Movable UV Source for Clean Room Suit Decontamination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Accessing and decontaminating clean room equipment and clothing is cumbersome due to the difficulty in reaching all surfaces with ultraviolet radiation, especially in tight spaces, which poses challenges in maintaining a sterile environment.
Innovation Solution
A decontamination system comprising a clean room device with a movable electromagnetic radiation source, such as a hand-held device or robotic scanner, that emits photons in specific wavelengths to activate photosensitizers on clean room equipment and clothing, allowing for precise and comprehensive decontamination, including hard-to-reach areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fixed ultraviolet radiation sources are used to decontaminate clean room suits, then decontamination can be performed, but it is difficult to reach all surfaces especially in tight spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the fixed ultraviolet radiation source into a movable handheld device that can be dynamically positioned and directed by the user. This allows the radiation source to reach all surfaces of the clean room suit including tight spaces, creases, and folds that fixed sources cannot access, thereby improving decontamination completeness while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The handheld device acts as an intermediary between the user and the clean room suit, delivering ultraviolet radiation precisely where needed. This intermediary tool enables the user to effectively decontaminate complex geometries and hard-to-reach areas without direct manual manipulation of fixed sources.
2Reliability
If fixed ultraviolet radiation sources are used, then decontamination is performed, but the process is cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
By making the radiation source movable and handheld, the user can quickly move between different areas of the clean room suit without repositioning fixed sources or adjusting complex mechanisms. This dynamic approach significantly reduces the time required to achieve complete decontamination while maintaining effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The handheld device enables the user to independently perform decontamination without requiring assistance or complex system activation. The user can directly apply radiation to each surface, reducing overall process time and making the procedure more efficient.
3Reliability
If movable electromagnetic radiation source is used, then all surfaces including hard-to-reach areas can be decontaminated, but device portability and handling are required
Solution Approach 1:
The handheld device is designed as a simple, portable unit that can be easily handled and moved. While it requires portability, the device itself is relatively simple in construction, using standard ultraviolet sources and basic housing, making it easy to manufacture and deploy without complex mechanisms.
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
Enables efficient and reliable decontamination of clean room surfaces and clothing, ensuring microbial control without human health risks and reducing the need for frequent clothing changes, while maintaining a sterile environment.
Implementation Method 1
A decontamination system comprises a clean room device with a movably configured electromagnetic radiation source for irradiating parts of a clean room equipment with electromagnetic radiation for decontaminating a surface to be treated of the clean room equipment
Implementation Method 2
The one or more photosensitizers are configured to generate reactive oxygen species upon activation by the electromagnetic radiation
Implementation Method 3
WO 2010/097333 A1 discloses a clean room suit and a clean room lock. The clean room suit is intended to be used for clothing a person in a clean room and comprises a fabric configured to cover at least a part of a body of the person, and a clean room lock adapter arranged on and/or in the fabric and being configured for coupling to a respective clean room suit adapter of the clean room lock. The clean room lock may comprise fixedly mounted ultraviolet radiation sources configured for irradiating the clean room suit with ultraviolet radiation
Data Source
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AI summary
A clean room device (300) which comprises a movably configured electromagnetic radiation source (302) for irradiating parts of a clean room equipment (304) with electromagnetic radiation for decontaminating a surface to be treated of the clean room equipment (304).