HANDHELD WASTE SCANNER

• US 20070250339A1
• Filed: 07/12/2007
• Published: 10/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Vesta Medical LLC (Becton Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Davidner, Alan, Benson, James, Regla, Peter, Danta, Randall, Corey, Alan, Mallett, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 7,487,100 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/308
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2050/185 Drawers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/10 Furniture specially adapted for surgical or diagnostic appliances or instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/13 Trolleys, e.g. carts
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/36 for collecting or disposing of used articles
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 7/005 Computer assisted manual sorting, e.g. for mail
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/30 Administration of product recycling or disposal
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 90/00 Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/93 Municipal solid waste sorting

Abstract

A system for disposing of medical waste is generally configured to sort waste items into a plurality of containers according to applicable rules and regulations governing the handling and/or disposal of such items. In some embodiments, a system comprises sorting stations each of which houses a number of disposable containers. Each station can identify an item of waste, determine the most appropriate container for the item, and facilitate disposal of the item in the appropriate container. In some embodiments, a detection system for determining a presence and/or a quantity of waste items within a container is also provided. In some embodiments, access to discarded waste items is restricted once the waste items have been placed in a container.

Claims

1. A system for sorting waste items, the system comprising:

a plurality of container compartments, each container compartment configured to receive a removable container;

a plurality of removable containers configured to be placed within the container compartments,

wherein each of the removable containers is associated with at least one of a plurality of waste categories,

a handheld scanner configured to scan information associated with a waste item;

a control system configured to compare information obtained from the handheld scanner with waste item classification information contained in a database;

wherein the control system is further configured to assign the item to at least one waste category; and

wherein the control system is further configured to identify one of the removable containers based on the waste category;

wherein the control system is further configured to open the identified removable container to permit disposal of said waste item; and

wherein the control system is further configured to restrict access to the identified removable container after said waste item has been disposed.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the control system is further configured to restrict access to the identified removable container after said waste item has been disposed by locking said identified removable container.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the control system is further configured to restrict access to the identified removable container after said waste item has been disposed by allowing manual closure of a covering associated with said identified removable container.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the control system is further configured to restrict access to the identified removable container after said waste item has been disposed by automatically closing said identified removable container.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the handheld scanner comprises a barcode reader.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the handheld scanner is wireless.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the handheld scanner communicates scanned information to said control system.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said handheld scanner comprises a display.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said handheld scanner displays information regarding the waste item being discarded.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said information comprises information regarding the particular waste container in which the waste item should be placed.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said waste item classification information comprises classification information based on environmental or drug enforcement regulations for medical or pharmaceutical waste.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a manual input system for manually entering information regarding the waste item.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to open the identified removable container to permit disposal of said waste item by opening a gate.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to open the identified removable container to permit disposal of said waste item by opening a lid.

15. A system for sorting waste items, the system comprising:

a plurality of container compartments, each container compartment configured to receive a removable container;

a plurality of removable containers configured to be placed within the container compartments,

wherein each of the removable containers is associated with at least one of a plurality of waste categories,

means for determining the identity of a waste item;

a control system configured to compare said identity with waste item classification information contained in a database;

wherein the control system is further configured to assign the item to at least one waste category; and

wherein the control system is further configured to identify one of the removable containers based on the waste category;

wherein the control system is further configured to open the identified removable container to permit disposal of said waste item; and

wherein the control system is further configured to restrict access to the identified removable container after said waste item has been disposed.