GB2309906A

GB2309906A - Device for disposal of body waste

Info

Publication number: GB2309906A
Application number: GB9611695A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nicholas Hugh Davis
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-02-09
Filing date: 1996-06-05
Publication date: 1997-08-13
Also published as: GB9611695D0; GB9602612D0

Abstract

A disposable receptacle (101) for body waste comprises an elongate outer bag (102) for containing waste. A sachet (106) containing gelling agent (107) is provided within the bag (102) to form a gel on contact with moisture in the waste.

Description

DEVICE FOR DISPOSAL OF BODY WASTE The present invention relates to a device for disposal of waste, and relates particularly, but not exclusively, to a device for hygienic disposal of excreted body waste.

In the treatment of infirm persons who are unable to use a lavatory in the usual way, such as in a hospital, or nursing or residential home for the elderly or infirm, it is currently the practice to provide a bedpan or commode, the contents of which are subsequently emptied.

In some hospital environments, a bedpan washer / steriliser unit is provided, which washes the contents of a pan into a sewer system by using pressurised water, and subsequently disinfects the pan by means of steam or very hot water. This existing arrangement suffers from the drawback that it is dependent upon the availability of water and electricity to provide the necessary power, is expensive to install and has substantial maintenance costs.

An alternative arrangement provides disposable bedpans manufactured from recycled paper pulp, which are placed, after use, in a machine that macerates the pan and contents to an emulsion which is then flushed into the sewage system.

This arrangement also suffers from the drawback that it is expensive to install and has substantial maintenance costs.

Because of the difficulty and cost of installation, the above systems are installed in few nursing or residential homes, which tend use a method of emptying bedpans or commode pans into sluices or WC pans. This existing method suffers from the disadvantage that transfer of a pan and contents to the disposal point is accompanied by risk of spillage and contamination, and the process of pouring or tipping the contents into a WC pan or sluice hopper generates an aerosol effect which can result in cross-infection by contamination of surfaces, or the outer clothing of the person emptying the container or any other person in close proximity. The transfer of micro organisms during this process can lead to illnesses such as gastroenteritis, Norwalk virus, salmonella and rota virus, which can have serious consequences for elderly or infirm persons.

In transferring ambulance patients by means of road vehicles or aircraft, adequate facilities for accommodating excreted body waste of such patients are presently not available. This necessitates storage of excreted body waste in a container until the end of the journey, which provides a number of hazards, including cross-infection and contamination of personnel and, in the case of aircraft, risks associated with the corrosive action of urine on metal structural elements of the aircraft which may under certain circumstances cause structural failure of the aircraft.

In addition, it is often necessary to remove excreted body waste from remote areas which are environmentally sensitive, such as when camping, mountaineering or hiking in such areas, and where no suitable waste disposal facilities are available. Presently, it is necessary to remove such waste in plastic bags, which involves the hazards of contamination discussed above.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome one or more of the above disadvantages of the prior art.

According to the present invention, there is provided a disposable receptacle for waste, the receptacle comprising an outer bag for containing waste, and a first material provided within the bag and adapted to form a gel as a result of contact with moisture.

The outer bag preferably comprises a second material adapted to disintegrate as a result of contact with moisture.

By suitable choice of the second material and / or thickness of the bag, this provides the advantage that the first material can quickly form a gel with waste after coming into contact therewith to prevent an aerosol effect, while the bag can be arranged to disintegrate sufficiently slowly to enable the contents of the bag to be transported to the point of disposal, subsequently to which the bag disintegrates in the sewerage system.

In a preferred embodiment, the first material is provided in a sealed packet disposed within the bag, wherein the sealed packet is adapted to disintegrate at a faster rate than the bag when in contact with moisture.

The sealed packet may comprise the second material.

In a preferred embodiment, the sealed packet is disposed at an end of the bag remote from the open end thereof.

By disposing the sealed packet at the lowermost part of the bag in use, this ensures that waste to be disposed of comes into contact with the first material as quickly as possible.

Preferably, the first material is disposed over a substantial portion of an end of the bag remote from the open end thereof, and preferably covers substantially 80W of a length of the end of the bag.

This provides the advantage that liquid components quickly come into contact with the first material to form a gel, so that in the case of the outer bag being formed of the second material, the risk of premature disintegration of the outer bag is avoided.

The sealed packet may be attached to the end of the bag.

The sealed packet preferably comprises a tongue sealed between the sides of the bag adjacent an end thereof.

The tongue may be sealed by means of a heat weld.

In a preferred embodiment, the closed end of the bag may be sealed by means of a further heat weld, arranged below the tongue of the sealed packet.

This provides the advantage of minimising leakage from the end of the bag as a result of disintegration of the material forming the tongue of the sealed packet.

In a preferred embodiment, the bag is gusseted.

This provides the advantage of enabling the receptacle to be folded flat for compact storage, while enabling it to be opened out to form a liner for a bedpan, commode or the like.

The first material is preferably adapted to form a gel with approximately 30 to approximately 200 times, and preferably approximately 50 times, its volume of aqueous solution.

The first material may comprise a super absorbent polymer, and preferably comprises cross-linked sodium polyacrylate.

Alternatively, the first material may comprise Calcium Sodium Alginate.

The second material may be PVOH.

In an alternative embodiment, the first material may be attached to or embedded in an internal surface of the bag.

The first material may be covered by a coating adapted to disintegrate at a faster rate than the bag of the second material when in contact with moisture.

This provides the advantage of enabling the first material to come into contact with aqueous components of the waste relatively quickly, while enabling the contents of the bag to be transported to the point of disposal before the bag disintegrates.

The outer bag preferably further comprises a draw string for closing the open end of the bag.

The outer bag preferably further comprises a flap arranged adjacent the open end thereof for covering the open end.

The outer bag may be formed from a non-soluble material, and is preferably formed from polythene.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of a disposable receptacle of a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a detailed view of a sealed packet of the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of part of the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5a is a detailed view of an upper part of the embodiment of Figure 4; Figure 5b is a detailed view of a lower part of the embodiment of Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a plan view of the embodiment of Figure 4.

Referring to Figure 1, a disposable receptacle 1 for body waste comprises a gusseted bag 2, constructed of cold water soluble film such as PVOH and having gusseted sides 3 and a base 4, the base 4 being foldable along seam 5. The bag 2, when opened out, has a height of the order 12 to 15 inches, and a diameter of the order of 12 inches, and is therefore suitably sized to form a liner for insertion into a bedpan or commode.

As shown in greater detail in Figures 2 and 3, an elongate sealed sachet 6 of water soluble film enclosing a gelling agent 7 is attached to the base 4 of the bag 2 along seam 5 thereof by heat welding or any other suitable method as will be known to persons skilled in the art. The sachet 6 is approximately 10 inches long and thus extends approximately 80% of the length of seam 5 of the bag. This ensures that liquid components quickly come into contact with sachet 6 and minimises the risk that the gusseted bag 2 disintegrates prematurely.The water soluble film of the sachet 6 may be a PVOH film of thickness less than that of the PVOH film forming the bag 2, for example of thickness of the order of 35 jim. The gelling agent 7 contains a small amount of absorbent product, such as Calcium Sodium Alginate or, more preferably crosslinked sodium polyacrylate, which can absorb upto 50 times its own volume of aqueous material and the sachet 6 is made from a soluble film with a high rate of disintegration and dissolution on contact with water, so that the gelling agent quickly comes into contact with and reacts with aqueous waste within seconds of contact with the sachet 6.

The sachet 6 is formed by sealing along seam 8 to enclose the gelling agent 7, and is formed with a tongue 9 which is then heat-welded into the seam 5 at the base 4 of bag 2 when the base of the bag is sealed.

When the receptacle 1 is used, the bag 2 is opened out to form a liner inserted into a bedpan or commode, and when aqueous body waste comes into contact with the sachet 6 at the base 4 of the bag 2, the sachet 6 rapidly disintegrates to enable aqueous products to come into contact with the gelling agent 7. The gelling agent converts the liquid constituents of the waste to a gel at a rate of conversion of the order of 1 part of gel to about 50 parts of aqueous component.

When use of the receptacle 1 is completed, the contents are contained within in the bag 2 which, because of its slower rate of disintegration and / or dissolution in contact with water, and in combination with the action of gelling agent 7, enable the contents of the bag to be contained long enough to transport the receptacle 1 to a WC pan for disposal.

On flushing the WC, the flush of cold water causes the bag 2 to disintegrate and subsequently totally dissolve, and the gelling agent 7 to be saturated to the extent that the gel passes as a slurry into the sewage system. This reduces the risk of blockages of the WC as a result of incomplete conversion of the gel and / or incomplete disintegration of the bag 2.

Referring to Figure 4, in which parts common to the embodiment of Figures 1 to 3 are denoted by like reference numerals but increased by 100, a disposable receptacle 101 for use in transporting urine during ambulance transport of patients comprises an elongate bag 102, formed from either water soluble material as in the embodiment of Figures 1 to 3, or a non-soluble material such as polythene. The bag 102 is approximately 6 inches wide and 12 inches deep, and contains at its lowest part an internal sachet 106 approximately 5 inches in length and containing a gelling agent 107 such as crosslinked sodium polyacrylate. In a manner similar to the embodiment of Figures 1 to 3, the internal sachet 106 is provided with a tongue 109 which is sealed between the sides of the bag 102 by means of a heat weld 105.The sides of the bag 102 are sealed together by a further heat weld 115 below the tongue 109 so that the effect of any possible leakage through the first heat weld 105 over the tongue 109 as a result of disintegration of the material forming the tongue 109 is minimised.

As shown in greater detail in Figure 5a, an upper portion of the bag 102 is provided with a heat weld 110 to provide a tunnel 111 for a draw cord 112 for use in closing the neck of the bag 102. In addition, one side of the bag 102 is provided with heat welded seams 113 at its sides to provide a fold over flap 114.

When the receptacle 101 is used, liquid waste forms a gel on coming into contact with the gelling agent 107 provided in the internal sachet 106, and the open end of the bag 102 can be closed by means of the draw string 112 and fold over flap 114 to reduce the likelihood of leakage of the contents of the bag 102 during transport of the patient.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A disposable receptacle for waste, the receptacle comprising an outer bag for containing waste, and a first material provided within the bag and adapted to form a gel as a result of contact with moisture.

2. A receptacle according to claim 1, wherein the outer bag comprises a second material adapted to disintegrate as a result of contact with moisture.

3. A receptacle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first material is provided in a sealed packet disposed within the bag, wherein the sealed packet is adapted to disintegrate at a faster rate than the bag when in contact with moisture.

4. A receptacle according to claims 2 and 3, wherein the sealed packet comprises the second material.

5. A receptacle according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the sealed packet is disposed at an end of the bag remote from the open end thereof.

6. A receptacle according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the sealed packet is attached to the end of the bag.

7. A receptacle according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the sealed packet comprises a tongue sealed between the sides of the bag adjacent an end thereof.

8. A receptacle according to claim 7, wherein the tongue is sealed by means of a heat weld.

9. A receptacle according to claim 8, wherein the closed end of the bag is sealed by means of a further heat weld, arranged below the tongue of the sealed packet.

10. A receptacle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first material is disposed over a substantial portion of an end of the bag remote from the open end thereof.

11. A receptacle according to claim 10, wherein the first material covers substantially 8Ck of the length of the end of the bag.

12. A receptacle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bag is gusseted.

13. A receptacle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first material is adapted to form a gel with approximately 30 to approximately 200 times its volume of aqueous solution.

14. A receptacle according to claim 13, wherein the first material is adapted to form a gel with approximately 50 times its volume of aqueous solution.

15. A receptacle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first material comprises a super absorbent polymer.

16. A receptacle according to claim 15, wherein the super absorbent polymer includes cross-linked sodium polyacrylate.

17. A receptacle according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the first material comprises Calcium Sodium Alginate.

18. A receptacle according to any one of the preceding claims as dependent upon claim 2, wherein the second material is PVOH.

19. A receptacle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first material is attached to or embedded in an internal surface of the bag.

20. A receptacle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first material is covered by a coating adapted to disintegrate at a faster rate than the bag of the second material when in contact with moisture.

21. A receptacle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the outer bag further comprises a draw string for closing the open end of the bag.

22. A receptacle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the outer bag further comprises a flap arranged adjacent the open end thereof for covering the open end.

23. A receptacle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the outer bag is formed from a non-soluble material.

24. A receptacle according to claim 23, wherein the outer bag is formed from polythene.

25. A disposable receptacle for waste, the receptacle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings