Ionic oxidation refreshing system and method

Abstract

An ionic oxidation refreshing system for refreshing odorized items, comprising an enclosure to contact the odorized items; an ionizing stage mechanism that produces an ionized ozone gas mixture inside of the enclosure, killing germs, including odor-causing bacteria, viruses, molds, and fungus; and a filtering stage mechanism that neutralizes and filters out any toxic by-products including one or more of ozone, nitric acid, aldehydes, and VOCs resulting from surface oxidation of the odorized items by the ionized ozone gas mixture.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 849,323, filed on May 17, 2019, and is incorporated by reference herein.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to ionic oxidation systems and methods for killing germs and eliminating odors in clothes, sporting gear, and the like.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]The excessive cleaning of clothing, shoes, sports gear, and equipment is a waste of time and resources. Most worn or used items are not very dirty after one use and can be quick cleaned, or refreshed, as this term is used herein. These items may be frequently used during the week in workouts or sports games. Since most individuals lead busy daily lives, it is often hard to properly clean and maintain their gear. They have the choice of cleaning it at home, which is time consuming, or taking their gear into a professional facility, which is expensive. This presents a serious problem ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes an ionic oxidation refreshing system for cleaning and odorizing items. The system includes an ionizing stage mechanism that uses a hybrid generating element to ionize air inside the enclosure using a catalyzed corona discharge device. There is also a filtering stage mechanism that uses a quick cleaning filter cartridge to neutralize toxic gases and release scent molecules. The system can control the airflow and power with a smart device and uses sensors to monitor enclosure conditions. The method involves producing an ionized ozone gas mixture, neutralizing and filtering out toxic by-products, and charging scent molecules with a net negative charge to facilitate adherence to the items inside the enclosure.

Problems solved by technology

The excessive cleaning of clothing, shoes, sports gear, and equipment is a waste of time and resources.

Since most individuals lead busy daily lives, it is often hard to properly clean and maintain their gear.

They have the choice of cleaning it at home, which is time consuming, or taking their gear into a professional facility, which is expensive.

This presents a serious problem as many athletes are exposed to germs that can cause severe infections.

Another problem identified is the difficulty of laundering workout clothes.

Since most items are heavily perspired in, they can develop strong odors that are very difficult to eliminate with home laundry processes.

Most people's current cleaning habits do not properly maintain sporting gear between uses.

This leads to excessive germ growth on items that are very hard to eliminate with current at-home methods.

This is due to the time required for laundry and costs associated with professional dry-cleaning.

The excessive cleaning of their wardrobe costs resources and prematurely degrades items, resulting in a shorter wearable life for the article of clothing.

Others may use a dryer or steamer to refresh worn clothing, but the results are not consistent as many odors are tough to remove with only heat and moisture.

These appliances are very large and require professional installation.

Hand cleaning items is a tedious chore to do often.

This is very time consuming and usually not done often.

A person is also limited to the areas they can clean with any sprays or wipes.

Harder to reach spots, such as the inside of a glove or shoe, never get sanitized very well.

Therefore, it is hard to get good deodorizing results with hand cleaning items.

This is due to the improper cleaning of items, leading to bacteria regrowth in hard to reach spots.

Germs stay deep within fibers, which degrades materials faster and gives off bad odors, reducing the items usable life.

Laundry is also a time-consuming chore that uses a great deal of chemicals, water, and energy to clean clothing.

Excessive cleaning of clothing also prematurely wears them down and reduces their usable life.

However, this does not kill germs or tough odors set deep within fibers.

These particles are also dangerous pollutants that end up in water sources and are very hard to filter out.

Hand-held steamers are also a popular option for refreshing worn clothes but are difficult to use.

These devices do not deliver consistent results as some odors cannot be removed using steam, becoming worse from the moisture introduced.

They also do not effectively kill germs as the hot steam rapidly cools down by the time it contacts the item.

Other home solutions to refresh clothing have been limited by their design and results delivered have been inconsistent.

Users have noted mixed feedback on the results as they cannot kill strong odors from body sweat or cigarette smoke, and set in any stains because of the heat used.

The system has had limited adoption as it is a large appliance and can be difficult to use.

More recent steam closet appliances have also had limited adoption due to their price and size.

These systems are designed to refresh clothing slowly using steam over a long period of time and cannot be used on a wide range of items.

However, they are expensive to use often and are becoming an uneconomical option due to increasing prices.

They have had limited success due to their size and process.

Many systems cannot effectively clean all sides of an item, such as the interior folds of clothing, especially when many items are placed inside.

This presents a problem as an item will smell clean on one side, but dirty on the other.

The creation of ozone gas from these systems also forms nitric acid inside which is toxic.

These systems leave users with partially cleaned items and pungent odors at times, resulting in a poor user experience that is not easily adopted.

Since users do not consistently open the bag or enclosure to a clean aroma, they do not always believe the items inside have been cleaned.

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