Electric heating – Metal heating – Cutting or disintegrating
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-05
2002-04-23
Evans, Geoffrey S. (Department: 1725)
Electric heating
Metal heating
Cutting or disintegrating
Reexamination Certificate
active
06376792
ABSTRACT:
The invention concerns a process and an apparatus for the individual destruction of syringe needles by melting under the effect of a high-intensity electric current.
Worn syringe needles are dangerous waste and they constitute in particular a carrier for the transmission of viruses.
Apparatuses have already been proposed enabling worn syringe needles to be destroyed by melting under the effect of an electric arc. For example, WO-A-9300121 describes an incinerating device for needles comprising a pair of fixed electrodes for the progressive melting of the needle and clamping means enabling the residue of the needle to be sealed off at the end of the melting process. This device comprises a piston having an opening through which the needle is introduced. This opening cannot be traversed by the end piece carrying the needle, which has a larger diameter and which butts up against the piston at the end of the stroke. The piston is moved towards the electrodes until a micro-switch is actuated which activates an electric motor bringing about the clamping and plastic deformation of the residue of the needle between a pair of clamping jaws moved by the motor. The pair of clamping jaws may also be connected to an electric power source so as to enable an electric current to be applied between them, after a needle has been clamped, in order to seal the inside of the residual end of the needle. This complex and motorized device requires a high-capacity source of electricity and is heavy and bulky. It is not portable and has a life span limited by that of the electrodes. Moreover, it should be noted that since the clamping jaws are interposed between the piston and the electrodes, a residual length of the needle is still of necessity left at the extremity of the end piece of the needle or the syringe. Now, the inventors have found that this residual portion of the needle is as dangerous as, if not more so than a complete needle. In point of fact, it has been proved in practice that the small dimensions of this residual portion of the needle, far from reducing the risks of injury as could be expected, are in practice the cause of many accidents due to the fact that it is virtually invisible and has a deceptively inoffensive appearance.
Other similar devices have been proposed. In all cases however, a residual portion of the needle persists projecting from the extremity of the syringe end piece. This end portion can of course be cut into sections mechanically with the aid of a specific tool. Nevertheless, the problem still remains that the detached residual portion is not destroyed and is on the contrary sharp and potentially contaminated.
In addition, most of the devices previously proposed for destroying needles with the aid of an electric current are either bulky and not portable (in particular supplied by the electric mains), or are portable but are insufficiently independent or are not sufficiently effective to melt all needles. Moreover, all these apparatuses are extremely costly and have a limited life span due to the rapid wear of the electrodes, so that their use on a large scale for equipping personnel of the health occupations (nurses, physicians, dentists, hospital personnel, pharmacists, ambulance staff, first aid staff, fire fighting personnel, veterinary surgeons, etc.) or patients (diabetic patients etc.) cannot reasonably be considered.
In all the text, the expression “syringe end piece” designates, in a syringe comprising a syringe body carrying a needle, the end piece which carries the hollow tapered metal stem, the so called needle stem, forming the actual needle. The concept of “a syringe end piece” also encompasses in a similar manner the case where the needle is connected to a flexible tube acting as the syringe body (dialysis or sampling line, etc). More generally, in all the text, the term “syringe” applies to any device for injecting liquids into, or sampling liquids from, a system to which a needle is associated, projecting from an end piece, the so-called syringe end piece. More often, the syringe end piece is formed of the female end piece of the needle carrying the needle stem, and which is connected to a mating male end piece of the syringe body. The syringe end piece has, at its end through which the needle stem emerges, a shoulder extending at least substantially radially outwards with respect to the needle stem and this end piece is slightly flared out towards the body of the syringe, the assembly between the male and female end pieces being generally of a conical type. This shoulder has a larger diameter than the needle stem.
The object of the invention is thus to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages by providing a process and an apparatus for the purpose of destruction by virtue of which each needle may be entirely destroyed without any dangerous waste or sharp residual portion projecting from the syringe end piece.
More particularly, the object of the invention is to provide a portable apparatus enabling needles to be entirely destroyed over all their axial length projecting from the syringe end pieces.
The object of the invention is more particularly to provide an apparatus which can be used with all needles, whatever their dimensions, in particular up to a diameter of the order of 1.2 mm.
The object of the invention is also to provide an apparatus having a considerable degree of autonomy which enables a large number of needles to be destroyed, in particular more than 80 needles with a diameter of 0.6 mm, between two recharges or two renewals of the electric power source.
The object of the invention is moreover to provide such an apparatus which is particularly simple and reliable, has a long life, is safe to use, and of which the cost is much lower, in particular three to five times lower, than that of previously known devices.
The object of the invention is moreover to provide a portable apparatus which is particularly ergonomic, easy and inexpensive to use and maintain, and which is light and small.
In all the text, the term “axial” and its derived terms designate a direction parallel to the axis of a needle to be destroyed, and the term “radial” and its derived terms designate a direction perpendicular to the axial direction. Moreover, the apparatus is assumed to be horizontal overall and the needle vertical overall with its free end downwards, although in practice this position is of course not compulsory. In addition, the expressions “end portion of the needle” and “residual end portion of the needle” designate end portions of the tapered metal hollow stem forming the needle itself and therefore does not encompass the syringe end piece.
The invention thus concerns a process for the individual destruction of syringe needles by melting under the effect of a high-intensity electric current with the aid of electrodes connected via a power circuit to an electric power source, in which, in a first destruction step, the free end of a needle is applied in electrical contact with a lower electrode connected electrically to a first terminal of the electric power source, the outer surface of the needle is applied in electrical contact with a first upper electrode connected electrically to a second terminal of the electric power source which is distinct from the first terminal to which the lower electrode is connected, the distance between the electrical contact of the outer surface of the needle with the first upper electrode and the free end of the needle in electrical contact with the lower electrode being adapted so that the electric current established between the lower electrode and the first upper electrode via an end portion of the needle extending between these electrodes is capable of bringing about the melting of this end portion of the needle, and the needle is progressively melted by causing its outer surface in contact with the first upper electrode to slide axially as melting of the end portion progresses, wherein:
the first upper electrode has a free upper face against which a syringe end piece can butt up axially,
in a first destruction
Bounaix Fabrice
Cebollero Jean
Golliard Bruno
Marcandelli Jacques
Evans Geoffrey S.
Hypodest Patent Development Company - Patentes LDA
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