Needle disposal apparatus

Apparatus for facilitating the safe disposal of used hypodermic needles. According to a preferred embodiment, a funnel-like member, adapted to be hand-held, functions to support a needle sheath during a needle-sheathing operation. The converging walls of such member shield the hand of the user from accidental "needle sticks". Also disclosed are needle containers which incorporate means for facilitating the sheathing of used needles prior to entering the container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for safely disposing of 
used hypodermic needles. More particularly, it relates to apparatus by 
which the resheathing of a used hypodermic needle is facilitated prior to 
collection, for example, in a sealed container. 
After use, the tip of a hypodermic needle may bear a wide variety of 
diseases (e.g. hepatitis, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), 
etc.) which can be communicated to one who is accidentally pricked or 
stuck by it. So prevalent are such accidental "needle sticks", as they are 
commonly known in hospital parlance, that some estimates suggest that 
millions of dollars per year are spent in running blood tests following 
needle sticks to verify that a disease may have (or have not) been 
communicated, and to prophylactically treat potential disease if such 
tests are positive. This cost, of course, is reflected in increased 
medical bills to all of us. 
Frequently, needle sticks occur while a nurse or medical technician 
attempts to return the used needle to its protective sheath prior to 
disposal. Such resheathing is considered by most to be an essential first 
step in the safe disposal of used needles. Unfortunately, resheathing a 
used needle has proven to be no simple task, especially when it must be 
performed under the pressures and time constraints common in busy 
hsopitals and medical practices. To obviate the need for resheathing, 
considerable effort has been expended in devising devices which dispose of 
needles without sheaths. Some such devices comprise containers which, upon 
receiving a needle through an aperture, strip the needle from its syringe 
faucet and retain it. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,434 issued to 
Elisha in 1982, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,067 issued to Schwarz in 1975. 
While such containers facilitate needle disposal for the immediate user, 
they can be costly to produce and consume considerable space. Furthermore, 
since the needles collected in such containers have no sheaths, they can 
present a substantial hazzard to the immediate user, especially when the 
container is nearly full and one attempts to jam more needles into it, as 
well as to those further down the needle disposal chain, e.g. refuse 
collectors, who ultimately dispose of the needles in an incinerator. 
The most common type of blood-drawing needles have two juxtaposed needle 
elements, one being used to draw blood and the other being used to 
penetrate the septum of an evacuated tube (e.g., a "Vacutainer" tube, 
trademark of Becton-Dickinson) for the purpose of collecting the drawn 
blood. This type of hypodermic needle presents an even more difficult 
problem of safe disposal, especially so if both needle elements are to be 
resheathed prior to collection for disposal. To date, it is common to 
dispose of such needles, with or without sheaths, by merely dropping them 
in a sealed container. As noted above, unsheathed needles can present a 
health hazard to those who ultimately destroy the needles, and the task of 
resheathing both needle elements prior to disposal presents a substantial 
health hazard to those effecting the resheathing operation. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the invention to provide an 
apparatus which facilitates the safe resheathing of used hypodermic 
needles prior to disposal. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a container for used 
hypodermic needles which facilitates the resheathing of needles as they 
enter such container. 
A further object of this invention is to provide a container for used 
hypodermic needles of the two-element type (e.g. for blood drawing and 
collecting) which container includes means for facilitating resheathing of 
both ends of the needle prior to receiving and containing the resheathed 
needles. 
One of the above objects of the invention is achieved by the provision of a 
funnel-shaped member which is adapted to receive and support the sheath of 
a hypodermic needle. Such funnel-shaped member comprises (a) an endless 
wall portion which converges toward an apex, such wall portion being 
truncated before reaching the apex to form a relatively narrow aperture, 
and (b) a substantially tubular portion having an inside diameter slightly 
greater than a needle sheath. The tubular portion has an open end which 
communicates with the aperture of the converging wall portion, and a 
constricted end which prevents a sheath entering the tubular portion 
through the aperture from passing therethrough. In use, the funnel-shaped 
member may be hand-held and, during resheathing of a needle with a sheath 
positioned within the tubular portion, the wall portion shields the hand 
from accidental needle sticks. 
Another object of the invention is achieved by the provision of a container 
having a wall portion in which there is provided means for facilitating 
the resheathing of a hypodermic needle. Such facilitating means comprises 
means for releasably retaining a needle sheath, such retaining means being 
operable to retain a sheath while a needle is moved in a direction 
relative thereto to effect sheathing of the needle with the retained 
sheath, and to release the sheathed needle into the container upon 
continued movement of the needle in the sheathing direction. Optionally, 
the wall portion of the container also comprises means for supporting a 
funnel-shaped member of the type described. The combination of the 
funnel-shaped member and the releasable retaining means is particularly 
useful in resheathing both needle elements of a conventional blood 
drawing/collecting needle prior to collection in the container. 
The invention and its various advantages will become evident to those 
skilled in the art from the ensuing detailed description of preferred 
embodiments, reference being made to the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a conventional hypodermic 
needle assembly 10 comprising a syringe 12 and a needle element 14. Needle 
element 14 comprises a hollow needle shank 14a coupled to a hub 18 which, 
in use, is press-fit over a spigot 20 of the syringe 12. Prior to use, the 
needle shank is provided with a protective sheath 16 (shown in FIG. 2). 
Sheath 16 has an enlarged open end 16a which is sized to receive a tapered 
portion 18a of the needle element's hub 18. When the sheath is applied, 
the needle shank 14a and the hub's tapered portion 18a are housed in the 
sheath, as shown in FIG. 3. In preparation for use, the sheath is removed 
and, following use and prior to disposal of the needle element, it is 
desirable, as noted above, to re-apply the sheath to the needle shank. 
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a funnel-like 
member 24, shown in FIG. 2, for facilitating the resheathing operation. 
Such member is preferably made of a hardened plastic material (e.g., 
polytetrafluoroethylene) so as to be non-penetrable by a needle tip. 
Member 24 has an endless wall portion 26 which converges toward an apex A. 
Before reaching such apex, however, wall portion 26 (which may have a 
circular or polygonal (e.g., triangular, rectangular or hexagonal) 
cross-section) is truncated to provide an aperture 28. A tubular member 
30, having a constricted or closed end 32 and an open end 34, is coupled 
to member 24 so that its open end communicates with aperture 28. The 
inside diameter of tubular member 30 is slightly greater than the outside 
diameter of the needle sheath, so that a sheath can loosely fit inside the 
tubular member. The length of the tubular member is approximately equal to 
the length of the sheath, so that the flanged open end of the sheath is 
approximately co-planar with the plane of aperture 28 when a sheath is 
positioned within the tubular member, as shown in FIG. 2. 
In use, funnel-like member 24 may be hand-held with the user's hand 
gripping member 30. A sheath, once removed from the needle element, is 
dropped into the funnel-like member 24 so that the sheath's closed end 
abuts the closed end of the tubular member and is supported thereby. 
During the resheathing operation, the user's hand is shielded from the 
needle tip by wall portion 24 as the needle tip is moved toward the 
sheath's open end. As the needle enters the sheath, the closed end of 
tubular member 30 prevents axial movement of the sheath away from the 
needle. After the tapered portion of the needle hub 18 is firmly seated in 
the enlarged open end of the sheath, the sheathed needle can be withdrawn 
from the funnel-like member. Funnel-shaped member 24 is particularly 
useful, for example, at a patient's bedside, as it may be placed 
conviently nearby on a night stand until needed. By having flat sides 
(i.e., a polygonal cross-section), it is prevented from rolling away. 
Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a container 40 having a wall portion 41 
(preferably its top) in which means 42 are provided for facilitating the 
sheathing operation discussed above. Wall portion 41, and preferably the 
entire container is made of a flexible material, such as a thin guage 
(e.g., 1 mm. thick) plastic, which is not readily penetrated by a needle 
tip. Preferred plastics are polypropylene and polytetrafluoroethylene. 
Means 42 is in the form of an aperture 43 which is sized to receive and 
releasably support sheath 16. When used with the type of sheath shown in 
FIG. 1, the diameter of aperture 43 is approximately equal to the diameter 
of hub 16b, so that a received sheath is supported by its flange 16a. 
In use, a sheath 16 is removed from an assembled hypodermic needle assembly 
10 and inserted in aperture 43. The syringe 12 component having a needle 
element 18 fitted thereon is moved toward the flanged open end of the 
sheath. The needle shank enters and moves within the sheath until hub 18 
abuts the flanged end of the sheath. At this point the tapered hub portion 
18a becomes press-fit with the interior of the sheath's hub 16b. Continued 
movement of the syringe toward the sheath causes the aperture to flex and 
thereby enlarge. To facilitate the enlargement of aperture 43, 
radially-extending slots 44 are formed in wall portion 41. Aperture 43 
enlarges until the sheath's flange passes therethrough, whereupon the 
aperture snaps back to its original (i.e., unflexed) size which allows the 
flanged hub 18 of the needle element to pass. After hub 18 enters the 
container, the syringe is moved laterally to position flange 18b behind 
the wall portion 41. Movement of the syringe away from the container 
causes the sheathed needle to be stripped from the spigot 20 and deposited 
in the container. It will be appreciated that during the sheathing 
operation there is no risk of a needle stick to the user, and that the 
needle is sheathed before it enters the container. Also, the container can 
be used to receive pre-sheathed needles, such as needles which have been 
sheathed by the apparatus shown in FIG. 2. 
Referring now to FIG. 4a, a conventional blood drawing needle 50 is shown 
to comprise two juxtaposed needle elements 52' and 52", each having its 
own sheath 54' and 54", respectively. Both needle elements have hollow 
shanks which communicate, blood being drawn into element 52' and exiting 
through element 52". Needle hub 58 is provided with a bayonet connector 56 
which serves to connect needle 50 to a syringe 60, as shown in FIG. 4b. 
Syringe 60 comprises a container 62 which, during use, supports an 
evacuated tube 64 having a rubber septum 66 sealing its open end. When 
needle element 52' is inserted in a vein, tube 64 is moved toward element 
52" so that element 52" penentrates the septum. By virtue of the vacuum in 
tube 64, blood is drawn through the needle elements and deposited in the 
tube. As indicated above, it is highly desirable to resheath both needle 
elements after use and prior to disposal. 
In FIGS. 5-7, there is shown apparatus for facilitating the safe disposal 
of two element needles of the type shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b. Such 
apparatus comprises a container 120 having a construction similar to that 
described above. Container 120 has a wall portion 121 in which there is 
provided means for facilitating the resheathing of both needle elements 
prior to receipt by the container. Such means comprises a funnel-like 
member 124 of the type described above, and an expandable aperture 126. 
The tubular portion 128 of member 124 is sized to receive the sheath 54' 
for the blood drawing needle element 52' (as shown in FIG. 6) and aperture 
126 is sized to releasably support the sheath for the blood collecting 
needle element 52" (as shown in FIG. 7). 
In the following description of the manner in which the apparatus of FIGS. 
5-7 is used, it is assumed that the needle 50 is initially sheathed at 
both ends, this being the manner in which such needles are conventionally 
supplied. The user first removes sheath 54" and inserts it into aperture 
126 so that the sheath's flange 55 is supported by the wall portion 121 
surrounding the aperture. Holding the needle 50 by its sheath 54', the 
user then inserts needle element 52" into container 62, making the bayonet 
connection. Thereafter, sheath 54' is removed from needle element 52', and 
this sheath is dropped into the tubular portion 30 of member 124, as shown 
in FIG. 6. After the blood drawing/collection operation, needle element 
52' is resheathed (while still attached to the syringe 60) by inserting it 
into its sheath 54' while this sheath is supported by member 128. The 
closed end 129 of member 128 enables a press-fit coupling to be made 
between the sheath and a portion of hub 58. Upon sheathing element 52', 
needle 50 is decoupled from container 62 by holding the sheath 54' and 
turning it relative to the container. The exposed needle element 52" is 
then inserted into sheath 54", as shown in FIG. 7. Aperture 126 retains 
sheath 54" until a press-fit is established with the needle hub 58, and 
thereafter releases the fully sheathed needle assembly into the interior 
of container 120. Slots 126a are provided to reduce the force required to 
pass the sheathed needle asembly into the container. 
The invention has been described with particular reference to preferred 
embodiments. It will be appreciated, of course, that variations can be 
made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For 
example, member 124 shown in FIG. 5 need not have the converging wall 
portion 125. While this costruction facilitates placement of a sheath in 
the lower tubular portion and even acts as a guide in the subsequent 
resheathing operation, it does not lower the risk of needle sticks since, 
in the FIG. 5 embodiment, it is not intended to be hand-held. Similarly, 
other modifications will occur to those skilled in the art.