WO2022239437A1 - Ultraviolet light irradiation system - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an ultraviolet light irradiation system which enables a more efficient inactivation treatment.　This ultraviolet light irradiation system comprises an ultraviolet light irradiation device having a housing, an ultraviolet light source which is accommodated inside the housing, and a light exit window which is for outputting, to the outside of the housing, ultraviolet light which the ultraviolet light source radiates, wherein the principal rays of ultraviolet light that exit from the light exit window and that irradiate an irradiation surface of an irradiation target either directly or via an optical system are incident on the irradiation surface at an incidence angle of 20-70°.

Description

Ultraviolet light irradiation system

The present invention relates to an ultraviolet light irradiation system.

Bacteria and viruses are transmitted from person to person through droplet infection by droplets discharged from an infected person, person-to-person contact, or contact infection through objects that people touch. Droplet infection can be relatively easily prevented by, for example, each person wearing a mask. However, contact infection requires frequent wiping and cleaning of the surfaces of items that are touched by multiple people (e.g., elevator buttons, ticket vending machine touch panels, etc.), requiring a great deal of effort.

Therefore, in recent years, as a measure against contact infection that does not require human wiping, etc., a method of sterilizing bacteria and the like adhering to the surface of an article by irradiating it with ultraviolet light has attracted attention. For example, Patent Literature 1 below describes a sterilization device that irradiates an operation panel on which elevator floor buttons are arranged with ultraviolet light.

Utility Model Registration No. 3174620

The sterilization device described in Patent Document 1 is arranged on the same plane as the wall surface on which the buttons of the elevator are arranged, and is configured to irradiate ultraviolet light substantially parallel to the plane on which the buttons are arranged. ing.

However, the inventor found that the sterilization device described in Patent Document 1 has the following problems. The problem will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 10 is a drawing schematically showing a state during sterilization by a conventional sterilization device 100, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the sterilization device 100 in FIG. 10 when viewed in the X direction. As shown in FIG. 10, the sterilizer 100 is installed on the +Y side of the operation panel 110 on which the elevator floor buttons are arranged on the same wall surface W1. It is configured to emit light L1. As shown in FIG. 11, the sterilization device 100 includes a housing 101 and an ultraviolet light source 102 having an elongated tubular body 102a housed in the housing 101. As shown in FIG.

In the following description, as shown in FIG. 10, the plane parallel to the surface to be illuminated P1 is the XY plane, and the direction orthogonal to the surface to be illuminated P1 is the Z direction. As shown in FIG. 11, the axial direction of the tubular body 102a is defined as the X direction, and the direction orthogonal to the X and Z directions is defined as the Y direction.

In addition, when distinguishing between positive and negative directions when expressing directions, positive and negative signs are added, such as “+Z direction” and “−Z direction”, and the positive and negative directions are not distinguished. When the direction is expressed in , it is simply described as "Z direction".

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the sterilization device 100 is installed on the same wall surface W1 as the operation panel 110, and is configured to emit ultraviolet light L1 from the +Y side of the operation panel 110. In this configuration, unless the ultraviolet light source 102 is intentionally spaced far from the wall surface W1, the incident angle θ of the ultraviolet light L1 on the illuminated surface P1 of the operation panel 110 is infinitely close to 90°.

Here, the relationship between the incident angle θ of the ultraviolet light L1 with respect to the irradiated surface P1 and the effect of the deactivation treatment will be considered. The illuminance of the ultraviolet light L1 on the irradiated surface P1 decreases as the incident angle θ of the ultraviolet light L1 with respect to the irradiated surface P1 increases. This characteristic is because the area irradiated with the ultraviolet light L1 on the irradiated surface P1 is inversely proportional to cos θ, and is an optical characteristic generally known as the relationship between the illuminance and the incident angle θ.

It is also generally known that the effect of the sterilization treatment using the ultraviolet light L1 depends on the illuminance of the ultraviolet light L1 on the surface to be irradiated P1. Therefore, when the above characteristics are comprehensively considered, the effect of the sterilization treatment by the sterilization device 100 depends on cos θ, and it is estimated that the effect of the sterilization treatment decreases as the incident angle θ increases.

As described above, the present inventors believe that in order to irradiate the surface P1 to be irradiated with the ultraviolet light L1 for efficient sterilization, it is necessary to appropriately adjust the incident angle θ of the ultraviolet light with respect to the surface to be irradiated P1. found to be important.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultraviolet light irradiation system capable of more efficient deactivation.

The ultraviolet light irradiation system of the present invention is
An ultraviolet light irradiation device having a housing, an ultraviolet light source accommodated inside the housing, and a light exit window for extracting the ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet light source to the outside of the housing,
The principal ray of ultraviolet light emitted from the light exit window and irradiated directly or via an optical system onto the irradiated surface of the irradiation object has an incident angle of 20° or more and 70° or less with respect to the irradiated surface. It is characterized in that it is configured to be incident at .

The term "principal ray" as used herein refers to a ray exhibiting the highest light intensity in the light intensity distribution of ultraviolet light traveling toward the surface to be irradiated.

As used herein, the term "inactivation" refers to a concept encompassing the killing of bacteria and viruses or the loss of infectivity and toxicity, and the term "bacteria" refers to microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. Point. Hereinafter, "bacteria or virus" may be collectively referred to as "bacteria or the like".

In this specification, the "irradiated surface" refers to the surface irradiated with ultraviolet light, of the object to be irradiated with ultraviolet light and subjected to deactivation treatment. In this specification, the "illuminated surface" is not limited to a completely flat surface, and when viewed as the entire object to be illuminated, it is flat if small irregularities due to the edges of buttons and panels are ignored. It is used in the sense of including one surface that can be regarded as a surface. Specific examples include an operating panel on which floor number buttons for an elevator are arranged, an operating panel for an air conditioner, a touch panel for a ticket vending machine at a station, and the like.

In order to confirm whether the above assumption is correct, the inventor conducted an experiment to confirm the correlation between the angle of incidence of ultraviolet light on the surface to be irradiated and the effect of the deactivation treatment. Then, contrary to the above assumption, the effect of the inactivation treatment does not depend on cos θ when the incident angle is θ, and if the incident angle is 70° or less, It was confirmed that 90% or more of the was inactivated. This characteristic will be confirmed with reference to verification results in the "Description of the Invention".

When the incident angle θ is less than 20°, the effect of the deactivation treatment is greater than when the incident angle θ is greater than 70°. It is necessary to install a reflective member that reflects the ultraviolet light emitted from the device or the ultraviolet light irradiation device.

As an example of a method for realizing this configuration, it is conceivable to install an ultraviolet light irradiation device or a reflective member on the wall facing the surface to be irradiated. However, in the case of such a configuration, the back or the back of the head of the person who operates the button or touch panel is always irradiated with ultraviolet light, and depending on the wavelength band of the ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet light irradiation device, may affect the human body. Also, depending on the standing position of a person who is waiting for their turn, the ultraviolet light is emitted to the person while the person is operating the button, etc., and the ultraviolet light is not emitted to the button or the touch panel at all. put away.

From the above, it is possible to irradiate the surface to be irradiated with ultraviolet light while suppressing the amount of ultraviolet light irradiation to the person who touches the object to be irradiated as much as possible, and to obtain a high deactivation treatment effect on the surface to be irradiated. It is preferable that the angle of incidence of the ultraviolet light with respect to the surface to be irradiated is 20° or more.

Also, in order to obtain a high deactivation effect on the irradiated surface, the incident angle of the ultraviolet light to the irradiated surface is preferably 60° or less, more preferably 50° or less. The reason for this will be described in detail in the explanation of the verification described later, but by setting the incident angle of the ultraviolet light with respect to the surface to be irradiated as described above, bacteria on the surface to be irradiated after ultraviolet light irradiation Viability (%) is more reduced.

Here, I will also explain the wavelength range of ultraviolet light and its effects on the human body. FIG. 12 is a graph showing absorbance characteristics of proteins in the ultraviolet region. According to FIG. 12, protein absorbs ultraviolet light less easily at a wavelength of 240 nm or more, and absorbs ultraviolet light more easily at a wavelength of 240 nm or less toward a wavelength of 200 nm. Ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 240 nm or more easily penetrates human skin and penetrates deep into the skin. Therefore, the cells in the human skin are easily damaged. On the other hand, ultraviolet light with a wavelength of less than 240 nm is easily absorbed by the human skin surface (for example, the stratum corneum) and hardly penetrates into the skin. Therefore, it is highly safe for the skin.

Also, for the eyes, ultraviolet light with a wavelength of less than 240 nm is less likely to pass through the cornea, so the shorter the wavelength, the higher the safety.

On the other hand, in the presence of ultraviolet light with a wavelength of less than 190 nm, the oxygen molecules present in the atmosphere are photodecomposed to generate a large amount of oxygen atoms, and the bonding reaction between the oxygen molecules and the oxygen atoms generates a large amount of ozone. Therefore, it is not desirable to irradiate the atmosphere with ultraviolet light having a wavelength of less than 190 nm.

Therefore, it can be said that ultraviolet light with a wavelength in the range of 190 nm or more and less than 240 nm is highly safe for humans and animals. Therefore, it is preferable that the wavelength of the ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet light source is included in the above wavelength range. From the viewpoint of further improving safety for humans and animals, the ultraviolet light emitted from the light source unit preferably has a wavelength range of 190 nm or more and 237 nm or less, more preferably 190 nm or more and 235 nm or less. is more preferable, and it is particularly preferable to be in the range of 190 nm or more and 230 nm or less.

The target product of the present invention does not cause erythema or keratitis on the skin or eyes of humans or animals, and can provide the sterilization and virus inactivation capabilities inherent to ultraviolet light. In particular, unlike conventional light sources that emit ultraviolet light, it can be used in manned environments. It can provide surface virus inhibition and disinfection.

This corresponds to Goal 3 of the United Nations-led Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages", and also to Target 3.3. It will make a significant contribution to “by 2030, end epidemics such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases, and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases”.

As of the filing date of the present application, regarding the amount of ultraviolet light irradiation to the human body per day (8 hours), ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists) and JIS Z 8812 (Harmful Threshold Limit Value (TLV: Threshold Limit Value) for each wavelength is defined according to the Ultraviolet Radiation Measurement Method, etc. In other words, when ultraviolet light is used in an environment where humans exist, the radiant intensity of the light source and the It is recommended to determine the lighting time.

These regulations also set permissible limit values for ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 190 nm or more and less than 240 nm. For this reason, even if the inactivation treatment is performed using ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 190 nm or more and less than 240 nm, which has an extremely low risk of affecting the human body, the ultraviolet light may cause the human body to exceed the allowable limit value. It is preferable to irradiate so as not to exceed.

In the ultraviolet light irradiation system,
The ultraviolet light irradiation device may be arranged on the same surface as the irradiation target object.

With the above configuration, people do not come and go between the ultraviolet light irradiation device and the surface to be irradiated, and the amount of ultraviolet light irradiated to the person can be further reduced.

The ultraviolet light irradiation system is
A reflective member having a reflective surface on which the ultraviolet light is incident,
The principal ray of the ultraviolet light may be reflected by the reflecting surface of the reflecting member and incident on the irradiated surface of the object to be irradiated.

Furthermore, in the ultraviolet light irradiation system,
The reflecting member may include an adjusting mechanism for adjusting an incident angle of the ultraviolet light incident on the surface to be irradiated of the object to be irradiated.

Further, the ultraviolet light irradiation system is
A light guide member may be provided that takes in the ultraviolet light emitted from the light emitting surface and guides the ultraviolet light so that the ultraviolet light is emitted toward the irradiated surface of the irradiation object.

With the above configuration, the ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet light irradiation device can be incident on the surface to be irradiated at an arbitrary angle of incidence.

In addition, by providing an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the incident angle, it is possible to irradiate different objects or surfaces to be irradiated with ultraviolet light while the ultraviolet light irradiation device is fixed at a predetermined location. can. Furthermore, when a person who does not want to be exposed to ultraviolet light operates an operation panel or the like that is an object to be irradiated, the traveling direction of the ultraviolet light should be adjusted so that the operator is not temporarily irradiated with the ultraviolet light. can be done.

According to the present invention, an ultraviolet light irradiation system capable of more efficient inactivation treatment is realized.

1 is an overall perspective view schematically showing an embodiment of an ultraviolet light irradiation system; FIG. FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the ultraviolet light irradiation system of FIG. 1 when viewed in the X direction; It is drawing when the ultraviolet light irradiation apparatus of FIG. 1 is seen from +Z side. It is a typical drawing which shows the structure of the ultraviolet-light irradiation system for verification. It is the graph of the verification result which plotted the survival rate of bacteria for every incident angle. It is drawing which shows typically the irradiation state of an ultraviolet ray when an incident angle is large. It is a side sectional view when another embodiment of an ultraviolet light irradiation system is seen in the X direction. It is a side sectional view when another embodiment of an ultraviolet light irradiation system is seen in the X direction. It is a side sectional view when another embodiment of an ultraviolet light irradiation system is seen in the X direction. It is drawing which shows typically the state during the sterilization process by the conventional sterilizer. FIG. 11 is a side cross-sectional view of the sterilization device of FIG. 10 when viewed in the X direction; 1 is a graph showing absorbance characteristics of proteins in the ultraviolet region.

The ultraviolet light irradiation system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following drawings are all schematic illustrations, and the dimensional ratios and numbers in the drawings do not necessarily match the actual dimensional ratios and numbers.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view schematically showing one embodiment of the ultraviolet light irradiation system 1. FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, in the ultraviolet light irradiation system 1 of the present embodiment, the ultraviolet light L1 emitted from the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 is irradiated on the operation panel 2 of the elevator operated by the person 3 pressing the button with the finger. It is configured to irradiate the plane P1.

2 is a side cross-sectional view of the ultraviolet light irradiation system 1 of FIG. 1 as viewed in the X direction, and FIG. 3 is a drawing of the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 of FIG. 1 as viewed from the +Z side. As shown in FIG. 2 , the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 of this embodiment includes a housing 11 , an ultraviolet light source 12 and a reflecting member 13 . In FIG. 3, the reflecting member 13 is removed so that the inside of the housing 11 can be seen through the light exit window 11a.

As described above, the "illuminated surface" in this specification is not limited to a completely flat surface, and when viewed as the entire object to be illuminated, small unevenness due to buttons, panel edges, etc. can be ignored. It also includes one surface that can be regarded as a flat surface. In consideration of this point, the irradiated surface P1 of the operation panel 2 has buttons and the like formed thereon, and therefore actually has unevenness. It is

In the following description, as shown in FIG. 1, the direction perpendicular to the surface to be illuminated P1 is the Z direction, and the plane parallel to the surface to be illuminated P1 is the XY plane. As shown in FIG. 3, the axial direction of a tubular body 12a provided in the ultraviolet light source 12, which will be described later, is defined as the X direction, and the direction orthogonal to the X and Z directions is defined as the Y direction.

In addition, when distinguishing between positive and negative directions when expressing directions, positive and negative signs are added, such as “+Z direction” and “−Z direction”, and the positive and negative directions are not distinguished. When the direction is expressed in , it is simply described as "Z direction".

As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 11 accommodates the ultraviolet light source 12 inside, and on one side, a light exit window 11a for extracting the ultraviolet light L1 emitted from the ultraviolet light source 12 is provided. ing. The housing 11 of this embodiment is fixed to the wall surface W1 on which the operation panel 2, which is the object to be processed, is installed so that the ultraviolet light L1 is emitted from the light emission window 11a toward the +Z side. Although the housing 11 is fixed to the wall surface W1 in this embodiment, the housing 11 may be detachable from the wall surface W1.

The light exit window 11a is made of a material that exhibits transparency to the ultraviolet light L1 emitted from the ultraviolet light source 12, which will be described later. For example, quartz glass, sapphire glass, or the like can be used as a specific material for forming the light exit window 11a. Also, the light exit window 11a may be an opening.

The light exit window 11a in this embodiment is preferably configured to suppress light intensity in the wavelength range of 240 nm to 280 nm in order to suppress the effects on the human body and improve safety. As an example of a specific configuration, the light exit window 11a in this embodiment is provided with an optical filter (not shown). However, if the spectrum of the ultraviolet light L1 emitted from the ultraviolet light source 12 has a sufficiently low light intensity in the wavelength range of 240 nm to 280 nm, the optical filter may not be provided. Further, the configuration for suppressing the light intensity in the above wavelength range may be realized by a mechanism or an optical system provided separately from the housing 11 and the light exit window 11a, in addition to the optical filter provided in the light exit window 11a. I do not care.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ultraviolet light source 12 in this embodiment includes a tubular body 12a in which a luminous gas is enclosed, and a pair of electrodes (12b, 12b) configured to contact the outer surface of the tubular body 12a. and an excimer lamp.

Krypton (Kr) and chlorine (Cl) are enclosed as luminous gases in the tubular body 12a in this embodiment, and when a voltage equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold is applied between the electrodes 12b, a peak is emitted from the tubular body 12a. Ultraviolet light L1 with a wavelength of 222 nm is emitted. Although the ultraviolet light source 12 in the present embodiment is composed of an excimer lamp, any light source capable of emitting ultraviolet light L1 in a wavelength band that can be used to inactivate bacteria, etc., can be composed of, for example, an LED. I don't mind.

Further, the ultraviolet light L1 emitted by the ultraviolet light source 12 may have a peak wavelength different from 222 nm. Specifically, from the viewpoint of further increasing the safety for humans and animals, the ultraviolet light L1 emitted from the ultraviolet light source 12 preferably has a wavelength range of 190 nm or more and 237 nm or less, and a wavelength range of 190 nm or more and 235 nm or less. It is more preferably within the range, and particularly preferably within the range of 190 nm or more and 230 nm or less. Moreover, from the viewpoint of suppressing the generation of ozone more effectively, the lower limit of the wavelength range may be 200 nm or more.

As shown in FIG. 2, the reflecting member 13 has a reflecting surface 13a that reflects the ultraviolet light L1 emitted from the light emitting window 11a of the housing 11 toward the illuminated surface P1 of the operation panel 2. Although the reflective surface 13a of the present embodiment is made of aluminum, another material for forming the reflective surface 13a may be, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).

As shown in FIG. 2, the reflecting member 13 in this embodiment includes a rotating mechanism 13b for rotating the reflecting surface 13a as an adjusting mechanism for finely adjusting the direction in which the ultraviolet light L1 is reflected. The rotating mechanism 13b is, for example, a hinge configured to maintain the angle, an angle fixing mechanism by screwing, or the like. As shown in FIG. 2, if the object to be irradiated is a fixed object such as the operation panel 2, the rotating mechanism 13b may not be provided and the angle of the reflecting surface 13a may be fixed.

The ultraviolet light L1 reflected by the reflecting surface 13a of the reflecting member 13 is configured such that the principal ray Lx is incident on the illuminated surface P1 of the operation panel 2 at an incident angle θ. In this embodiment, the orientation of the reflecting surface 13a is adjusted so that the incident angle θ is 60°.

[inspection]
Verification experiments conducted to confirm the correlation between the incident angle θ and the effect of the deactivation treatment will now be described.

(Device configuration)
FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing showing the configuration of an ultraviolet light irradiation system for verification. As shown in FIG. 4, this verification was performed by irradiating the sample Nx placed on the pedestal 41 with the ultraviolet light L1 from the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 fixed to the pole 40 .

Sample Nx was obtained by dropping a test solution containing bacteria to be inactivated onto the main surface of a 20 mm square polycarbonate plate and air-drying it. That is, in this verification, the main surface of the polycarbonate plate onto which the test solution was dropped was the irradiated surface P1. In addition, in FIG. 4, the size of the sample Nx is shown larger than the actual size so that the incident angle θ and the illuminated surface P1 can be confirmed.

Irradiation of the sample Nx with the ultraviolet light L1 is performed on the pedestal 41 having the mounting surface 41a parallel to the floor surface and the pedestal 41 having the mounting surface 41a inclined with respect to the floor surface. was performed on the irradiated surface P1. As the pedestal 41 having the mounting surface 41a inclined with respect to the floor surface, the mounting surface 41a having a different inclination angle α with respect to the floor surface was used according to the following conditions.

The distance between the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 and the irradiated surface P1 was set according to the intensity of the ultraviolet light L1 irradiated from the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 so as to satisfy the following illuminance conditions.

(conditions)
Staphylococcus aureus was used as the bacterium for verifying the effect of the inactivation treatment.

A pedestal 41 was used in which the inclination angle α of the mounting surface 41a with respect to the floor surface was 0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, 40°, 50°, 60°, 70°, and 80°. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the inclination angle α with respect to the floor directly corresponds to the incident angle θ.

A sample Nx was prepared by dropping 0.1 mL of a test solution containing 8.5×10 ⁷ Staphylococcus aureus onto the irradiated surface P1 of a polycarbonate plate and air-drying it.

Irradiation of ultraviolet light L1 is 5 mJ/cm ² (=5 μW/cm ² ×1000 seconds), 5 mJ/cm ² (=10 μW/cm ² ×500 seconds), 10 mJ/cm ² (=10 μW/cm ² ×1000 seconds). ) with three patterns of illuminance.

After irradiation with ultraviolet light L1, put each sample Nx in a centrifuge tube containing 10 mL of diluent, stir with a vortex mixer for about 30 seconds, and then seed 0.1 mL of the solution in the centrifuge tube on the medium. It was cultured and the number of colonies was counted. The number of bacteria surviving on the plate was calculated from the number of counted colonies.

(result)
FIG. 5 is a graph of verification results in which the survival rate of bacteria is plotted for each incident angle θ. The vertical axis of the graph shown in FIG. 5 is the ratio of the survival number of bacteria in the sample Nx irradiated with the ultraviolet light L1 to the survival number of bacteria in the sample Nx not irradiated with the ultraviolet light L1. is the angle θ.

Here, as described above, the effect of the deactivation treatment with the ultraviolet light L1 depends on the incident angle θ, and was theoretically expected to exhibit a proportional relationship with cos θ. However, as shown in FIG. 5, even when the incident angle θ is 60°, the survival rate of bacteria is less than 10% as in the range of 0° to 50°. However, the relationship of being proportional to cos θ was not confirmed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the result of this verification is that the survival rate of bacteria is 10% or less when the incident angle θ is 70° or less, and the survival rate of bacteria is 10% when the incident angle θ is 80°. The result was more than In particular, in the pattern with an illumination intensity of 5 mJ/cm ² , about 20% of bacteria survived without being inactivated when the incident angle θ was 80°.

From the above results, the ultraviolet light L1 (at least the principal ray Lx) can kill 90% or more of the bacteria if the incident angle θ is 70 ° or less, and the effect of the inactivation treatment is higher. was confirmed to be obtained.

Here, we will consider the factors that led to the above results. FIG. 6 is a drawing schematically showing the irradiation state of the ultraviolet light L1 when the incident angle θ is large. As shown in FIG. 6, since the bacteria adhere to the surface to be irradiated P1 in a layered manner, the larger the incident angle θ, the more the bacteria V1 existing at the position closest to the light source becomes a shadow. The number of bacteria V2 present at the position increases. This effect becomes significant when the incident angle θ is greater than 70°, and it is presumed that the effect of the inactivation treatment is remarkably reduced, resulting in the results shown in FIG.

With the above configuration, the ultraviolet light irradiation system 1, as shown in FIG. Ultraviolet light L1 can be irradiated, and a high deactivation effect can be obtained.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 according to the present embodiment is provided with a reflecting member 13 having a rotating mechanism 13b. The direction in which the light L1 is reflected can be appropriately adjusted.

In addition, when the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 is used exclusively for the operation panel 2 fixed to the wall surface W1, the reflecting member 13 does not have the rotating mechanism 13b, and the angle of the reflecting surface 13a is fixed. I don't mind.

Further, in the present embodiment, the reflecting member 13 is fixed to the side surface of the housing 11 of the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10, but the reflecting member 13 may be configured as a separate body from the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10. I do not care.

[Another embodiment]
Another embodiment will be described below.

<1> FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view of another embodiment when viewed in the X direction. As shown in FIG. 7, the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 in the present embodiment is tilted and fixed to the wall surface W1, so that the principal ray Lx of the ultraviolet light L1 emitted from the light emission window 11a is directed to the wall surface W1. It is configured to be incident on the illuminated surface P1 of the fixed operation panel 2 at an incident angle θ.

With the above configuration, the principal ray Lx of the ultraviolet light L1 can be configured to be incident on the illuminated surface P1 of the operation panel 2 at a desired incident angle θ without providing the reflecting member 13. can.

<2> Fig. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the ultraviolet light irradiation system 1, which is different from Fig. 7 of the ultraviolet light irradiation system 1, when viewed in the X direction. As shown in FIG. 8, the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 in the present embodiment takes in the ultraviolet light L1 emitted from the light emission window 11a of the housing 11, and emits the principal ray to the irradiated surface P1 of the operation panel 2. A light guide member 80 is provided to guide light so that Lx is incident at an incident angle θ.

For the light guide member 80, for example, a UV light guide or the like can be adopted.

With the above configuration, the irradiation direction of the ultraviolet light L1 and the degree of freedom in adjusting the incident angle θ are increased compared to the case where the reflecting member 13 is provided. That is, the ultraviolet light irradiation system 1 can be easily configured to avoid the person 3 touching the operation panel 2 as shown in FIG. It is also possible to irradiate the light L1.

<3> Fig. 9 is a side cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the ultraviolet light irradiation system 1, which is different from Figs. 7 and 8 and viewed in the X direction. As shown in FIG. 9, in the ultraviolet light irradiation device 10 according to the present embodiment, the principal ray Lx of the ultraviolet light L1 emitted from the light emission window 11a is incident at an incident angle θ with respect to the irradiated surface P1 of the operation panel 2. It is installed on the ceiling U1 via the fixing base 11b so that the light enters at . Further, the fixed base 11b is configured with a rotating portion 11c so as to deflect the direction in which the light exit window 11a faces while fixing the housing 11 to the ceiling U1. Note that the rotating portion 11c is, for example, a ball joint, a universal joint, or the like.

<4> The configuration provided in the ultraviolet light irradiation system 1 described above is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to each illustrated configuration.

Reference Signs List 1: Ultraviolet light irradiation system 2: Operation panel 3: Person 10: Ultraviolet light irradiation device 11: Housing 11a: Light exit window 11b: Fixing base 11c: Rotating part 12: Ultraviolet light source 12a: Tube 12b: Electrode 13: Reflective member 13a: Reflective surface 13b: Rotating mechanism 40: Pole 41: Pedestal 41a: Mounting table 80: Light guide member 100: Sterilizer 101: Housing 102: Ultraviolet light source 110: Operation panel L1: Ultraviolet light Lx: Chief ray P1: Illuminated surface U1: Ceiling V1, V2: Bacteria W1: Wall surface α: Tilt angle θ: Incident angle

Claims (5)

1. An ultraviolet light irradiation device having a housing, an ultraviolet light source accommodated inside the housing, and a light exit window for extracting the ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet light source to the outside of the housing,
   The principal ray of ultraviolet light emitted from the light exit window and irradiated directly or via an optical system onto the irradiated surface of the irradiation object has an incident angle of 20° or more and 70° or less with respect to the irradiated surface. An ultraviolet light irradiation system characterized in that it is configured to be incident at .
2. The ultraviolet light irradiation system according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet light irradiation device is arranged on the same surface as the surface on which the object to be irradiated is placed.
3. A reflective member having a reflective surface on which the ultraviolet light is incident,
   3. The ultraviolet light irradiation system according to claim 1, wherein the principal ray of the ultraviolet light is reflected by the reflecting surface of the reflecting member and enters the irradiated surface of the object to be irradiated. .
4. The ultraviolet light irradiation system according to claim 3, wherein the reflecting member has an adjusting mechanism for adjusting an incident angle of the ultraviolet light incident on the surface to be irradiated of the object to be irradiated.
5. 2. A light guide member that takes in the ultraviolet light emitted from the light emission window and guides the ultraviolet light so that the ultraviolet light is emitted toward the irradiated surface of the irradiation object. 3. The ultraviolet light irradiation system according to 1 or 2.
   

Images