WO2014131888A1

WO2014131888A1 - Mattress disinfection chamber

Info

Publication number: WO2014131888A1
Application number: PCT/EP2014/053951
Authority: WO
Inventors: Salim Touati
Original assignee: Ecoval Environnement
Priority date: 2013-02-28
Filing date: 2014-02-28
Publication date: 2014-09-04
Also published as: EP2961439A1; FR3002457A1; FR3002457B1

Abstract

The hermetic chamber (10) for disinfecting a mattress (12) comprises means (14) on which to place at least one mattress (12) leaving each face of this mattress (12) mainly exposed to the air, means (26) of spraying a disinfectant chemical product into the air, at least one hermetic door (11) providing access to the chamber, means (30) managing the opening and closing of the door (11), means (28) for conditioning the air, and control means (36) which are able automatically to control the spray means (26), the management means (30) and the air-conditioning means (28) in a predetermined sequence of activations and deactivations of these management means (30), these air-conditioning means (28) and these spray means (26).

Description

Mattress disinfection chamber

The present invention relates to a hermetic chamber for the disinfection of mattresses, and a method of disinfecting mattresses in such a disinfection chamber.

The recycling of mattresses is an ecological alternative to incineration or landfilling of mattresses at end of life.

The disinfection of mattresses is part of such a recycling. In particular, the purpose of the disinfection is to destroy the bacteriological germs that may be present in the mattresses to be recycled. The disinfection must be sufficient to ensure perfect hygiene of a recycled mattress, while being satisfactory from a health point of view to protect the operators working to recycle the mattress.

It should be noted that such disinfection is not sterilization, and is not intended to completely destroy all the germs present in the mattress to be treated. The disinfection aims at removing at least 99% of bacteriological germs, preferably at least 99.9%, and more preferably at least 99.99% of bacteriological germs.

The invention more particularly relates to chemical disinfection. Chemical disinfection is usually used for the treatment of spring mattresses and pocket spring mattresses, but also for the treatment of foam and / or latex mattresses.

It is already known, in the state of the art, in particular according to FR 2 963 256, a mattress disinfection process, forming part of a mattress recycling process.

The invention particularly aims to optimize the effectiveness of the mattress disinfection, for maximum destruction of bacteriological germs.

For this purpose, the subject of the invention is notably a hermetic chamber for the disinfection of mattresses, characterized in that it comprises:

means for storing at least one mattress, leaving each side of this mattress exposed to the majority of the air,

means for projecting a disinfectant chemical into the air,

at least one hermetic access door to the chamber,

means for managing the opening and closing of the door,

air-conditioning means, and

control means, capable of automatically controlling the projection means, the management means and the air conditioning means, according to a sequence predetermined activation and deactivation of these management means, air conditioning and projection.

The disinfection chamber according to the invention makes it possible to jointly manage the air conditioning and the spraying of disinfectant chemicals in a predetermined sequence of activation and deactivation of this air conditioning and spraying. In other words, the disinfection chamber allows efficient management of air conditioning and spraying, which optimizes the effectiveness of disinfection.

Advantageously, the disinfection chamber according to the invention may comprise one or more of the following characteristics, taken alone or in any technically feasible combination.

- The disinfection chamber comprises warning means, controlled by the control means in the predetermined sequence so that the warning means are activated before the activation of the projection means.

- The disinfection chamber comprises means for measuring the air pressure in the projection means, and means for generating an alert if the measured pressure is less than a predetermined threshold.

The means for storing the mattresses form means for stacking at least two mattresses one on the other, leaving a space between these mattresses.

- The stacking means comprise at least two spacer spacers interposed between the two mattresses, bearing against these two mattresses, the height of these spacers defining the height of the space between these mattresses.

At least one of the spacers comprises rigid wires arranged in a grid, comprising: support wires, bent in a U or quadrilateral, so as to have two lateral sides defining the height of the wedge, and parts lower and upper supports on a respective mattress, and connecting wires, substantially linear and substantially parallel, the support son being connected to the connecting son so that these support son are aligned substantially parallel to each other along of these connecting wires.

The invention also relates to an assembly of at least two disinfection chambers such as that defined above, in which the control means are common to the disinfection chambers.

The hermetic chamber according to the invention makes it possible to perform a method of disinfecting a mattress comprising:

a step of activating the air conditioning means for heating the chamber, a step of opening the door, preceding, following, or simultaneous with the step of activating the air conditioning means,

a step of installing at least one mattress on the means for storing this mattress,

a step of closing the door,

a step of deactivating the air conditioning means, preceding, following, or simultaneous with the step of closing the door,

a step of spraying the disinfecting chemical into the chamber, following the step of closing the door and the step of deactivating the air conditioning means,

a step of reactivating the air conditioning means for purging the air, following the projection step,

a step of deactivating the air conditioning means, and

a step of reopening the door, following, or simultaneous with, the step of deactivating the air conditioning means.

Advantageously, the disinfection method according to the invention may comprise one or more of the following characteristics, taken alone or in combination.

- The disinfection process includes a warning step, preceding the chemical spraying step.

- The disinfection process comprises, prior to the step of spraying the chemical, a step of measuring the air pressure in the projection means, followed by a warning step if the air pressure measured is below a predetermined threshold.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and with reference to the appended figures, among which:

- Figure 1 is a schematic top view of a disinfection chamber according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

- Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of two mattresses stacked to be stored in the chamber of Figure 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a spacing wedge interposed between the stacked mattresses of FIG. 2;

- Figure 4 shows schematically the steps of a disinfection method according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a hermetic chamber 10 for mattress disinfection 12, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The room disinfection 10 has a door 13 for access to the interior of this disinfection chamber 10.

The disinfection chamber 10 comprises means 14 for storing at least one mattress 12 leaving each side of this mattress exposed to the majority of air.

In the present description, the expression "mostly exposed to air" means that no part of each face of the mattress is significantly masked in the air, so that more than 99% of each face of the mattress is exposed to the air.

Advantageously, the means 14 are adapted to store a maximum of the mattress 12 on a reduced surface. For example, the means 14 are mattress stacking means 12, such as those shown in Figures 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 shows two mattresses 12 stacked one on the other, the stacking means 14 being adapted to leave a space between these mattresses 12. Of course, it is possible to stack, same way, more than two mattresses 12, the number of mattresses 12 depending on the height of the disinfection chamber 10, or the height of the access door 13. For example, six mattresses will be stacked thanks to the stacking means 14. In the following, the stack of mattresses 12 will be designated by the general reference 15.

The stacking means 14 comprise, between each set of two adjacent mattresses of the stack 15, at least two spacers 16, for example three spacers 16, interposed between the two mattresses 12, bearing against these two mattress 12. The height of these spacers 16 defines the height of the space between these mattresses 12.

In the example shown, each spacer 16 has a generally elongated shape, and extends longitudinally over a distance less than or equal to the width of the mattresses 12 to be treated in the disinfection chamber 10.

Advantageously, the spacers 16 are arranged parallel to a first direction on one side of a mattress 12, and parallel to a second direction perpendicular to the first on the other side of the mattress 12. In a variant, the wedges spacing 16 could be arranged all in the same direction, or arranged on one side or the other of the mattress 12 in random directions.

An example of a spacer 16 is shown in FIG. 3. This spacer 16 comprises rigid wires arranged in a grid.

In particular, each spacer 16 comprises upright support wires 16A so as to have two lateral sides 18 defining the height of the spacer 16, these lateral sides 18 extending between a lower portion of 19 and an upper support part 20, each support part 19, 20 being intended for resting on a respective mattress 12 of a set of two mattresses 12 of the stack 15. In the case described where each support wire 16A is U-bent, the lower support portions 19 are formed by the ends of the branches. 18 of the U, and the upper support portion 20 is formed by a connecting branch between the lateral branches 18.

As a variant, each support wire 16A could be folded into a quadrilateral, for example in a rectangle. Such a rectangle support wire 16A has two lateral sides, extending between an upper side forming the upper support portion and a lower side forming the lower support portion.

Spacer 16 also has substantially linear connecting wires 16B arranged substantially parallel to one another. The support wires 16A are connected to these connecting wires 16B, for example by welding, so that these support wires 16A are aligned substantially parallel to one another along the connecting wires 16B.

This structure of the spacing wedges 16 in mesh makes it possible to form minimal support parts on the mattresses 12, so as not to mask significantly parts of the faces of the mattresses 12.

Note that the orientation of the lower 19 and upper support 20 parts can be reversed without significant effect on the stack of mattresses 12, the function of the spacer 16 being independent of this orientation. Thus, alternatively, the spacer 16 may be arranged so that the parts 19 are above the portion 20.

Advantageously, the stacking means 14 comprise a lower plate 22, on which spacing wedges 16 are arranged, supporting a lower mattress 12 of the stack 15. These spacers 16 resting on this plate 22 make it possible to keep them exposed to air the lower face of said lower mattress.

This lower plate 22 allows the transport of the stack 15 of mattress 12, in particular from a preparation room, in which the mattresses 12 are stacked on this plate 22, to the disinfection chamber 10. For this purpose, the lower plate 22 is preferably equipped with moving means 24, for example wheels.

The disinfection chamber 10 is adapted to receive as many piles of mattresses 12 as permitted by its floor surface. For example, one can provide a disinfection chamber 10 to receive twenty piles of six mattresses each, or one hundred twenty mattresses.

In order to disinfect these mattresses 12, the disinfection chamber 10 comprises means 26 for projecting a disinfecting chemical into the air. These projection means 26 comprise in particular projection nozzles disposed in the disinfection chamber 10 so that each stack 15 of mattress 12 is exposed to the disinfecting product when these nozzles project this product.

The disinfecting chemical used is, for example, the product under the trade name ANIOS DVA HPH sold by the ANIOS laboratory. Preferably, the amount of product used is of the order of 8 ml / m 3 of treated air. For example for a disinfection chamber of dimensions 10 x 15 x 2.85 m (399 m3), the amount of product injected is of the order of 3.192 L. Thus, for 120 treated mattresses, the amount of product used per mattress is of the order of 26.6 ml.

The disinfection chamber 10 according to the invention also comprises means

28 air conditioning, capable on the one hand of heating the air in the disinfection chamber 10, and secondly to ventilate the air to the outside of the disinfection chamber 10 to clean it up .

The disinfection chamber 10 also comprises means 30 for managing the opening and closing of the hermetic door 13 for access to the chamber 10.

Advantageously, in order to warn a user of imminent spraying of the disinfecting product, the disinfection chamber 10 comprises warning means 32, comprising for example a green light indicator and a red indicator light arranged in the chamber and / or at the same time. outside the room, or a buzzer alone or in combination with the indicator lights.

Finally, the disinfection chamber 10 comprises control means 36, adapted to automatically control the projection means 26, the management means 30, the air conditioning means 28 and the warning means 32, according to a predetermined activation sequence and disabling these means.

Advantageously, the control means 36 comprise means for measuring the pressure of the air in the nozzles 26, and means for generating an alarm if the measured pressure is less than a predetermined threshold.

Said predetermined activation and deactivation sequence corresponds to a disinfection process which will be described below, with reference to FIG. 4.

After initialization of the method, a preliminary step 100 for measuring the pressure of the air in the nozzles 26 is carried out by the control means 36. In the case where the pressure of the air measured is less than a predetermined threshold, this measurement step 100 is followed by a step 1 10 alert.

It should be noted that the pressure measurement step 100 may also be carried out later during the process, or may consist of continuous monitoring of the air pressure throughout the disinfection process. The disinfection process comprises a step 120 of activation of the air conditioning means for preheating the disinfection chamber 10 to an optimum temperature for disinfection, for example 30 ° C.

Simultaneously, the method comprises a step 130 of opening the door January 1, allowing users to access the interior of the disinfection chamber 10. This step 130 of opening the door may alternatively be performed previously or following step 120 of activation of the air conditioning means.

Following the opening of the door January 1, and during the heating of the chamber 10, the method comprises a step 140 of installation of the mattress 12 to be disinfected in the chamber 10, bringing 15 piles of mattress 12 in the chamber 10 through the door 1 1. It is also possible, during this same step, recover mattress piles previously exposed in the chamber 10, including disinfected mattresses during a previous cycle of the disinfection process.

Alternatively, the step 140 of installing the mattress can be performed before the step 120 of activation of the air conditioning means.

In all cases, the heating is carried out according to a predetermined duration, for example fifteen minutes. Following this predetermined duration, the method comprises a warning step 150, during which users are warned of the imminence of the projection of the disinfectant product. For this purpose, you can, for example, switch off the green indicator light and switch on the red indicator light, and / or activate a buzzer. This warning step 150 makes it possible to warn the users installing the mattresses that they must leave the disinfection chamber 10. Of course, it is possible to provide security means for interrupting the process in the event that a user is not able to to leave the room 10 in time, or to perform the rest of the process only when it is confirmed that all users have left the room 10.

Following this warning step 150, and if the process has not been interrupted for security reasons, the method comprises a step 160 of closing the door January 1, and a step 170 of deactivating the air conditioning means 28 This deactivation step 170 is for example carried out simultaneously with the step 160 of closing the door January 1, but could alternatively precede or follow this step 160 of closing the door January 1.

The disinfection process then comprises a step 180 of spraying the disinfecting chemical in the chamber 10, by the projection means 26. This disinfection is particularly effective because of the pre-heating performed in the hermetic chamber 10. After spraying, the mattresses are kept exposed to the projected disinfectant chemical, for a predetermined disinfection time, necessary for effective disinfection. The predetermined disinfection time is for example two and a half hours.

Following this predetermined disinfection time, the disinfection process comprises a step 190 of reactivation of the air conditioning means, to purge the air and thereby clean the air in the chamber 10. This step is important to prevent users who come look for disinfected mattresses to be exposed to the disinfectant chemical.

Following a predetermined duration of air purge, for example fifteen to twenty minutes, the method comprises a step 200 of deactivating the air conditioning means, and a step 210 of reopening the door. This opening step 210 may alternatively be simultaneous with the deactivation step 200 of the air conditioning means, or even precede it as long as the purge time of the air has been sufficient to purify the air in the chamber 10.

Once the door is open, users can pick up the mattresses treated with the disinfectant product.

It is also possible, at this stage, to restart a cycle of the disinfection process, by activating the air conditioning means 26 during a new activation step 120 to heat the room again.

Note that the invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but could have various variants without departing from the scope of the claims.

In particular, there may be several disinfection chambers, for example a set of at least two disinfection chambers, each similar to the disinfection chamber 10 described above, in which the control means 36 are common to the disinfection chambers.

Claims

1. Hermetic chamber (10) for mattress disinfection (12), characterized in that it comprises:

means (14) for storing at least one mattress (12) leaving each side of this mattress (12) mostly exposed to the air,

means (26) for projecting a disinfecting chemical into the air,

at least one hermetic door (1 1) for access to the chamber,

- means (30) for managing the opening and closing of the door (1 1), - means (28) for air conditioning, and

- Control means (36), adapted to automatically control the projection means (26), the management means (30) and the air conditioning means (28), in a predetermined sequence of activations and deactivations of these means management (30), air conditioning (28) and projection (26).

A disinfection chamber (10) according to claim 1, including warning means (32), controlled by the control means (36) in the predetermined sequence so that the warning means (32) is activated before activating the projection means (26).

3. Disinfection chamber (10) according to claim 1 or 2, comprising means for measuring the air pressure in the projection means (26), and means for generating an alert if the measured pressure is less than one. predetermined threshold.

4. Disinfection chamber (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the means (14) for storing the mattresses (12) form means for stacking at least two mattresses (12) one on the other , leaving a space between these mattresses (12).

5. disinfection chamber (10) according to claim 4, wherein the stacking means (14) comprise at least two spacers (16) interposed between the two mattresses (12), bearing against these two mattresses ( 12), the height of these spacers (16) defining the height of the space between these mattresses (12).

The disinfection chamber (10) according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the spacers (16) comprises rigid wires arranged in a grid, comprising:

- Support wires (16A), bent in a U or in a quadrilateral, so as to have two lateral sides (18) defining the height of the shim, and lower (19) and upper (20) portions of support on a respective mattresses (12), and - substantially linear and substantially parallel connecting wires (16B), the support wires (16A) being connected to the connecting wires (16B) so that these support wires (16A) are aligned substantially parallel to one another; along these connecting wires (16B).

7. Set of at least two disinfection chambers (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control means are common to the disinfection chambers (10).

A method of disinfecting a mattress (12) in a disinfection chamber (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising:

a step (120) for activating the air conditioning means (28) for heating the chamber (10),

a step (130) for opening the door (1 1), preceding, following, or simultaneous with the step (120) for activating the air conditioning means (28),

a step (140) for installing at least one mattress (12) on the means (14) for storing the mattress (12),

a step (160) for closing the door (1 1),

a step (170) of deactivating the air conditioning means (28), preceding, following, or simultaneous with the step (160) of closing the door (1 1),

a step (180) for projecting the disinfectant chemical into the chamber (10), following the step (160) of closing the door and the step (170) of deactivating the air conditioning means (28) ,

a step (190) for reactivating the air conditioning means (28) to purge the air, following the projection step (180),

a step (200) for deactivating the air conditioning means (28), and

- A step (210) of reopening the door (1 1), following, or simultaneous to the step (200) of deactivating the air conditioning means (28).

9. Disinfection method according to claim 8, comprising a step (150) of warning, preceding the step (180) of projection of the chemical.

10. Disinfection method according to claim 8 or 9, comprising, prior to the step (180) of the chemical projection, a step (100) for measuring the air pressure in the projection means (26). followed by a warning step (1 10) if the measured air pressure is below a predetermined threshold.