Door Handle UV-C Sanitizing Device with Motion-Triggered Cycles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Door handles and other points of contact in public spaces and offices are significant vectors for germ transmission, leading to increased sickness and productivity loss, necessitating a device to sanitize these surfaces effectively.
Innovation Solution
A device utilizing germicidal UV LEDs is designed to sanitize door handles and similar surfaces, with motion sensors and control mechanisms to activate sanitization cycles based on detected motion, ensuring efficient and targeted germicidal UV exposure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If door handles and points of contact are sanitized periodically, then communicable germ transmission is reduced, but the complexity of the sanitizing system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical sanitization (physical cleaning) with an automated UV-C LED sanitizing system. The device uses electronic components including motion sensors, microcontrollers, and UV-C LEDs to automatically sanitize door handles, eliminating the need for manual cleaning while reducing germ transmission effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The sanitizing device is designed to operate autonomously without human intervention. The motion sensor detects when someone approaches or leaves, and the microcontroller automatically activates the UV-C LEDs to sanitize the door handle, allowing the system to serve itself and perform sanitization tasks independently.
2Reliability
If UV-C LEDs are activated continuously to sanitize door handles, then sanitization effectiveness is maximized, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous operation, the UV-C LEDs are activated periodically based on motion detection events. The microcontroller controls the LEDs to sanitize only when motion is detected near the door handle, providing effective sanitization at critical moments while consuming minimal energy during idle periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The motion sensor provides feedback to the microcontroller about the presence of people near the door handle. This feedback mechanism allows the system to intelligently control UV-C LED activation, turning them on only when sanitization is actually needed and turning them off when no one is present, optimizing both effectiveness and energy efficiency.
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
Reduces communicable germ transmission by effectively sanitizing door handles and other contact points, minimizing health risks and productivity losses in hospitals, offices, and public spaces.
Implementation Method 1
One type of sanitizing agent is electromagnetic energy of a particular frequency in the ultraviolet (UV) light spectrum. Ultraviolet light with a wavelength in the range of about 100 nanometers to about 280 nanometers (referred to herein as germicidal UV) is known to be deadly to bacteria and other micro-organisms
Data Source
AI summary
A door handle sanitizing apparatus may include a posterior wall configured to be disposed anterior of and substantially parallel to a door surface and having an inner surface, an arch portion extending in an anterior direction from the posterior wall, the arch portion having an anterior end and an inner surface, a first sanitizing agent source disposed on the posterior wall, and a second sanitizing agent source disposed on the inner surface of the arch portion.