In accordance with modern medical practice and disease control, it is frequently necessary to transport diagnostic specimens or other dangerous, contaminated or infectious substances from one place to another. For reasons of economy, such specimens are often dispatched through the public mail service. It is well known that packages in transit are often subjected to abusive handling due to neglect, accident or circumstance. The outbreak of Hepatitis B, AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) and similar highly infectious diseases has raised public awareness of the hazard of transporting diagnostic specimens. Consequently, there is a requirement for an inexpensive, readily manufactured and reliable container for transporting vials of such substances, which container is easily handled and convenient to use.
Containers for the transport of diagnostic specimens are known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,893 which issued Nov. 28, 1989 to Spencer et al. describes a method, a container and a kit for the transport of diagnostic specimens. The kit includes a pressure vessel for accepting vials wrapped in shock absorbing material. The vessel is then wrapped in layers of cardboard, sealed in a plastic bag and subsequently sealed in a cardboard box, all of which materials are supplied in a kit. A disadvantage of this system is that the kit is relatively expensive to manufacture and, more seriously, very labour intensive to pack. A further disadvantage is that in order to provide an effective pressure seal, the pressure vessel must be manufactured to an exacting standard because the seal is dependent upon mating contact between an inner surface of a cap and a top edge of a sidewall of the pressure vessel.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a leak-proof cylindrical container for the transport of vials containing diagnostic specimens or dangerous substances which is inexpensive to manufacture.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a leak-proof container for the transport of vials containing diagnostic specimens or dangerous substances which is easily handled.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a leak-proof container for the transport of vials containing diagnostic specimens or dangerous substances which requires a minimum of labour to pack and seal.