Disposable container for solvent contaminated wipes

Abstract

A disposable container for solvent contaminated wipes and a method of using the disposable container to prevent solvent contaminated wipes from spontaneously combusting is disclosed. The disposable container may be a flexible bag made of a material having a solvent-resistant, non-permeable layer and optionally other layers. The disposable container has an oxygen-reduction system including an air-tight seal, which may be formed in a variety of ways, and an oxygen-removal mechanism, such as a small pump that is integral to the flexible bag or a pump outlet that can be connected to an external pump.

Claims

1. A disposable container for solvent contaminated wipes comprising: a flexible bag comprising: a solvent-resistant, non-permeable interior layer composed of a first material, an insulating layer adjacent to the solvent-resistant, non-permeable interior layer, wherein the insulating layer is composed of a second material, a fire-resistant layer adjacent to the insulating layer, wherein the fire-resistant layer is composed of a third material, and a puncture-preventative exterior layer adjacent to the fire-resistant layer, wherein the puncture-preventative exterior layer is composed of a fourth material; and an oxygen-reduction system including an oxygen-removal mechanism and an air-tight seal.

2. The disposable container of claim 1, further comprising an adhesive flap integral to the disposable container that is pressed against a portion of the disposable container to form the air-tight seal.

3. The disposable container of claim 1, further comprising a sticker or latch that holds portions of the disposable container together to form the air-tight seal.

4. The disposable container of claim 1, further comprising compatible portions of the disposable container configured to be pressed together to form the air-tight seal.

5. The disposable container of claim 1, wherein the oxygen-removal mechanism is a pump formed integrally with the flexible bag.

6. The disposable container of claim 1, wherein the oxygen-removal mechanism is a pump outlet configured to connect to an external pump.

7. The disposable container of claim 1, wherein the oxygen-reduction system further includes an indicator that indicates when a sufficient amount of oxygen has been removed from the flexible bag to prevent spontaneous combustion.

8. The disposable container of claim 7, wherein the indicator includes an LED light.

9. The disposable container of claim 1, further comprising a permanent adhesive applied to the air-tight seal.

10. A system for discarding solvent contaminated wipes comprising: a plurality of disposable containers, each disposable container having: a flexible bag comprising: a solvent-resistant, non-permeable interior layer composed of a first material, an insulating layer adjacent to the solvent-resistant, non-permeable interior layer, wherein the insulating layer is composed of a second material, a fire-resistant layer adjacent to the insulating layer, wherein the fire-resistant layer is composed of a third material, and a puncture-preventative exterior layer adjacent to the fire-resistant layer, wherein the puncture-preventative exterior layer is composed of a fourth material; and an oxygen-reduction system including an oxygen-removal mechanism and an air-tight seal; wherein the oxygen-removal mechanism of each of the plurality of disposable containers is either a pump formed integrally with the flexible bag or a separate pump included in the system.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising a permanent adhesive that can be applied to the plurality of disposable containers to form the air-tight seal.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the plurality of disposable containers includes an adhesive flap integral to the disposable container that is pressed against a portion of the disposable container to form the air-tight seal.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the plurality of disposable containers includes compatible portions of the disposable container configured to be pressed together to form the air-tight seal.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the oxygen-removal mechanism of at least one of the plurality of disposable containers is a pump formed integrally with the flexible bag.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein: the oxygen-removal mechanism of at least one of the plurality of disposable containers is a pump outlet configured to connect to an external pump; and the system includes a separate pump.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the separate pump is configured to attach to the pump outlet of each of the at least one of the plurality of disposable containers having a pump outlet.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the oxygen-reduction system of at least one of the plurality of disposable containers further includes an indicator that indicates when a sufficient amount of oxygen has been removed from the flexible bag to prevent spontaneous combustion.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter that is regarded as the present disclosure, it is believed that the disclosure will be more fully understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Some of the figures may have been simplified by the omission of selected elements for the purpose of more clearly showing other elements. Such omissions of elements in some figures are not necessarily indicative of the presence or absence of particular elements in any of the exemplary embodiments, except as may be explicitly delineated in the corresponding written description. None of the drawings are necessarily to scale.

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a disposable container constructed according to the present disclosure, wherein the disposable container is a flexible bag having an airtight seal created by an adhesive flap and the flexible bag includes a small pump integral to the flexible bag to remove oxygen from the bag and an indicator.

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a disposable container constructed according to the present disclosure, wherein the disposable container is a flexible bag having an airtight seal created by compatible portions of the disposable container being pressed together and the flexible bag includes a pump outlet that can be joined to an external pump to remove air from the flexible bag.

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a side of a disposable container constructed according to the present disclosure, wherein the disposable container is a flexible bag having four layers of material, an interior layer being a solvent-resistant, non-permeable material, a second layer being an insulating material, a third layer being a fire-resistant material, and an exterior layer being a puncture-preventative material.

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a side of a disposable container constructed according to the present disclosure, wherein the disposable container is a flexible bag having two layers of material, an interior layer being a solvent-resistant, non-permeable, and fire-resistant material, and an external layer being an insulating and puncture-preventative material.

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates schematically a method of using a disposable container constructed according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) Referring to the figures in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary disposable container 2. In this embodiment, the disposable container 2 includes a flexible bag 4. The flexible bag 4 can come in a variety of sizes to accommodate various regulations regarding the disposal of solvent contaminated wipes and may be designated as capable of holding a set volume (i.e., one half gallon) or capable of holding a set number of solvent contaminated wipes (i.e., thirty solvent contaminated wipes that are 12 inches by 12 inches or less). The disposable container 2 has an oxygen-reduction system having an air-tight seal 6 and an oxygen-removal mechanism 8. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the air-tight seal is achieved by sticking an adhesive flap 10 to a side 12 of the flexible bag 4 and the oxygen-removal mechanism 8 is a small pump 14 integral to the flexible bag 4. In addition, the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 has an indicator 16 that informs a person using the oxygen-reduction mechanism 8 when a sufficient amount of air has been removed from the flexible bag 4 to prevent solvent contaminated wipes put into the flexible bag 4 from spontaneously combusting. The indicator 16 depicted in FIG. 1 is an LED light located adjacent the exterior of side 12 of the flexible bag 4 with a button attached to the LED light and located adjacent the interior of side 12 of the flexible bag 4. The flexible bag 4 becomes compressed as air is removed vi the oxygen-removal mechanism 8 and the button on the interior of side 12 of the flexible bag 4 is pressed by the solvent contaminated wipes or another portion of the flexible bag 4. The indicator 16 is designed so that the button activates the LED light when, based on the degree to which the flexible bag 4 is compressed, enough oxygen has been removed from the flexible bag 4 to ensure that the solvent contaminated wipes will not spontaneously combust. Once the LED light is activated, a user knows that no more oxygen needs to be removed from the flexible bag 4 through the oxygen-reduction mechanism 8 and the disposable container 2 can be safely discarded.

(8) FIG. 2 likewise depicts a disposable container 2 that includes a flexible bag 4 and an oxygen-reduction system including an air-tight seal 6 (not shown as flexible bag 4 is depicted in open position) and an oxygen-removal mechanism 8. However, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, the air-tight seal 6 is achieved by a set of first compatible portions 18 of the flexible bag 4 being pressed together with a set of second compatible portions 20. In other embodiments not herein depicted, the air-tight seal may be formed by a sticker 21 or a latching mechanism 23 holding portions of the disposable container together or by any other structure or mechanism. A permanent adhesive 23 may be used in conjunction with any mechanism sealing the disposable container 2 in order to ensure the integrity of the air-tight seal 6. Additionally, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, the oxygen-removal mechanism 8 is a pump outlet 22 that allows an external pump to be connected to the flexible bag 4 and provides a seal when the external pump is disconnected. The embodiment depicted in FIG. 2 does not have an indicator but a user may determine that a sufficient amount of air has been removed from the flexible bag 4 by visually determining how compressed the flexible bag 4 has become.

(9) FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary cross-sectional view of a portion of a side 12 of a flexible bag 4 having a solvent-resistant and non-permeable layer 24, an insulating layer 26, a fire-resistant layer 28, and a puncture-preventative layer 30. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, the solvent-resistant and non-permeable layer is located on the interior portion of the side 12 of the flexible bag 4, the insulating layer 26 is a second layer, the fire-resistant layer 28 is a third layer, and the puncture-preventative layer 30 is the outermost layer. However, in other embodiments, the order of the layers may be different. Further, as depicted in FIG. 4, the side 12 of a flexible bag 4 may not have all layers previously discussed or certain layers may be combined. For example, in FIG. 4, the interior layer 32 is a material having both solvent-resistant and non-permeable and fire-resistant properties, while the exterior layer 34 is puncture-preventative. In addition, other layers having properties not herein discussed may be included.

(10) FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method of using an embodiment of the disposable container 2, such as those embodiments depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 5, the method 64 may include: ensuring a disposable container 2 for solvent contaminated wipes complies with local regulations (block 36); placing solvent contaminated wipes in the disposable container 2 (block 38); verifying that the disposable container 2 is not overfilled (block 40); sealing the disposable container 2 (block 42), which may be accomplished by adhering an adhesive flap 10 of the disposable container 2 to the disposable container 2 (block 44), using a sticker or latch to sealingly hold portions of the disposable container 2 together (block 46), pressing together first compatible portions 18 and second compatible portions 20 (block 48), or another action; removing oxygen from the disposable container 2 through use of an oxygen removal mechanism 8 (block 50), which may involve operating a small pump 14 integral to the disposable container 2 (block 52) or securing a pump outlet 22 to an exterior pump and operating the exterior pump (block 54); ceasing to remove oxygen (block 56) based on feedback from an indicator 16 (block 58) or from a visual inspection (block 60); and discarding the disposable container 2 (block 62). All of the steps listed above may be included in the method 64 or only some steps may be included.

(11) The patent claims at the end of this patent application are not intended to be construed under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless traditional means-plus-function language is expressly recited, such as means for or step for language being explicitly recited in the claim(s).