Room decontamination apparatus and method

• US 10,512,703 B2
• Filed: 02/19/2019
• Issued: 12/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Diversey Incorporated (Sealed Air)
• Original Assignee: Diversey Incorporated (Sealed Air)
• Inventors: Dayton, Roderick M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnston, Phillip A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tsai, Hsien C
• Application Number:
  US16/279,142
• Publication Number:
  US 20190321504A1
• Time in Patent Office: 308 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/00 Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor for contact lenses A61L12/00; atomisers for disinfecting agents A61M; sterilisation of packages or package contents in association with packaging B65B55/00; treatment of water, waste water, sewage or sludge C02F; disinfecting paper D21H21/36; disinfecting devices for water closets E03D; articles having provision for disinfection, see the relevant subclasses for these articles, e.g. H04R1/12
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/10 Ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/24 Apparatus using programmed or automatic operation
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/26 Accessories or devices or components used for biocidal treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2202/14 Means for controlling sterilisation processes, data processing, presentation and storage means, e.g. sensors, controllers, programs
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2202/25 Rooms in buildings, passenger compartments
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 9/00 Disinfection, sterilisation or deodorisation of air body deodorants A61Q15/00; purifying air by respirators A62B, A62D9/00; separating dispersed particles from gases or vapours B01D45/00 - B01D51/00, B03C3/00; chemical or biological purification of waste gases B01D53/34; production of ozone C01B13/10; air-conditioning systems incorporating sterilisation F24F3/16, F24F8/20

Abstract

Provided is a decontamination apparatus for decontaminating an enclosed room. The decontamination apparatus includes a source including a UVC bulb and a reflective shield arranged adjacent to the UVC bulb and configured to reflect UVC light emitted by the UVC bulb toward a region of the enclosed room to be decontaminated. A mounting system that is adjustable secures the source at a desired location within the enclosed room. A controller is operatively-connected to the source to terminate operation of the UVC bulb in response to a determination that an occupant is present within the enclosed room.

Claims

1. A decontamination apparatus for decontaminating an enclosed room, the decontamination apparatus comprising:

a source comprising;

(i) a UVC bulb that emits UVC light, and (ii) a reflective shield that is arranged adjacent to the UVC bulb and comprises an arcuate region, the arcuate region comprising a plurality of sub regions that each reflect the UVC light emitted by the UVC bulb in different directions toward one or more surfaces to be decontaminated within the enclosed room;

a mounting system that secures the source at a desired location within the enclosed room; and

a controller operatively-connected to receive signals transmitted by the source.

2. The decontamination apparatus of claim 1, wherein the source further comprises an intensity sensor that senses an intensity of the UVC light emitted by the UVC bulb.

3. The decontamination apparatus of claim 2, wherein the intensity sensor includes a photosensitive component that measures the intensity of the UVC light emitted from the UVC bulb.

4. The decontamination apparatus of claim 3, wherein the photosensitive component comprises a photodiode or a charge-coupled device.

5. The decontamination apparatus of claim 2, wherein the intensity sensor transmits a signal of the sensed intensity to the controller.

6. The decontamination apparatus of claim 5, wherein the controller issues a notification when the signal of the sensed intensity indicates that the UVC bulb should be replaced.

7. The decontamination apparatus of claim 6, wherein the notification is a visible indicator on the source.

8. The decontamination apparatus of claim 6, wherein the notification is a visible indicator on the controller.

9. The decontamination apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a redundant occupancy sensing system comprising a plurality of sensors that each sense a property indicative of the occupancy status of the enclosed room, wherein the occupancy sensing system is operatively connected to transmit signals to the controller.

10. The decontamination apparatus of claim 9, wherein the redundant occupancy sensing system comprises a plurality of sensors comprising at least one of a door sensor, a proximity sensor, an optical sensor, a sound sensor, a light sensor, and a motion sensor.

11. The decontamination apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a carbon dioxide sensor, a heartbeat sensor, a toilet seat pressure sensor, or a water sensor.

12. The decontamination apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller, upon receiving a signal indicating the closed room is occupied, terminates or prevents the emission of the UVC light by the UVC bulb.

13. The decontamination apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a cycle status indicator operatively connected to the controller, wherein the cycle status indicator visibly indicates a decontamination cycle has been prematurely terminated when it receives a signal from the controller.

14. The decontamination apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a computer readable medium in communication with the controller, wherein upon premature termination of a decontamination cycle, the controller sends data concerning the interruption to a log stored on the computer readable medium.

15. The decontamination apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller restarts a prematurely terminated decontamination cycle upon receiving a signal from the redundant occupancy sensing system that the closed room has been unoccupied for a predetermined period of time.

16. A decontamination apparatus for decontaminating an enclosed room, the decontamination apparatus comprising:

a source comprising;

(i) a UVC bulb that emits UVC light, and (ii) a reflective shield that is arranged adjacent to the UVC bulb and comprises an arcuate region, the arcuate region comprising a plurality of sub regions that each reflect the UVC light emitted by the UVC bulb in different directions toward one or more surfaces to be decontaminated within the enclosed room;

a mounting system that secures the source at a desired location within the enclosed room;

a controller operatively-connected to receive signals transmitted by the source; and

a computer-readable medium in communication with the controller.

17. The decontamination apparatus of claim 16, wherein the computer-readable medium is an SD card inserted into an SD card port provided to the controller, a built in hard drive or other non-transitory computer-readable medium provided to the controller, or a remote hard drive or other non-transitory medium located remotely from the controller.

18. The decontamination apparatus of claim 17, wherein the controller sends data regarding signals received by the controller to the computer-readable medium upon receiving signals from the source.

19. The decontamination apparatus of claim 18, wherein the data received by the computer-readable medium is stored in a log on the computer-readable medium.

20. The decontamination apparatus of claim 19, wherein the log maintains data comprising a cause of a decontamination cycle interruption, a time of a decontamination cycle interruption, a time since a last successfully-completed decontamination process, and any other data pertaining to the decontaminated state of the enclosed room.