Disinfectant Dispenser With Delayed Color Marking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing disinfectants fail to provide a public and unambiguous signaling of a disinfection state for individuals, especially in high-traffic areas like hospitals and public buildings, where it is crucial to ensure that persons have undergone proper disinfection procedures, beyond just hand washing or surface disinfection duration.
Innovation Solution
A disinfectant dispenser that combines a disinfectant with a marking agent, which remains inactive until activated, creating a visible marking that persists for a sufficient time after disinfection, allowing public verification of a person's disinfection status, using various activation methods such as heat, electromagnetic radiation, or mechanical means to transform the marking agent into an active state.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a disinfectant is used with a visible marking agent from the start, then the public can easily verify disinfection status, but the marking agent may interfere with the disinfection effect or cause unwanted side effects like skin shading
Solution Approach 1:
The marking agent is prepared and stored in advance but remains inactive during the disinfection process. It is only activated after the disinfectant has been applied and dried, ensuring that the marking function does not interfere with the disinfection effect. This preliminary preparation followed by delayed activation resolves the contradiction between early visibility and effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system cushions against potential harm by keeping the marking agent inactive during the critical disinfection period. The marking agent is designed to only become visible after the disinfectant has already acted, thus preventing any possible interference with the disinfection process while still providing public verification capability.
2Reliability
If a marking agent is activated immediately upon application, then public signaling is achieved, but the marking may disappear too quickly to provide sufficient verification time
Solution Approach 1:
The marking agent is applied in an inactive state as part of the disinfection process, then activated after the disinfectant dries. This timing ensures that the marking persists for the required duration to provide public verification, rather than disappearing immediately upon application.
Solution Approach 2:
The marking agent undergoes a parameter change from inactive to active state after a specific time delay (when the disinfectant dries). This parameter change controls the visibility duration, ensuring the marking remains visible long enough for public verification while not interfering with the disinfection process.
3Reliability
If complex activation mechanisms are used to control the marking agent, then the marking can be precisely controlled, but the device complexity and handling difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The marking agent activates automatically based on environmental conditions (drying of the disinfectant, exposure to air, or body temperature) without requiring complex external activation mechanisms. This self-service approach maintains reliable controlled activation while minimizing device complexity and handling difficulty.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical activation mechanisms with simpler chemical or physical triggers inherent in the disinfection process itself (such as drying, air exposure, or temperature change). This substitution maintains reliable activation control while significantly reducing device complexity.
4Reliability
If the marking agent remains visible for a long time, then public verification is easier, but it may provide false assurance after the disinfection effect has worn off
Solution Approach 1:
The marking agent's visibility is tied to parameters that change as the disinfection effect wears off (such as the presence of moisture, specific temperature conditions, or chemical environment). When these parameters change beyond a certain threshold, the marking fades, ensuring that the visual indicator remains accurate to the actual disinfection status throughout its visible duration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures reliable and visible signaling of a disinfection state, allowing for easy identification of disinfected individuals, promoting adherence to hygiene protocols and reducing infection risks by providing a visual feedback system that differentiates disinfected from non-disinfected persons.
Implementation Method 1
The soap includes an indicator agent which goes through a color transition or a viscosity change after a predetermined time period which signals to the user that a cleaning process performed by the soap, for example washing hands has to be performed with a particular time minimum.
Implementation Method 2
The printed document teaches a sunscreen agent with an indicator that is visible when applied to the skin but which transitions into an invisible state briefly after application.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a disinfectant dispenser configured to store and dispense a surface and/or skin disinfectant, the disinfectant dispenser including a first storage container including a disinfectant; a second storage container (4) a including marking agent, wherein the marking agent is inactive in the second storage container; and a mixing section in which the marking agent is mixed with the disinfectant when the disinfectant dispenser is actuated, wherein the marking agent is provided in an inactive state after it is dispensed from the disinfectant dispenser. The disinfectant includes a disinfecting base component and a marking agent that is mixable with the base component, wherein the marking agent is inactive before it is mixed with the disinfecting base component and after mixing and applying the disinfectant to a surface the marking agent marks the disinfected surface through a coloration in a manner that is detectable by the human eye and also technically detectable, wherein the marking effect subsides with a subsiding disinfection state. The method for public signaling of a disinfection state of persons includes the steps: applying a disinfecting mix including a disinfecting component and a marking component to a skin area to be disinfected at a disinfection station and/or from a portable disinfectant dispenser; coloring the skin area to be disinfected by the marking component during the disinfection process; visible persistence of the coloration on the disinfected skin area, wherein the disinfected state of the skin area is signaled in a generally perceivable and detectable manner; and subsiding of the persistence of the coloration at the latest with subsiding sterility of the skin area, wherein a discoloration or change in color caused thereby is also signaled in a generally perceivable and detectable manner.