Patent Application
20070039844
This invention relates in general to a device to safely disengage and dispose of a medical scalpel blade and, more particularly, to a sharps container that includes an integrated disarming device for removing the scalpel blade from the scalpel handle.
Sharps containers are typically used in the medical environment to allow doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel to safely dispose of sharp objects within a sealed container. These objects might typically include needles and/or scalpel blades. There are numerous types of medical instruments having sharp surfaces that are discarded after use. One type of sharps container that is used to disconnect and dispose of scalpel blades is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,068 to Gharibian, which is herein incorporated by reference. The container disclosed in this prior art teaches a receptacle used to safely remove a blade from a surgical scalpel while providing a container to dispose of the used blade. An aperture is used in the side of the container in connection with a plurality of parallel guide walls. Shoulders project from the guide walls along with an angled blade deflector that works to push the aperture against the deflectors. The scalpel blade is deformed allowing it to be disengaged from the scalpel handle. Once disengaged, the blade is removed from the handle where it is safely stored within the container.
One problem associated with this type of container is that is difficult to manufacture due to the angles required from the components used to release the scalpel blade. The container as described in the '068 patent requires the blade to be inserted between both shoulders where it engages with a blade deflector. If the scalpel blade is not correctly inserted between the shoulders or if the blade does not engage the blade deflector at the proper angle, it is difficult, if not impossible, to disengage the blade from the scalpel handle. Also, the blade deflector wall inhibits the travel of larger blades and scalpels into the container, making disengaging of the blade from the handle impossible. This forces the user to commit extra time and effort in order to disengage the blade from the scalpel and brings up the possibility that the user could bc injured or the entire scalpel must be discarded.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a sharps container that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture yet still be simple to use in medical applications. The new container should permit the user to quickly disengage a scalpel blade from the scalpel handle and store the blade in a safe location. This allows the scalpel handle to be sterilized and reused with a new blade in other applications.
The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the present invention.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
In this document, relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by “comprises . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
Referring now to prior art
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application entitled “Sharps Container with Integrated Blade Disarming Device” filed on Aug. 22, 2005, as Ser. No. 60/710,309.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60710309 | Aug 2005 | US |
