A METHOD FOR DISABLING A HYPODERMIC NEEDLE AFTER USE FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates field of the method of disabling hypodermic needles and, more particularly, to field of the method of disabling hypodermic needles that fully disables a hypodermic needle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Each year there are a significant number of people, especially healthcare workers, who are infected with blood-borne diseases through the inadvertent needle pricks from a hypodermic needle. A needle prick can lead to a very serious disease. In this connection, because needle pricks provide direct access to the venous system of the individual, it is possible for such person to contact serious diseases, such as AIDS or hepatitis B through an inadvertent needle prick. The most common time for these needle pricks to occur is when the hypodermic needle is being prepared for disposal or after actual disposal and in the process of destroying said needles. Thus, medical and waste disposal personnel are exposed to a serious risk of injury, infection and disease and even death due to contaminated medical instruments such as hypodermics that are known in the industry as "sharps."

There are many well-documented cases of injury caused by these hypodermic needles or sharps, even while the sharp is encased during transportation to a waste site and during the process of destroying or burying the waste. Hypodermic needles have caused injuries in landfills, and the needles have even been known to wash up on beaches. As long as a needle remains sharp, there is a risk of injury and infection.

The main method of disposal of hypodermic needles today is to deposit the needle in a thick-walled plastic container immediately after use. These containers are then shipped to waste processing sites where they are typically incinerated.

iSfe^eVe^yMiiyilhisiipi^bfefel ¹ Me container remains very susceptible to puncture. Also, the contaminated sharps or hypodermic needles may injure and infect individuals attempting to insert the needles into the containers. There are also several health hazards associated with incineration of the hypodermic needles due to the toxic byproducts of the incineration. Also, there is always a problem that these nypodermic needles will escape the medical waste disposal system and expose many people to health risks.

Thus, one of the objectives of this invention is to provide a method that will destroy the "sharps" or the hypodermic needle at the point of use. By destroying the hypodermic needle right at use, greatly reduces the chances of injury for the individual using the needle, and further, it virtually eliminates the possibility of a person being stuck by the needle in the disposal process or afterwards.

Another objective of this invention is to have a method the disables hypodermic needles that it can be easily used by health care personal, veterinarians, diabetics, etc.

There have been numerous attempts in the prior art to produce a small, light weight, needle-disposing apparatus that could be easily used by healthcare professionals. Patents have been granted on needle-disposing apparatuses to Ch'ing-Lung, patent number 4628169, Spinello, patent number 4877934, Perk, patent number 5138124, Burden, et al, patent number 5212362 and Walker, et al, patent number 528964.

All these patents use electricity to destroy the needle. The Patents all use basically an "arc-welding theory" to "dead short" the needle across two electrodes. Thus, the needle is actually placed between two electrodes, then the electricity flows through the width of the needle. The major problems created by shorting the needle to destroy it is that they do not disable the whole needle. There is always a piece of the needle sticking out of the plastic portion that holds the needle in place. Thus the major objective of this invention is to disable a

M^p ^' o ^' (ϊerMiiB ^! :iifelIb'MfchltϊtetMre is no portion of the needle protruding from the plastic portion of the hypodermic needle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a method for completely disabling the needle

portion of a hypodermic needle of the type currently being used by the medical

industry, veterinarians, diabetics, drug abusers, and others. The first step is a

method for destroying the needle portion of a hypodermic needle up until there is

only a small stub of the needle protruding from the plastic portion of the

hypodermic needle. The next step is to heat the plastic that holds the needle

portion of the hypodermic needle until the plastic becomes pliable. Next the stub

is pressed against a hard surface forcing the stub into the plastic portion of the

needle. In the preferred embodiment an individual places the needle portion of

the hypodermic needle into the collar and the hypodermic needle is destroyed

down to a stub. The needle makes contact with both electrodes so that the electric

flows through the hypodermic needle heating it at a temperature that causes the

hypodermic needle to disintegrate. The hypodermic needle will disintegrate to a

point where only a stub is left sticking out of the plastic portion of the hypodermic

needle that holds the needle portion in place. The device heats the hypodermic

needle not only between electrodes but also heats the portion of the hypodermic

needle slightly above the top electrode. This portion of the hypodermic needle

does not get hot enough to disintegrate but does get hot enough to soften the

plastic that holds the needle in place. When the hypodermic needle is

disintegrated to a point where only a stub is left and the plastic is softened by the

lBItabQvfe. ^i! tH^ll6edr©;;.!thlbl ^; iH'di€!dual inserting the needle into the device than takes

the needle and depresses it against the top electrode causing the stub to press into

the plastic, thus, eliminating the stub.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 the view the first step of the hypodermic needle being disabled.

The hypodermic needle being destroyed.

Figure 2 the view of further destruction of the hypodermic needle.

Figure 3 the view of continued destruction from figure 2 of the hypodermic

needle.

Figure 4 the view of the step of pushing the stub of the hypodermic needle

into the electrode.

Figure 5 a cut away view along 5-5 of figure 5.

Figure 6 is a top view of the invention with the top of the housing removed.

Figure 7 A is a perspective view of one of the electrodes of the invention. Figure 7 B is a top view of one of the electrodes of the invention.

Figure 7 C is a front view of one of the electrodes of the invention.

Figure 7 D is a side view of one of the electrodes of the invention.

Figure 7 E is a side perspective view of one of the electrodes of the invention. Figure 8 A is a perspective view of the other electrode of the invention.

Figure 8 B is a top view of the other electrode of the invention.

Figure 8 C is a front view of the other electrode of the invention.

Figure 8 D is a side view of the other electrode of the invention.

Figure 8 E is a side perspective view of the other electrode of the invention. Figure 9 A is a top view of one of the collar of the invention.

Figure 9 B is a side view of the collar of the invention.

P C $ igur.έ ■$ U Ii view of the collar of the invention. Figure 9 D is a side perspective view of one of the collar of the Figure 10 is a top view of the invention with the top of the housing in place. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Figures 1 through 5 shows the method of this invention. Figure 1 shows the

hypodermic needle 110 being placed into a device 112 that destroys the

hypodermic needles. Figure 2 shows the hypodermic 110 needle being destroyed

by the device 112. Figure 3 shows that the hypodermic needle 110 is destroyed

down to a point in which only a small stub 114 remains. The device 112 for

destroying hypodermic needles heats this small stub 114 and the plastic 116 above

the metal needle 118, causing the plastic 116 above the metal needle to become

soft and pliable. Figure 4 shows the operator pressing the small stub 114 portion

into the solid surface formed by the top electrode 118 of the device 112 for

destroying hypodermic needles. This causes the small stub 114 to be pressed into

the plastic 116 above the metal needle and thus eliminates any portion sticking out

of the plastic above the metal needle. Figure 5 shows the final product in which

the small stub 114 of the metal needle 118 has been pressed fully into the plastic

and no stub remains.

Figures 6 through 10 show the preferred embodiment device used for destroying the hypodermic needle by the method described above. This device is described in International Patent Application No. PCT/US02/16777. The description is as follows: Figure 6 shows the invention with the top of the housing removed. Figure 6 shows the three main parts of the invention. Figure 6 shows the power supply 10 which in the preferred embodiment is comprised of two

shows the two electrodes 12 and 14. The batteries 11 and 15 are hooked to the two electrodes 12 and 14 by positive wire 16 and negative wire 18. Positive wire 16 hooks to the positive terminal 22 of the battery 11 and runs to electrode 14. Negative wire 18 is hooked to the negative terminal 21 of the battery 15 and runs to electrode 12. Also shown in figure 6 is the bottom half of the housing 17 of the invention 20. Hooked into the circuit between the batteries positive terminal 22 and electrode 12 on wire 16 is a fuse 24.

Figures 7 A, B, C, D and E show electrode 12. Figure 7A is a perspective view of electrode 12. Figure 7B is a top view of electrode 12. Figure 7C is a front view of electrode 12. Figure 7D is a side view of electrpde 12 and figure 7E is another side view showing the angle of electrode 12. Figure 7E shows that the front surface of electrode 12 slants downward at an angle of 30 degrees. The front surface, however, does not come to a point at the bottom, but is slightly truncated forming a ridge 21. At the bottom, this ridge 21 is also angled as shown in the front view in figure 7. This ridge 21 in the preferred embodiment is angled at 2 degrees. The ridge 21 gets larger as you move from the front of the device 10 back towards the batteries 11 and 15. Electrode 12 is the negative electrode.

Figure 8A, B, C, D ₅ and E show electrode 14, the positive electrode. Figure 8A is a perspective view of electrode 14. Figure 8B is the top view of electrode 14. Figure 8C is a front view of electrode 14. Figure 8D is a side view of electrode 14. Figure 8E shows the electrode from a side perspective view. This view shows some of the bottom of electrode 14. In figure 8A, one can see that the front of electrode 14 slants downward. Electrode 14 does not slant downward to a point just above the bottom of the electrode. Electrode 14 is also truncated. However the truncated portion also has a portion of the electrode 14 cut out from the bottom forming ridge 30. Figure 8C, the front view of the electrode 14 shows the ridge 30 running from a point near the top of the electrode to a point on the other side of the electrode near the bottom. This ridge 30 in the preferred embodiment slants at approximately 13 degrees. Figure 8E shows that the top

pcf ^' ftfMSbf ^' M'i ^' iFeyiiodέ'rl^'fsiett-it an angle of approximately 30 degrees. In the preferred embodiment, this ridge is approximately .037 inches thick.

When the electrodes 12 and 14 are placed in the housing as shown in figure 1, the electrodes 12 and 14 overlap each other in the preferred embodiment by .029 inches. The electrodes 12 and 14 aligned such that when the needle is placed into collar 32 and into the device, the needle will make contact with both electrodes 12 and 14.

Figure 9 A, B, C, and D shows the collar 32 of the invention. Figure 9A shows the top view of the collar 32 of the invention. Figure 9A shows that the collar 32 is basically cylindrical in shape with an opening 34 at the bottom. The opening 34 at the bottom is an ellipse with the sides slightly bowed out from a normal ellipse. Figure 9B shows a side view of the collar 32 with the open area forming the center of the collar 32 in phantom. This shows that the collar 32 is cylindrical at the top; however, near the bottom, the collar 32 opening is conical. Figure 9C is the opposite side of the collar 32, and it shows that the opening 34 at the bottom of the collar moves up the side of the collar on this side. The opening 34 forms a slight arch-type structure. Figure 9D is a perspective view of the collar 32 that shows the cylindrical opening at the top and the arch-type opening at the one side, and also in phantom, shows the opening 34 at the bottom of the collar. The opening 34 at the bottom of the collar has been designed to accept any size of hypodermic known by the inventor and to place that hypodermic at the right point on the electrodes 12 and 14 so that the needle will be fully disintegrated.

Figure 10 is a top view of the invention. In figure 10 one can see the collar 32 which is where the needle end of the hypodermic needle is placed. The collar 32 is positioned on the housing 10 such that when the needle end of the hypodermic is placed in the collar 32 the needle will make contact with the electrodes 12 and 14 and be destroyed. Figure 10 also show the jack 26 into which a 12 volt power supply such as a 12 volt wall transformer could be attached.

iiTle|bw!er.sϋpp)!ly,li©βkfeέa:it6:ithfe jack 26 could be used to power the electrodes 12 and 14 or the charge the batteries 11 and 15.

To use applicant's method one places the needle end of the hypodermic

needle in the collar 32 of the device described above and slowly rocks the

hypodermic needle in the collar 32. This is shown in figure 1. The hypodermic

needle first makes contact with electrode 14, the top electrode, and then it moves

down and makes contact with the bottom electrode 12. Electricity from the power

supply 10 flows through electrode 12 up the hypodermic needle to electrode 14.

The resistance of the hypodermic needle is very high. Thus, the electric flowing

through the hypodermic needle quickly heats the hypodermic needle to a

temperature where the needle disintegrates. This is shown in figure 2. The needle

will disintegrate down to the point where there is only a stub 100 left. This is

shown in figure 3. In addition, electric from power supply 10 flows through

electrode 12 up the hypodermic needle to electrode 14 thus heating the

hypodermic needle. The needle portion of the hypodermic needle will also be heat

slightly above the top electrode 14. The heat, however, is not sufficient to

disintegrate the stub of the hypodermic needle above the top electrode 14.

However, the hypodermic needle stub is heated to a sufficient temperature that it

makes the plastic that holds the needle in place soft and pliable. Figure 4 shows

the individual who is placing the hypodermic needle within the device pressing

the hypodermic needle against top electrode 14. Top electrode 14 is a sufficiently

hard surface that the stub of the hypodermic needle is pressed into the plastic of

;;th^:Ii^p'o'a ^! etMib ^il: meeβe ⁱ .tet ^! -Mids the needle portion in place. The plastic is

sufficiently soft enough that the stub can be pressed back into the plastic portion of

the hypodermic needle. This is shown in figure 5. Thus, the method fully

eliminates the hypodermic needle from being able to stab anyone.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can

be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention which is intended

to be limited only by the scope of the appending claims.