Inductive Waste Bucket Docking for Sealed Steam Decontamination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing steam sterilization/decontamination technologies are expensive, bulky, fragile, and difficult to transport, requiring multiple energy sources and regular maintenance, with insufficient sterilization effectiveness and hygiene issues, especially for hazardous waste.
Innovation Solution
A container system with inductively heated cavities sealed from the environment, using a docking station to generate steam internally for sterilization/decontamination, ensuring airtight and watertight operation without external connections, and utilizing single-use materials for efficient and reliable sterilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing steam sterilization devices are used, then sterilization effectiveness is achieved, but the devices are expensive, bulky, and difficult to transport
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into two parts: a reusable docking station with control electronics and a disposable container with integrated heating elements. This segmentation allows the complex control system to be separated from the portable container, making the container compact and easy to transport while maintaining sterilization effectiveness through the docking station's control capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The container is equipped with its own inductive heating elements and water reservoir, allowing it to perform sterilization autonomously when placed in the docking station. This self-service capability eliminates the need for bulky external steam generators and complex piping, reducing device bulk while maintaining sterilization reliability.
2Reliability
If existing sterilization devices are used, then sterilization function is provided, but they require regular maintenance and component replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The container is designed as a disposable unit that is discarded after a certain number of sterilization cycles. This eliminates the need for maintenance and component replacement, as the entire container is replaced rather than repaired. The reusable docking station contains the components that require maintenance, but these are accessed externally rather than inside the container.
3Adaptability or versatility
If existing decontamination devices are used, then hazardous waste can be decontaminated, but the devices themselves do not meet hygiene requirements and are not suitable for humid environments
Solution Approach 1:
The container acts as an intermediary between the hazardous waste and the external environment. It is decontaminated inside the sealed container using steam generated within the container itself, preventing contamination of the external environment. The docking station provides the controlled environment needed for this process, protecting both the device and operator from hazardous materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The container uses its own internal heating elements to generate steam for decontamination, converting the potential harm of direct external steam injection (which could cause contamination) into a beneficial sealed internal process. The hazardous waste is decontaminated in place within the container, and the container itself is sterilized during the process, making the system suitable for humid environments and hazardous waste handling.
4Adaptability or versatility
If chemical decontamination methods are used, then decontamination is achieved, but the chemical composition of the waste is altered
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces chemical decontamination methods with a physical/thermal method using inductive heating and steam. The inductive heating elements generate heat through electromagnetic induction, and the steam physically penetrates and decontaminates the waste without altering its chemical composition through chemical reactions. This maintains the waste's chemical integrity while achieving effective decontamination.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides safe, efficient, and reproducible sterilization/decontamination of various waste types, including phase transitions, with no external contamination risk and reduced maintenance needs, meeting hygiene standards for hazardous waste.
Implementation Method 1
the at least one first heating element is an inductively heated heating element
Implementation Method 2
at least one first inductively heated heating element is provided in the container
Implementation Method 3
water, in particular in a second cavity, is heated by means of the first inductively heated heating element, creating overpressure and transferring steam into the receiving chamber
Implementation Method 4
including objects that undergo a phase transition (melt) at the process and/or decontamination temperature
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The present invention relates to a device, a use, and a method for steam sterilization and/or steam decontamination of the contents of a container. The object of the invention is to provide a device, a method, and a use for efficient, simple, and reliable sterilization and/or decontamination. The invention offers a technical solution that makes it possible to collect and sterilize a wide variety of solid, semi-solid, or liquid items and to effectively and reproducibly decontaminate various types of biologically contaminated objects. The system consists, in particular, of two parts. One of these is the docking station, a unit that can be reused for many sterilization/decontamination cycles.The container itself, which is placed in the docking station for sterilization/decontamination, is used to collect the items and is disposed of after sterilization/decontamination, in particular by incineration. However, the container has functional elements that interact with the docking station to ensure sterilization/decontamination, in particular at least one inductively heated element.