FREEZER FOR BIOSANITARY AND CYTOTOXIC WASTE

Abstract

Freezer for biohazardous and cytotoxic waste, comprising: - an interior space (1), which houses a waste container (2), - a front door (3), through which the waste container (2) is inserted / extracted into the interior space (1), - a top door (4), through which the waste is poured into the interior container (2), - cooling means (7) and temperature control means for the interior space (1), - an air purifier (5), configured for treating an air stream from the interior space (1), characterized in that it comprises: - level detection means (8), configured for monitoring a fill level of the container (2), and - user interface means (9), configured for emitting a color warning signal to the outside of the freezer, when said level detection means (8) detect a full fill state of the container (2).

Description

FREEZER FOR BIOSANITARY AND CYTOTOXIC WASTE TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a freezer for biohazardous and cytotoxic waste, such as those used in hospitals, laboratories, and other similar facilities, or in the transport of such waste to incinerators, with refrigeration means and an air purifier that allow the degradation of said waste to be delayed and reduce environmental pollution respectively; incorporating as a novelty means for detecting the fill level and means for a user interface, to give notice about a total fill state of the container and the need to change said container for an empty one. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various designs of refrigerators or freezers for biohazardous and cytotoxic waste are known. For example, the refrigerator shown in Spanish utility model ES 1062531 U, published on July 1, 2006, comprises a front door that allows the insertion and removal of a bin where the waste is deposited, and a top door for emptying the waste into the bin. The refrigerator has coils arranged on its side and rear walls, as well as a thermostat that regulates the temperature inside the refrigerator. Another example is the freezer covered by European patent EP 3450353 A1, published on March 6, 2019, which further comprises an air purifier that, when the top or front door of the freezer is opened, is configured to treat an air stream coming from the interior space of the freezer, thus reducing or preventing the emission of polluting particles, both chemical and biological, that travel along with said air stream, into the environment outside the freezer. However, these refrigerators or freezers for known biohazardous and cytotoxic waste have the disadvantage that it is not possible to know the level of waste filling in the container inside, unless one of its doors is opened to check the level of waste deposited in said container, which implies risks of expelling, to the outside of the freezer, the contaminating particles that accompany the airflow from its interior space. For this reason, it is necessary to design a freezer for biohazardous and cytotoxic waste that, in a simple and economical way, solves the disadvantage of the previously mentioned technique. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claim, while the dependent claims describe other features thereof. The object of the invention is a freezer for biohazardous and cytotoxic waste, which comprises: - an interior space, which houses a waste container, - a front door, through which the waste container is inserted / removed into the interior space, - a top door, through which the waste is poured into the inner container, - cooling means and means for controlling the temperature of the interior space, and - an air purifier, configured to treat an air stream coming from the interior space. Additionally, the freezer includes: - level detection means, configured to monitor a container fill level, and - user interface means, configured to emit a warning signal to the outside of the freezer, when said level detection means detect a fully filled container state. Thus, it is possible to know when the freezer container reaches its full capacity, with a view to changing said container completely full of waste for another empty container, without having to open any of its doors to check it, thus avoiding the risks of expelling, to the outside of the freezer, the contaminating particles existing suspended in the air of its interior space. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES This descriptive report is complemented by a set of figures illustrating the preferred and never limiting example of the invention. Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the freezer for biohazardous and cytotoxic waste. Figure 2 represents a connection diagram of the control unit to the level detection means, the user interface means, and the opening recording means of the freezer in Figure 1. DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a freezer for biohazardous and cytotoxic waste. As shown in Figure 1, the freezer comprises: - an interior space (1), which houses a waste container (2), - a front door (3), through which the waste container (2) is inserted / extracted into the interior space (1), - an upper door (4), through which the waste is poured into the inner container (2), - cooling means (7) and means for controlling the temperature of the interior space (1), and - an air purifier (5), configured to treat an air stream coming from the interior space (1). For example, the cooling means (7) may comprise two coils (not shown in the figure) arranged in the side walls and rear wall of the freezer; as well as the temperature control means could be a thermostat (not shown in the figure) that regulates the temperature in the interior space (1) of the freezer between 0°C and -25°C. For its part, the air purifier (5) can be arranged on the outside of the freezer, for example on one of its sides, and preferably comprises a top air inlet (5.1), directed towards the top door (4), and a front air inlet (5.2), directed towards the front door (3) of the freezer. It is also preferred that the air purifier (5) be activated when the top door (4) or the front door (3) is opened. It is preferable that the opening of the top door (4) or the front door (3) be activated by pressing a pedal (6) accessible either from the front of the freezer or from one of its sides. The air purifier (5) may include a driving means, for example, a fan (not shown in the figure), which draws the airflow from the interior space (1) into the air purifier (5) when the top (4) or front (3) door of the freezer is opened. Simultaneously, these driving means circulate the airflow containing contaminants through the interior of the air purifier (5), between the top (5.1) or front (5.2) air inlets and a purified air outlet (5.3). On the other hand, it is preferred that the air stream from the interior space (1) be treated in the air purifier (5) by photocatalysis, for example, using titanium dioxide (TiO2) as a photocatalyst. For this purpose, the air purifier (5) could contain a titanium dioxide (TiO2) matrix (not shown in the figure) irradiated by ultraviolet (UV) lamps (not shown in the figure). This irradiated matrix is ​​traversed by the air stream flowing between the inlets (5.1, 5.2) and the outlet (5.3) of the air purifier (5). As it passes through the air purifier (5), the air stream with polluting particles, coming from the interior space (1) of the freezer, is converted into purified air at the outlet of the air purifier (5), canceling the emissions to the outside of polluting particles, both chemical and biological, which come from the biosanitary and cytotoxic waste in the segregation phase that is contained in the container (2) of the interior space (1) of the freezer. The cleaning of the air stream occurs when the accompanying polluting particles are "oxidized" upon contact with the hydroxyl radicals and superoxide ions formed when titanium dioxide (TiO2) absorbs photons from ultraviolet (UV) lamps, until these polluting particles are completely reduced to carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor; resulting in purified air suitable for release into the outside environment, without risk of contamination to the latter. Additionally, the freezer comprises level detection means (8), which are configured to monitor a fill level of the container (2), and user interface means (9) which are configured to emit a warning signal to the outside of the freezer, when said level detection means (8) detect a fully filled state of the container (2). Advantageously, the level detection means (8) for the waste deposited in the container (2) can be, for example, optical means, such as an infrared proximity sensor (not shown in the figures), or more preferably, a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor, such as a laser sensor (8.1), which, as shown in Figure 1, is arranged at the top of the interior space (1) facing an opening (2.1) of the container (2). Other possible embodiments for such level detection means (8) could be weighing means, such as a load cell (not shown in the figures) arranged under the container (2), or capacitive means, which detect the variation of a dielectric constant according to the amount of waste deposited in the container (2). The user interface means (9) could be a display (9.1), which, for example, could be mounted on the outside of the front door (3) of the freezer. Advantageously, the display (9.1) could be configured to change its color depending on the fill level of the container (2) detected by the level detection means (8). The display (9.1) would show a first color indicating freezer operation, for example, green, when the container is empty (i.e., no waste is present) or partially full, and a second color indicating that the container (2) needs to be removed, for example, red, when the level detection means (8) detects that the container (2) is fully full. Advantageously, as shown in Figure 2, the freezer could further comprise a control unit (11) linked to the level detection means (8) and the user interface means (9). Thus, the color change, for example, from green (displayed steadily) to red (displayed intermittently) and from red to green, of the display (9.1) of the user interface means (9), is commanded by the control unit (11) based on the updated data on the level of waste in the container (2) received by said control unit (11) from the level detection means (8). Additionally, it is preferred that the freezer comprise opening recording means (10) for the front door (3). Similar to the level detection means (8) and the user interface means (9), said opening recording means (10) for the front door (3) are linked to the control unit (11). Whereas, said opening recording means (10) are configured to count and record opening and closing cycles of the front door (3). For example, such means of opening a record (10) could comprise: - detection means (10.1), such as a Hall effect sensor, an infrared sensor or an electromechanical switch disposed in a frame (12) or in the front door (3) that rests on said frame (12) during the closed position of said front door (3), which are configured to detect an opening / closing event of the front door (3), and - counting means that are configured to record said front door opening / closing event (3), which could be integrated into the control unit itself (11). Thus, when the detection means (10.1) detect that the front door (3) is opened, said detection means (10.1) send an electrical impulse to the counting means, and the latter increment a numerical value by one unit for each opening / closing cycle of the front door (3) detected, thus allowing the storage of the history of events corresponding to the times per day that the container (2) in use inside the freezer is changed for another empty container (2), as a replacement for the first one. As an application of all the above, i.e., with the transmission of data to the control unit (11) corresponding to the detection of whether the waste deposited inside the container (2) has reached the total filling level, or not, and the detection of the opening of the front door (3) of the freezer, said control unit (11) is suitable for: - generate data on whether a container withdrawal (2) occurs in a fully filled or partially filled state, and - transmitting, through wireless communication means (not shown in the figures), said data generated by the control unit (11) to a remote computer application for managing (13) the freezer, for example, executable on a portable computing device, such as a smartphone, a tablet, or any other equivalent electronic device. Thus, the freezer that is the subject of the invention can be integrated into a waste management system, for example, in a hospital. Through this system, all the freezers for biohazardous and cytotoxic waste in the hospital can be managed. From the remote management software application (13), each freezer in the hospital can be monitored and located, and the type of waste stored in each freezer can be tracked. The system can also determine whether the container (2) has been replaced when fully or partially filled, that is, whether the used container (2) has been replaced with an empty one in an optimized manner relative to its filling level. A daily balance can be generated for each hospital unit or service, reporting on the optimization or filling of the containers (2) in the freezers under their responsibility.

Claims

1. A freezer for biohazardous and cytotoxic waste, comprising: - an interior space (1) housing a waste container (2), - a front door (3) through which the waste container (2) is inserted into / removed from the interior space (1), - a top door (4) through which the waste is poured into the interior container (2), - cooling means (7) and temperature control means for the interior space (1), - an air purifier (5) configured for treating an air stream from the interior space (1), characterized in that it comprises: - level detection means (8) configured for monitoring the fill level of the container (2), and - user interface means (9) configured for emitting a color warning signal to the outside of the freezer when said level detection means (8) detects a fully filled state of the container (2). 2.Freezer according to claim 1, wherein the level detection means (8) is a laser sensor (8.1) arranged in the interior space (1) facing an opening (2.1) of the container (2).

3. Freezer according to claim 1, wherein the user interface means (9) is a display (9.1) arranged on the outside of the front door (3).

4. Freezer according to claim 3, wherein the display (9.1) is configured to show: - a first color when the level detection means (8) detects an empty or partially filled state of the container (2), and - a second color when the level detection means (8) detects a fully filled state of the container (2).

5. Freezer according to claim 1, comprising front door (3) opening recording means (10) configured for counting and recording opening and closing cycles of the front door (3). 6.A freezer according to claim 5, comprising a control unit (11) linked to level detection means (8), user interface means (9), and opening recording means (10), wherein said control unit (11) is configured to generate data on whether a container (2) is removed in a fully filled or partially filled state, and to transmit said generated data via wireless communication means to a remote computer application for managing the freezer.

7. A freezer according to claim 1, wherein the air purifier (5) is arranged on the outside of one of the sides of the freezer.

8. A freezer according to claim 7, wherein the air purifier (5) comprises an upper air inlet (5.1) directed towards the upper door (4). 9.Freezer according to claim 7, wherein the air purifier (5) comprises a front air inlet (5.2) directed towards the front door (3).

10. Freezer according to claim 1, wherein the opening of the top door (4) or the front door (3) is effected by actuating a pedal (6).

11. Freezer according to claim 1, wherein the air purifier (5) treats the air stream from the interior space (1) by photocatalysis.

12. Freezer according to claim 11, wherein a photocatalyst used in the photocatalysis is titanium dioxide (TiO2).

13. Freezer according to claim 12, wherein the air purifier (5) comprises a titanium dioxide (TiO2) matrix irradiated by ultraviolet (UV) lamps.