Keyed Hand-Held Sprayers for Disinfectant Verification Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hand-held sprayers lack the ability to ensure the correct formulation, authenticity, and expiration date of disinfectants or sanitizers, leading to potential ineffective disinfection and the risk of outbreaks due to improper use of inferior products.
Innovation Solution
Incorporation of a data tag system with a reader in hand-held sprayers to verify the authenticity, formulation, and expiration date of the fluid, coupled with a control system to allow dispensing only when criteria are met, and a float valve to maintain the correct fluid composition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a data tag reader and verification system are added to the sprayer, then the reliability of disinfectant authenticity and formulation verification is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The data tag is attached to the container beforehand, containing pre-encoded information about the disinfectant formulation, batch number, and expiration date. The reader verifies this information before dispensing, preventing use of incorrect or expired products without requiring complex real-time analysis during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The data tag acts as an intermediary carrier of verification information between the container and the sprayer's control system. Instead of directly analyzing the chemical composition, the system reads encoded data from the tag, simplifying the verification mechanism while maintaining reliability.
2Manufacturing precision
If a float valve system is added to monitor fluid composition, then the manufacturing precision of fluid formulation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The float valve system automatically monitors the fluid level and composition in the container, triggering alerts or shutting off dispensing when the formulation deviates from specifications. This self-monitoring capability ensures formulation precision without requiring constant manual inspection or complex external monitoring equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The float valve provides continuous feedback on the fluid composition and level to the control system. When the fluid formulation or volume deviates from the specified parameters, the system receives feedback signals that trigger appropriate responses, such as alerting the user or preventing further dispensing of incorrect formulation.
3Reliability
If data verification and authorization logic are implemented, then the reliability of disinfection effectiveness is improved, but the ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The verification of data tag information and authorization status is performed automatically before the user activates dispensing. The system checks the disinfectant authenticity, formulation correctness, and expiration status in advance, so that when the user operates the sprayer, the reliability is already ensured without adding manual verification steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system automatically performs the verification and authorization checks without requiring the user to manually inspect or verify the disinfectant properties. The system serves itself by reading the data tag, checking against stored criteria, and making authorization decisions, thereby maintaining ease of operation while ensuring reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Exemplary hand-held sprayer systems are shown and described herein. An exemplary hand-held sprayer system includes a container for holding fluid. The container has a neck. A closure connects to the neck. A fluid conduit extends from the closure to a dispensing wand. The dispensing wand is configured to be held in a hand and to be moved about while dispensing fluid. A data tag is secured to the container. The dispensing wand has a trigger, a data tag reader, a pump, a motor, a power source, a processor and memory. The hand-held sprayer also includes logic for causing the processor to determine whether a data read from the data tag meets a criteria for allowing the dispensing of fluid from the container. If the data read from the data tag meets the criteria, fluid is dispensed from the container when the trigger is activated.