Container for disposing of hazardous medical waste

A container for disposing of hazardous wastes including an inner receptacle adapted to receive and contain the hazardous wastes or etiological agents and an impact resistent outer container with the inner receptacle disposed within the outer container. The container further includes a fluid barrier located between the inner receptacle and the outer container. The fluid barrier acts as an intermediate containment to minimize fluid from passing from the inner receptacle to the outer container in the event the inner receptacle is ruptured.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Technical Field 
The subject invention relates to leak and puncture proof receptacles for 
contaminated medical or otherwise hazardous wastes, or etiological agents 
and in particular, to such containers which are adapted to receive, store, 
ship and destroy medical wastes such as used needles, syringes, scalpels, 
clinical specimens, medical and biological devices or etiological agents. 
2. Description of The Prior Art 
One of the major problems facing the medical community today is the safe 
and proper disposition of used needles, syringes, scalpel blades, etc., 
commonly referred to as "sharps". In view of the risk of contracting 
various blood and body fluid borne diseases, it is standard procedure for 
medical personnel today to quickly dispose of sharps shortly after they 
have been used. In addition, the safe, proper disposal of clinical 
specimens, and medical or biological devices pose the same type of disease 
control problems. To that end, many container based disposal systems are 
known in the prior art and are presently employed in hospitals, clinics 
and medical laboratories to meet this need. Examples of the state of the 
art of such containers can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,466,538 issued to 
Gianni on Aug. 21, 1984 for a Hypodermic Needle Disposal System; 4,494,652 
issued to Nelson et al. on Jan. 22, 1985 for a Container For Sharps; 
4,576,281 issued to Kirksey on Mar. 18, 1986 for a Disposable Syringe 
Needle Separation and Storage Box; 4,715,498 issued to Hanifl on Dec. 29, 
1987 for a Sharps Disposal System; 4,667,821 issued to Shillington on May 
26, 1987 for a Swivel Top Closure For Phlebotomy Container; and 4,972,950 
issued to Shillington on Nov. 27, 1990 for a Secure Disposable Container 
Assembly. 
Medical waste, including used sharps, clinical specimens, as well as 
medical and biological devices is typically disposed of by incineration. 
Large hospitals and medical complexes often have their own incinerators to 
handle the large volume of medical wastes they produce. Such institutions 
typically have procedures for the collection of medical waste containers 
and transportation from their point of origin to the incinerator. 
However, small hospitals, clinics and rural medical facilities often do not 
have waste incineration facilities on site and must rely on waste haulers 
to dispose of this medical waste. In recent years state and federal 
governments have enacted regulations governing the disposal of 
contaminated medical wastes such as sharps, clinical specimens and medical 
or biological devices. Such regulations may provide for the disposal of 
medical waste into the main stream of conventional, non-toxic waste 
disposal systems, such as landfills only when the waste is properly 
contained. Further some medical waste generators have been required to 
ship their waste to authorized incinerators to comply with such 
regulations. 
In addition to the generation of medical wastes from classic sources such 
as hospitals and clinics, contaminated sharps in need of proper disposal 
are generated by millions of people who are authorized to give themselves 
injections of prescribed drugs in their own homes. For example, diabetics 
often self administer two or more injections of insulin daily, each time 
using a different needle and syringe. Contaminated medical waste generated 
in such an environment is generally not properly contained but often finds 
its way into the local landfills, contrary to state and federal 
regulation. 
While the medical waste containers of the prior art and specifically those 
cited above all solve other problems of the prior art and are capable of 
receiving used sharps, none are leak proof and puncture proof such that 
they may be safely and routinely transported, shipped by a common carrier, 
or sent through the mail from their point of origin to an incinerator or 
landfill. Further, none are specifically adapted to be employed by 
non-medical personnel, such as diabetics, in non-medical environments. 
Thus, there is a need for a container for disposing of medical wastes such 
as sharps, clinical specimens and medical or biological devices and 
etiological agents which is leak and puncture proof and which may be 
routinely shipped through the mail or other carrier, which can be 
routinely employed by non-medical personnel or the general public, without 
the need for otherwise special precautions and which is adapted to be 
incinerated or otherwise disposed of along with its contents. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND ADVANTAGES 
The subject invention is directed toward a container for disposing of 
hazardous, wastes and includes an inner receptacle which is adapted to 
receive and contain the contaminated wastes and an impact resistent outer 
container. The inner receptacle is disposed within the outer container. 
The container also includes a fluid barrier which is located between the 
inner receptacle and the outer container. The fluid barrier acts as an 
intermediate containment system which prevents any fluid from passing from 
the inner receptacle to the outer container in the unlikely event that the 
inner receptacle is ruptured. The inner receptacle and the outer container 
are then disposed within a corrugated cardboard box which may be 
transported from the point of origin of the medical waste to an 
incinerator, or landfill via a common carrier or even the mail. The box 
may be pre-addressed and can be coded for monitoring or tracking by the 
dispensing agent, mail or common carrier and the incinerator or landfill. 
The container is leak and puncture proof, impact resistent and stackable 
one on top of the other for ease of storage, shipping and incineration. In 
this way, the subject invention overcomes the problems in the prior art in 
a container for disposing of hazardous medical waste such as sharps, 
clinical specimens, medical and biological devices or etiological agents 
which may be conveniently employed in hospitals, labs, testing facilities, 
industries, by clinics, veterinarians and even by non-medical 
professionals, such as diabetics, who self administer insulin on a regular 
basis to properly dispose of sharps and other medical waste in a leak and 
puncture proof container which is specifically designed for shipping via 
common carrier or mail.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The subject invention is directed toward an efficient, convenient, leak 
proof, puncture proof container for disposing of contaminated toxic 
medical waste, (medical waste) including needles, syringes, scalpels, etc. 
(hereinafter "sharps") as well as clinical specimens, medical and 
biological devices or etiological agents. The container is specifically 
adapted to accept and store contaminated medical waste and to ship this 
waste through either a common carrier or the mail from its point of origin 
to an incinerator or landfill located at a location remote from the point 
of origin. 
The assembly which makes up the container of the subject invention is shown 
generally at 10 in the exploded view of FIG. 2. The container 10 includes 
an inner receptacle, generally indicated at 12, and an impact resistent 
outer container 14. The inner receptacle 12 is specifically adapted to 
receive and contain medical waste and is disposed within the outer 
container 14. For example and by way of explanation and not by limitation, 
the inner receptacle 12 is shown with a used scalpel 13, syringe with 
needle 15 and a used I.V. tube with needle 17 enclosed therein. A small 
amount of fluid 19 is also shown. The container 10 also includes a fluid 
barrier, generally indicated as 16 in FIG. 2. This fluid barrier 16 is 
located between the inner receptacle 12 and the outer container 14. The 
fluid barrier 16 acts as an intermediate containment system and prevents 
any fluid from passing from the inner receptacle 12 to the outer container 
14 in the unlikely event that the inner receptacle is ruptured as will be 
discussed in further detail below. 
The whole assembly of the inner receptacle 12, the outer container 14 as 
well as the fluid barrier 16 is ultimately disposed within a corrugated 
cardboard box, generally indicated at 18. The box 18 may be of any 
configuration, but in the best mode contemplated by the inventors, is a 
six sided rectangular shaped cardboard box having a closable open end, 
generally shown at 20. The open end 20 includes a pair of opposed flaps 22 
which are foldable over the opening and a lid 24 with a creased lip 26 
extendable in a direction transverse to the lid 24. The lid 24 also 
includes a slot 28 extending approximately along the line of the crease 
defining the lip 26. When the flaps 22 are folded toward one another and 
the lid 24 is folded over the flaps 22, a tongue 30 having an enlarge head 
32 is receivable in the slot 28 in such a way as to lock the lid 24 in 
this closed position. Due to the enlarged shape of the head 32, the tongue 
30 may not be removed from the slot 28 without damaging the slot 28, 
tongue 30 or both. Any such damage to the box 18 indicates unauthorized 
tampering of a closed, sealed box 18 of the container 10. 
Referring now to both FIGS. 1 and 2, the impact resistent outer container 
14 is an open ended cylindrical tube 34 made of sturdy, shock resistent 
kraft paper. The outer container 14 also includes a pair of polyethylene 
foam bead end caps 36. The end caps 36 have cylindrically shaped sockets 
37 which accept the open ends of the cylindrical tube 34 and are thus 
removably disposed on either end of the cylinder 34. The outer impact 
container thus completely encloses the inner receptacle 12 and the fluid 
barrier 16 and protects the contents from rupture due to shock or any 
other type of impact. 
The inner receptacle 12 includes a high density polyethylene grade 7040D 
plastic cylindrical body 38 having a closed end or bottom 40 and an open 
end 42 disposed opposite the closed end. The cylindrical body 38 also 
includes male threads 44 disposed on a portion of its circumference 
adjacent its open end 42. A threadably removable high density polyethylene 
grade 7R156 cap 46 is adapted to be screwed onto the open end 42 of the 
body 38 and thereby close the open end 42 such that the inner receptacle 
12 is sealed shut when the cap 46 is so disposed. 
The body 38 also includes a pair of plastic flanges 48, 50. Flange 48 is 
molded to body 38. The flange 50 is sonically welded to the body. Both 
flanges are disposed about the cylindrical periphery thereof for 
strengthening the body of the receptacle 12. The flanges 48, 50 are spaced 
relative to one another with the flange 48 located adjacent to the last 
male thread 44 on the open end 42 of the cap 46 and the flange 50 located 
near the bottom 40 of the body 38 of the inner receptacle 12. 
The body 38 also defines an upper rim 52. A circular, neoprene gasket 54 is 
disposed between the rim 52 and the threaded cap 46 to form a seal 
therebetween and thus prevents any leakage from the inner receptacle 12 at 
the capped end of the body 38. The gasket 54 is made of a commercial 
neoprene 40 duro style NO10! ASTM D-2000-Type BC. In addition to the 
gasket 54, and as best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a conically shaped sealing 
member 56 is disposed within the opening 42 of the body 38 of the inner 
receptacle. The sealing member 56 has an aperture 58 which allows medical 
waste such as used sharps, to enter the inner receptacle 12 but otherwise 
denies access to the interior of the receptacle. The sealing member 56 is 
made of low density polyethylene Grade F-18D012. The aperture 58 and the 
sealing member 56 includes a keyhole shaped opening which is centrally 
located on the sealing member 56. A plurality of slots 60 extend radially 
outward from the keyhole 58 which allows the sealing member 56 to flex and 
except waste of varying sizes. In this way, while the inner receptacle 12 
receives such wastes, the sealing member prevents used sharps from easily 
being removed from the receptacle 12 once they have been deposited there. 
As indicated earlier, in addition to the sealable inner receptacle 12 and 
the impact resistent outer container 14, the subject invention also 
includes a fluid barrier 16 which is disposed between the inner receptacle 
12 and the outer container 14 which further insures that no fluid passes 
from the inner receptacle to the outer container. This is accomplished as 
follows: 
The fluid barrier 16 includes a polyethylene liner 62 having an open end. 
The inner receptacle 12 is adapted to be disposed within the liner 62 with 
the liner 62 being sealable at its open end using, for example, a 
conventional twist tie 61 shown taped to the end cap 36 in FIG. 2. 
However, it will be appreciated that any other means may be used to seal 
the liner 62. In addition to the liner 62, the fluid barrier 16 also 
includes an open ended cylindrically shaped absorbent shield 64 which is 
disposed about the circumference of the body 38 of the inner receptacle 12 
and between the pair of flanges 48, 50. The shield 64 if made of cotton or 
wooden fiber and coated with a durable absorbent facing which will absorb 
any fluid in the unlikely event that some is present between the inner 
receptacle 12 and the liner 62. 
As such, the fluid barrier 16, through the liner 62 and the absorbent 
shield 64, prevents any fluid from passing from the inner receptacle 12 to 
the outer container 14. Because the inner receptacle 12 and the fluid 
barrier 16 are disposed within the outer container 14, the assembly is 
leak proof, puncture proof, and impact resistent. Further, and when this 
subassembly is disposed within the cardboard box, the container may be 
stacked one on top of the other to store, ship or incinerate used sharps 
in a manner which ensures the integrity of the containment of the 
hazardous wastes. 
The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be 
understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in 
the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. Obviously, 
many modifications and variations of the present invention in light of the 
above teachings may be made. It is, therefore, to be understood that the 
invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.