Storage shelf unit for syringes and needles

A shelf unit for visibly storing an assortment of elongated, generally cylindrically shaped articles, such as packaged syringes and syringe needles and the like shaped articles, is formed by a rear wall and opposed side walls, with a rearwardly tilting lower shelf, a rearwardly tilting intermediate shelf and a forwardly tilting upper shelf extending between the walls. A short, front wall extends between the side walls and the front lower edge of the upper shelf so that the front of the shelf unit is open below the shelf unit. Spaced apart vertical dividers are located in the spaces between the shelves to form separate, forwardly opening compartments of predetermined sizes adapted to receive and separate articles of different sizes within the compartments. A series of vertical dividers extend between the front short wall and the rear wall at the upper shelf to form upwardly opening compartments upon the upper shelf adapted to receive articles arranged generally parallel to the front wall. The walls and shelves may be made of a plastic material which is substantially transparent so that the various articles within the compartments are readily visible.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an improved shelf unit which is particularly 
useful for storing and sorting a variety of size and shape packaged 
medical syringes and syringe needles in a veterinary medicine facility. 
In a veterinary hospital or similar medical facility, a relatively large 
assortment of different sizes, shapes and types of hypodermic syringes and 
syringe needles are required for use with the different sizes, shapes and 
types of animals. Typically, syringes are packaged in elongated tubes, 
similar to test tubes, with covers for sterile sealing them within the 
package or in elongated tube-like envelopes which are sterile. In some 
cases, the syringe may be packaged with its needle. In other cases, the 
syringe may be packaged separately from the needle. In those instances, 
the needle is packaged within its own elongated test tube-like or 
capsule-like package. In use, a veterinarian or assistant must open the 
elongated, generally cylindrically or tubularly shaped package, to remove 
the syringe and, in the cases where the syringe needle is not already in 
place upon the syringe, must open the needle package for removing the 
needle and placing it upon the end of the syringe. 
Since syringes and syringe needles are ordinarily used once and then 
discarded, rather than sterilized for additional use, it is necessary for 
a typical veterinary facility to have a relatively large number of 
syringes and needles on hand for selection and use as needed in the 
treatment of animals. Usually, when the syringes are needed and when a 
predetermined size needle is required with a particular syringe, the 
selection from the storage compartments or boxes must be made rapidly and 
with accuracy. Ordinarily, packaged syringes and needles are kept within 
the containers in which they are sold, which makes it difficult and 
relatively time consuming to quickly locate the correct size or type 
syringe and needle. Frequently, boxes or loose packaged syringes and 
needles are loosely kept on open shelves in cabinets or in drawers where 
they tend to mix together. Thus, they are difficult to rapidly recognize 
and select. 
This invention is concerned with a shelf unit which facilitates sorting or 
separation of different types and sizes of hypodermic syringes and related 
needles and enables rapid selection when needed. However, while focused 
upon the peculiar need of the veterinary medical facility, the shelf unit 
also may be adapted to storing and sorting other types of generally 
similarly shaped articles, that is, articles which may be relatively long 
and tubular or cylindrical, or where a number of such articles may be 
stored together but must be separately selected from among the collection. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention contemplates a shelf unit having side walls, a back wall and 
an open front with several vertically spaced apart shelves. The lower 
shelves are tilted rearwardly downwardly and the uppermost shelf is tilted 
forwardly and downwardly. A forward wall closes the space between the 
leading edge of the uppermost shelf and the side walls to form an upwardly 
opening space, as contrasted with the forwardly opening space between the 
other shelves. Suitable vertical dividers may divide the spaces into 
compartments which are roughly sized to receive and store elongated 
articles of about the same size or shape so that different kinds and sizes 
of articles may be sorted within the different compartments. 
Preferably, the shelf unit is formed of a transparent or substantially 
transparent, rigid plastic material so that the articles contained within 
the compartments are visible from all directions. Thus, the shelf unit, 
first, sorts the units by compartments and, second, enables rapid visual 
identification. Third, the open compartments facilitate removing the 
articles from the shelf unit when desired. 
The upper compartments may be sized so that typical packaged syringe 
needles, which are contained with an elongated, closed capsule-like tube, 
may be arranged axially parallel to the front and rear walls so that the 
needles are sorted by the widths of the compartments. The syringes or the 
like elongated articles may be placed within the lower compartments with 
their axes running from front to rear and sloped downwardly toward the 
rear. This permits better sorting and stacking within the respective 
compartments as well as easy withdrawal of the articles from each of the 
compartments. 
One object of this invention is to provide an inexpensive shelf unit for 
sorting and enabling visual identification of a substantially large number 
of relatively elongated, cylindrical-like or tubular articles, especially 
collections of different size and shape packages of hypodermic needles and 
syringes and the like. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a compartmentalized shelf 
unit which is sufficiently open to enable rapid removal and insertion of 
groups of similar sized or shaped articles and also, to facilitate 
maintaining the cleanliness of the unit. Since the unit is essentially 
transparent, any lack of cleanliness is quickly observable which 
encourages frequent and adequate cleaning of the unit as required. 
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become 
apparent upon reading the following description, of which the attached 
drawings form a part.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring to the drawings, the shelf unit comprises a back wall 10 and side 
walls 11 and 12 which are secured to the back wall. The unit includes a 
lower shelf 14, an intermediate shelf 15 and an upper shelf 16. A low 
front wall 17 extends between the side walls along the front edge of the 
upper shelf. 
The lower and intermediate shelves tilt downwardly and rearwardly, that is, 
from the open front of the unit towards the rear wall of the unit. However, 
preferably the upper shelf tilts reversely, that is, forwardly and 
downwardly. The angle of tilting relative to the horizontal may be varied. 
However, an operative example of a unit for the intended purpose includes 
about a 15! downward tilt, relative to the horizontal, for both the 
intermediate and lower shelves. The upper shelf is tilted at a lesser 
angle, such as roughly 10! or between about 5-10! from the horizontal. 
Vertical dividers 19 are arranged between the intermediate and lower 
shelves to provide forwardly opening, lower compartments 20. Similarly, at 
least one vertical divider 19 is arranged between the upper shelf and 
intermediate shelf to provide at least two intermediate compartments 23. 
As shown in the drawings, the use of two vertical dividers 19 and one 
vertical divider 22, above it, produces a number of compartments of 
different sizes. 
In addition, a number of vertical dividers 25 are arranged between the rear 
or back wall 10 and the front wall 17, upon the upper surface of the upper 
shelf 16. This produces a number of upwardly opening compartments 26 which 
may be of the same size, but preferably are of different sizes, as shown by 
the center compartment in FIG. 2. 
The entire unit is made of a plastic sheet material, using a suitable, 
commercially available plastic which is sufficiently strong enough for 
this purpose. Preferably, the material is completely transparent, but it 
may be substantially transparent, that is, less than glass-like in 
transparency. In either event, the unit may be sufficiently transparent so 
the contents of the compartments are readily visible from all directions, 
that is, through the walls, dividers and shelves. 
The unit may be used by simply standing it upright, as for example shown in 
FIG. 1. Alternatively, it may be mounted against a wall or support, using 
mounting holes 28 in the rear wall as a means for suspending the shelf 
unit upon hooks or for receiving nails or screws that may be used for 
securing the shelf unit upon a supporting wall. 
The shelf unit, although useful for a variety of elongated, tube-like 
groups of articles, is especially useful for storing and sorting the 
relatively large number of a wide variety of hypodermic syringes and 
syringe needles typically found in a veterinary hospital. Thus, FIG. 7 
schematically illustrates a typical hypodermic syringe package 30 having a 
syringe 31 encapsulated within a rigid test tube-like package 32 closed by 
a suitable cap 33. Alternatively, the package may be of a flexible, 
generally tubular, envelope type (not shown). The size of the packaged 
syringe varies considerably depending upon the nature and construction of 
the syringe. For example, some syringes may be as long as five inches or 
more, and others may be shorter. In the case of hypodermic syringes that 
are used with interchangeable different size needles, it is conventional 
to package the needles in needle packages 36 which comprise capsule-like 
tubes 37 or generally tubular envelopes, each containing a particular 
length and diameter needle 38. The tubes may be formed, like long medicine 
capsules, in two parts with one part telescoped in the other to form the 
complete package. Different size needles may be packaged in different 
size, shape or color containers. 
FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an alternative style of hypodermic syringe 
package 40. This comprises an elongated tube 41 of varying diameter, with a 
cover 42. The package contains a syringe 43 upon which a needle 44 is 
affixed. 
In typical use, because of the difficulty, expense and relative 
unreliability of sterilizing hypodermic syringes and their needles, it is 
common to obtain the syringes and their needles in sterilized condition. 
After the cap of the package is removed and the syringe and needle are 
removed from their packages they are used once and then are discarded. 
However, in these cases where syringe or needle are to be sterilized and 
reused they may be repackaged into their containers and returned to the 
shelf unit. 
A typical veterinary hospital has a large number of groups of different 
size, shape and style syringes and needles. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 
2, the packaged needles are preferably arranged within the upwardly 
opening compartments 26 with their axes arranged generally parallel to the 
front and rear walls. Preferably, the width of each compartment is selected 
to match a conventional size needle package. For example, one typical 
needle size package is about 21/4 inches in length. Thus, the width of the 
upwardly opening compartment for that size package should be slightly 
larger so as to receive a number of packaged needles of that size. 
In the case of the syringes, whose lengths vary considerably, these may be 
stuffed endwise into the respective compartments as illustrated 
schematically in FIGS. 4 and 6. Although the shelf unit size may vary, a 
suitable size may be about 15" high, 15" wide and about 5-6" deep, with 
the shelves and compartment dividers appropriately spaced. 
This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following 
claims. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read 
as merely illustrative of an operative embodiment of this invention and 
not as a strictly limiting sense.