Receptacles – Compartmented container – Closure for compartment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-16
2002-05-14
Garbe, Stephen P. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Compartmented container
Closure for compartment
C220S263000, C220S523000, C220S909000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06386386
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. 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 a unitary divider lid operated by a foot pedal, each cavity having a moveable floor.
2. Background Prior Art
Applicant is aware of prior art waste receptacle devices. For example U.S. Pat. No. 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 in an open 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: U.S. Pat. No. 1,174,136 to Filger relates to containers designed to provide airtight closures for such garbage receptacles as are to be placed therein; U.S. Pat. No. 1,714,332 to Ullrich relates to garbage and waste receptacles, and more particularly to improvements in the operating devices for their closures; U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,740 to Koda relates to a wastebasket having lid hinge and actuating mechanism protector; U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,966 to Craft, Jr. relates to a step-on wastebasket; U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,574 to Sosan relates to a pedal trash receptacle intended for use in public places; and U.S. Pat. No. 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: U.S. Pat. No. 1,174,136 to Filger; U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,746 to Dickinson relates to a waste separation container; U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,641 to Martin relates to a refuse container with multi-position divider; U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,785 to Stamp relates to a multi-compartment container; and U.S. Pat. No. 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: U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,342 to Strawder relates to a bag support for trash cans; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,222 to Patey relates to a garbage container including a horizontally pivoting waste supporting platform within the housing.
Background
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 Biohazard 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. In particular the present invention relates to waste segregation apparatus for segregating medical waste at the point of disposal within such a facility in preparation for further segregated disposal o
Garbe Stephen P.
Kahrl Esq Thomas A.
Merek Joseph C.
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