CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Italian Patent Application No. 102017000107707 filed on 26/09/17, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a remote controllable device and system for the in situ treatment of infectious healthcare waste.

State of the art

As known, healthcare waste is waste produced by facilities that carry out medical and veterinary activities of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and research.

The share of healthcare waste that may be defined as infectious includes waste from infectious isolation environments, disposable medical or veterinary materials contaminated by biological fluids, sharp and prickly waste, etc.

Infectious healthcare waste is subject to specific national and international regulations that regulate its management, and in particular handling, storage, packaging, transportation, labelling, traceability and disposal. In particular, regulations prohibit mixing infectious healthcare waste with other hazardous or urban waste and damping, and prescribe waste treatment as close as possible to the production site to minimize handling and the consequent risk to public health. The disposal is expected to happen by incineration in suitable plants or by sterilization/sanitization. Since the geographically capillary presence of suitable incineration plants is rare, sterilization/sanitization is considered a preferable alternative.

The main producers of infectious healthcare waste are large hospitals. There are, however, a number of other small producers of infectious healthcare waste such as dentists, veterinary surgeons, general practitioners, medical specialists, small to medium sized clinics, beauticians, tattoo artists, etc. The management of infectious healthcare waste for these small producers typically requires the periodic collection of the waste and its transportation to authorized storage centres by authorized personnel with suitable vehicles, the consolidation of loads and finally its sending to medium to large sized disposal facilities (via larger vehicles). The limited per capita waste production, the geographically capillary distribution of producers, the difficulty in obtaining the necessary authorizations and the strong use of logistics make the current management system burdensome, anti-ecological and dangerous.

WO 2016/193944 Al in the name of the Applicant describes a remote controllable system for the in situ treatment of infectious healthcare waste produced by small-medium waste producers and comprising infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment devices intended to be installed at small-medium waste producers' premises and designed to expose characteristics compliant with use in venues intended for residential purposes, practicing a profession or providing a service (domestic venues, offices, medical, dental and veterinary practices, clinics, or the like), and a remote control centre in communication with the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment devices through a communication system.

Each infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device comprises a sensory system to monitor operation of the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device; and an electronic control unit connected to the sensory system and in communication with the remote control centre to transmit to the remote control centre data indicative of the operation of the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device and to receive from the remote control centre and execute commands relating to operation of the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device.

The remote control centre is configured to receive and process data from the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device and to configurably monitor, control and report on the operation of the infectious healthcare waste collection based on specific applications' and/or users' needs.

In particular, the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device comprises a support casing, a hermetic container housed in the support casing and provided with a waste inlet device, a waste shredding and mixing device, and a waste fragment sterilization device associated with the hermetic container.

The waste fragments are typically sterilized by subjecting the waste fragments in the hermetic container to high temperatures capable of neutralizing any microbial/pathogenic agents on the waste fragments. KR 2010 0034208 A describes a food waste treatment device to increase food waste treatment efficiency by means of a valve installed between a food waste inlet portion and a drying portion, and to reduce the environmental contamination of food waste. The food waste treatment device comprises a food inlet part formed on one side of a filter to receive food waste; a valve installed at the bottom of the food inlet to control food waste or water; and a drying oven installed at the bottom of the valve for pulverizing and drying food waste passing through the valve. The valve comprises a housing and a switching part to open and close the valve housing. The valve housing comprises an inlet and a drainage hole. Ob ject and Summary of the Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a device and a system for the in situ treatment of healthcare waste, in which the discharge of shredded and sterilized waste takes place by means of a valve that is able to ensure a sealing for liquid and solid waste fragments, to withstand the high temperatures reached during the sterilization process without being damaged, and to shred any waste fragments inside the valve during the valve closing.

This object is achieved by the present invention, which relates to a device and a system for the in situ treatment of healthcare waste, as claimed in the appended claims.

Brief Description of Drawings

Figure 1 schematically shows the structure of a remotely controlled system for the in situ treatment of infectious healthcare waste produced by small to medium sized waste producers according to the present invention;

Figure 2 shows, in an exploded perspective view, a healthcare waste collection and treatment device belonging to the system according to the present invention;

Figure 3 shows, in an exploded perspective view, a detail of the device of Figure 2 made according to the present invention; and

Figure 4 shows the detail of Figure 3 in a perspective view.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

The present invention will now be described in detail, with reference to the attached figure, to enable a person skilled in the art to implement and use it. Various modifications to the described embodiments will be immediately apparent to the person skilled in the art and the generic principles described may be applied to other embodiments and applications without thereby exiting from the protective scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims. Therefore, the present invention should not be considered limited to the embodiments described and shown, but should be granted with the widest scope compliant with the described and claimed principles and features.

Figure 1 schematically shows a remote controllable system 1 for the in situ treatment of healthcare waste, comprising:

infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment devices 2 configured to be installable at small-medium waste producers (such as e.g. medical offices, dental practices, veterinary studies, etc.); and

a remote control centre 3 in telematic communication (typically through the Internet 4) with infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment devices 2.

Each infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device 2 is provided with sensors 8 to monitor operation of the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device 2, and an electronic control unit 10 configured to cooperate with the sensors 8 and to communicate with the remote control centre 3 to transmit to the remote control centre 3 data indicative of the operation of the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device 2, and to receive from the remote control centre 3 commands relating to the operation of the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device 2. The remote control centre 3 is configured to receive and process the data from the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment devices 2 and to monitor, control and report on the operation of the infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment devices 2.

Each infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device 2 comprises (Figure 2):

- an economically shaped support casing 12 (shown in Figure 1),

a hermetic container 16 to collect and treating waste, arranged inside the support casing 12 and provided with a waste inlet device 17 to allow infectious healthcare waste to be put in the hermetic container 16,

a waste shredding and mixing device 18 housed in a bottom area of the hermetic container 16 and configured to shred the infectious healthcare waste and produce waste fragments, and

a waste fragment sterilization device 19 associated with the hermetic container 16 and operable to neutralize any microbial agents on the waste fragments.

Typically, the hermetic container 16 is made of stainless steel or COR- TEN steel, namely electrolytically treated steel. Typically, the hermetic container 16 has a shape generated by axial rotation, for example a cylindrical shape. The hermetic container 16 is preferably thermally insulated in order to maintain the temperature inside and avoid overheating the exterior of the hermetic container 16, considering the use of the infectious healthcare waste device 2 in domestic contexts. The insulation also contributes to limit the sound emission deriving from the shredding step.

In particular, the waste inlet device 17 (of known type) is configured to put the hermetic container 16 in communication with the outside through a waste inlet opening, whose size is only suitable for the infectious healthcare waste to be treated, thus limiting the passage of waste that is not compliant with the intended use of the infectious healthcare waste device 2. The waste inlet device 17 allows the introduction of the waste from the outside, subsequently sealing the waste inlet opening.

The waste inlet device 17 can alternatively be operated manually or by means of an actuator remotely controllable by the remote control centre 3. Moreover, a sensor may be further provided to sense effective and complete closing of the waste inlet device 17 to enable the start of the treatment cycle, and a blocking device to block the opening of the waste inlet device 17 during the treatment cycle.

The waste shredding and mixing device 18 essentially comprises a blade 25 to shred and pulverize the healthcare waste, the blade 25 is arranged on the bottom of the hermetic container 16 and is movable about a vertical axis coaxial to the hermetic container 16 under the thrust of an electric motor 27 housed outside the hermetic container 16.

In particular, the blade 25 is coupled to an outlet shaft of a motor 27 through a transmission comprising a kinetic joint 28, which allows the transmission to resist the inertia of the healthcare waste and the waste fragments, so preserving the motor 27, by insulating it thermally and from any eddy currents and by ultimately improving its quietness.

The geometry of the cutting profile and the spatial orientation of the blade 25 allow carrying out different functions, including:

dissecting heterogeneous materials with different resilience;

acting as a hammer to shred glass-like materials; lifting the waste along the vertical axis and triggering a helical upward flow of the fragments along the vertical inner walls of the hermetic container;

cutting with its peripheral portion the waste to shred it by compressing it on the peripheral surface of the hermetic container; and

- mixing the homogeneous mass of the shredded waste.

The waste fragment sterilization device 19 may be, for example, of a thermal type, and comprises a heating system made up of a plurality of electrical resistances arranged on the inner walls of the hermetic container 16. The heat produced by the resistances is conveyed by convection and radiation to the waste and to the waste fragments housed in the hermetic container 16. The mixing and homogenizing action of the waste mass carried out by the blade 25 allows a continuous mixing of the waste mass. At the same time, the different thermal capacities of the various materials present in the hermetic container 16 and originating from the waste therein inserted favours a rather even distribution of the temperatures within the treated mass, thus avoiding the creation of critical zones having too low or too high temperatures.

The infectious healthcare waste collection and treatment device 2 further comprises an exhaust valve 22 to put, when in an open position, the hermetic container 16 in communication with a fragment suction system 23 (of known type and hence only schematically shown).

The exhaust valve 22 comprises (Figures 3 and 4):

a pair of opposite flat support walls 30, 31 interconnected so as to be relatively spaced and to have parallel lying planes; and

an intermediate flat wall 33 (Figure 3) sandwiched between the flat support walls 30, 31 and hinged to the walls 30, 31 so as to be angularly movable about an axis 34 perpendicular to the lying planes under the thrust of an electric motor 35. The thickness of the intermediate flat wall 33 is substantially equal to the distance between the flat support walls 30, 31, so that opposing faces of the intermediate flat wall 33 rest on the flat support walls 30, 31.

The flat support walls 30, 31 have respective opposite through openings 36, 37 having coaxial axes parallel to the axis 34.

The intermediate flat wall 33 comprises at least one through opening 38 (Figure 3) and is able to take, relative to the flat support walls 30, 31, at least two positions comprising:

an exhaust valve closed position, in which a solid portion of the intermediate flat wall 33 separates the through openings 36, 37 of the support walls 30, 31, so acting as a closing shutter of the exhaust valve 22, and an exhaust valve open position, in which the through opening 38 of the intermediate flat wall is superimposed on the through openings 36, 37 of the support walls 30, 31, thus forming an outlet of the exhaust valve 22.

Conveniently, the through openings 36, 37 of the flat support walls 30, 31 and the through opening 38 of the intermediate wall 33 have a circular/elliptical shape to form, when superimposed, a cylindrical duct extending parallel to the rotation axis 34.

Should a waste fragment be arranged inside the cylindrical duct when the exhaust valve 22 is open, the subsequent rotation of the wall 33 with respect to the walls 30, 31 creates a guillotine cutting system, which cuts the waste fragment.

The intermediate flat wall 33 has a circular shape with a peripheral edge, which forms a toothed portion 40 meshing with a toothed wheel 42, which is set in rotation by the electric motor 35, thus forming a crown-pinion system.

In more detail, the cylindrical support casing of the electric motor 35 cantileverly extends from one of the flat support walls 30, 31 along an axis parallel to the rotation axis 34.

The flat support walls 30, 31 and the intermediate flat wall 33 are made of high-slip metal material, in particular steel.

The advantages deriving from the use of the valve 22 are evident from the foregoing, since:

it is able to cut off any fragments that are arranged inside the valve during its closure;

it has reduced overall dimensions thanks to its planar structure;

it has a structure formed by a few parts of simple shape; it is therefore simple, rapid and inexpensive to manufacture and has a rustic and robust structure;

it does not require programmed maintenance, because the materials composing it are self-lubricating and moving masses move at low speeds; and

it is able to withstand the high temperatures reached during the sterilization process without being damaged. Furthermore, the exhaust valve 22 can operate in the absence of gravity (and can therefore be installed in any position) since all moving parts are integral with each other.

The exhaust valve 22 can also work in immersion in any liquid, as it has no cavities that can be flooded by liquids.