Disposable syringe needle separation and storage box

Claim 1

A disposable syringe needle separation and storage box comprising a vertically upright outer enclosure, said outer enclosure including an externally lockable door for providing access to the interior thereof, an upwardly open syringe needle storage and disposal container positioned therein through said lockable door when open, said enclosure including a hole within the top thereof aligned with the open end of the upwardly open container, the improvement comprising: a tubular drop chute, removably axially positioned within said hole within the top of said enclosure, means internally of said storage box for locking said tubular drop chute to said enclosure in alignment with said container opening, a needle extractor fixedly mounted to the interior of said tubular chute, said needle extractor comprising a slotted plate at least partially closing off the interior of said drop chute, said plate including a tapered slot having a portion sized in excess to the diameter of the needle to permit manual penetration of the needle into said drop chute, below said extractor plate, permitting lateral movement of the sytinge to a position where the upper end of the needle contacts the bottom of said slotted plate, whereby, the syringe barrel may be separated from the needle through single hand manipulation, movement laterally within the tapered slot, and by single handed pull of the syringe upwardly to separate the needle, such that the needle falls by gravity into the interior of said container; whereby, when said syringe needle separation and storage box is in use, said tubular drop chute cannot be removed, since it is latched from the inside, and its removal from said needle separation and storage box and the removal of the disposal container bearing sharps can be accomplished only by unlocking the door, and unlocking of said drop chute from the storage box, thereby insuring the safety of the system.