CN114837503A

CN114837503A - Disinfection-capable handle system for vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN114837503A
Application number: CN202210570016.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 姜岳辰
Original assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Current assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Priority date: 2022-05-24
Filing date: 2022-05-24
Publication date: 2022-08-02
Also published as: DE102023002039A1

Abstract

A handle system for a vehicle that can be disinfected comprises at least a handle and a disinfection nozzle, which is connected to a disinfectant storage device, in particular by a line, and which sprays disinfectant with a controlled action on a predetermined target, in particular can spray disinfectant onto a person's hands and/or feet for disinfection purposes. This handle system especially installs on the vehicle, carries out disinfection operation to the personnel that contact the handle, especially has the epidemic situation to spread the risk period, can effectively block the contact of especially virus and spread, promotes the inside and outside personnel's of car safety protection.

Description

Disinfection-capable handle system for vehicle

Technical Field

The invention relates to a handle system for a vehicle, which can be used for disinfection, is in particular mounted on a vehicle and can spray disinfectant onto the hands and/or feet of a person for disinfection.

Background

In the existing handle for a vehicle, it is generally used only for opening and/or closing a door when getting on or off, and has no other function. However, since the handle of the vehicle is exposed outdoors for a long time, microbes, bacteria, etc. are collected thereon, and a person opening the door through the handle may contaminate the handle with bacteria or viruses on the hand, which may further contaminate the hand of the next person gripping the handle.

There are also devices in the prior art for disinfecting vehicle door handles, but merely disinfecting vehicle door handles is not sufficient. Bacteria, viruses, etc. may also be carried into the vehicle (especially by hand or foot) if a person comes into contact with a contaminated item outside the vehicle.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a handle system capable of disinfecting, which is particularly arranged on a vehicle, can disinfect personnel contacting with a handle, can effectively block contact transmission of viruses particularly during the period of epidemic spread risk, and improves the safety protection of the personnel inside and outside the vehicle.

The handle system for a vehicle capable of disinfection according to the present invention comprises at least a handle and a disinfection nozzle connected with a disinfectant storage device, the disinfection nozzle being capable of spraying a disinfectant to a predetermined target in a controlled manner, in particular, the disinfection nozzle being capable of spraying a disinfectant onto a person's hands and/or feet for a disinfection task.

The disinfectant can be, for example, 84 disinfectant liquid or disinfectant alcohol, which is capable of killing most bacteria and viruses, and of killing bacteria and/or viruses on the hands and/or feet (in particular the outer surface of shoes on the feet) before the hands of the person touch the handle, or before the person enters the vehicle.

Preferably, the disinfection nozzles are connected to the disinfectant storage device by lines, in particular hoses, which connect a plurality of disinfection nozzles to a common disinfectant storage device. It is also possible for each disinfecting nozzle to be connected to an associated disinfectant storage device. It is also possible for each disinfecting nozzle to be connected directly to the associated disinfectant storage device, without lines being required, which means that the disinfectant storage device is arranged in particular on the handle.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the handle can be a handle mounted at a door and/or a trunk lid for opening the door and/or the trunk lid, respectively.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the handle system further has a camera capable of photographing a person approaching the handle, and a controller to which the photographed data is transmitted to judge whether the person meets a sterilization condition. When the sterilization conditions are met, the sterilization operation can be automatically performed. If the sterilization conditions are not met, the sterilization operation is not performed, for example, if there is food in the hand of the person. The cameras are preferably arranged on the exterior rear view mirrors on both sides of the vehicle. In many vehicles of today, an environment detection system, in particular a 360 ° environment detection system, of the vehicle is equipped for supporting the driver, for example when reversing, so that the driver can visually see the vehicle and its environment, in particular a top view of the vehicle and its environment, on a central display in the vehicle. Within the framework of the invention, the camera can be in particular a camera of the environment detection system, whereby costs can be effectively reduced.

Within the framework of the invention, the controller may be integrated into a vehicle control system, which refers to a control device or a set of multiple control devices for a vehicle, e.g. comprising an application specific integrated circuit, one or more processors, a non-transitory memory storing instructions. The vehicle Control system is, for example, an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), which is also called a "driving computer", an "on-board computer", and the like. It is also possible that the control is designed as a control which is independent of the vehicle control system and is dedicated to the handle system which can be sterilized.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the handle system further has a floor lamp, which can illuminate and/or generate a light pattern on the ground. The floor lamp is preferably arranged on the handle. Preferably, each disinfection nozzle is assigned a respective floor lamp, which is arranged adjacent to the respective floor lamp on the respective handle. Not only can throw light on through shining the floor-lamp, can also produce light pattern on ground, this light pattern can guide personnel to stretch out the hand or the foot is to corresponding region to carry out the disinfection operation.

For example, a person approaching the handle may place his/her hands and/or feet in a designated area under the direction of a floor pattern generated by a floor lamp, and the camera may collect images of the person's hands and/or feet and transmit the collected image data to a controller or a vehicle-mounted computer to determine that the hands and/or feet are located in a sterilization area, and then automatically start a sterilization operation. However, it is also conceivable to detect whether the hands and/or feet of the person are located in the sterilization zone by means of sensors, in particular infrared sensors, which are arranged, for example, next to the sterilization nozzle.

In addition, the ground lamp can drive the small animals in the disinfection area after being turned on, and the disinfectant is prevented from causing accidental injury to the small animals.

Preferably, after the camera detects the personnel image and the controller judges that the disinfection condition is not met, the disinfection operation guide of the floor lamp is not started.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the handle system can be connected to a T-BOX (Telematics BOX) for remote control of the sterilization process by a mobile terminal, and/or can manually turn on/off the sterilization process by a car key and/or a key in the car.

Within the framework of the invention, the vehicle-mounted computer (when the controller is integrated in the vehicle-mounted computer) can communicate with the T-box through the canbus bus, thereby realizing the transmission of the instructions and information of the vehicle-mounted computer. The T-box can be used for communication between a vehicle-mounted computer and a remote server and further between the vehicle-mounted computer and a mobile terminal, and vehicle information display and control on the mobile terminal, particularly on a mobile phone APP are achieved. In particular, the T-box and the remote server communicate indirectly in the form of a data link. For example, a vehicle owner can obtain information such as a vehicle condition report, a driving report, oil consumption statistics, fault reminding, violation inquiry, a position track, driving behaviors, safety theft prevention, reservation service, remote vehicle finding and the like from a remote server through a network at a mobile phone APP end, and can control the vehicle to a certain degree through the mobile phone APP end, for example, controlling the states of a vehicle door, a window, a lamp, a lock, a loudspeaker, double flashes, a reflector folding, a skylight, monitoring central control warning, an airbag and the like.

Within the framework of the invention, it is possible, for example, for the vehicle owner to control the disinfection operation by means of a mobile terminal, in particular to remotely and manually switch on/off the disinfection operation.

Within the framework of the invention, the vehicle owner/driver can also, for example, manually switch on/off the disinfection operation by means of a vehicle key and/or a key in the vehicle. The keys on the vehicle key can be keys specially used for disinfection operation, and can also share one key with other functions, and the different functions can be distinguished by pressing. The keys in the vehicle can be physical keys in the vehicle or touch buttons displayed on a touch display screen in the vehicle. The physical keys can be arranged in particular on the central control in the vehicle, but can also be arranged elsewhere, for example on the doors in the vehicle. Particularly preferably, the sterilization operation can be started by pressing a button, and the sterilization operation can be stopped by pressing both buttons.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the camera can acquire portrait data of a person close to the handle, and the portrait data can be compared with portrait data stored in a database in advance to identify the identity of the person, so that whether the person meets the condition of disinfection operation can be judged. The database can be stored on a storage device of the vehicle-mounted computer or a storage device of the controller, and the acquired portrait data is compared with the portrait data in the database through a processor of the controller or the processor of the vehicle-mounted computer, so that the identity of the person is recognized. For example, for a home car, it is possible to store in advance portrait data of persons who may use the car, while storing personal preferences of the respective persons. This makes it possible, for example, to prevent disinfection by persons allergic to disinfectants.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the handle system is capable of performing a sterilization operation on the outer surface of the vehicle and/or the tires, in particular by means of the T-box, when the vehicle passes through a hazardous area, such as a hospital and/or an epidemic situation. For example, the T-box receives real-time updated dangerous area data from the remote server, compares the dangerous area data with position data acquired by a positioning system (e.g., GPS, beidou positioning system, etc.) inside the vehicle to determine whether the vehicle is located in or passes through the dangerous area, and automatically starts a disinfection operation on the outer surface and/or tires of the vehicle if the vehicle is located in or passes through the dangerous area. It is also possible to indicate information on the location or passage of the danger zone to the vehicle occupants, and to manually initiate the disinfection operation by the vehicle occupants, in particular by the driver.

It is also possible to switch the vehicle air conditioning system to the air internal circulation mode when passing through the danger zone.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the handle system further has an actuator motor by means of which the disinfection nozzle can be moved from a concealed position into a spraying position and/or the spraying angle of the disinfection nozzle can be adjusted. Preferably, the sterilizing nozzle is hidden inside the handle when the sterilizing operation is not performed, and is moved to the spraying position by the performing motor only when the sterilizing operation is required.

Furthermore, the disinfection nozzle can preferably adjust the proper spraying angle according to the image information of the person collected by the camera. Specifically, the injection angle is adjusted by operating an actuator motor, for example, by an onboard computer or a controller according to the person image information acquired by the camera.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the handle system also has a heating device, in particular an electric heating wire, which is preferably configured in the disinfection nozzle in such a way that in cold weather a disinfectant with a temperature corresponding to the comfort of the human body can be sprayed out, and/or a temperature sensor is configured in the disinfection nozzle of the handle system in such a way that the automatic spray disinfection action is stopped, in particular in the case of freezing of the disinfectant.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the disinfectant storage device is arranged in the trunk and has a fill level sensor, the parameters of which can be displayed, in particular visually, on a display screen in the interior of the vehicle. The disinfection nozzle is connected to the disinfectant storage device by a line, in particular a hose. "visually displayed" means in particular that the parameters of the fill level sensor are converted into a visual fill level image which is presented on a display screen in the vehicle interior, for example a pseudo-physical memory image and a disinfectant in the interior.

Drawings

The handle system for a vehicle according to the present invention capable of sterilization is schematically described below by way of examples.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of one embodiment of a handle system according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2a-2e illustrate different operating states of the handle system according to the present invention;

fig. 3 shows a sanitizer storage unit of the handle system in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following is merely an example illustrating one embodiment of a handle system for a vehicle capable of sterilization according to the present invention, and is not meant to limit the handle system of the present invention.

According to the invention, the handle system capable of disinfection comprises a handle and a disinfection nozzle, which is preferably connected by a line to a disinfectant storage device, the disinfection nozzle being capable of spraying disinfectant in a controlled manner to a predetermined target, in particular, the disinfection nozzle being capable of spraying disinfectant onto a person's hands and/or feet for a disinfection operation. According to this embodiment, the handle can be a handle mounted at the door and/or the trunk lid for opening the door and/or the trunk lid, respectively.

Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a handle system according to the present invention, in which a controller of the handle system is integrated in an ECU. The ECU can collect camera data, map data (vehicle real-time location data), level sensor data for the sanitizer storage device, and temperature sensor data for the handle system (e.g., disposed within the nozzle).

In this embodiment, the camera can be a camera of an environment detection system of a vehicle, in particular at the circle of the outside mirror in fig. 2 a. In many vehicles of today, cameras are arranged on the exterior rear view mirrors on both sides of the vehicle, an environment detection system for the vehicle, in particular a 360 ° environment detection system, supports the driver, for example when reversing, so that the driver can visually see the vehicle and its environment, in particular a top view of the vehicle and its environment, on a central display in the vehicle. The cost can be effectively reduced by sharing the camera of the handle system and the camera of the environment detection system.

Referring to fig. 2a, the camera can photograph a person near the handle, and the photographed data is transmitted to the ECU to determine whether the person meets sterilization conditions. When the disinfection condition is satisfied, the disinfection operation can be automatically performed. When the sterilization condition is not met, the sterilization operation is not carried out.

Referring to fig. 1, the ECU judges whether a person near the handle meets a sterilization condition after collecting the camera data, for example, when the person has food in his hand, the ECU does not start the sterilization operation when recognizing that there is food. In addition, the camera can also gather the portrait data of the personnel who is close to the handle, and the portrait data can be compared with the portrait data prestored in the database to identify the identity of the personnel, so that whether the personnel with the identity accord with the condition of the disinfection operation can be judged. The database can be stored on a storage device of the ECU, and the acquired portrait data is compared with the portrait data in the database through a processor of the ECU, so that the identity of the person is recognized. In particular, it is possible to store in advance the portrait data of persons who may use the vehicle, while storing the personal preferences of the respective persons, which is particularly advantageous for a domestic vehicle. This makes it possible, for example, to prevent disinfection by persons allergic to disinfectants.

Referring to fig. 1, after the ECU determines that the sterilization operation can be started according to the camera data, the ECU first sends a control signal to the floor-lighting lamp, wherein the floor-lighting lamp is controlled to illuminate and/or generate a light pattern on the ground. In this embodiment, each disinfection nozzle is assigned a respective floor lamp, see fig. 2b, and the disinfection nozzle and the respective floor lamp are arranged close to each other on the respective handle. Shine the floor-lamp and produce light pattern on personnel's ground in front of the body, this light pattern can guide personnel to stretch out the hand or the foot is to corresponding region to carry out the disinfection operation. As can be seen in fig. 2c, a person approaching the handle, under the direction of the ground pattern generated by the floor lamp, places the hands and/or feet in the designated area, the camera captures images of the person's hands and/or feet and transmits the captured image data to the ECU to determine that the hands and/or feet are located in the sterilization area, and then the ECU sends a control signal to the nozzle to start the sterilization operation. However, it is also conceivable to detect whether the hands and/or feet of the person are located in the sterilization zone by means of sensors, in particular infrared sensors, which are arranged, for example, next to the sterilization nozzle.

In this embodiment, the vehicle owner/driver can also manually turn on/off the disinfection operation by means of a vehicle key or a key in the vehicle. According to the figure 1, the key or key in the vehicle sends wireless signal to the ECU of the vehicle, the ECU receives the sent wireless signal through the signal receiver, thereby sending control signal to the nozzle and the floor lamp, and realizing manual on/off disinfection operation. The keys on the vehicle key can be keys specially used for disinfection operation, and can also share one key with other functions, and the different functions can be distinguished by pressing. The in-vehicle key can be a physical key in the vehicle, and can also be a touch control button displayed on a touch control type display screen in the vehicle. The physical keys can be arranged in particular on the central control in the vehicle, but can also be arranged elsewhere, for example on the doors in the vehicle. Preferably, the sterilization operation can be started by pressing a button, and the sterilization operation can be stopped by pressing two buttons.

Referring to fig. 2d, after the disinfecting operation is started, the nozzle can spray the disinfectant to the hands and feet of the person, respectively. Referring to fig. 2e, nozzles located on the trunk lid can also spray disinfectant into the trunk. The spraying of the disinfectant into the boot can be initiated, in particular, by means of a vehicle key or a button in the vehicle.

Referring to fig. 2d, the handle system also has an actuator motor by means of which the disinfection nozzle can be moved from a concealed position to a spraying position and/or the spraying angle of the disinfection nozzle can be adjusted. The sterilizing nozzle is hidden inside the handle when not performing sterilizing operation, and is moved to the spraying position by the execution motor only when the sterilizing operation is required. Preferably, the disinfection nozzle is capable of adjusting the appropriate spray angle (spray arrow in fig. 2 d) depending on the person image information collected by the camera. Specifically, the injection angle is adjusted by the ECU by operating the actuator motor, for example, according to the person image information collected by the camera.

Referring to fig. 1, according to the present embodiment, a handle system or ECU is connected to a T-box for remotely controlling a sterilization job through a mobile terminal or an APP on the mobile terminal. The T-box is in indirect communication with the remote server in the form of a data link. For example, the vehicle owner can obtain information about the vehicle from the remote server through the network at the mobile phone APP terminal, and can control the vehicle to a certain extent through the mobile phone APP terminal. In the handle system according to the invention, the vehicle owner can remotely control the disinfection operation, in particular remotely and manually turn on/off the disinfection operation, through the mobile terminal or the mobile phone APP.

In addition, referring to fig. 1, the handle system can also collect map data or real-time vehicle position data, so that when the vehicle passes through a dangerous area, such as a hospital and/or an epidemic situation space-time location, the T-box can enable the handle system to automatically sterilize the outer surface of the vehicle and/or tires, by receiving real-time updated dangerous area data from a remote server, and the ECU compares the real-time updated dangerous area data with position data collected by a positioning system (such as a GPS, a Beidou positioning system and the like) in the vehicle to judge whether the vehicle is located in or passes through the dangerous area, and if the vehicle is located in or passes through the dangerous area, the T-box automatically starts the sterilization operation on the outer surface of the vehicle and/or tires. It is also possible to indicate information on the location or passage of the danger zone to the vehicle occupants, and to manually initiate the disinfection operation by the vehicle occupants, in particular by the driver, by means of a key in the vehicle.

It is also possible for the handle system to also have a heating device, in particular an electric heating wire. The heating device is preferably configured in the disinfection nozzle in such a way that in cold weather, a disinfectant with a temperature that corresponds to the comfort of the human body can be sprayed out, and/or a temperature sensor is configured in the disinfection nozzle of the handle system in such a way that the automatic spray disinfection function is stopped, in particular if the disinfectant freezes. For example, the heating means (electric heating wire) is configured such that the sterilizing agent sprayed from the sterilizing nozzle is maintained at 26 ℃ or higher. For example, when the temperature is low in winter, the controller or the vehicle-mounted computer controls the heating power of the electric heating wire according to the temperature sensor in the disinfection nozzle, so that the sprayed disinfectant is kept above 26 ℃; in summer, when the temperature is high, the stored disinfectant may be above 26 ℃, and the electric heating wire does not work when the disinfectant is sprayed out.

With reference to fig. 3, the disinfectant storage device is arranged in the trunk and has a fill level sensor, the parameters of which can be displayed, in particular visually, on a display screen in the vehicle interior. "visually displayed" means in particular that the parameters of the fill level sensor are converted into an intuitive fill level image which is presented on a display screen in the vehicle interior, for example a simulated memory device image and a disinfectant in the interior.

The line connecting the disinfection nozzle to the disinfectant storage means may be a hose connecting a plurality of disinfection nozzles to a common disinfectant storage means.

Furthermore, it is possible for each disinfecting nozzle to be connected to an associated disinfectant storage device (not shown in the figures). It is also possible for each disinfecting nozzle to be connected directly to the associated disinfectant storage device, without lines being required, which means that the disinfectant storage device is arranged in particular on the handle.

It should be understood that the above illustrated embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of embodiments of a handle system capable of sterilization in accordance with the present invention. Rather, in addition to the embodiments described above, a large number of variants which are obvious to the person skilled in the art and which are produced by combining the individual features of the invention are likewise possible.

Claims

1. A handle system for a vehicle capable of being disinfected, comprising a handle and a disinfection nozzle for connection to a disinfectant storage device for storing a disinfectant, the disinfection nozzle spraying the disinfectant to a predetermined target in a controlled manner, in particular the disinfection nozzle being capable of spraying the disinfectant onto a person's hands and/or feet for a disinfection task.

2. A handle system according to claim 1 wherein said handle is mountable on a door and/or trunk lid, said handle being usable to open the door and/or trunk lid respectively.

3. Handle system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the handle system further has a camera and a controller, the camera being capable of taking a picture of a person close to the handle to determine whether the person is in a disinfection condition, in particular to automatically perform a disinfection task when the person is in a disinfection condition, in particular not to perform a disinfection task when there is food in the hand of the person.

4. Handle system according to any of the previous claims, wherein the handle system further has a floor light capable of illuminating and/or generating a light pattern on the ground for guiding the disinfecting operation.

5. Handle system according to any of the previous claims, wherein the handle system is connectable to a telematics box for remote control of the sterilization process by means of a mobile terminal and/or

The handle system can manually turn on/off the sterilization process by a vehicle key and/or a key in the vehicle.

6. The handle system of claim 3, wherein the camera is capable of collecting portrait data of a person approaching the handle, the portrait data being comparable to pre-stored portrait data in a database to identify the person, such that it can be determined whether the person is eligible for a disinfection job.

7. Handle system according to any of the previous claims, wherein it is capable of sanitizing the outer vehicle surfaces and/or the tyres, in particular by means of the telematics box, automatically when the vehicle passes through a dangerous area.

8. Handle system according to any of the previous claims, wherein the handle system further has an actuation motor by means of which the disinfection nozzle can be moved from a concealed position to a spraying position and/or the spraying angle of the disinfection nozzle can be adjusted.

9. Handle system according to one of the previous claims, wherein the handle system further has a heating device, preferably configured within the disinfection nozzle, such that in cold weather a disinfectant agent with a temperature corresponding to human comfort can be sprayed, and/or

A temperature sensor is configured in the disinfection nozzle of the handle system, so that the automatic spray disinfection action is stopped, in particular in the event of freezing of the disinfectant.

10. Handle system according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the disinfectant storage device is arranged in the trunk and has a level sensor, the parameters of which can be displayed, in particular visually, on a display screen inside the vehicle, the disinfectant nozzle being connected to the disinfectant storage device by a line.