KR102158977B1 - Sterilization apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a sterilization device includes: a chamber providing a sterilization space differentiated from the outside; A sterilization unit supplying an oxidizing agent into the chamber to oxidize contaminants present in the chamber; A sensor installed inside the chamber to detect a concentration of carbon dioxide; And a control unit that is electrically connected to the sensor and converts the sterilization unit from a sterilization state to a standby state when the rate of change of the concentration measured by the sensor is less than a standard.

Description

Sterilization device {STERILIZATION APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to a sterilization apparatus, and more particularly, to a sterilization apparatus capable of oxidizing contaminants by supplying an oxidizing agent and ending sterilization according to a concentration value of carbon dioxide.

In our daily home, not only baby products, but also kitchen utensils such as cutting boards, kitchen knives, tableware, dish towels, scrubbing pads, baby bottles, spoons, and chopsticks for performing cooking and cooking are provided. Hygienic management of these products for infants and kitchen utensils is becoming increasingly important day by day.

In particular, baby products and kitchen utensils such as dishcloths and cutting boards need to be frequently sterilized (or sterilized) and dried because they can provide a humid and good environment that can be exposed to pathogens.

Therefore, in most homes as well as in catering establishments, kitchen utensils such as dishcloths and cutting boards are sterilized in UV (ultraviolet ray), boiled in hot water, or dried in the sun to sterilize and dry pathogens, or disinfect detergents or detergents for cleaning. It is mainly used to block the infestation of pathogens by using.

However, this conventional sterilization drying method is very cumbersome for sterilizing and drying kitchen products such as dishcloths and cutting boards, as well as infant products, and thus hygienic management thereof is insufficient. In addition, conventional UV sterilization or sterilization using detergents has relatively poor sterilization power. That is, the conventional sterilization method does not completely kill the bacteria, and there is a problem in that some bacteria are revived at a certain temperature and environment.

In particular, the conventional sterilization apparatus automatically ends sterilization after a certain period of time, regardless of whether sterilization is substantially completed, and there is no way to check whether sterilization is normally completed.

Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2015-0055964 (2015.05.22.)

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sterilizing device with significantly improved sterilizing power through an oxidizing agent.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sterilization device capable of confirming whether or not sterilization has been substantially completed.

Still other objects of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a sterilization device includes: a chamber providing a sterilization space differentiated from the outside; A sterilization unit supplying an oxidizing agent into the chamber to oxidize contaminants present in the chamber; A sensor installed inside the chamber to detect a concentration of carbon dioxide; And a control unit that is electrically connected to the sensor and converts the sterilization unit from a sterilization state to a standby state when the rate of change of the concentration measured by the sensor is less than a standard.

The sterilization unit includes a photocatalytic plate coated with a photocatalytic coating agent; In addition, an ultraviolet lamp may be provided to generate OH radicals by irradiating ultraviolet rays toward the photocatalytic plate.

The sterilization unit may further include a nozzle installed in the chamber to inject the OH radical into the chamber.

The sterilization unit, wherein the photocatalyst plate and the ultraviolet lamp are installed inside and provide a separate generation space from the outside, and air is introduced through an inlet formed on one side and OH radicals generated through an outlet formed on the other side are discharged. A sterilization chamber may be further provided.

The photocatalyst plate has a plurality of through holes, and air introduced through the inlet may pass through the through hole and flow out through the outlet together with the OH radicals.

The sterilization device may further include a moisture absorption module installed in the chamber to absorb moisture in the chamber.

The sterilization device may further include a cooling plate installed in the chamber and having a temperature lower than room temperature.

The sterilization device may further include a container installed under the cooling plate to collect condensed water condensed through the cooling plate.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a strong sterilizing power can be exhibited by oxidizing contaminants through an oxidizing agent.

In addition, the concentration of carbon dioxide generated when the pollutant is oxidized is measured, and when the rate of change of the measured concentration is less than the standard, it is determined that the sterilization is substantially completed, and the sterilization can be terminated. Thus, the user can check whether the sterilization is normally completed.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a sterilization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram schematically showing the sterilizing unit shown in FIG. 1.
3 is a block diagram schematically showing a controller electrically connected to the blower fan and the ultraviolet lamp shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively.
4 and 5 are views schematically showing the sterilizing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. The embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described below. The present embodiments are provided to explain the present invention in more detail to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains. Therefore, the shape of each element shown in the drawings may be exaggerated to emphasize a more clear description.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a sterilization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are views schematically showing the sterilization apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the sterilizing device provides a chamber for providing a sterilization space, and the chamber includes a housing whose front is open and a door that opens and closes the front of the housing. The sterilization space can be distinguished from the outside by the housing and the door, and can be sealed during sterilization. However, the sterilization space may communicate with the outside so that air in the sterilization space can be discharged.

In addition, the cradle may be installed at the top of the interior of the chamber, and a sterilization object (eg, a baby bottle) may be placed on the cradle. In this embodiment, since the oxidizing agent freely flows inside the chamber, and sterilization is achieved by oxidizing contaminants through this, the product to be sterilized does not need to be arranged or arranged in a specific direction, and sterilization is performed regardless of its state. I can.

The nozzle is installed in the lower part of the chamber to discharge the oxidizing agent. As shown in Fig. 1, the sterilization unit supplies an oxidizing agent to the nozzle while being connected to the nozzle through a tube such as a tube, and the oxidizing agent supplied through the nozzle oxidizes contaminants to sterilize. The oxidizing agent may be ozone or an OH radical. The sterilization unit may be a storage container in which ozone is stored, and may be a generator generating OH radicals. Since OH radicals have a much faster oxidation rate than ozone (O3) or ultraviolet rays, they are known to have a sterilizing power that is about 2000 times stronger than ozone (O3) and about 180 times stronger than ultraviolet rays (UV).

On the other hand, the sterilization device may further include a cooling plate and a moisture absorption module capable of drying the sterilization object. The air inside the chamber is supplied to the sterilization unit through a blowing fan, moves to the nozzle together with ozone or OH radicals inside the sterilization unit, and is discharged to the sterilization space through the nozzle. At this time, the air passes through the cooling plate and the moisture absorption module and then moves to the sterilization unit through the blowing fan.

The cooling plate may be part of a Peltier element. The Peltier element has a characteristic that when a current is applied, one side is cooled and one side is heated. The cooling plate may be one side of the Peltier element to be cooled, and may be located inside the chamber ('sterilization space'). Conversely, one side of the Peltier element to be heated may be located outside the chamber.

Air is cooled to a temperature lower than room temperature through the cooling plate, and moisture contained in the air may condense on the cooling plate and fall along the cooling plate. The container is installed under the cooling plate to collect condensed water falling from the cooling plate, and the user can periodically discharge the condensed water collected in the container. Moisture in the air can be removed in this way, but moisture not condensed in the cooling plate can be removed through the moisture absorption module.

The moisture absorbing module contains a desiccant such as silica gel, and the desiccant is stored in a container (not shown) and air that has passed through the cooling plate can pass through the container. Moisture passing through the cooling plate may be absorbed by the silica gel while passing through the silica gel in the container. Accordingly, the air passing through the moisture absorption module may be in a state in which most of the moisture has been removed.

Thereafter, air is supplied to the sterilization unit through a blowing fan, and after moving to the nozzle together with ozone or OH radicals, the air is supplied to the sterilization object through the nozzle. At this time, while the moisture in the air is removed, the moisture present in the wet sterilization object is evaporated to be included in the air, and as described above, the sterilization object is dried by removing moisture in the air through a cooling plate and a moisture absorption module. can do. The blower fan serves to circulate air in the sterilization space.

Figure 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the sterilization unit shown in Figure 1; As described above, the sterilization unit may supply OH radicals. The sterilization unit may have a sterilization chamber that provides a generation space blocked from the outside, and a photocatalytic plate and an ultraviolet lamp may be installed in the generation space.

The air supplied through the blowing fan is discharged to an outlet formed on the other side through an inlet formed on one side of the sterilization chamber, and a photocatalytic plate is disposed between the inlet and the outlet. Air can move to the outlet through the through hole formed in the photocatalyst plate. The photocatalytic plate may be coated with a photocatalytic coating agent such as titanium oxide (TiO2). The ultraviolet lamp irradiates ultraviolet rays to the photocatalyst plate, through which OH radicals may be generated. Accordingly, OH radicals can be discharged together with air through the outlet of the sterilization chamber, and the object to be sterilized can be sterilized through this. Meanwhile, OH radicals may be generated in various ways different from the present embodiment.

On the other hand, referring to the photocatalyst, the photocatalyst is a catalyst that accelerates photochemical reactions (catalyst of photoreactions; photocatalyst). Materials that can be used for the photocatalyst include TiO2 (anatase), TiO2 (rutile), ZnO, CdS, ZrO2, SnO2, V2O3, and WO3. Of these, TiO2 itself does not change even under light, so it can be used semi-permanently, whereas ZnO and CdS absorb light, so that the catalyst itself is decomposed by light, thereby generating harmful Zn and Cd ions.

In addition, TiO2 decomposes into carbon dioxide and water by oxidizing all organic substances, but WO3 has good efficiency as a photocatalyst for only specific substances, and other than that, the efficiency is as good as TiO2, so the usable area is very limited. In addition, TiO2, which does not change itself even when exposed to light, can be used semi-permanently, has excellent sterilization power due to higher oxidizing power than chlorine (Cl2) or ozone (O3), and has the ability to decompose all organic substances into carbon dioxide and water. It is widely used as a material.

In addition, when ozone is supplied through the sterilization unit, the sterilization unit may include a sterilization chamber in which air supplied from the moisture absorption module and ozone supplied from the ozone tank are mixed, and the mixed air and ozone can be supplied to the nozzle. .

3 is a block diagram schematically showing a controller electrically connected to the blower fan and the ultraviolet lamp shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. As described above, when sterilization is performed through OH radicals, the OH radicals generate carbon dioxide through oxidation of pollutants. Therefore, when observing the rate at which carbon dioxide is generated while OH radicals are continuously supplied, the progress of sterilization can be grasped.

Specifically, the sensor is installed inside the chamber to sense the concentration of carbon dioxide, and the controller is electrically connected to the sensor. When the rate of change in the concentration of carbon dioxide detected by the sensor exceeds the reference value, the controller determines that the pollutant is continuously oxidized (i.e., sterilized) and can continuously operate the blower fan and the ultraviolet lamp. have.

On the other hand, if the rate of change in the concentration of carbon dioxide detected through the sensor is less than the reference value, the controller can stop the blowing fan and the ultraviolet lamp by determining that the oxidation of the pollutant is at a certain level or higher (i.e., standby), Sterilization can be terminated.

Meanwhile, a separate alarm module may be connected to the controller, and the alarm module may be a lamp or a speaker. That is, the controller can operate a melody or lamp blinking through the alarm module while sterilization is in progress, and can operate the melody or lamp blinking through the alarm module when sterilization is finished, and provide the user with the state of the sterilizer. Can inform.

In conclusion, as described above, the conventional sterilization device automatically terminates the sterilization of the object to be sterilized after a certain period of time, regardless of whether sterilization is substantially completed, so that it is not possible to confirm whether the sterilization is normally completed or Sterilization was terminated in a state that was not normally completed, and due to this, normal sterilization was difficult. However, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a substantial degree of sterilization can be determined through the rate of change in the concentration of carbon dioxide.

Although the present invention has been described in detail through preferred embodiments, other types of embodiments are also possible. Therefore, the technical spirit and scope of the claims set forth below are not limited to the preferred embodiments.

Claims (4)

A chamber that provides a sterilization space differentiated from the outside;
A cradle installed above the sterilization space and on which a sterilization object is placed;
A cooling plate installed in the sterilization space and having a temperature lower than room temperature;
A container installed under the cooling plate to collect condensed water condensed through the cooling plate;
An oxidizing agent is supplied to the sterilization space to decompose organic matter present in the sterilization space, and a generation space separated from the outside and an inlet and an outlet communicating with the generation space are formed, and air is introduced through the inlet and the outlet is A sterilization unit having a sterilization chamber through which the air and the oxidizing agent flow out; And
And a blower fan for introducing air in the sterilization space passing through the cooling plate into the sterilization chamber through the inlet. The method of claim 1,
The sterilization unit,
A photocatalytic plate installed in the generating space to which a photocatalytic coating agent is applied and having a plurality of through holes; And
It is installed in the generating space, further comprising an ultraviolet lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays toward the photocatalytic plate to generate OH radicals as the oxidizing agent,
The air introduced through the inlet passes through the through hole and flows out through the outlet together with the OH radicals. The method of claim 1,
The sterilization device,
A sensor installed inside the chamber to detect a concentration of carbon dioxide; And
And a control unit electrically connected to the sensor and configured to switch the sterilization unit from a sterilization state to a standby state when a rate of change of the concentration measured through the sensor is less than a standard. The method of claim 1,
The sterilization device,
A sterilization apparatus further comprising a moisture absorption module installed in the sterilization space and absorbing moisture contained in the air that has passed through the cooling plate.

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