Coded test tubes

Abstract

A specimen holding device including a test tube having a cylindrical body with one end open and the other end closed, a cap securable to the cylindrical body to close the open end, and a content indicator secured to the tube and separate from the cap. The content indicator extends around the tube near the tube open end and has a selected color matching the cap, where the color is indicative of at least one of a test to be performed on the specimen in the tube and a specimen additive in the tube. The indicator may be a raised elastic ring around the tube cylindrical body and abutting the cap when the cap is secured to the cylindrical body. Alternatively, the indicator may be a colored ring fixed to the tube body around the tube adjacent the tube open end, where the cap overlaps with the content indicator when secured to the cylindrical body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a color coded test tube for collecting a specimen;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of a test tube incorporating the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the FIG. 2 test tube in a closed condition;

FIG. 4 is a partially broken perspective view of a second embodiment of a test tube incorporating the present invention in a closed condition; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the FIG. 4 test tube in an open condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 2-3. Specifically, in this embodiment, a test tube 10 having a base label 14 and closed by a color coded cap 12 such as in the prior art (and illustrated in FIG. 1) are used. The tube 10 may be formed of any suitable material, including glass or plastic. As in the prior art, the cap 12 and portions of the base label 14 may be color coded in order to identify the contents of the tube 10.

In accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, an elastic raised ring 20 is also provided, which ring 20 is color coded to match the color of the cap 12. For example, color coding such as has been heretofore used has included the following color associations:

COLORED CAPS
COLOR       TEST/ADDITIVE
Red marble  SST
Blue marble PST
Red         Serum
Green       Heparin
White       Glucose
Purple      EDTA
Orange      Lead
White/Blue  Citrate
Blue        Trace Element

The present invention may also use the above coding, or still other color coding may be used with the cap 12 and ring 20 (and, if desired, portions of the base label 14) having matching colors.

As should be appreciated from the above table of colors, it should be understood that, as used herein (including the claims), “color” is intended to refer broadly to visually distinguishable characteristics. Accordingly, “color” as used herein refers no only to specific colors of the light spectrum such as red, blue, etc., but also refers to light spectrum colors with textures and/or designs in the surface appearance, such as marble, checkerboard, etc. which may involve more than one light spectrum but which provide visual appearances which may be readily recognized to match the same appearance on a different surface.

The ring 20 of the FIGS. 2-3 embodiment may, in an unstretched state, advantageously have an inner diameter which is less than the outer diameter of the tube 10, whereby the ring 20 will hold itself on the tube 10 when placed thereon. In particular, it should be appreciated that the ring 20 may in an advantageous configuration be round in cross-section so that it may be readily rolled onto the tube 10. Moreover, the ring 20 may be initially placed on the open end of the tube 10 with the cap 12 thereafter pushed on to close the tube 10 and, simultaneously, push the ring 20 down over the tube 10. As a result, when the cap 12 is seated in its closing position on the end of the tube 10, the ring 20 will be adjacent the bottom of the cap 12 as illustrated in FIG. 3.

It should be appreciated that when the cap 12 is thereafter manually removed by a lab technician, the color coded ring 20 will remain on the tube 10. Therefore, even if the technician places the opened tube 10 in a rack with other tubes, he will be able to identify the contents of the tube 10 thereafter based on the color of the ring 20 even if the secondary label covers the base label 14. In that regard, it should be appreciated that it would be virtually impossible for a secondary label to be applied by a technician in a manner which will fully cover the color coded ring 20 so as to prevent the technician from making such an identification. The ring 20 extends fully around the tube 10 and it would be extremely unlikely for the secondary label to be misapplied so badly as to cover the ring 20 all the way around. Moreover, even in that unlikely event, since the ring 20 is raised, the cap 12 will prevent the secondary label from reaching the upper side of the ring 20 no matter how badly the secondary label is misapplied. Therefore, when the cap 12 is removed, the upper side of the ring 20 would still be visible. Still further, even in the further unlikely event that a secondary label were to both cover the entire ring 20 and be inadvertently squeezed down over the top of the test tube 10 after the cap 12 is removed so as to cover the top of the ring 20, the color of the tube 20 may still be visible through the inside of the generally transparent test tube 10 and, in any event, given the raised nature of the ring 20 the secondary label could always be readily removed the minor amount required to expose the color of the ring 20. In short, there is no conceivable way that a technician would be prevented from identifying the tube contents even after the cap 12 is removed.

It should also be appreciated that the above embodiment may be advantageously used with conventional components (i.e., labeled tubes 10 and color coded caps 12). As a result, the advantages of the present invention may be immediately recognized with existing inventories of such components by merely adding an appropriately color coded ring 20 to such capped tubes 10. Moreover, in those instances where it is known definitely that the tubes will not be handled manually at the lab when tested (and therefore the color coding will not be used), the extra expense of the ring 20 may be avoided by not including a ring 20 with the tube 10.

A second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 4-5. In this embodiment, a modified test tube 10A having a base label 14 and closed by a color coded cap 12 are used. Again, the cap 12 and portions of the base label 14 may be color coded in order to identify the contents of the tube 10A.

In accordance with this second embodiment of the present invention, a colored ring 30 is provided around the upper end of the tube 10A. The colored ring 30 may be a separate color coded label, or it may be integral with the tube 10A itself such as color coded frosting on the outer surface of the tube 10A. The ring 30 may extend to the top of the tube 10A, and may further extend over the top lip of the tube 10A so that, when the cap 12 is removed, the color coding may be seen even when viewing the tube 10A directly from the top end. The ring 30 is advantageously securely fixed to the tube 10A in any event so as to be unaffected by the cap 12 being placed on the tube open end over the ring 30 and to remain in that position when the cap 12 is removed.

When the cap 12 is seated in its closing position on the end of the tube 10A, the ring 30 will be covered by the cap 12 as illustrated in FIG. 4. It should thus be appreciated that the ring 30 will be protected against a secondary label being adhered directly on the ring 30. As a result, when the cap 12 is thereafter manually removed by a lab technician, the color coded ring 30 will be visible notwithstanding the secondary label and, as with the first embodiment, even if the technician places the opened tube 10A in a rack with other tubes, he will be able to identify the contents of the tube 10A thereafter based on the color of the ring 30 even if the secondary label covers the base label 14. For example, should the upper end of the secondary label overlap with the cap 12 and underlying ring 30, that upper end may be torn off with the cap 12 and thereby leave the ring 30 uncovered. Even if the upper end of the secondary label overlaps the ring 30, it is extremely unlikely that it will extend around the entire tube 10A and, in any event, the upper end of the secondary label will be loose above the ring 30 and not pressed down onto and hiding the ring 30. Still further, the color coding of the frosting, or the inside of a label defining the ring 30, the color of the tube 30 may still be visible through the inside of the generally transparent test tube 10A.

Still other aspects, objects, and advantages of the present invention can be obtained from a study of the specification, the drawings, and the appended claims. It should be understood, however, that the present invention could be used in alternate forms where less than all of the objects and advantages of the present invention and preferred embodiment as described above would be obtained.

Claims

1. A specimen holding device, comprising: a test tube having a cylindrical body with one end open and the other end closed;a cap securable to said cylindrical body to close said open end, said cap having a selected color indicative of at least one of a test to be performed on the specimen in the tube and a specimen additive in the tube; anda content indicator secured to said tube and separate from said cap, said content indicator extending around said tube near said tube open end and having said selected color.

2. The specimen holding device of claim 1, wherein said content indicator comprises a raised ring around said tube cylindrical body.

3. The specimen holding device of claim 2, wherein said raised ring is an elastic ring.

4. The specimen holding device of claim 3, wherein said cap abuts said elastic ring when said cap is secured to said cylindrical body.

5. The specimen holding device of claim 1, wherein said content indicator comprises a colored ring fixed to said tube body around said tube adjacent said tube open end, and said cap overlaps with said content indicator when secured to said cylindrical body.

6. The specimen holding device of claim 5, wherein said content indicator is a frosted portion around the open end of the tube, said frosted portion having said selected color.

7. The specimen holding device of claim 1, further comprising a label on said cylindrical body spaced from said cap, said label including markings having said selected color.

8. The specimen holding device of claim 7, further comprising a secondary label on said cylindrical body with demographics of the patient from whom said specimen was taken.

9. A container for a collected specimen to be tested, said container comprising: a container body with one end open and the other end closed;a cap securable to said container body to close said open end, said cap having a selected color indicative of at least one of a test to be performed on the collected specimen in the tube and a specimen additive in the tube; anda content indicator securable to said container body and separate from said cap, said content indicator extending around said container body near said open end and having said selected color;wherein when in a position closing said container body open end, said cap covers a portion of said content indicator.

10. The container of claim 9, wherein said covered portion of said content indicator faces radially outwardly and said cap is over said content indicator when in the closing position.

11. The container of claim 9, wherein said covered portion of said content indicator faces toward said container body open end, and said cap abuts said covered portion when in the closing position.

12. The container of claim 9, wherein said content indicator comprises a raised ring around said container body.

13. The container of claim 12, wherein said raised ring is an elastic ring.

14. The container of claim 13, wherein said cap abuts said elastic ring when said cap is secured to said container body.

15. The container of claim 9, wherein said content indicator comprises a colored ring fixed to said container body adjacent said container body open end, and said cap overlaps with said content indicator when secured to said cylindrical body.

16. The container of claim 15, wherein said content indicator is a frosted portion around the container body open end, said frosted portion having said selected color.

17. The container of claim 9, further comprising a label on said container body spaced from said cap, said label including markings having said selected color.

18. The container of claim 17, further comprising a secondary label on said container body with demographics of the patient from whom said specimen was taken.

19. A kit for collecting and handling specimens, comprising: a plurality of test tubes, each having a cylindrical body with a closed end and an open end;a plurality of test tube caps, each of said caps being securable to close the open end of one of said test tubes and each of said caps having a distinct one of a selected group of colors wherein each color of said group is indicative of at least one of a distinct test to be performed on the specimen in the tube and a distinct specimen additive in the tube; anda plurality of content indicators securable to said tubes and separate from said caps, wherein each of said content indicators when secured to a tube extends around said tube near said tube open end;wherein each of said caps is associated with one of said content indicators having a distinct color matching said distinct color of said cap.

20. The kit of claim 19, wherein said content indicators comprise raised rings around said test tubes.

21. The kit of claim 20, wherein said raised ring is an elastic ring.

22. The kit of claim 21, wherein at least some of said caps each abut one of said elastic rings having a matching distinct color when said cap is secured to said test tube.

23. The kit of claim 19, wherein at least some of said content indicators comprise a colored ring fixed to said test tube adjacent its open end in a position overlapped by a cap having a matching color when said cap is secured to said test tube.

24. The kit of claim 23, wherein said content indicators each comprises a frosted portion around the test tube open end, and said caps are associated with tubes having said frosted portion with a distinct color matching said distinct color of said cap.

25. The kit of claim 19, further comprising a plurality of labels securable to said test tubes spaced from a cap secured to said tubes, wherein each of said labels including markings having one of said distinct colors matching said distinct colors of an associated cap and content indicator.