AU2021367185A1 - Warning detector for warning of excessively high pollution of the air with particles and, in particular, viruses of a certain size - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a warning detector for warning of excessively high pollution of the air with particles and, in particular, viruses of a certain size, wherein the warning detector comprises a sensor unit designed to determine a concentration of vibration-fragmentable particles of a certain target diameter in the air by determination of a difference between a first light scatter at a first sample of the air and a second light scatter at a second sample of the air, wherein the particles in the first sample are uninfluenced and the particles in the second sample have been fragmented by a vibration, and wherein the warning detector comprises a reporting unit designed to report the concentration in the air with the particles when the concentration of a predetermined threshold has been reached.

Description

WARNING DETECTOR FOR WARNING OF EXCESSIVELY HIGH POLLUTION OF THE AIR WITH PARTICLES AND, IN PARTICULAR, VIRUSES OF A CERTAIN SIZE

The invention relates to a warning detector for warning of excessively high pollu tion of the air and in particular room air with particles of a certain size, which are sufficiently probably viruses or other pathogens. There are a large number of illnesses or pathogens and in particular pathogenic LO viruses, which propagate via the air and in particular via aerosols and are there fore present in the air as aerosol particles. It is therefore desirable to be able to detect such viruses in the air and to be able to warn of their presence if prede termined limiting values are exceeded. The limiting values can be, for example, concentrations of the particles in the air here, from which an infection of a per L5 son becomes increasingly more probable. For a first assessment as to whether pathogens are present in the air and an assessment of the risk which originates from the potentially present pathogens, it is initially not necessary to know which pathogens or viruses these are precise ly, but rather only that such pathogens are present with a certain probability and in a certain concentration. If the concentration exceeds a previously defined lim iting value or if the concentration changes very rapidly, it is helpful to warn pre sent or responsible persons, so that these persons can leave the room in which the concentration was determined or can initiate further steps to avert or reduce the risk. Greatly varying warning sensors are known in the prior art, for example, fire alarms or smoke alarms, however, these are not capable of detecting the poten tial pathogens present as particles in the air and comprehensively informing the persons who the warning affects. The invention is therefore based on the object of overcoming the above mentioned disadvantages and providing a warning detector or a system compris ing such a warning detector, by which affected persons can be warned quickly and effectively of particles present in the air of a certain size or exceeding a con centration of the particles in the air, which are sufficiently probably pathogens. This object is achieved by the feature combination according to claim 1. The basic concept of the invention is to provide a warning sensor having a sen- sor unit, wherein the sensor is designed according to the applications having the reference signs DE 10 2020 120 199.0 and DE 10 2020 124 740.0, so that af fected persons can be warned quickly and effectively. The mentioned applica tions having the reference signs DE 10 2020 120 199.0 and DE 10 2020 124 740.0 or their contents are hereby incorporated by reference in the present ap plication. According to the invention, a warning sensor for warning of excessively high pol lution of the air with particles, preferably organic particles, of a certain size is proposed, which are sufficiently probably viruses. The particles which are to be LO warned about are preferably fragmentable by vibrations for this purpose, so that they can be pulverized. The warning sensor comprises a sensor unit designed to determine a concentration of vibration-fragmentable and in particular organic particles having a certain target diameter in the air by determining a difference between a first light scatter at a first sample of the air and a second light scatter L5 at a second sample of the air. The sensor unit here is, for example, a sensor unit designed to carry out the method according to the application DE 10 2020 120 199.0 or the sensor according to the application DE 10 2020 120 199.0. Alterna tively, the sensor unit can also be designed to carry out the method according to the application DE 10 2020 124 740.0 or the sensor unit is a device according to the application DE 10 2020 124 740.0. Accordingly, the particles in the first sample are uninfluenced and in particular non-fragmented particles from the air and the particles of the second sample are particles from the air fragmented by a vibration. According to the invention, it is furthermore provided that the warn ing sensor has a reporting unit designed to report the concentration of the parti cles in the air upon the concentration reaching a predetermined limiting value, thus the concentration exceeding the limiting value and/or the concentration fall ing below the limiting value. The limiting value is, for example, the value of the concentration at which an infection with the pathogen or the virus is possible. Furthermore, multiple limiting values can also be stored, wherein a warning can then take place upon reaching each limiting value. Since it is also possible to fall below the limiting values, an all-clear signal by the warning sensor is also possible. With respect to the functional principle underlying the fragmentability of the par ticles or underlying the sensor unit, the particles or the organic particles, for ex ample viruses, can be understood in simplified form as a body which can be set into vibration. In principle, one can conceive a body having a spherical envelope here. If the particle vibrates strongly enough, this results in this envelope or the particle breaking apart, by which the pathogen can be deactivated and the parti cle is "pulverized" into smaller parts or fragmented. The vibration or the strength of the vibration is dependent here, for example, on the wavelength of a light ex citing the vibration and the intensity of the light and on an irradiation duration or a pulse. Alternatively or additionally, the particle can also be set into vibration, for example, by subjecting the particle to ultrasound, wherein the vibration is dependent in this case in particular on the frequency of the ultrasound, which L0 can also result in a vibration fragmenting the particle. By setting the wavelength of the light and/or the frequency of the ultrasound to a resonance range deter mined by the respective type of particle and depending on its diameter, such an effect can be amplified or already achieved with a comparatively low use of en ergy, since less energy has to be applied to "destroy" or pulverize the particles. L5 A destroyed particle comprising multiple parts, which previously had a diameter corresponding to the target diameter, has changed light scattering properties in comparison to the whole particle, since the light is no longer scattered by a sin gle particle but rather by its smaller individual parts or fragments. Correspondingly, on the basis of a difference between the first light scatter at the first sample having fragmented particles and the second light scatter at the second sample having non-fragmented particles, a concentration of the particles in the air from which the samples were taken can be determined. The sensor unit can determine the concentration here at regular time intervals, depending on previously determined concentrations, or continuously. Alterna tively, it is also possible that the sensor unit checks the concentration in a first operating mode at intervals and if the concentration exceeds a limiting value switches into a second operating mode, in which the concentration is continu ously measured or checked. To check the function of the sensor unit or the warning sensor, it can also have a test button, by which the functionality can be checked and a corresponding sig nal can be output. Furthermore, to check the functionality it is also possible to guide a harmless substance toward the sensor unit, by which the warning sensor is triggered in the event of correct function and a warning report is generated. The warning sensor preferably comprises a voltage supply which supplies the sensor unit and the reporting unit - if necessary - with an operating voltage re- quired for their operation. According to one advantageous refinement, it is moreover proposed that the re porting unit comprises a display unit, which is designed to visually report reach ing the limiting value and/or the concentration. Alternatively or additionally, the reporting unit can moreover comprise a loudspeaker unit, which is designed to acoustically report reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration. A dis play or an illuminant, such as an LED, can function as the display unit, for ex ample, which can display a corresponding item of information upon reaching the limiting value according to a predetermined logic and can blink in the case of a L0 simple illuminant. In the case of an acoustic report, the warning can be carried out by simple tones or also, for example, by a previously recorded speech mes sage. In a variant which is also advantageous, the reporting unit comprises a trans mission unit for wired signal transmission, which is designed to report reaching L5 the limiting value and/or the concentration by transmitting an electrical signal to a receiver. The reporting unit or a warning sensor can be connected to the In ternet or a building automation system by the transmission unit or a wired signal transmission implemented thereby. Additionally or alternatively to a wired transmission unit, a further embodiment provides that the reporting unit comprises a sending unit and/or a receiving unit for wireless signal transmission. The sending unit, which can be integrated with the receiving unit in a transceiver, is designed to report reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration by transmitting a radio signal to a radio receiver. For example, a Bluetooth, ZigBee, WLAN, or other radio module corresponding to a respective radio standard comes into consideration for wireless signal transmission or as a transceiver. The radio receiver can be a receiver suitable for the respective radio standard, wherein a connection to the Internet or a device connected via the Internet can also be implemented via WLAN, for example. In addition to a mobile telephone, the radio receiver can also be, for example, a lighting or home automation component controllable via the respective radio standard or simply a central device such as a router, which can pass on corre sponding signals or messages. In particular, for example, if a room light is pro vided as the radio receiver or is actuated via an interposed central device, this can change the light color according to the signal transmission or according to reaching the limiting value or the concentration. Alternatively, speech assistants also come into consideration, which can function as a radio receiver or can be activated via a central device and which can output a corresponding speech message. If a transmission unit is provided for the wired data or signal transmission or a sending unit is provided for the wireless data or signal transmission, according to a further advantageous variant of the invention, the warning sensor comprises a storage unit which is designed to store specific identification data of the warning sensor, which thus permit a unique identification of the associated warning sen sor. The identification data in particular include a unique, thus unambiguous LO identification number and/or position data, which preferably permit a unique ge ographic assignment of the warning sensor. The position data can be, for exam ple, GPS data, but in a simple case also an address having room number. If such identification data are provided, the reporting unit is designed to transmit the identification data upon the transfer, thus the wired or wireless signal or data L5 transfer. The identification number and/or the position data can be provided in the form of an open location code (plus code). In particular if the time curve of the concentration of the particles in the air is to be tracked or analyzed, a further design of the warning sensor is advantageous in which the sending unit is designed to send reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration to a single radio receiver assigned to the sending unit, or to all radio receivers located within a sending range of the sending unit at the sending point in time. These receivers are accordingly preferably each designed to re ceive signals from the sending unit. If the radio technology used moreover permits the formation of a so-called "mesh" network, in which multiple warning sensors are connected to one anoth er or to a central office via radio, a warning message or the detected concentra tion can also be passed on to other warning sensors and/or the central office. Sending to a plurality of radio receivers can particularly advantageously be im plemented by a so-called Bluetooth beacon or so-called Bluetooth beacons. For example, the sending unit can be embodied as a Bluetooth low energy (LE) bea con or can comprise such a beacon. Such a beacon is a unidirectional sender which periodically sends Bluetooth LE data packets. There are various wide spread variants of beacons from various producers, which partially permit differ ent configurations of the transmitted data packets. Some can only transmit, for example, a UUID (universally unique identifier), i.e., a unique identification number, others can additionally transmit specifications on the sending power of the beacon, with the aid of which a respective receiver or radio receiver can de termine an approximate distance of the radio receiver to the beacon. Other bea cons contain a URL in the transmitted data or signals, so that it is possible to refer, for example, to a database, in which, for example, further items of infor mation are storable by the beacon or the sending unit. The beacons known in the prior art usually use Bluetooth LE advertising packets. These have a fixed length. A further aspect of the invention relates to a system made up of a warning sen L0 sor according to the invention and a terminal, which can be a stationary termi nal, for example a computer, or also a mobile terminal, such as a mobile tele phone or a smart phone. The terminal corresponds here to an above-mentioned receiver or an above-mentioned radio receiver. The terminal is designed in this case, upon receiving a signal from the reporting unit, which indicates reaching L5 the limiting value and/or the concentration, to report reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration visually, acoustically, and/or haptically. Furthermore, the transmitted data, thus the concentration or reaching the limiting value, can also be processed further and, for example, a time curve of the concentration can be interpolated to determine future reaching of the limiting value before hand. In such a system, the terminal can moreover advantageously be designed, on the basis of a signal strength of the signal and/or on the basis of identification data transmitted with the signal by a reporting unit, to determine a position rela tive to the warning sensor and/or a distance from the warning sensor. Accord ingly, it is possible to warn against moving in a certain direction or in a certain region, in which the limiting values are exceeded. Moreover, a further aspect of the invention relates to a further system made up of a warning sensor according to the invention and a server having a database, which is also in principle a terminal. The reporting unit of the warning sensor comprises a storage unit and a transmission unit or a sending unit, as were ex plained above. Furthermore, the reporting unit is designed to transmit reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration together with the identification data as a data set, in particular directly via the Internet or via an interconnected In ternet-capable or smart device, to the server. The server is designed in this case to store the data set in the database and/or to assign items of information stored in the database to the data set on the basis of the identification data. It can advantageously be provided in such a system having a database that the items of information stored in the database contain contact data of a contact person or an emergency contact, wherein the server is designed to transmit a message to the contact person upon assigning the data set to the stored items of information. For example, the possessor or owner of the premises monitored by the warning sensor, a caretaker, or also the health department can be pro vided as the contact person. They can be informed, for example, via email, SMS, or computer voice call about the warning. Alternatively, information or warning LO by means of suitable data communication or data interface is also possible to be able to further process these data at the receiver directly in software provided for this purpose (for example in an integrated control center). Using the warning sensor according to the invention or one of the systems ac cording to the invention, which comprise a warning sensor, in particular upon L5 the use of reporting units for wireless signal transmission, which are designed to send reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration to all suitable radio receivers located at the sending point in time within a sending range of the sending unit, and in particular upon the use of beacons as the reporting unit or as part of the reporting unit, the following behaviors or scenarios can be imple mented: 1. The beacon sends a UUID, which is unique for the associated warning sensor. However, it is only sent here if or as long as the limiting value is exceeded, thus discontinuously. There is an application or an app on the Internet-capable ("smart") terminal, which checks the surroundings of the terminal by way of a Bluetooth model of the terminal for such beacons. If corresponding advertising packets or signals or messages in general are received from a beacon, the app outputs a warning. 2. The signal transmitted by the beacon or the message transmitted by the bea con is in a format which also contains a "beacon code", which contains the status of the warning sensor and in particular the concentration, or a URL associated with the warning sensor of the beacon additionally or alternatively to a UUID. In this case, the beacon sends permanently or continuously and the "beacon code" or the URL can indicate, in or via the app, the status of the sensor unit, which can be stored, for example, in a server, to which the warning sensor can trans mit the corresponding items of information. It is advantageous in this case that even if the threshold value is not exceeded, the sensor unit or the warning sen sor or its status can be detected, so that a function check of the warning sensor independent of reaching the limiting value is possible. 3. The beacon can have a UUID specific for the respective beacon. This could be registered centrally together with the location on a server, by which the sensor units can be shown in a corresponding map application. If a terminal registers an exceeded threshold value of a sensor unit due to a message from a beacon, it sends its UUID to the server, which thereupon displays the sensor unit different ly in the map and can thus warn observers of the map. The sensor unit then LO does not necessarily require a separate connection to the server or a separate Internet connection, because the passing on would be implemented by the inter connected devices as an intermediate station having the respective provided ap plication or app. 4. The beacon can moreover not only be designed as a sending unit but also as a L5 receiving unit, thus as a transceiver. In addition to the above-mentioned vari ants, it can therefore be provided using such a transceiver that the transceiver or the receiving unit continuously monitors its surroundings for other senders, thus smart devices having Bluetooth, these transmit a respective UUID uniquely identifying the smart device, and the beacon or the warning sensor stores these UUIDs for a predetermined period of time, preferably anonymized. If reaching the limiting value or a concentration is to be reported, the stored anonymized UUIDs can be transmitted to a server, which informs the devices about the warning or reaching the limiting value or the concentration by means of a mes sage. Accordingly, a further aspect of the invention relates to a method for warning a person having a mobile terminal comprising a Bluetooth model by way of a warning sensor according to the invention having a reporting unit, which com prises a Bluetooth beacon as a sending unit and/or a receiving unit. It is pre sumed in each case here that the mobile terminal and the warning sensor can communicate with one another at least temporarily via Bluetooth, so that the mobile terminal has to be located within a sending and/or receiving range of the reporting unit of the warning sensor. A plurality of mobile terminals can also be located in the sending and/or receiving range here, wherein the Bluetooth bea con or the reporting unit can be connected to multiple or all mobile terminals of the plurality of mobile terminals or can communicate with them. In a first vari- ant, the sending unit transmits to the mobile terminal the concentration of the particles in the air or reaching the limiting value continuously, at regular inter vals, or upon reaching the limiting value, wherein then the mobile terminal, up on reaching the limiting value, warns the person, for example, visually, acousti cally, or haptically and preferably via an application (app) provided for this pur pose. In a second variant, which can also additionally be provided, the mobile terminal transmits a unique identification number to the warning sensor, which stores the identification number (UUID) at least for a predetermined period of time. Moreover, the warning sensor transmits the concentration or reaching the LO limiting value continuously, at regular intervals, or upon reaching the limiting value via a mobile radio signal or a network signal to the mobile terminal, which then in turn warns the person, for example, visually, acoustically, or haptically and preferably via an application on the mobile terminal (app). The communica tion via an interconnected server can also be provided in this case, and also that L5 the identification number is anonymized. In particular four exemplary variants may thus be implemented: 1. The warning sensor transmits discontinuously, upon reaching the limiting val ue, reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration to all mobile terminals in the range of the warning sensor. 2. The warning sensor continuously transmits reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration or a link to a server having the concentration to all mobile terminals in the range of the warning sensor, wherein it can alternatively be provided that the concentration and further data, such as the status or the posi tion of the warning sensor, are stored by the warning sensor on the server, from which the mobile terminals can retrieve the further data or the concentration via a link or an identifier transmitted from the warning sensor to the terminals. 3. The warning sensor continuously or discontinuously transmits reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration to all mobile terminals in the range of the warning sensor or to at least one mobile terminal in the range of the warning sensor, which pass on reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration and an identification number or a location of the warning sensor as an intermediate station to a server, from which further mobile terminals, which do not have to be in the range of the warning sensor, can retrieve the concentration and/or reach ing the limiting value. 4. The warning sensor receives a unique identification number from the mobile terminals in range and transmits it together with a concentration or a report about reaching limiting value to a server, which informs the mobile terminals associated with the identification numbers via the mobile radio network or via a WLAN or via an Internet connection in general according to predetermined pa rameters, so that the person associated with the mobile terminal can be in formed, for example, subsequently or in real time about the concentration or reaching the limiting value and warned if necessary. Other advantageous refinements of the invention are characterized in the de pendent claims. LO

Claims (11)

CLAIMS:

1. A warning sensor for warning of excessively high pollution of the air with particles and, in particular, viruses of a certain size, wherein the warning sensor comprises a sensor unit designed to de termine a concentration of vibration-fragmentable particles of a certain target diameter in the air by determination of a difference between a first light scatter at a first sample of the air and a second light scatter at a second sample of the air, L0 wherein the particles in the first sample are uninfluenced and the particles in the second sample have been fragmented by a vibration, and wherein the warning sensor comprises a reporting unit de signed to report the concentration of particles in the air when reaching the concentration of a predetermined limiting value. L5

2. The warning sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reporting unit comprises a display unit designed to vis ually report reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration, and/or wherein the reporting unit comprises a loudspeaker unit de signed to acoustically report reaching the limiting value and/or the con centration.

3. The warning sensor as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the reporting unit comprises a transmission unit for wired signal transmission, which is designed to report reaching the limiting val ue and/or the concentration by transmitting an electrical signal to a re ceiver.

4. The warning sensor as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reporting unit comprises a sending unit and/or a receiv ing unit for wireless signal transmission designed to report reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration by transmitting a radio signal to a radio receiver.

5. The warning sensor as claimed in any one of preceding claims 3 or 4, wherein the warning sensor comprises a storage unit designed to store specific identification data of the warning sensor, which are in par ticular a unique identification number and/or position data, and wherein the reporting unit is designed to send the identification data upon the transmission.

6. The warning sensor as claimed in any one of preceding claims 4 or 5, wherein the sending unit is designed to send reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration continuously or at regular intervals to a plurality of radio receivers, to a single radio receiver assigned to the send ing unit, or to all radio receivers located within a sending range of the sending unit at the time of sending.

7. A system made up of a warning sensor as claimed in any one of the pre ceding claims and a terminal, L0 wherein the terminal is a receiver as claimed in claim 3 or a radio receiver as claimed in claim 4, wherein the terminal is designed, upon receiving a signal from the reporting unit which indicates reaching the limiting value and/or the con centration, to report reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration L5 visually, acoustically, and/or haptically.

8. The system as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein the terminal is designed, on the basis of a signal strength of the signal and/or on the basis of identification data transmitted with the signal by a reporting unit as claimed in claim 5, to determine a position relative to the warning sensor and/or a distance from the warning sensor.

9. A system made up of a warning sensor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 and a server having a database, wherein the reporting unit of the warning sensor comprises a stor age unit as claimed in claim 5 and a transmission unit as claimed in claim 3 or a sending unit as claimed in claim 4 and is designed to transmit reaching the limiting value and/or the concentration together with the identification data as a data set to the server, wherein the server is designed to store the data set in the database and/or to assign items of information stored in the database to the data set on the basis of the identification data.

1O.The system as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein the items of information stored in the database contain contact data ofa contact person and wherein the server is designed to transmit a message to the contact person upon assigning the data set to the stored items of infor- mation.

11.A method for warning a person having a mobile terminal comprising a Bluetooth module by way of a warning sensor as claimed at least in claim 4 having a reporting unit, which comprises a Bluetooth beacon as a send ing unit and/or a receiving unit, wherein the mobile terminal is located within a sending and/or re ceiving range of the reporting unit of the warning sensor, so that the warning sensor can communicate with the mobile terminal, wherein the sending unit transmits the concentration of the parti L0 cles in the air to the mobile terminal continuously, at regular intervals, or upon reaching the limiting value and the mobile terminal warns the person upon reaching the limiting value and/or wherein the mobile terminal transmits a unique identification number to the warning sensor, the warning sensor stores the identifica L5 tion number at least for a predetermined time frame and, continuously, at regular intervals, or upon reaching the limiting value, the mobile terminal transmits reaching the limiting value to the mobile terminal via a mobile radio signal or a network signal and the mobile terminal warns the person.