavity and each floor includes at least two finger holes 56 for manually accessing and selectably moving each floor between an extended, long-bag position and a retracted, short-bag position. As is shown in Fig. 2, the unitary disposal arrangement 10 includes a unitary divider lid member 26 positioned over said cavities which is operated by a foot pedal being hingedly moveable between an open position for receiving trash and a closed position for enclosing said trash. Referring to Fig. 9, the receptacle divider 22 comprises a vertical sandwich member 35 having an interior channel 37 adapted to receive the barrier member 39 of the unitary lid 26. The barrier member 39 is configured to be urged into interior channel 37 by leaf spring means of conventional construction. The present invention also is directed to a disposal system for use in hospitals and medical facilities for controlling the segregation of multiple classes of waste comprising;

1) receptacle means for segregating the deposit of multiple classes of trash in each room,

2) collection means for segregated collection of the contents of the receptacle means, 3) container means for segregated containment of the segregated contents,

4) color coding means for segregating waste, and

5) barrier means.

An alternate embodiment as is shown in Fig. 11-12 comprises a unitary disposal arrangement for household use 40 for controlling the segregation of multiple classes of waste. This arrangement includes said unitary disposal receptacle 42 comprising the following: A deposit opening 16 and at least two uniquely identified and separately divided waste receiving cavities comprising a first cavity 44 and a second cavity 46. Cavities 44 and 46 are positioned under receptacle divider 22 comprising an interior wall member 24 for separately dividing said cavities and a unitary lid 26 positioned over said cavities positioned in hinged relationship therewith operated by a foot pedal 28. Also included is a lid barrier 30 for cooperating with the receptacle divider 22 for providing a barrier between the first cavity 44 and the second cavity 46. Also included is a liner means for each cavity, each having a mouth 48 for receiving waste objects in said liner means. Also included is a hanger 38 for receiving the mouth segment 48 of each liner means, said hanger means being formed on the perimeter of the deposit opening 16 to receive a plurality of classes of waste. The first cavity 44 includes a removable floor positioned selectably on shelving 50 midway up said cavity to support a shorter bag if needed.

What is claimed is

Claims

Claim 1. A unitary disposal arrangement for controlling the segregation of multiple classes of waste, one class consisting of medical waste, comprising:

A) a unitary disposal receptacle for use at point of generation of medical waste comprising; 1 ) a deposit opening;

2) at least two uniquely identified and separately divided waste receiving cavities comprising a first cavity having an exterior wall and a second cavity having an exterior wall, each divided by a common divider, each separately identified by color wherein each color cannot be the same, and each having a separately moveable floor, moveable between an extended, long-bag position and a retracted, short-bag position;

3) the common divider comprising a receptacle divider having an intermediate interior wall member of sandwich construction , having a hollow space for associating with a lid barrier member, for separately dividing the first cavity from the second cavity; 4) a unitary lid positioned over said deposit opening in hinged relationship with the disposal receptacle, operable by a foot pedal means, for movement between a first closed position and a second open position; comprising a barrier member of planar construction arranged in orthogonal relationship with said lid and extending between said lid and said receptacle divider; 5) liner means comprising a disposal bag for each cavity, each having a mouth segment for receiving waste objects comprising a first separate disposable bag color coded red for medical waste for the first cavity also color coded the same first color and a second separate disposable bag color coded neutral for recyclable waste for the second cavity color coded neutral for recyclable waste; and 6) hanger means for receiving the mouth segment of each liner means, said hanger means being formed on the perimeter of the deposit opening; wherein said barrier member provides a barrier in the deposit opening extending between the lid and said receptacle divider between the first cavity and the second cavity as the lid is moved between the closed position to the open position such that at least two classes of waste may be deposited therein without commingling.

Claim 2. The unitary disposal arrangement of Claim 1 wherein the first cavity includes interior walls and is color coded red for receiving medical waste contained in red bags.

Claim 3. The unitary disposal arrangement of Claim 1 wherein the second cavity is color coded a neutral color for general waste.

Claim 4. The unitary disposal arrangement of Claim 1 wherein each floor is moveably supported by shelving tabs comprising a first tab set for an extended, long-bag position on the exterior wall of each cavity and intermediate interior wall of each cavity; a second tab set for a retracted, short-bag position on the exterior wall of each cavity and intermediate interior wall of each cavity and a third tab set for an extended, long-bag position and a fourth tab set for a retracted, short-bag position positioned on the intermediate interior wall of each cavity and each floor includes at least two finger holes for manually accessing and selectably moving each floor between an extended, long-bag position and a retracted, short-bag position; wherein adjustment is manually positioned midway up the internal walls to support a relatively shorter selected bag of medical waste such that two bags of unequal size are positioned with mouth segments level with the deposit opening .

Claim 5. The unitary disposal arrangement of Claim 1 wherein said intermediate interior wall comprises a vertical sandwich construction includes interior channel adapted to receive the barrier member of the lid divider means.

Claim 6. A method for segregating medical waste from general recyclable trash by reinforcing segregation by means of the steps of; 1) providing unitary receptacle means for accepting and segregating the deposit of at least two classes of trash in each room,

2) providing dual compartment means for segregated containment of the segregated contents,

3) providing separate color coding means each compartment, 4) providing collection means for segregated collection of the contents of the receptacle means; and

5) providing a lid connected in hinged relationship with the receptacle means operated by a foot pedal for movement between a first closed position to an open position; comprising a barrier member cooperating with the receptacle divider for providing a barrier in the deposit opening extending between the lid and said receptacle divider between the first cavity and the second cavity as the lid is moved between the closed position to the open position wherein the barrier means provides a barrier between said compartments at the deposit opening throughout the open and closed mode of operation for preventing commingling.