Claims
- 1. An apparatus for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said apparatus including:
- means for grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal,
- a crucible for receiving said particles produced by said grinding means, said crucible having heating means and means for controlling said heating means, said controlling means selectively activating said heating means to heat said crucible and the particles therein to a temperature above the melting point of said plastic particles and thereafter deactivating said heating means to allow said crucible and the contents therein to cool to a temperature below said melting point to produce a solid puck of plastic with said metal particles suspended and encapsulated therein,
- means for rotating said crucible about a horizontal axis into a substantially inverted position, and
- means for vibrating said crucible while in said inverted position to assist discharge of said puck out of said crucible.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said vibrating means includes a motor and means to selectively activate said motor when said crucible is in said inverted position to create vibrations in said crucible to assist discharge of said puck therefrom.
- 3. An apparatus for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said apparatus including:
- means for grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal;
- a crucible for receiving said particles produced by said grinding means, said crucible having heating means and means for controlling said heating means, said controlling means selectively activating said heating means to heat said crucible and the particles therein to a temperature above the melting point of said plastic particles and thereafter deactivating said heating means to allow said crucible and the contents therein to cool to a temperature below said melting point to produce a solid puck of plastic with said metal particles suspended and encapsulated therein, said grinding means including a grinder and motor for driving said grinder wherein operation of said motor to drive said grinder vibrates said crucible,
- means for rotating said crucible about a horizontal axis into a substantially inverted position, and
- means for vibrating said crucible while in said inverted position to assist discharge of said puck out of said crucible wherein said means for vibrating said crucible includes means to selectively activate said motor to drive said grinder when said crucible is in said inverted position to create vibrations in said crucible.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 3 further including means for feeding said syringes into said grinder and means for preventing said feeding during operation of said motor and grinder to vibrate said crucible when said crucible is in said inverted, discharge position.
- 5. A method for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said method including the steps of:
- (a) grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal,
- (b) heating said particles in a crucible to a temperature above the melting point of said plastic particles,
- (c) cooling the contents of said crucible to produce a solid puck of plastic with the metal particles suspended and encapsulated therein,
- (d) rotating said crucible about a horizontal axis into a substantially inverted position, and
- (e) vibrating said crucible while in said inverted position to assist discharge of the puck out of the crucible.
- 6. A method for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said method including the steps of providing a grinder, motor for driving said grinder, and crucible wherein operation of said motor to drive the grinder vibrates the crucible and further including the steps of:
- (a) grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal,
- (b) heating said particles in said crucible to a temperature above the melting point of said plastic particles,
- (c) cooling the contents of said crucible to produce a solid puck of plastic with the metal particles suspended and encapsulated therein,
- (d) rotating said crucible about a horizontal axis into a substantially inverted position, and
- (e) vibrating said crucible while in said inverted position to assist discharge of the puck out of the crucible by operating said motor to drive said grinder when said crucible is in said inverted position to create vibrations in said crucible.
- 7. The method of claim 6 wherein step (a) includes the further limitation of feeding syringes to said grinder and step (e) includes the further limitation of preventing said feeding during operation of said motor and grinder to vibrate said crucible when said crucible is in said inverted, discharge position.
- 8. An apparatus for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said apparatus including:
- means for grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal, a crucible for receiving said particles produced by said grinding means, and a chute extending between said grinding means and said crucible for delivering said particles to said crucible,
- said crucible having heating means and means for controlling said heating means, said controlling means selectively activating said heating means to heat said crucible and the particles therein to a temperature above the melting point of said plastic particles and thereafter deactivating said heating means to allow said crucible and the contents therein to cool to a temperature below said melting point to produce a solid puck of plastic with said metal particles suspended and encapsulated therein, and
- means for vibrating said chute while the temperature of said crucible and its contents is above the melting point of said plastic particles wherein any particles remaining in said chute will be delivered to said crucible while the temperature of the crucible and its contents is above said melting point.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said vibrating means vibrates said chute substantially at the same time said controlling means deactivates said heating means.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said vibrating means includes a motor and means to selectively activate said motor while the temperature of said crucible and its contents is above the melting point of said plastic particles.
- 11. An apparatus for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said apparatus including:
- means for grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal, a crucible for receiving said particles produced by said grinding means, and a chute extending between said grinding means and said crucible for delivering said particles to said crucible, said grinding means including a grinder and motor for driving said grinder wherein operation of said motor to drive said grinder vibrates said chute,
- said crucible having heating means and means for controlling said heating means, said controlling means selectively activating said heating means to heat said crucible and the particles therein to a temperature above the melting point of said plastic particles and thereafter deactivating said heating means to allow said crucible and the contents therein to cool to a temperature below said melting point to produce a solid puck of plastic with said metal particles suspended and encapsulated therein, and
- means for vibrating said chute while the temperature of said crucible and its contents is above the melting point of said plastic particles wherein any particles remaining in said chute will be delivered to said crucible while the temperature of the crucible and its contents is above said melting point, said means for vibrating said chute including means to selectively activate said motor to drive said grinder while the temperature of the crucible and its contents are above said melting point to create vibrations in said chute.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said vibrating means vibrates said chute substantially at the same time said controlling means deactivates said heating means.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 11 further including means for feeding said syringes into said grinder and means for preventing said feeding during operation of said motor and grinder to vibrate said chute while the temperature of the crucible and its contents is above said melting point.
- 14. A method for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said method including the steps of:
- (a) grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal,
- (b) delivering the particles of step (a) through a chute to a crucible,
- (c) heating said particles in said crucible to a temperature above the melting point of said plastic particles,
- (d) vibrating said chute while the temperature of said crucible and its contents is above said melting point to deliver any particles remaining in said chute to said crucible,
- (e) cooling the contents of said crucible to produce a solid puck of plastic with the metal particles suspended and encapsulated therein, and
- (f) discharging said puck from said crucible.
- 15. A method for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said method including the steps of providing a grinder, motor for driving said grinder, and chute wherein operation of said motor to drive the grinder vibrates the chute and further including the steps of:
- (a) grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal;
- (b) delivering the particles of step (a) through a chute to a crucible,
- (c) heating said particles in said crucible to a temperature above the melting point of said plastic particles,
- (d) vibrating said chute by operating said motor to drive said grinder while the temperature of said crucible and its contents is above the melting point of said plastic particles,
- (e) cooling the contents of said crucible to produce a solid puck of plastic with the metal particles suspended and encapsulated therein, and
- (f) discharging said puck from said crucible.
- 16. The method of claim 15 wherein step (a) includes the further limitation of feeding syringes to said grinder and step (d) includes the further limitation of preventing said feeding during operation of said motor and grinder to vibrate said chute while the temperature of the crucible and its contents is above said melting point.
- 17. An apparatus for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said apparatus including:
- means for grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal, and
- means for feeding said syringes to said grinding means, said feeding means including a hopper with an inlet and outlet and regulating means to selectively allow and substantially prevent passage of syringes through said hopper outlet to said grinding means, said regulating means being positionable in a first, stationary position,
- said regulating means including a paddle wheel, means to mount said paddle wheel adjacent the outlet of said hopper for rotation about an axis, and means to rotate said paddle wheel about said axis, said paddle wheel having a plurality of paddles spaced about and extending outwardly of said axis for a first distance, said hopper further including a first wall adjacent said hopper outlet, said first wall being spaced slightly less than said first distance from said paddle wheel axis and being fixed in a predetermined position relative to said paddle wheel axis, said paddles being flexible wherein said paddle wheel in said first, stationary position has one of said flexible paddles extending outwardly of said axis to touch and flex against said first hopper wall to positively prevent the passage of syringes to said hopper outlet between said paddle wheel axis and said first hopper wall, and said hopper further includes a second hopper wall adjacent said hopper outlet, said second wall being spaced slightly more than said first distance from said paddle wheel axis wherein said broken syringes can pass to said hopper outlet between said paddles of said paddle wheel and said second hopper wall.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said first hopper wall is inclined to the horizontal, said paddles are substantially planar, and said one paddle in said first position is substantially perpendicular to said first hopper wall.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said means to rotate said paddle wheel rotates said paddle wheel about said axis with said paddles moving by said first wall in a direction away from said outlet and moving by said second wall in a direction toward said outlet wherein said paddle wheel feeds said syringes to said grinder by said second wall.
- 20. An apparatus for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said apparatus including:
- means for grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal,
- a crucible for receiving said particles produced by said grinding means, said crucible having heating means and means for controlling said heating means, said controlling means selectively activating said heating means to heat said crucible and the particles therein to a temperature above the melting point of said plastic particles and thereafter deactivating said heating means to allow said crucible and the contents therein to cool to a temperature below said melting point to produce a solid puck of plastic with said metal particles suspended and encapsulated therein,
- means for rotating said crucible about a horizontal axis into a substantially inverted position, and
- means for vibrating said crucible while in said inverted position to assist discharge of said puck out of said crucible, said vibrating means including said grinding means wherein operation of said grinding means vibrates said crucible, said vibrating means further including means for selectively operating said grinding means to deactivate said grinding means during at least a portion of the time said heating means is heating said crucible and the particles therein and to thereafter activate said grinding means while the crucible is in said inverted position to create vibrations in said crucible to assist discharge of the puck therefrom.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 20 further including means for feeding said syringe into said grinding means and means for preventing said feeding during operation of grinding means to vibrate said crucible when said crucible is in said inverted, discharge position.
- 22. An apparatus for disposal of used syringes made primarily of plastic components and a metal needle, said apparatus including:
- means for grinding said syringes into particles of plastic and metal, a crucible for receiving said particles produced by said grinding means, and a chute extending between said grinding means and said crucible for delivering said particles to said crucible,
- said crucible having heating means and means for controlling said heating means, said controlling means selectively activating said heating means to heat said crucible and the particles therein to a temperature above the melting point of said plastic particles and thereafter deactivating said heating means to allow said crucible and the contents therein to cool to a temperature below said melting point to produce a solid puck of plastic with said metal particles suspended and encapsulated therein, and
- means for vibrating said chute and means for selectively operating said vibrating means to deactivate said vibrating means during at least a portion of the time said heating means is heating said crucible and the particles therein and to thereafter activate said vibrating means while the temperature of said crucible and its contents is above the melting point of said plastic particles wherein any particles remaining in said chute will be delivered to said crucible while the temperature of the crucible and its contents is above said melting point.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 22 further including means for feeding said syringes into said grinding means and means for preventing said feeding during operation of said grinding means to vibrate said chute while the temperature of the crucible and its contents is above said melting point.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said vibrating means vibrates said chute substantially at the same time said controlling means deactivates said heating means.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 316,465 filed Feb. 27, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,916.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
316465 |
Feb 1989 |
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