WO2022113119A1

WO2022113119A1 - System and method for non-contact disinfection

Info

Publication number: WO2022113119A1
Application number: PCT/IN2021/051114
Authority: WO
Inventors: Petthannan RAJASEKAR; Kumaresh KRISHNAMOORTHY
Original assignee: Rajasekar Petthannan; Krishnamoorthy Kumaresh
Priority date: 2020-11-28
Filing date: 2021-11-28
Publication date: 2022-06-02

Abstract

The various embodiments of the present invention provide a portable and volume-adjustable system and method for non-contact disinfection of a plurality of articles. The present invention is related to a system that enables remotely operated and volume-adjustable ultraviolet irradiation-based disinfection of a plurality of articles. The system comprises a plurality of ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs on the interior of the vertical sides and the top side of a hollow-cuboidal structure. The ultraviolet bulbs are connected to motors that enable the rotation of the bulbs such that the radiation sweeps inside the structure and irradiation covers every part of the space inside the hollow-cuboidal structure. The disinfection system comprises a controller module and a wireless module, which is configured to communicatively couple with a second wireless module in the handheld console. The handheld console is configured to control the controller module wirelessly for a plurality of operations.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NON-CONTACT DISINFECTION

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the priority of the Indian Provisional Patent Application filed on May 28, 2020, with the number 202041022279 and titled, "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NON-CONTACT DISINFECTION", and subsequently post-dated by 6 months to November 28, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by the way of reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is generally related to a system and method for non-contact disinfection. The present invention is particularly related to a portable and volume-adjustable system and method for non-contact disinfection of a plurality of articles. The present invention is also related to a system and method to enables remotely operated and volume-adjustable ultraviolet irradiation-based disinfection of a plurality of articles.

BACKGROUND ART

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-based disinfection of surfaces and articles have been in use for quite some time now. Especially UVC is used for disinfecting possibly contaminated surfaces and articles. They are currently used as handheld disinfection devices for low dosage disinfections and/or stationary unmanned disinfection devices for high dosage disinfections.

While the handheld disinfection devices are convenient to use, since the dosage is less in order to no harm the human user handling it, there are high risks of incomplete disinfection of articles. In case of high dosage disinfection devices, the apparatus for disinfection is not portable. Also, the area that is disinfected by the apparatus is pre-set.

Yet another shortcoming in current disinfectant devices is the need to come in contact with the articles to be disinfected. In use-cases where multiple articles of various sizes and shapes are continuously being handled, such as a warehouse or an airport baggage handling section, the people employed there are exposed to the risk of infection when they come in contact with a package or luggage while handling them. There is also a lack of systems for effective disinfection of articles of different sizes and shapes.

Hence, there exists a need for a portable and effective disinfection system for enabling contactless disinfection of multiple articles. There is also a need for providing a contained and volume-adjustable closed disinfection system for disinfecting a plurality of articles of varying volumes.

The above-mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein and which will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for non-contact disinfection of a plurality of articles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable and volume-adjustable system and method for non-contact disinfection of a plurality of articles.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a contained and volume-adjustable closed disinfection system for disinfecting a plurality of articles of varying volumes.

Yet another object of the present invention is to a remotely operated and adjustable Ultra-Violet irradiation-based disinfection of a plurality of articles.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The various embodiments of the present invention provide a portable and volume-adjustable system and method for non-contact disinfection of a plurality of articles. The present invention is particularly related to a system and method to enables remotely operated and volume-adjustable ultraviolet irradiation-based disinfection of a plurality of articles.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a portable and volume-adjustable system is provided for non-contact disinfection of a plurality of articles. The system is a hollow-cuboidal structure, with a closed top side and three vertical sides. One of the vertical sides is provided with doors that are close and opened. The bottom side is left open in order to contain a plurality of articles that are placed on a flat surface. The system comprises a plurality of adjustable wheels that are designed to enable moving the system around. The system also comprises extendable arrangements on all the length, breadth and height sides of the hollow-cuboidal structure, which enables increasing the inner volume of the hollow cuboidal structure.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided to enable remotely-operated and volume-adjustable ultraviolet irradiation-based disinfection of a plurality of articles. The system comprises a plurality of ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs on the interior of the three closed vertical sides and the top side of the hollow-cuboidal structure. The material and design of the hollow-cuboidal structure contains the radiation within the structure and no radiation escapes outside the structure. The system also comprises sensors that enable the ultraviolet irradiation only when the doors of the hollow-cuboidal structure are closed and the radiation is contained within the structure. The ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs are connected to motors that enable the rotation of the bulbs such that the radiation sweeps inside the structure and all the bulbs and/or LEDs collectively cover ever part of the space inside the hollow-cuboidal structure. The system also comprises sensors to sense a plurality of attributes including the duration of infection, the number of bulbs activated, the dosage of the irradiation, the volume of the articles placed inside the hollow-cuboidal structure.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a handheld console is provided for a remote operation of the ultraviolet irradiation-based disinfection system. The disinfection system comprises a controller module and a wireless module, which is configured to communicatively couple with a second wireless module in the handheld console. The handheld console is configured to control the controller module wirelessly for operations such as activate the ultraviolet irradiation, adjust the volume of the hollow-cuboidal structure, adjust the rotation of the motors and adjust the dosage of ultraviolet irradiation in the hollow-cuboidal structure. The handheld console is also configured with software capabilities and an operating system to process the data it is configured to receive from the plurality of sensors in the disinfection system.

These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating the preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings in which:

illustrates a block diagram of a portable and volume-adjustable system that enables non-contact disinfection of a plurality of articles, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

illustrates a remotely-operated and volume-adjustable ultraviolet irradiation-based disinfection system, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Although the specific features of the present invention are shown in some drawings and not in others. This is done for convenience only as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, a reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which the specific embodiments that may be practiced is shown by way of illustration. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and it is to be understood that other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided for a remotely operated, non-contact and volume-adjustable ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-based disinfection of a plurality of articles. The system comprises a portable volume-adjustable Ultraviolet-C (UVC) disinfection chamber and a remote computing device. The portable volume-adjustable Ultraviolet-C (UVC) disinfection chamber comprises a plurality of ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs, a first wireless module, a controller module, a controller power supply module, a plurality of motors, a sensor module, a general power supply module, a plurality of extenders, a plurality of wheels and a plurality of doors. The remote computing device comprises and/or is configured with a second wireless module and a remote handheld programmable unit, wherein the remote handheld programmable unit further comprises and/or is configured with an AI module, a dosage computation module, a pathogen type selection module, a disinfection items selection module, a disinfection cycle recording module and a report module.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the second wireless module in the remote computing device is configured to communicably couple with the first wireless module in the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber through a plurality of wireless means.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber is a hollow-cuboidal structure, with a closed top side and three vertical sides. At least one of the vertical sides is provided with doors that are closed and opened. The bottom side is left open in order to contain a plurality of articles that are placed on a flat surface. The portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber comprises a plurality of adjustable wheels that are designed to enable moving the chamber around. The chamber also comprises extendable arrangements on all the length, breadth and height sides of the hollow-cuboidal structure, which enable increasing the inner volume of the hollow cuboidal structure.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber comprises a plurality of ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs on the interior of the three closed vertical sides and the top side of the chamber. The material and design of the chamber are designed to contain the radiation within the chamber and such that no radiation escapes outside the chamber. The portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber also comprises a plurality of sensors that enable the ultraviolet irradiation by the ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs only when the doors of the chamber are closed and the radiation is contained within the chamber. The ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs are connected to motors that enable the rotation of the bulbs such that the radiation sweeps inside the chamber and all the bulbs and/or LEDs collectively cover ever part of the space inside the chamber. The chamber also comprises sensors to sense a plurality of attributes including the duration of infection, the number of bulbs activated, the dosage of the irradiation, the volume of the articles placed inside the chamber.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the remote handheld programmable unit is configured to control the controller module in the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber wirelessly for operations such as activating the ultraviolet irradiation, adjusting the volume of the chamber, adjusting the rotation of the motors and adjusting the dosage of ultraviolet irradiation in the chamber. The remote handheld programmable unit is also configured with software capabilities and an operating system to process the data it is configured to receive from the plurality of sensors in the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the remote handheld programmable unit is configured with a database of pathogens and the dosage of UVC required for disinfecting them. A user is enabled to choose the type of pathogen to be disinfected and the details of the items to be disinfected in the disinfection chamber through a user interface in the remote handheld programmable unit. Once the user chooses the options, the remote handheld programmable unit is configured to automatically compute the dosage of UVC and transfers the information to the controller module in the disinfection chamber through wireless communication. The remote handheld programmable unit is also configured for monitoring the safety aspects of the disinfection chamber, enabling emergency switching-off of the chamber, storing the disinfection dosage, time, date and user details in a database, generating usage reports and monitoring the health parameters of the disinfection chamber such as the usage of UVC lamps and/or LEDs and their replacement details.

illustrates a block diagram of a portable and volume-adjustable system that enables non-contact disinfection of a plurality of articles. The system comprises a plurality of ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs 101, a first wireless module (Wireless module -1) 102, a controller module 103, a power supply module 104, a plurality of motors 105, a second wireless module (Wireless module -2) 106 and a remote handheld programmable unit 107.

illustrates a remotely-operated and volume-adjustable ultraviolet irradiation-based disinfection system. The system comprises a plurality of ultraviolet bulbs 101 and/or LEDs, a first wireless module (Wireless module -1) 102, a plurality of extenders 201, a plurality of wheels 202, a plurality of doors 203, a controller power supply module 204, the controller module 103 and a power supply 205.

Although the embodiments herein are described with various specific embodiments, it will be obvious for a person skilled in the art to practice the embodiments herein with modifications.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

The various embodiments of the present invention provide a portable and volume-adjustable system and method for non-contact disinfection of a plurality of articles. The present invention is particularly related to a system and method to enables remotely operated and volume-adjustable ultraviolet irradiation-based disinfection of a plurality of articles. Currently used ultraviolet based disinfectant systems are not safe to be operated when humans are present in the vicinity of the system. The present invention contains the ultraviolet irradiation within the space enclosed by the walls and doors of the hollow-cuboidal structure, according to one embodiment herein. The invention is designed to disinfect a plurality of articles without the users having to physically handle the articles to be disinfected. The invention is also designed for fixed and variable volume use-cases, which enables the disinfection of a plurality of articles. The volume-adjustment enabled by the invention provides the users with an option to disinfect a plurality of articles of different sizes and shapes simultaneously. The motors connected to the ultraviolet bulbs enable the ultraviolet irradiation to sweep the space inside the hollow-cuboidal structure and disinfect all the interior space. The handheld console provided in the invention is configured to remotely control a plurality of operations such as activate the ultraviolet irradiation, adjust the volume of the hollow-cuboidal structure, adjust the rotation of the motors and adjust the dosage of ultraviolet irradiation in the hollow-cuboidal structure. The system also comprises sensors to sense a plurality of attributes including the duration of infection, the number of bulbs activated, the dosage of the irradiation, the volume of the articles placed inside the hollow-cuboidal structure.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such as specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments.

It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modifications. However, all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the claims.

Claims

A system for a remotely operated, non-contact and volume-adjustable ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-based disinfection of a plurality of articles, the system comprising:
a portable volume-adjustable Ultraviolet-C (UVC) disinfection chamber, wherein the portable volume-adjustable Ultraviolet-C (UVC) disinfection chamber comprises a plurality of ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs, a first wireless module, a controller module, a controller power supply module, a plurality of motors, a sensor module, a general power supply module, a plurality of extenders, a plurality of wheels and a plurality of doors; and,
a remote computing device, wherein, the remote computing device comprises and/or is configured with a second wireless module and a remote handheld programmable unit, wherein the remote handheld programmable unit further comprises and/or is configured with an AI module, a dosage computation module, a pathogen type selection module, a disinfection items selection module, a disinfection cycle recording module and a report module,
The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second wireless module in the remote computing device is configured to communicably couple with the first wireless module in the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber through a plurality of wireless means.
The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber is a hollow-cuboidal structure, with a closed top side and three vertical sides, and wherein at least one of the vertical sides is provided with doors that are closed and opened, and wherein the bottom side is left open in order to contain a plurality of articles that are placed on a flat surface, and wherein, the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber comprises a plurality of adjustable wheels that are designed to enable moving the chamber around, and wherein the chamber also comprises extendable arrangements on all the length, breadth and height sides of the hollow-cuboidal structure, which enable increasing the inner volume of the hollow cuboidal structure.
The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber comprises a plurality of ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs on the interior of the three closed vertical sides and the top side of the chamber, and wherein, the material and design of the chamber are designed to contain the radiation within the chamber and such that no radiation escapes outside the chamber, and wherein, the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber also comprises a plurality of sensors that enable the ultraviolet irradiation by the ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs only when the doors of the chamber are closed and the radiation is contained within the chamber, and wherein the ultraviolet bulbs and/or LEDs are connected to motors that enable the rotation of the bulbs such that the radiation sweeps inside the chamber and all the bulbs and/or LEDs collectively cover ever part of the space inside the chamber, and wherein the chamber also comprises sensors to sense a plurality of attributes including the duration of infection, the number of bulbs activated, the dosage of the irradiation, the volume of the articles placed inside the chamber.
The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the remote handheld programmable unit is configured to control the controller module in the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber wirelessly for operations such as activating the ultraviolet irradiation, adjusting the volume of the chamber, adjusting the rotation of the motors and adjusting the dosage of ultraviolet irradiation in the chamber, and wherein, the remote handheld programmable unit is also configured with software capabilities and an operating system to process the data it is configured to receive from the plurality of sensors in the portable volume-adjustable UVC disinfection chamber.
The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the remote handheld programmable unit is configured with a database of pathogens and the dosage of UVC required for disinfecting them, and wherein a user is enabled to choose the type of pathogen to be disinfected and the details of the items to be disinfected in the disinfection chamber through a user interface in the remote handheld programmable unit, and wherein once the user chooses the options, the remote handheld programmable unit is configured to automatically compute the dosage of UVC and transfers the information to the controller module in the disinfection chamber through wireless communication, and wherein the remote handheld programmable unit is also configured for monitoring the safety aspects of the disinfection chamber, enabling emergency switching off of the chamber, storing the disinfection dosage, time, date and user details in a database, generating usage reports and monitoring the health parameters of the disinfection chamber such as the usage of UVC lamps and/or LEDs and their replacement details.