Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention is directed to a wheeled machine for shredding and/or collecting drugs and similar pharmaceutical and/or medical products incident to permanent disposal which can be utilized in hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes or like medical facilities by nurses or similar healthcare providers. 
   By law, expired drugs, prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, etc. must be destroyed to prevent unauthorized distribution which could lead to serious medical problems, as well as providing the added benefit of reducing the possibility that they may be diverted or use in drug counterfeiting/trafficking. Typical drugs and their packaging include tablets, capsules, granules, and liquids utilized in conjunction with any one of associated pill bottles, caps, tubes, vials, ampules, blister packages, blister cards, blister packs, multiple unit packages, twin blister packs, unit dosing packages and the like. 
   A typical conventional drug depository is, for example, a drop chute collection unit manufactured and sold by deVault Company, Inc. which is illustrated and described at http://deVault.com/drop_chute.html. Model No. DVDC0060 disclosed thereat is 19″W×42″H×19″D and includes a simple “drop and go” deposit slot through which disposed drugs and/or packaging are guided by a funnel system into removable totes for safe and easy collection with access being provided via a front key-lock access door. 
   Mobile or portable units specifically designed for shedding, crushing and collecting medical waste products and material are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,804 issued on Jan. 7, 1997 to Mathew J. Adams et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,614 B2 issued on May 27, 2003 to Han Jong Chen et al. while two other shredders utilized for more general purpose shredding are disclosed in Pub. No.: US 2006/0091247 A1 in the name of Tai Hoon Kim Matlin published on May 4, 2006 and Pub. No. US 2006/0086874 A1 in the name of David A. Schenker published on Apr. 27, 2006. The latter patents and publications reflect the most relevant prior art found during a search of the present invention which also included the below-listed additional publication and patents: 
   
     
       
             
             
           
         
             
                 
             
           
           
             
               U.S. 2006/0054725 
               Matlin 
             
             
               3,389,864 
               Topinka 
             
             
               3,682,402 
               Goldhammer 
             
             
               3,750,966 
               Anderson 
             
             
               4,531,437 
               Szablak et al. 
             
             
               4,873,811 
               Izumintani 
             
             
               5,035,367 
               Nojima 
             
             
               5,165,564 
               Prout et al. 
             
             
               5,282,428 
               Greville et al. 
             
             
               5,375,781 
               Schwelling 
             
             
               5,429,313 
               Schwelling 
             
             
               5,662,281 
               Wollert et al. 
             
             
               5,692,687 
               Kateley 
             
             
               5,887,807 
               Bienicke 
             
             
               5,897,065 
               Schwelling 
             
             
               6,186,428 
               Robinson et al. 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   Recently the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended more unit-dose packaging and clear copy on product labels, recommendations that Mr. Peter Maybery, executive director of the Healthcare Compliance Counsel, called “pure gold.” The IOM report has set off a debate both within the industry and in Washington, D.C. as to whether drug manufacturers are moving quickly enough into blister packs, though there is not any federal requirement of any kind that they do so. Drug companies already put certain products in unit-dose packaging and unit-of-use packaging and the latter is expected to increase even though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made no specific requirements with respect to such packaging other than the drug bar coding requirement that went into effect April of 2006. It required all manufacturers, whether they sell direct to hospitals or through wholesalers, to make sure that each drug container which ends up in a hospital pharmacy has a linear bar code which, at a minimum, contains the drugs&#39; National Drug Code (NDC) number, a requirement that grew out of a 1989 IOM report that estimated there are 98,000 deaths annually from medication errors. Though the FDA rules do not require that hospital SKUs be packaged in a unit-of-use or unit-dose package, most pharmaceutical companies are beginning to do just that. Therefore, in the coming years an effective drug shredding/collecting system for effectively destroying expired drugs must necessarily have the capability of disposing of all drugs and drug packaging, be such small plastic bottles and caps, larger bulk bottles utilized by retail pharmacies or the ever expanding unit-of-use and unit-dose packaging (blister packs) which in the United States now stands at only 20% as compared to 80% overseas. Accordingly, at this point in time hospitals, hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies, etc. require a machine which can both shred and collect drug and drug packaging of virtually any type, particularly being mindful of the ever expanding unit-of-use and unit-dose use blister packaging. 
   No matter the particular type drug and drug package collection unit utilized by hospitals, pharmacies or the like, the destruction of expired drugs is subject to strict accountability. For example, pills or capsules which are destroyed in a hospital environment must be removed from the container, blister pack or the like and crushed in the presence of two persons, generally nurses. Obviously, removing individual pills/capsules from a multiple dose blister pack before crushing the same is work intense and wasteful of the expertise and healthcare efforts of nurses whether in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers or other healthcare facilities. Accordingly, the healthcare industry as a whole requires that which to date has not been provided, namely, a drug shredding machine which can efficiently, safely and with a high degree of accountability heretofore unprovided in the industry shred/collect drugs and drug packaging with unparallel security and the prevention of theft, black marketing, resale, pirating, re-use, pilferage, shrinkage and dumpster diving with respect to expired/tainted or otherwise unuseful drugs. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In keeping with the foregoing, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a novel portable machine for shredding and collecting drugs and drug packaging in virtually any healthcare environment incident to being thereafter transported to and destroyed at large commercial pharmaceutical material destruction centers normally used by drug companies, distributors or wholesalers. The shredding/collecting machine of the present invention includes a cabinet with a top wall supporting a shredder for drugs and drug packaging and an opening for non-shredable drug packages, such as plastic bottles and caps, which are deposited in a collection container within an interior chamber of the machine which is also accessed through a front opening normally closed by a lockable pivotably mounted front door. The non-shredable drug/drug packaging opening includes a flexible inlet guard separated radially into a plurality of triangular flaps to limit access into the interior chamber of the cabinet/housing. The interior housing includes a storage area for a container lid and a storage area for plastic locking ties which when the lid is slid to a nested position with respect to a flange of the collection container can lock the two together thereby preventing inadvertent/accidental spillage and/or indicate pilfering. 
   With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a machine for shredding/collecting drugs and drug packaging, and illustrates a housing closed by a door and a top wall supporting a shredder and an opening closed by a flexible inlet guard. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view substantially similar to  FIG. 1 , and illustrates the shredding/collecting machine with the front door open, a collection container and container lid housed within an interior chamber of the cabinet or housing, and a pocket on the door housing plastic locking ties. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective exploded view of the shredding and collecting machine of  FIGS. 1 and 2  with a portion of the housing/cabinet broken away for clarity, and illustrates details of the container, cover or lid and two of the plastic locking ties. 
       FIG. 4  is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken generally along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 1 , and illustrates the location of the container and lid in the interior chamber of the cabinet. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the container, and illustrates the lid closing the container and being secured thereto by the plastic locking ties passed through registered openings of the lid and a flange of the container. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   A novel mobile machine or apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention for shredding and collecting drugs, pharmaceutical and medical products and packaging therefor in hospitals, hospital pharmacies, nursing homes, and the like incident to permanent disposal/destruction is illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 4  of the drawings and is generally designated by the reference numeral  10 . The shredding/collecting machine  10  is intended to shred or collect virtually any type of ingestible pharmaceutical, drug and/or medical products, such as those specified earlier herein including, but not limited to, tablets, capsules, granules, tubes, ampules, plastic or glass pill bottles and/or caps, multiple unit and single unit dosing packages, including blister packages, and blister cards, and the like. 
   The shredding and collecting machine includes a housing or cabinet  20 , a container  40 , a container lid  50  ( FIGS. 3 and 5 ) and a plurality of plastic locking ties  60  ( FIG. 3 ). 
   The housing or cabinet  20  of the shredding or collecting machine  10  includes a top wall  11 , a bottom wall  12  carrying wheels or casters W, a rear or back wall  13 , side walls  14  and  15 , upper and lower opposing front flanges  16 ,  17  and opposing front side flanges  18 ,  19 , respectively, the latter flanges collectively defining a front opening  21 . The opening  21  can be opened and closed by a front door  22  pivoted by a piano hinge  23  ( FIG. 1 ) to the side flange  18  ( FIG. 3 ). The front door  22  includes a lockable/unlockable handle  24  having an inner latch  25  which in the latched or locked position latches behind the front side flange  19 . Means  26  in the form of a pocket is carried by the door  22  and housed therein are a plurality of the plastic locking ties  60  ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ). 
   The door  22 , the walls  11  through  15  and the flanges  16  through  19  define an interior chamber  28  ( FIGS. 2 through 4 ) of the cabinet  20  into which the container  40  can be slidably inserted and removed in a manner to be described more fully hereinafter. 
   The bottom wall  12  of the cabinet  20  is reinforced by spaced parallel tubes  30 ,  31  and similar spaced parallel tubes  32 ,  33 , preferably welded to each other and welded to the bottom wall  12  ( FIGS. 3 and 4 ). Similar tubing may be provided as necessary to reinforce any of the walls of the cabinet  20  should such be found necessary or desirable. 
   Means  34 ,  35  ( FIGS. 3 and 4 ) each in the form of a generally L-angle iron member, define guide means for sliding the container  40  into and out of the interior chamber  28  of the cabinet  20 . The guide means or guide rails  34 ,  35  are preferably welded to the tubes  30 ,  31  and the spacing therebetween corresponds substantially to the size of the width of a bottom wall  42  of the container  40 , as is most readily apparent from  FIG. 4  of the drawings. 
   Shredding means  36  ( FIGS. 1 through 4 ) in the form of a conventional shredder is housed in a rectangular opening  37  ( FIG. 4 ) of the top wall  11  and includes a feed slot  38 . The shredder means or shredder  36  can correspond to any conventional shredder, such as the “Powershred® SB-97C Shredder CRC: 32197” manufactured by Fellowes www.fellowes.com) which includes an automatic feed and an active safety sensor that stops shredding immediately when the feed slot or product entry  36  is manually touched. For higher capacity and productivity, the shredder  36  may instead be the “Powershred® C-420 CRC: 384201.1,” also manufactured by Fellowes. 
   Products or packaging which cannot be fed into the shredder  36  through the feed slot  38 , such as glass or plastic bottles or caps, can be fed through a substantially circular feed opening  39  ( FIGS. 1 through 4 ) which includes a plurality of radial slits defining a plurality of triangular radially inwardly directed flexible rubber or plastic flaps F typical of kitchen disposal openings. 
   The container  40  includes a top peripheral flange  41 , the bottom wall  42 , a rear wall  43 , side walls  44  and  45  and a front wall  46  having a handle  47 . The top peripheral flange is generally channel-shaped along the walls  43 - 45  with channels  48  of the walls  44 ,  45  being in opposing relationship to each other ( FIGS. 3 and 4 ). The front wall  46  of the container  40  is devoid of a channel  48  and instead includes a radially outwardly directed flange  49  having holes  61  ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ) at each of opposite ends or corners (unnumbered) thereof. 
   The cover or lid  50  ( FIGS. 3 and 5 ) is generally rectangular or polygonal in configuration and includes a rear edge  53 , side edges  54 ,  55  and at a front edge  56  a downwardly directed flange or handle  57 . Openings  62 ,  62  are located at forward corners (unnumbered) of the lid  50  and the distance and location therebetween correspond to the distance and location of the openings  61 ,  61  of the flange  49  of the container  40 . 
   Incident to performing a shredding or collecting operation utilizing the machine  10 , the container  40  is inserted into the interior chamber  28  through the opening  21  by sliding the bottom wall  42  along the tubes  30 - 32  while being guided by the guide rails  34 ,  35  ( FIG. 4 ). The container  40  is sized such that when fully inserted into the interior chamber  28 , the top peripheral flange  41  along the back wall  43  contacts the back wall  13  of the cabinet  20  thereby accurately locating the container  40  beneath both an outlet O ( FIG. 4 ) of the shredder  36  and the opening  39 . The lid  50  is inserted into a storage area S ( FIG. 4 ) located between the walls  14 ,  44  (or  15 ,  45 ) after which the front door  22  is closed and locked by the keyed lock or latch  25 . Individual drug capsules, pills or the like or blister packages with pills still housed therein or any other conventional combination of ingestible drugs/pharmaceutical products which can be shredded by the shredder  36  are fed thereto through the feed slot  38 , are conventionally shredded thereby and, upon exiting the shredder through the shredder outlet O ( FIG. 4 ), accumulate in the interior of the container  40 . 
   Other drugs/drug associated products and/or packaging which cannot be fed through the feed slot  38  of the shredder  36  or cannot be shredded thereby, such as glass or plastic pill bottles and caps, are simply pushed through the flexible flaps F of the opening  39  and dropped into the interior of the container  40 . When the container  40  is filled to its desired capacity, which is conventionally sensed by the Fellows shredders heretofore described, the door  22  is unlocked, opened and the container  40  is withdrawn from the interior chamber  28  along with the lid  50 . The lid  50  is then slid into the channel  48  in the manner readily apparent from a comparison of  FIGS. 3 and 5 , after which one of the plastic locking ties  60  ( FIG. 3 ) is passed through the registered opening  61 ,  62 ;  61 ,  62  of the respective lid  50  and flange  49  of the container  40  and locked in the conventional manner illustrated in  FIG. 5 . As is well known in the prior art, such plastic locking ties  60  have teeth (not shown) which can pass through the locking tie opening (also not shown) in one direction but cannot be withdrawn from the latched position shown in  FIG. 5 . Therefore, if either or both of the plastic locking ties  60  have been broken or cut, such would reflect pilfering and thus serve as tamper-indicating means. The container  40  with the lid  50  locks thereto ( FIG. 5 ) and the container contents are shipped to a conventional final disposal site conventionally available utilizing high volume, low speed, high torque shredding systems (See www.franklinmiller.com) which will shred the non-shred products deposited in the container  40  through the inlet opening  39 . Alternatively, the container  40  is of a relatively small size (10 gallons) and when filled ( FIG. 5 ), can be readily carried to a mobile shredding truck, such as the MS10 series manufactured by Franklin Miller Co., Inc. which is driven to the door of the hospital, pharmacy, nursing home or similar site utilizing the shredding and collecting machine  10 . 
   Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been specifically illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that minor variations may be made in the apparatus without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Technology Category: 7