Portable Food Box Hygiene Cycle With Automated Spray Logging
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Small and confined spaces, such as food delivery boxes, are difficult to clean and sanitize consistently due to the lack of mechanisms ensuring uniform coverage and objective record-keeping in manual processes.
Innovation Solution
A portable, battery-powered hygiene system with a spray nozzle and control circuit that automatically conducts cleaning and sanitization cycles, ensuring uniform distribution of hygiene agents and records performance data for transmission to an analysis center.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual cleaning and sanitization is performed by spraying chemical agents, then the process can be completed, but the quality and thoroughness are inconsistent and depend on the person performing the procedure
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs cleaning and sanitization automatically without human intervention. The control circuit activates the pump to spray hygiene agents through nozzles, and the system self-monitors the process via sensors, eliminating dependence on human operators for consistent quality
Solution Approach 2:
Sensors detect the presence and distribution of hygiene agents during the cleaning process, providing feedback to the control circuit. This closed-loop system ensures consistent application of chemical agents and maintains reliable cleaning quality through automated monitoring and adjustment
2Reliability
If a two-step cleaning and sanitizing procedure is used, then thorough hygiene is achieved, but each cycle becomes more complicated and less consistent
Solution Approach 1:
The system combines cleaning and sanitizing functions into a single integrated cycle. The control circuit manages both processes sequentially or simultaneously through one unified operation, reducing procedural complexity while maintaining thorough hygiene through automated multi-stage treatment
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs cleaning and sanitizing in continuous automated cycles without interruption. The pump and nozzle system continuously applies hygiene agents, and the monitoring system continuously tracks performance, ensuring consistent results through uninterrupted automated operation
3Loss of information
If manual cleaning procedures are used, then flexibility is maintained, but no objective record is provided showing that hygiene procedures are routinely followed
Solution Approach 1:
Sensors and monitoring circuits continuously detect and record hygiene process parameters such as chemical agent concentration, spray duration, and coverage areas. This objective data is stored and can be retrieved to verify routine compliance with hygiene procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual record-keeping with automated electronic monitoring and data storage. Sensors substitute for human observation, and digital records substitute for manual logs, providing objective, tamper-resistant evidence of hygiene procedure compliance
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 system provides consistent and efficient cleaning and sanitization of confined spaces, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and maintaining food safety by automating the hygiene process and logging performance data for monitoring.
Implementation Method 1
a pump in fluid communication with the agent container and in fluid communication with the spray nozzle, and configured to pump the hygiene agent through the spray nozzle
Implementation Method 2
pump the hygiene agent through the spray nozzle to produce a mist of the hygiene agent in the box
Data Source
AI summary
A system may automatically conduct hygiene cycles for a confined space such an interior space of a box suitable for storing and/or carrying packaged food. The system may include a hygiene device that can be attached to the box to conduct the hygiene cycles. The system may also automatically collect information related to the hygiene cycles and transmit the collected information to a network.