Vehicle Door Handle Sanitizer With Contact-Area Spray Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
It is challenging to automatically prevent the inside of a vehicle from being contaminated by bacteria or viruses due to the lack of effective hand sanitization measures when occupants enter after interacting with contaminated environments outside the vehicle.
Innovation Solution
A hand sanitizing apparatus for vehicles, which includes a communicator for pairing with a smart key, sensor systems for detecting hand contact with the door handle, and a drive unit for spraying sanitizer onto the determined contact area, ensuring automatic sanitization upon entry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hand sanitization is provided as a regular service without adding further action, then occupant health protection is improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple sensor systems and coordination requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The hand sanitization system is segmented into distinct functional modules: infrared sensor for hand detection, fiber-optic sensors for contact position detection, controller for spray area determination, and drive unit for sanitizer delivery. Each module operates independently but coordinates through standardized interfaces, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection of hand presence and contact position before initiating sanitizer spray. The infrared sensor detects hand approach in advance, and fiber-optic sensors pre-map the contact position, allowing the controller to determine the optimal spray area before sanitizer delivery begins, ensuring effective protection without unnecessary complexity
2Object-affected harmful factors
If automatic sanitization is implemented upon door handle contact, then contamination prevention is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates as the system requires multiple detection steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system operates autonomously by detecting the occupant's hand contact with the door handle and automatically determining the spray area and initiating sanitizer delivery without requiring any additional user actions. The infrared and fiber-optic sensors continuously monitor for hand presence and contact position, enabling the system to self-activate the sanitization function based solely on the natural door handle interaction
Solution Approach 2:
The door handle serves as an intermediary element that naturally mediates between the occupant and the sanitization system. By placing sensors within the door handle structure, the system captures hand contact information through this existing interaction point, converting a routine door opening action into a trigger for automatic sanitization without adding operational steps
3Measurement precision
If sensor systems detect hand contact position precisely, then spray accuracy is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces mechanical positioning methods with optical detection using fiber-optic sensors that detect contact position through light interaction. The sensors utilize changes in light transmission or reflection patterns when the hand contacts the door handle, eliminating the need for precise mechanical alignment and physical sensor placement while achieving high measurement precision
Solution Approach 2:
The system detects contact position by monitoring changes in optical parameters (light intensity, transmission, or reflection) rather than relying on fixed mechanical positions. The fiber-optic sensors measure variations in light properties caused by hand contact, allowing the controller to determine the spray area based on optical parameter changes rather than predetermined sensor locations, thereby reducing manufacturing precision requirements
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
The apparatus effectively prevents the vehicle interior from contamination by bacteria or viruses, enhancing occupant health management and protection by integrating sanitization into the vehicle entry process.
Implementation Method 1
The first sensor system may be an infrared sensor inclusive of an infrared emitter and an infrared receiver
Implementation Method 2
The second sensor system may include three or more first fiber-optic sensors disposed on an upper area and spaced apart at first distances from each other and three or more second fiber-optic sensors disposed on a lower area spaced apart at the first distances from each other
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a hand sanitizing apparatus able to automatically prevent the inside of a vehicle from being contaminated by at least one of bacterium and virus by a typical pattern of behaviors of an occupant. A communicator performs pairing with a smart key. A first sensor system detects whether or not a portion of a hand of an occupant enters an inside of a door handle after the pairing. A second sensor system detects a contact position of the portion of the hand in response to the detection of the first sensor system. A controller determines a spray area onto which a sanitizer is to be sprayed in accordance with the contact position. A drive unit sprays the sanitizer onto the spray area determined by an instrument unit provided on the door handle.