MXPA97008192A - Hipodermi needle disposal apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to needle burning apparatus for disposing hypodermic needles, comprising: a disposable cartridge having a wall formed with an insertion opening through which a needle to be destroyed can be introduced into the apparatus, having a compartment for waste sealed inside the cartridge, two separate electrodes mounted on the cartridge inside the sealed waste compartment and defining a space between the electrodes, the space is aligned with the insertion opening, a main housing to which the disposable cartridge is separately secured, and a power source disposed within the main housing and connected to the electrodes to apply a voltage across the electrodes to destroy the needles introduced through the insertion opening into the space to contact the two electrics.

Description

H0 PODERM ICAS NEEDLE DISPOSAL APPARATUS The present invention relates to apparatuses for destroying needles of hypodermic syringes to allow their safe disposal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The provision of hypodermic syringes that have needles attached to them presents a serious risk of infection to users, especially if they can accidentally sting themselves with one of the needles. Therefore various forms of apparatus have been previously proposed to pass a current through the needles to destroy them, this is commonly referred to as needle inci neration. The current not only melts the needles to prevent puncturing a user of the waste hypodermic syringes, but also burns any toxic residue from the needles. Such an apparatus usually has two separate electrodes that apply a small voltage between a short length of the needle near its tip and the high current flowing by melting this section of the needle. The needle is then fed progressively through the space between the electrodes to melt the entire needle to the collar that is attached to the syringe. The electrodes that are used to pass a current through the needles tend to corrode over time and facilitate their replacement has been proposed in GB-2,278,986 to mount the electrodes on an electrode plate unit similar to a cartridge having holes of insertion of the needle. This facilitates the task of cleaning residues from the vicinity of the electrodes, which themselves will be contaminated with pathogens, but the residues of the needles are stored in an open box which still presents a danger to the person emptying the apparatus. incineration as well as filling for use, since both the waste and the box are contaminated from any drip from the syringe and from the spray action. US-A-5, 076.178 discloses an apparatus having an incinerator housing that is separate from the electrical power supply housing and a drawer for storing the hypodermic syringes. Although the so-called incinerator housing, the incineration electrodes and the sealing fastener are not in fact part of the incinerator housing but remain attached to the energy supply housing when the incinerator housing is removed for emptying. The device therefore avoids the possibility of contamination by being in contact with the residues of the needle.

The additional apparatus, described in US-A-4,877,934, has a drawer with an elongated slot on its upper surface along the side in which one of the electrodes is provided to be in contact with the needle to be incinerated near the Cube. A second electrode is arranged on a ramp surface on the lower part of the drawer opposite the elongated opening. In use, the needle moves along the elongated slot and is heated first over its total length. As soon as the needle is incinerated it moves to the ramp to destroy it to reduce its length prog- resively. The drawer in this case is not permanently closed since the waste can come out of the drawer. Additionally, one of the electrodes, which can be contaminated by itself, is exposed on the upper surface of the drawer. For this reason, a cover needs to be fixed to seal the top of the drawer for safety before being unloaded.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present therefore seeks to minimize the risk of infection to a user of both needles and waste created to pass a current through the needles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE NORTH ION According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for incinerating the needle for hypodermic needle arrangement comprising an insertion opening through which a needle to be destroyed can be introduced into the apparatus., two separate electrodes defining between them a space aligned with the insertion opening and a power supply for applying a voltage between the electrodes to destroy needles introduced through the insertion opening in the space to be in contact with the electrodes. two electrodes, wherein the apparatus is formed of a main housing and a disposable cartridge separable from the main housing, the power supply that is disposed between the main housing and the insertion opening formed in the wall of the cartridge, characterized in that the electrodes are mounted on the cartridge inside a sealed waste compartment to retain the waste that results from the destruction of the needles. Since the waste compartment is sealed, the waste can not at any time leave or be emptied from the compartment, or even through the insertion opening. As a result, it is not necessary and in fact it is impossible, that at any time they are in contact with the residues. Once the cartridge is filled with debris, it can not be emptied and must in turn be completely replaced with the contained electrodes. Therefore, since the storage compartment for waste is permanently closed, no special precautions should be taken when handling a full cartridge. The invention contrasts in this way with the apparatus described in US-A-4,877,934, mentioned in the above where it is necessary to fix a cover to the cartridge to ensure that the waste does not escape unintended and cause contamination. In the known apparatus for incineration of the needle, special stages must be taken into account in order to avoid an accumulation of a deposit on the electrodes such as a reservoir which may eventually prevent the apparatus from functioning correctly. Therefore, GB-A-2,273,231, for example, proposes forming one of the electrodes as a rotatable cylinder. In the present invention, the need to take into account special stages to avoid accumulation of a deposit will depend, for example, on the size of the cartridge. If the cartridge is small, as in an appliance intended for domestic use, then it is not necessary to take any steps to avoid the accumulation of such a tank if there is no likelihood that it will disturb the operation of the appliance before filling the compartment with waste. needle.

In an apparatus having a large cartridge, however, it is preferred in a second aspect of the invention to provide a means for vibrating at least one of the electrodes in the cartridge to inhibit the accumulation of a deposit on the electrodes. An electrode in the cartridge can be vibrated by means of a vibrator mounted in the main housing if a suitable mechanism is provided to transmit the vibrations through the interface between the main housing and the cartridge. However, in order to avoid unnecessary complexity, it is preferred to mount it within the cartridge means to vibrate one of the electrodes. Although an electromagnetic device such as a vibrator can be used, it is preferred to use a piezoelectric crystal. Such a vibrator has no moving parts that can deteriorate any useful life of the cartridge and is not expensive enough to unnecessarily add the cost of the disposable cartridge. This can also be more compact and lighter than an electromagnetic vibrator. A still further advantage of the use of a piezoelectric crystal as a vibrator is that it can be constructed to oscillate at ultrasonic frequencies such that the noise generated by the apparatus during operation is not perceptible, at least to humans.

When a needle is incinerated, gases are emitted and spraying can occur by spraying on heating a needle that still contains a fluid. It is therefore preferred that the compartment in the cartridge should not only be closed but sealed, at least for as long as a current passes through the needle. For this purpose, the opening of the insert, which is required to accommodate hypodermic syringes of different diameters, can be fixed with sealing bellows of elastomeric material at the center of which a more rigid conical guide member having an orifice is mounted. central for the passage of the needle inside the compartment. It is further preferred to provide a self-closing membrane between the mouth of the bellows. It can, for example, comprise a sheet of elastomeric material having one or more fin defining slots that separate automatically during insertion of a syringe and return to the closing coupling position when the syringe is withdrawn from the insertion opening. In this form, the emission of vapors from the cartridge can be inhibited even after the syringe has been removed from the insertion opening. If the space between the electrodes is of constant size, then a short length will always remain at the end of a needle that can not be melted and this short treatment can still present a small danger to an operator. The danger is only minimal because the tip will not be sharp, in most cases it will have been sealed by smelting and will have been heated enough to sterilize it and destroy pathogens. However, it is preferred to mount one of the movable electrodes towards the other to close the space between the electrodes as well as the end of a needle being reached. The electrodes can be pushed towards each other by the collar of the needle that is attached to the hypodermic syringe. Although the movable electrode may be supported in any suitable manner, for example for sliding movement, it is preferred that it must be pivotably mounted within the cartridge. A user can form the cartridge with a transparent wall section such that the visual inspection can be sufficient to determine when the cartridge is full and in need of replacement. Alternatively, however, means may be provided to detect the level of waste within the cartridge waste compartment. Such preferably detecting means depend on the electrical conductivity of the waste and comprise two separate electrodes of which at least one is placed in the cartridge near the maximum residue level. A more expensive alternative that does not depend on the conductivity of the waste could be, resorting to an optical level detection means, which depends on the residues interrupting the light path between a light source and a photosensitive device. The invention also provides according to a further aspect a cartridge for a needle incineration apparatus having an electrical power supply disposed between a main housing, the cartridge comprising a container capable of being releasably fixed to the main housing and has a permanently closed internal waste compartment, two electrodes disposed between the waste compartment, an insertion opening in the wall of the container to allow a needle to be destroyed to be inserted into the waste compartment to make contact with the electrodes and at least one electrical connector on the outside of the container for connecting the electrodes in the cartridge to the electrical power supply in the main housing when the cartridge is fixed to the housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be further described, by the form of the example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows an external perspective view of an embodiment of an apparatus for incinerating needles according to the present invention, Figure 2 shows a partial section along the line 11 in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figure 2 with a hypodermic syringe inserted in the cartridge, the view showing the position of the electrodes at the end of the incineration of the needle.

DESCRI PTION OF MODALI DADES PREFER I DAS The needle incineration apparatus of Figure 1 comprises a main housing 10 and a cartridge 20. The main housing 1 0 is formed with an integral transport handle 1 2 and has two indicator lights 14 and 1 6. The light 14 indicates that the apparatus is active, i.e. connected to a main supply, and the light 16 is used to indicate that the cartridge 20 is full and in need of replacement. The main housing contains a transformer, a control circuit and a short-circuit device, that is, a fuse or a circuit breaker, the operation of which will be described below. It is not considered necessary to describe the control circuit and the design of the contents of the main housing in detail since they can be of conventional construction and their design will be clearer to the person skilled in the art. The housing 10 and the cartridge 20 have interconnection formations to allow the cartridge 20 to be secured securely to the main housing. More particularly, the housing 10 has at one end two notches 18 and the disposable cartridge 20 has two tongues 22. Once the tongues 22 have been inserted into the notches 18, the cartridge is guided by sliding movement in a vertical direction and , at the lower end of its trajectory, the tips 24 of two plug connectors projecting downwardly of the cartridge 20 engage in bipolar pins (not shown) facing upwards in the main housing to establish various electrical connections between the elements of the cylinder mounted on the cartridge 20 and the circuit mounted inside the housing 1 0. The cartridge 20 also has an insertion opening 26 through which the needles to be destroyed can be introduced into the apparatus while the same. they are still attached to the body of the hypodermic syringe. The cartridge 20 is permanently closed and only the access to its internal waste compartment is through the insert opening 26. In operation, when the needles are inserted into the opening 26, they are incinerated in the manner described in greater detail below and all debris resulting from their destruction remains inside the waste compartment of the cartridge 20. When the hypodermic syringe is removed from the opening 26, all that remains of the needle is the plastic connecting collar and very small fragments of the needle metal. This fragment is not pointed and its central opening is in most cases closed, to seal the contents of the hypodermic syringe. Additionally, the fragments will have been heated to a temperature high enough to sterilize them. As soon as the needle has been incinerated and sterilized, a person can therefore dispose of the hypodermic syringe safely without any risk of itching or infecting the user with the waste material. No contact is made with the residues of the needle and these remain inside the waste compartment of the cartridge. When the cartridge is full, the light 16 on the housing 10 indicates that the cartridge 20 is in need of replacement and that all it requires the user to do is to slide out the filled cartridge 20 and replace it with a new vacuum. The user can then dispose of the cartridge 20 safely filled using the same disposal facilities as are used for hypodermic syringes that have been made harmless. With reference now to Figures 2 and 3, these show a partial section through the cartridge 20 in the vicinity of the insertion opening 26. A rubber fuel 28 having a self-closing membrane 29 extending through its mouth is secured by an adhesive to the inner surface of the cartridge 20 around the opening 26. The self-closing membrane 29 comprises a sheet of material elastomeric having one or more slots to define fins. The flaps are automatically separated during insertion of a syringe and return to a closed engagement position when the syringe is withdrawn from the insertion opening. The flexible bellows 28 carry at their lower ends a conical, rigid plastic guide member 30 which has a small central hole 32 for the passage of the needle to be incinerated. The guide member 30 can be attached to the bellows 28 by means of an adhesive but it is simpler for this to be elastically held by the bellows 28, the latter being compressed as soon as it is fixed on the guide member 30. The large diameter of the guide member 30 is sufficient to accommodate the longer of the hypodermic syringes and regardless of the diameter of the syringe, the hard conical surface of the guide member guides the needle through the central hole 32. A first electrode 36 is positioned coaxially under the hole 32 and a second electrode 40 extends below the first electrode 36 and the orifice 32, such that the space between two electrodes 36 and 40 is aligned with the orifice 32. These electrodes 36 and 40 are mounted on a separately formed support frame 34 which is held in position in the cartridge 20 by being slid into a notch defined by the flanges 46, 48 projecting inward from the side walls of the cartridge 20. The cartridge assembled from two initially separated plastic covers and the support frame 34 is slid into the slot before the covers are permanently secured one to the other, for example an adhesive or solder, to seal the internal compartment 50 and retain the support frame 34 in position. It will be clear to a person skilled in the art that the manner in which the cartridge body is constructed can vary, without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. A person can for example, think that the cartridge is molded in one piece and that the electrodes are incorporated therein by insert molding or by being inserted therein through the needle insertion opening before the latter is sealed . In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the support frame 34 has two dependent lugs 52 between which a pivot point 38 extends through one of the electrodes 36. A torsion spring (not shown) surrounding the pivot point 38 acts to deflect the electrode 36 in the clockwise direction, as seen, the electrode 36 which is pivoted in the counterclockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow in Figure 2, by contact with the guide member 30 when an inserted hypodermic syringe reaches the position shown in Figure 3. A second electrode 40 is firmly attached to the support frame 34, for example by rivets (not shown), and carries a piezoelectric crystal 42. The glass 42 is secured by means of an adhesive to the side of the electrode 40 staying facing away from the hole 32 in the guide member 30. A strip 44 of adhesive with an electrically conductive surface is adhered to the inner wall of the cartridge 20 at the level of the height of the debris when the cartridge is full and a similar strip (not shown) is attached to the base of the compartment. These strips 44 together form a level sensing means that depends on the conductivity of the debris to determine when the cartridge is full. It is alternatively possible to use any other suitable form of level sensing medium. For example, an optical level sensing means comprising a light source and a light sensitive device, which depends on the light path between the light source and the light sensitive device which is obstructed by the waste when the receipt compartment 50 is full. The connecting wires are provided in the cartridge to connect the various circuit elements to the tips of the connectors 24, but these wires have not been shown in the drawings for the sake of clarity. Instead of using wires, the conductors can be printed on the internal wall of the cartridge. These connections comprise two conductors leading from each of the electrodes 36 and 40 to a respective pair of contact tips on the connectors 24.; the two contact tips that are used for each electrode in order to support the large current required to incinerate the needles. Two conductors lead from two prongs to the piezoelectric crystal 42 and two additional conductors lead from the conductive strips 44 of the waste level sensing medium to two additional prongs on the connectors. When using printed conductors instead of wires, this is of course possible to dispense the self-adhesive strip 44 and use the conductors themselves as contacts of sensing means. When a needle is to be incinerated, it is inserted while it is still mounted on the syringe inside the cartridge 20 through the insertion opening 26. The fins of the membrane 29 are curved by the body of the syringe to allow the syringe to be pushed down to the position shown in Figure 3. During this time, a main line transformer within the main housing supplies a low voltage between the electrodes 36 and 40. This voltage can be changed manually by the operator or can be automatically changed by the control circuit that detects a drop in resistance between the two electrodes when a needle is inserted to bridge the space between them. At the same time, an oscillator within the main housing applies an alternating excitation voltage, preferably at the ultrasonic frequency, to the piezoelectric crystal 42. Although the voltage applied between the electrodes 36 and 40 is necessarily only low, typically 3V, to avoid any risk of electrocution to the user, a high current will flow through the tip of the short needle circuiting the two electrodes and this will cause the metal of the needle is founded. With a moderate downward pressure applied to the syringe, the needle is progressively destroyed at the same time that the collar on the needle comes into contact with the guide member 30 and pushes it downward, as shown in Figure 3. movement of the guide member 30 is restricted by contacting a conical container defined by the support frame 34 and at this point the guide member pushes the pivotable electrode 36 in a counter-clockwise manner, against the action of its spring of deviation, closing the space between the electrodes and therefore minimizing the length of the fragments of the needle left in its collar. When the needle has been totally destroyed, the user will not be able to push the syringe down any side into the opening 26 due to the obstruction presented by the support frame 34. Upon finding this increased resistance, the user should remove the syringe from the opening. It must therefore fail to do so for any reason, or if the electrodes must remain in contact with one another after the syringe has been removed, there is a risk of overloading the power supply. To avoid permanent damage to the circuitry in the main housing 10, the latter contains a short circuit, which can be a fuse, a thermal circuit breaker or a synchronizer that automatically cuts the circuit after a given time. If desired, an additional light indicator may be provided on the main housing to indicate that the circuit breaker device has been disconnected. The additional light can warn the user that the fuse needs to be replaced, that the circuit breaker needs to be relocated or that the device must remain unused for a short time to allow it to recover automatically. During the incineration of a needle, the molten metal is prevented from adhering to the electrode 40 by the vibration of the latter caused by the crystal 42. In turn, the debris falls from the electrode and is collected in the waste compartment 50. The heat generated during the incineration will burn any liquid on the needle but the vapors and any spray will mostly be contained within the cartridge since the orifice 32 will at this time be obstructed by the needle effectively sealing the compartment 50. When the syringe is removed, the fins of the membrane 29 return to their position shown in Figure 1 to contain within the cartridge any vapor that can pass through the orifice 32 when it is no longer obstructed by the needle. The incineration of the needle will burn and sterilize the needle in such a way that no harm can be caused to people handling the waste hypodermic syringes. In most cases, the short of the needle material will also seal the hypodermic syringe. When the compartment 50 is full, an electrical path will be produced through the waste from the strip 44 on top of the container for the similar strip in the base and this resistance is monitored in the main housing. When the waste fills the cartridge, the light 16 is biased to indicate to the user that the cartridge must be replaced. It should be emphasized that the foregoing description is given only by way of example and that many modifications to the apparatus may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. For example, if a small cartridge is used, it is not necessary to provide a piezoelectric crystal to vibrate the stationary electrode. If a vibrator is provided, it is not necessary that it be mounted on the cartridge and that it in turn be mounted on the main housing. In this case, the vibrations can be transmitted to the electrons for example through a flexible membrane incorporated in the wall of the cartridge. Additionally, the cartridge may have a transparent region in place of the described electrical sensitive medium of the level of waste within the cartridge. It is not essential that one of the electrodes be pivotable or indeed movable as a short fragment of the needle can be tolerated so large that it is burned and sterilized. Various modifications can also be made in the construction of the cartridge and the means for sealing it while the incineration of the needle is carried out and while the apparatus is in a stationary state. For example, a manually releasable cover may be provided to seal the insertion opening during periods when the apparatus is not in use.

Claims (25)

1. CLAIMS 1 . An apparatus for incinerating a needle for disposition of hypodermic needles comprising an insertion opening through which a needle to be destroyed can be introduced into the apparatus, two separate electrodes defining between them a space aligned with the insertion opening and a power supply for applying a voltage between the electrodes to destroy needles introduced through the insertion opening into the space to be in contact with the two electrodes, wherein the apparatus is formed of a main housing and a removable disposable cartridge of the main housing, the energy supply that is arranged inside the main housing and the insertion opening that is formed in a wall of the cartridge, characterized in that the electrodes are mounted in the cartridge inside a sealed waste compartment to retain residues that result of the destruction of needles.
2. 2. An apparatus for incinerating a needle for disposition of hypodermic needles comprising an insertion opening through which a needle to be destroyed can be introduced into the apparatus, two separate electrodes defining between them a space aligned with the insertion opening and a power supply for applying a voltage between the electrodes to destroy needles introduced through the insertion opening into the space to be in contact with the two electrodes, wherein the apparatus is formed by a main housing and a removable disposable cartridge of the main housing, the energy supply that is arranged inside the main housing and the insertion opening that is formed in a wall of the cartridge, characterized in that the electrodes are mounted in the cartridge inside a permanently sealed waste compartment to retain waste that result from the destruction of needles and wherein the vibrating means are provided to vibrate at least one of the electrodes in the cartridge to inhibit the accumulation of a deposit on the electrodes.
3. 3. The apparatus, according to claim 2, characterized in that the vibrating means is arranged inside the cartridge.
4. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the vibrating means comprises a piezoelectric crystal adhered to the electrode and a means arranged in the main housing for applying an excitation voltage to the piezoelectric crystal.
5. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the means for applying an excitation voltage to the piezoelectric crystal is operative to generate an alternating voltage having an ultrasonic frequency.
6. 6. The apparatus, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the insertion opening is fixed with a bellows of elastomeric material in the center of which is mounted a conical guide member having a central hole for the passage of the needle inside the waste compartment.
7. 7. The apparatus, according to claim 6, characterized in that a self-closing membrane is provided between the mouth of the bellows.
8. 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the self-closing membrane comprises a sheet of elastomeric material having one or more slots to define fins that separate automatically during the insertion of a syringe and return to a coupling position. closure when the syringe is withdrawn from the insertion opening.
9. 9. The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that one of the electrodes is mounted in such a way that it is movable towards the other electrode to close the space between the electrodes as soon as the end of a needle is reached.
10. 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that the movable electrode is pivotably mounted inside the cartridge. eleven .
11. The apparatus, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cartridge is formed with a transparent wall section to allow visual inspection of the contents of the waste compartment.
12. 12. The apparatus, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that means are provided for detecting the level of the waste within the waste compartment of the cartridge.
13. 13. The apparatus, according to claim 12, characterized in that the means for detecting the level of waste within the waste compartment comprises two separate electrodes of which at least one is placed in the cartridge near the maximum residue level.
14. 14. The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the inter-raking formations are formed on the cartridge and on the main housing.
15. 15. A cartridge for an apparatus for incinerating a needle having a power supply arranged within a main housing, the cartridge, characterized in that it comprises a container capable of being releasably fixed to the main housing and having an internal compartment sealed of waste , two electrodes disposed within the waste compartment, and an insertion opening in the wall of the container to allow a needle to be destroyed to be inserted into the waste compartment to be in contact with the electrodes and at least one electrical connector on the outside of the container for connecting the electrodes in the cartridge for the supply of electrical energy in the main housing when the cartridge is fixed to the housing.
16. 16. A cartridge for an apparatus for incinerating a needle having a supply of electric power disposed inside a main housing, the cartridge, characterized in that it comprises a container capable of being releasably fixed to the main housing and having a permanently closed internal compartment of waste, two electrodes disposed within the waste compartment, an insertion opening in the wall of the container to allow a needle to be destroyed, inserted into the waste compartment to be in contact with the electrodes and at least one connector electrical on the outside of the container for connecting the electrodes in the cartridge to the electrical power supply in the main housing when the cartridge is fixed to the housing, wherein vibrating means are provided inside the cartridge to vibrate at least one of the electrodes to inhibit the accumulation of a deposit on electro two, the connector on the outside of the cartridge further serving to connect the vibration means to receive a generated excitation voltage within the main housing of the incineration apparatus.
17. 1 7. The cartridge, in accordance with the claim 16, characterized in that the vibrating means comprises a piezoelectric crystal adhered to the electrode.
18. 18. The cartridge according to any of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that the insertion opening is fixed with bellows of elastomeric material in the center of which is mounted a conical guide member having a central hole for the passage of the needle inside the waste compartment.
19. 19. The cartridge, in accordance with the claim 18, characterized in that a self-closing membrane is provided between the mouth of the bellows.
20. 20. The cartridge, in accordance with the claim 19, characterized in that the self-closing membrane comprises a sheet of elastomeric material having one or more slots for defining fins that separate automatically during the insertion of a syringe and that return to a closing coupling position when the syringe is extracted from the insertion opening. twenty-one .
21. The cartridge, according to any of claims 15 to 20, characterized in that one of the electrodes is mounted in such a way that it is movable towards the other electrode to close the space between the electrodes as soon as the end of a needle is reached.
22. 22. The cartridge, according to claim 21, characterized in that the movable electrode is pivotably mounted inside the cartridge.
23. 23. The cartridge, according to any of claims 15 to 22, characterized in that the cartridge is formed with a transparent wall section to allow visual inspection of the contents of the waste compartment.
24. 24. The cartridge according to any of claims 15 to 23, further characterized in that it comprises a sensitive means for detecting the level of waste within the waste compartment, the sensing means comprising two separate electrodes of which at least one is placed in the cartridge close to the maximum residue level, the connector on the outside of the cartridge that serves to connect the sensitive means to a circuit inside the main housing of the needle incineration apparatus for measuring the electrical resistance between the electrodes of the sensitive medium.
25. 25. The cartridge, according to any of claims 15 to 24, characterized in that it has a formation for interlocking engagement with a complementary formation formed on the main housing to provide a firm mechanical connection of the cartridge to the main housing.