Far-UVC Treatment Frame for Safe Surface Disinfection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional UV-C irradiation for disinfection poses safety risks to humans due to adverse effects on skin, eyes, and hair, limiting its practicality in high-traffic areas, and existing protective barriers compromise disinfection efficiency and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
Implementing far-UVC technology with a reconfigurable frame structure and sensors to emit far-UVC light safely and effectively disinfect human skin and clothing, minimizing human exposure risks while ensuring comprehensive disinfection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional UV-C irradiation is used for disinfection, then pathogen eradication is effective, but human safety is compromised due to adverse effects on skin, eyes, and hair
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the wavelength parameter of UV radiation from conventional UV-C (200-280 nm) to far-UVC (207-222 nm). This parameter change maintains the disinfection efficacy by keeping the radiation within the germicidal range while reducing harmful effects on human tissues, as far-UVC is absorbed by the outer dead layer of skin and does not penetrate to living cells.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If protective barriers are implemented to shield humans from UV-C radiation, then human safety is improved, but disinfection efficiency is compromised due to obstruction of UV light
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the need for protective barriers by using far-UVC radiation that is inherently safe for human exposure. This removes the intermediary barrier between the UV source and humans, allowing direct exposure without obstruction, thereby maintaining full disinfection efficiency while ensuring human safety.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If protective barriers are used to mitigate UV-C exposure, then human safety is improved, but maintenance demands increase for cleaning and replacing barriers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates protective barriers entirely by using far-UVC radiation that does not require shielding. This removes the maintenance burden associated with cleaning and replacing barriers, as no physical barrier is present in the system.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If protective barriers are implemented to block UV-C radiation, then human safety is improved, but user convenience is reduced due to potential inconvenience
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes protective barriers from the system by using far-UVC radiation that is safe for direct human exposure. This eliminates the inconvenience associated with barriers, such as needing to open/close them or navigate around them, thereby improving user convenience while maintaining safety.
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
Far-UVC light provides effective pathogen eradication with minimal human safety risks, eliminating the need for protective barriers and enhancing disinfection efficiency in high-traffic settings.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of far-UVC light sources located in the frame structure, wherein the plurality of far-UVC light sources are configured to emit far-UVC light directed into the treatment area
Data Source
AI summary
A surface treatment system can include a reconfigurable frame structure at least partially defining a treatment area. The frame structure can include panels configured for repeated assembly and disassembly in any of a plurality of configurations and far-UVC light sources configured to emit far-UVC light directed into the treatment area. The surface treatment system also can include sensors configured to acquire presence data corresponding to a presence of an object in the treatment area and a control unit configured to operate the plurality of far-UVC light sources to treat surfaces of the object located in the treatment area using the presence data.