Patent ID: 7533029
Filing Date: 2009-05-12
Classification: A61B,B07C,G01G,G06Q,G16H,Y02W,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A sorting system for sorting medical waste items, comprising: a station comprising at least two container compartments; at least a first and second removable container and at least one removable receptacle received by said station, each container having an internal volume of about 1 gallon to about 20 gallons and configured to be placed within at least a first and second container compartment within said station, wherein each of the first and second containers and the receptacle is associated with at least one of a plurality of different waste categories; wherein the receptacle is configured to receive at least a first category of medical waste items to be rendered non-recoverable after disposal; wherein the containers are configured to receive multiple additional categories of medical waste items different from the first category; a scanner configured to determine a barcode placed on or associated with a medical waste item; a control system that compares information obtained from the barcode with waste item classification information from a database and assigns the medical waste item to at least one waste category; the control system configured to indicate the container or receptacle for receiving the waste item associated with the waste category based on the barcode by automatically opening one of the containers or instructing a user to dispose of the waste item in the receptacle depending on the waste category based on the barcode; each container comprising a machine-readable identification key associated with at least one of said waste categories such that the machine-readable identification key indicates to the control system the waste category of the waste item to be disposed into the container; at least one key reader within the sorting system that reads the machine-readable identification key associated with the container to determine the waste category of the container; the containers configured to automatically lock when a waste item has been disposed in said containers; and the receptacle configured to accept both solid and liquid forms of said waste items and comprising a solidifying agent to solidify said liquid forms.