Injection needle safety disposal apparatus

Abstract

An apparatus permits safe disposal of injection needles by electrically induced heat-generated fusion. The disposal apparatus utilizes a pair of rotating electrodes, spaced apart, and which provide continuously moving points of contact with a needle brought into engagement therewith, and bridging, the electrodes. The moving contact points inhibit electrode degradation. The electrodes are configured and arranged to present a varying size gap between the pair of electrodes, conveniently accomplished by tapering at least one of the electrodes along its length, such that the apparatus can accommodate needles having a wide range of diameters, the needles being inserted between the electrodes where a suitably sized gap exists. The injection needle is inserted into the apparatus such that the needle tip is brought into contact with a first electrode, and a part of the needle closer to the root is brought into contact with the second electrode of the pair. Electrical current is supplied to the electrodes, which fuses the portion of the needle bridging the electrodes because of Joule heat generated by the flowing current. As the needle is pushed farther into the apparatus, the remainder of the length is fused. A scraper may be further provided near one or both electrodes for removing fused materials from the electrodes, to provide additional protection against performance degradation.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.