WO2021205045A1

WO2021205045A1 - Method and device for carrying out and maintaining the cleaning and disinfection of baskets and trays

Info

Publication number: WO2021205045A1
Application number: PCT/ES2021/070196
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jose Ruben Cabral Herrera
Original assignee: Eferbe Ingeniería De Ideas, S.L.
Priority date: 2020-04-08
Filing date: 2021-03-18
Publication date: 2021-10-14
Also published as: ES2863099A1; ES2863099B2

Abstract

Disclosed is a method and device for carrying out and maintaining the cleaning and disinfection of baskets and trays, which comprises: a leaktight cover at low pressure, with gates for inserting used baskets and trays and for removing these elements once sanitised; a positive pressure environment; a filter for inlet air, through nozzles; air curtains in the gates; systems for handling baskets and trays; solid waste removal; spraying of water with disinfectants; drying; and accumulation of clean baskets and trays, same being disposed for delivery, such that, in addition to producing the effect of cleaning and disinfection, the device stores the baskets and trays in a contamination-free environment and can also act as an advertising support or information panel.

Description

TITLE

Procedure and equipment for the execution and maintenance of cleaning and disinfection of baskets and trays.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to a compact system that performs cleaning and disinfection of baskets and trays such as those found in supermarkets and at access controls.

Due to the fact that they are elements that are handled by a large number of people, the baskets and trays become carriers of all kinds of viruses and bacteria, so it is necessary to clean and disinfect all their surfaces, both interior and exterior. But it is also necessary to maintain their state of cleanliness and sanitation until the moment of its next use since, if once sanitized they are put outdoors and accessible to users, the state of hygiene is lost.

The procedure is carried out by means of a team made up of the following constituent elements:

1. Low pressure watertight cover, with gates for the introduction of used baskets and trays and for the extraction of these sanitized elements. A positive pressure environment will ensure that no entry of external contamination occurs when any of the gates are opened. To do this, the inlet air will be filtered, by nozzles duly arranged for this purpose, and air curtains in the aforementioned gates that produce a current from the inside to the outside so that it is only possible for the clean air from the inside to come out.

2. Systems for handling baskets and trays, removal of solid waste, projection of water with disinfectant agents, drying, and accumulation of clean baskets and trays, ready for delivery.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The cleaning of large boxes and baskets in industry is developed and there are various antecedents, but the specific application of equipment for cleaning shopping baskets and access control trays is not so developed. Furthermore, what exists is limited to cleanliness, it does not control the maintenance of hygiene conditions.

At present, different devices for the indicated functionalities are known, the mention of the following being of special interest: 1 ^o ) US20080210268A1: A car wash and disinfectant that includes a cabinet with components that produce the entry and exit of shopping carts On wheels, the trolleys are also washed, rinsed, disinfected and dried. The equipment works mainly inside the shopping center and offers each user the possibility of having a disinfected shopping cart. You can also operate a shopping basket.

2 ^o) US20080216879A1: a disinfectant cleaner disinfectant solution freestanding atomizing multiple shopping carts measure. 3 ^o ) US20090205685A1: A shopping basket washer and disinfector includes an enclosure equipped with components that facilitate the entry and exit of shopping baskets and related or similar items for the purpose of washing, rinsing, disinfecting and / or dry off. Inside the appliance, the baskets are washed, rinsed, disinfected and dried. The appliance is primarily designed for use within retail establishments to provide a continuous supply of clean and sanitary shopping baskets to customers.

Compared to the foregoing, the proposed invention contains novelties, advantages and therefore novelty with respect to the known state of the art, insofar as there are no references to a system that meets all these characteristics that the proposed invention brings together and that thereby produces :

- Watertight cover and control of air intake from outside, to ensure the maintenance of hygiene conditions after cleaning and disinfection. Removal of solid waste prior to cleaning and disinfection.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The proposed invention, "procedure and equipment for the execution and maintenance of cleaning and disinfection of baskets and trays", is carried out from the following constituent elements: 1. Supporting system of the cleaning equipment. Formed by the following elements: a. Support structure with watertight enclosures and air inlet holes with filtering system and other holes with hatch for entry and exit of baskets and trays. b. Blowing equipment for the generation of positive pressure and the creation of an air flow from the inside to the outside, in such a way as to avoid, when opening the gates for trays and baskets, the entry of unfiltered air from the outside to the inside. To open both the entrance hatch for baskets and trays and for the extraction hatch, a button must be operated, which may be a pedal, and the closure of the same will be carried out timed after checking that there are no obstacles, such as parts of the user's body.

The omission of some or all of these elements will reduce the effectiveness of the cleaning system, although they are not strictly cleaning and disinfection producing parts.

2. Set of manipulation mechanisms. The basket and tray will slide into the use position. The work process and the mechanisms that execute it are described below:

3. a. Vertical conveyor with 180 ° rotation, with claws for secure grip and position control of the mobile handles. Basket or tray lift. This subset is in turn formed by another series of elements that are: i. Tweezers that grip the tray or basket, positioned so that the handles are also held. ii. Rotary actuator that tilts 180 ° (one hundred and eighty degrees) the basket or tray. iii. Elevator, which positions the basket or tray at the entrance to the cleaning cabin. b. Blown during lift. One or more nozzles receive air from the outlet of a high flow and pressure blowing equipment, directed in such a way that the air cannon (s) enter the interior of the basket, causing solid waste, even slightly adhering, to fall into the floor of the entrance cabin of baskets and trays. c. Delivery to the cleaning booth, with opening and subsequent opening of the entrance hatch. By means of linear actuators, the basket is inserted inside a cabin where cleaning and disinfection will be carried out and which has gates to keep it closed during the process.

Once the cleaning is done, the handling process continues: d. Cleaning booth outlet, with opening and subsequent discharge gate outlet. Linear actuators will perform the extraction in a similar way to how the insertion was executed. and. Vertical conveyor with 180 ° rotation, with claws for secure grip and position control of the mobile handles. Basket or tray descent. By means of a system similar to that of lifting the basket or tray, the basket or tray is turned over, and it is lowered to the place where it rests on the vertical warehouse. F. Accumulation in stacked vertical warehouse, motorized for delivery in the output tray. A set of supports, which allow the stacking of baskets or trays with maximum use of the volume by tongue and groove insertion of trays or baskets, will receive these baskets or trays from the cleaning process and will descend to the last position, from where they will fall to the output tray, ready for use. g. Outbox. It may simply be an accessible volume or it may include an ejection system that facilitates the delivery of the basket or tray.

4. Set of cleaning and disinfection systems. There is a cleaning cabin that contains the following elements: a. Pressure cleaning and disinfection fluid injection nozzles, whose cleaning fluid pipes will affect the outside of the tray or basket, arranged in such a way that they cover its entire surface. b. Internal rotating nozzle, or set of non-rotating nozzles distributed so that they cover all interior surfaces, for projection of cleaning and disinfection fluid under pressure. c. Optionally, it may include a set of rotating brushes that complements the pressure fluid cleaning. d. System for collecting the water used during cleaning and its purification treatment using standard systems: pre-filtering, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet light, ozone saturation, others. and. Accumulation of clean water with addition of cleaning and disinfection agent.

5. Finally, the fairing may include elements intended to support and issue commercial information, having as additional use that of advertising support or information panel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description that is being made and in order to help a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferred example of a practical embodiment thereof, a set of figures is attached as an integral part of this description. in which, with an illustrative and non-limiting nature, the following has been represented:

Figural General view of the equipment with all the fairing seen. Figure 2.- General view of the equipment with hidden fairing closure. Figure 3.- Detail of the gripping and turning system.

Figure 4.- Cleaning cabin detail.

Figure 5.- Detail of vertical warehouse. In the aforementioned figures, the following constituent elements can be highlighted:

01.- Hermetic fairing.

02.- Entrance hatch.

03.- Exit hatch. 04.- Air knife.

05.- Clamp.

06.- Turner.

07.- Linear actuator for cleaning cabin input. 08.- Cleaning cabin output linear actuator. 09.- Blown nozzle.

10.- Elevator entrance to cleaning cabin.

11.- Elevator exit cleaning cabin.

12.- Supports in vertical warehouse.

13.- Vertical warehouse elevator. 14.- Delivery to output actuator.

15.- Water recirculation treatment.

16.- Cleaning and disinfection fluid hopper.

17.- Blower.

18.- Fixed cleaning nozzle. 19.- Rotating cleaning nozzle.

20.- Basket. 21.- Screen.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For the purposes of this preferred embodiment, a system will be described together with all the possible operating modes, although depending on the type of basket or tray, the geometry of the element to be cleaned and other factors that are part of the casuistry of the cleaning process, some of the elements can be suppressed. The generic procedure for cleaning shopping baskets and trays consists of executing, in the order indicated, the following steps:

Step 1: Isolation of the Interior of the equipment avoiding the entry of external contamination.

Step 1.a- Controlled management of the reception of the dirty basket or tray.

Step 1.b.- Controlled management of the delivery of the clean basket or tray.

Step 2: removal of existing solid waste inside the basket or tray.

Step 3: cleaning and disinfection of both the inside and the outside of the basket or tray.

Step 3.a. - Introduction of basket or tray in the cleaning cabin.

Step 3.b. - Cleaning by pressure jet of disinfectant fluid.

Step 3.c. - Basket or tray brushing.

Step 3.d. - Rinse by water pressure jet.

Step 3.e. - Basket or tray drying.

Step 3.f. - Extraction of the basket or tray from the cleaning cabin. Step 4: Accumulation in vertical warehouse. Step 5: recovery and purifying treatment of the cleaning fluid and subsequent conditioning to perform a disinfecting action.

Hereinafter, in order to facilitate explanations, only the basket (20) will be referred to as the element to be cleaned, although the invention is applicable to both baskets and trays.

For the execution of the previously identified steps, for the purposes of this description of a preferred manufacture, the following construction elements are counted:

1. Insulation of the interior of the equipment: The supporting structure or bench will be covered with a hermetic fairing (01) in such a way that the joints between the band and said fairing are sealed. In addition, there will be the following elements:

1.i. One or more air inlets from the inside, which will integrate filters that will purify the air, filters whose typology will be adapted to the level of contamination that may exist outside. In addition, these outside air intakes will be located at the top and close to the rear in order to minimize possible interaction with the people who handle the delivery and reception of trays and baskets.

1.ii. Blowing element (17) whose suction intake is connected to the filtered inlet from the outside and whose output feeds both the blowing for solid waste extraction and the air curtains in the inlet gate (02) and outlet gate (03) .

1.ii. At least one inlet gate (02) and one outlet gate (03) for the introduction and extraction of baskets (20) respectively, in such a way that their opening must be activated. While they are closed, the interior of all the equipment will remain hermetic and at the moment of opening any of them there will be an air knife (04) in each of these accesses that will create an outgoing air curtain, preventing the entry of air. and outside pollution. The opening and closing of the inlet gate (02) and also of the outlet gate (03) is timed, and unless interference is detected, which can be parts of the body of a user or any other obstacle, the open damper will close after a certain setpoint time.

2. Once a basket (20) has been deposited, a pair of clamps (05) will grab the basket (20); the grippers design should ensure that the basket (20) is grasped by immobilizing the handles, which are usually mobile. The clamps (05), among other elements, are connected to the cleaning cabin entrance elevator (10) and once the basket (20) has been grasped, it begins to climb to the top of the equipment. At the beginning of its ascent, by means of tumblers (06) that make a 180 ° turn on the clamps (05), the basket (20) is turned upside down. During the upward journey and with the basket (20) already turned over, an air cannon from the blowing nozzle (09) will remove all solid waste that may exist in the basket (20). Upon reaching the upper level, a linear actuator at the entrance to the cabin (07) inserts the basket (20) and leaves it resting inside said cabin, at which point the clamps (05) release the basket (20) and retract to the previous position. Previously, the opening of an existing side hatch in the paint booth will have been made and it does not have to be watertight as it only prevents the spillage of cleaning fluid. At this time, the basket (20) is inside the paint booth and the entrance hatch to the cleaning booth closes again.

3. Inside the cleaning cabin, located in the lower part of where the basket (20) is located, one or more rotating cleaning nozzles (19) that by means of the high pressure drive of water with disinfectant and by its rotary condition will access all the recesses and recesses inside the basket (20). Although in this preferred manufacture it is not taught, but it is possible to complement this cleaning, in cases where the basket (20) requires a higher level of cleaning, with a brushing application. At the same time, from the outside, some fixed cleaning nozzles (19) properly distributed will project cleaning fluid to all the outer surfaces, including the bottom of the basket (20) and its wheels, if any. These same rotating cleaning nozzles (18) and fixed cleaning nozzles (19) will project water without disinfectant for rinsing and finally will also project air for drying. For the use of the fixed cleaning nozzles (18) and also of the rotating cleaning nozzles (19) for both cleaning and rinsing and drying, the following will suffice. integration of bypass type connections regulated by solenoid valve and taking the different tanks or indoor environment.

The cleaning fluid, which can be diluted disinfectant water, ozone saturated water, or any other existing standard method, is collected in a disinfection cleaning fluid hopper (16) and filled with the same water used for post-cleaning. receive a water recirculation treatment (15) that may consist of reverse osmosis plus neutralization by ultraviolet light, for example. For rinsing, the water can be taken directly from the water recirculation treatment outlet (15).

4. Once the basket (20) has been cleaned, disinfected, rinsed and dried, a cleaning booth outlet linear actuator (08) brings another pair of clamps (05) onto tumblers (06) that form an equal set or very similar to the one already described. These clamps (05) also in this case will grip the basket (20) ensuring the immobilization of the handles. The turner (06) will place the basket (20) in the delivery position and a cleaning booth exit elevator (11) will lower the basket (20) until it rests on vertical warehouse supports (12) that are distributed at a constant distance and integrated in a conveyor that acts as a vertical warehouse elevator (13). There are several vertical warehouse supports (12) arranged in such a way that with the advance of the vertical warehouse elevator (13) the basket (20) descends one position. When the basket (20) that existed in shipment has been delivered, the vertical warehouse elevator (13) will advance one position so that the last one, the basket (20) loses contact with its support in the vertical warehouse (12), positioning itself by gravity in the dispatch space, in front of the exit hatch (03). When a user requests a basket (20), firstly, the exit gate (03) will open and secondly, a delivery-to-exit actuator (14) will advance the basket (20) and can be picked up by the user. When the delivery-to-outlet actuator (14) returns and after checking that there are no obstacles, the outlet gate (03) will close again.

In the front preferably, although any of its surfaces can also be integrated, it will integrate a screen (21) that will emit advertising or informative texts that could be of interest to the user of the center where the equipment is located. It is not considered necessary to make this description more extensive for any person skilled in the art to understand the scope of the invention and the advantages derived from it. The materials used, the dimensions or the joining procedures themselves, will be susceptible to variation as long as this does not imply an alteration in the essentiality of the invention.

Claims

1.- Equipment for the execution and maintenance of cleaning and disinfection of baskets and trays, according to claim 1, characterized by being made up of the following elements:

1. Supporting system of the cleaning equipment, integrated, in turn, by the following elements: a. Support structure with watertight enclosures and air inlet holes with filtering system. b. Blowing equipment for generating positive pressure and creating an air flow from the inside out. c. Outside, image emission screens that may or may not be interactive.

2. Set of handling and cleaning mechanisms, which is made up of: a. Tweezers that grip the basket and its handles when available. b. Conveyor to cleaning cabin, with forced removal of solid waste. c. Cleaning fluid projectors, by pressure disinfectant fluid jet and optionally with rinsing fluid projector and drying air projector brushes. d. Conveyor and store of clean baskets or trays. and. Basket delivery tray or clean tray.

3. Water treatment unit, including filters, osmosis and disinfectant dispensers.

2.- Procedure for the execution and maintenance of cleaning and disinfection of baskets and trays according to the equipment described in claim 1, characterized by being developed by following the following steps:

Step 1.a- Controlled management of the receipt of the sweat basket or tray.

Step 1.b.- Controlled management of the delivery of the clean basket or tray.

Step 2: removal of existing solid waste inside the basket or tray.

Step 3: cleaning and disinfecting both the inside and the outside of the basket or tray.

Step 3.a. - Introduction of basket or tray in the cleaning cabin.

Step 3.b. - Cleaning by pressure jet of disinfectant fluid.

Step 3.c. - Basket or tray brushing.

Step 3.d. - Rinse by water pressure jet.

Step 3.e. - Basket or tray drying.

Step 3.f. - Extraction of the basket or tray from the cleaning cabin.

Step 4: Accumulation in vertical warehouse.

Step 5: recovery and purifying treatment of the cleaning fluid and subsequent conditioning to perform a disinfecting action.