EP3700585A1

EP3700585A1 - Apparatus for handle disinfection

Info

Publication number: EP3700585A1
Application number: EP17797878.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Claude KOLLIN
Original assignee: Clean Handle AB
Current assignee: Industriform Stockholm AB
Priority date: 2017-10-25
Filing date: 2017-10-25
Publication date: 2020-09-02
Also published as: WO2019081006A1

Abstract

An apparatus for cleaning handles configured to be attached to a door, comprising a holder that receives a container of liquid or gaseous germicide, said apparatus further comprises at least one sensor for detecting whether a handle is in use and; at least two nozzles, each positioned on an angled surface and fluidly connected to the container to convey the germicide from the container onto the handle; and a control circuit configured to control the apparatus to automatically spray the germicide on the handle via the at least two nozzles upon receiving signals from at least one sensor.

Description

APPARATUS FOR HANDLE DISINFECTION

Technical field

[0001 ] The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for cleaning and disinfect the handles of doors or of any other places where the need of hygiene is required, i.e. hospitals, private homes, toilets, clinics, dental clinics, public places, etc..

Background

[0002] Many public places such as hospital wards are using disinfection sprays which it is sprayed onto the hands of both staff and patients in order to avoid the spread of bacteria and/or viruses. However, sometimes these sprays are not closed to the place where your hands need to be disinfected so you need to open doors to arrive to the disinfection spray zone. This results in that door handles become infected by the bacteria/germs and are spreading bacteria and germs to the next user of these handles.

Summary

[0003] According to an embodiment, there is provided an apparatus for cleaning handles configured to be attached to a door, said apparatus comprising a holder that receives a container of liquid or gaseous germicide and characterized in that said apparatus further comprises at least one sensor wherein the at least one is a vibration sensor for detecting whether a handle is in use and; at least two nozzles, each positioned on an angled surface and fluidly connected to the container to convey the germicide from the container onto the handle; and a control circuit configured to control the apparatus to automatically spray the germicide on the handle via the at least two nozzles upon receiving signals from the at least one sensor.

[0004] Further, the at least two nozzles are simultaneously provided with germicide by means of a fluid distributor. The design of the fluid distributor allows the at least two nozzles to spray the germicide simultaneously and in an evenly distributed way. [0005] Further, the control circuit may be programmed to provide a predetermined delay between the signals received from at least one sensor and the automatic spraying on the handle.

[0006] Further, the apparatus according to the present invention may comprise a second sensor which is a motion sensor, an infra-red sensor or a pressure sensor.

[0007] Further, the second sensor may be activated by a movement of a user of the handle.

[0008] Further, the second sensor may be a pressure sensor placed behind a pushbutton on the front side of the apparatus and it is activated upon the pressing of the push-button by a user of the handle.

[0009] Further, one of the at least two nozzles of the apparatus according to the present invention may be configured to spray the germicide in an upward direction.

[00010] Further, the nozzles may be configured to spray the germicide in opposite directions to form a homogenous cloud over the handle. Due to the fact that the nozzles spray in opposite directions, a cloud of germicide is formed around the handle which leaves the handle totally clean for the next user to be used.

[0001 1 ] Further, the container of germicide may be an aerosol bottle of germicide placed upside down. This allows the germicide to be released easily and quicker.

[00012] Further, the apparatus according to the present invention may be fixed to a door by self-adhesive mounting tapes or similar tapes. The advantage of using these types of tapes is the easy installation for a user.

[00013] Further, the nozzles may comprise small orifice outlets.

[00014] Further, a lower part of the apparatus according to the present invention may be placed or mounted behind the handle on the door. [00015] Moreover, the lower part of the apparatus according to the present invention may be of crescent shape and situated below said holder. This shape may allow a handle to be placed in the gap inside the part of the apparatus.

[00016] Further, the apparatus may have a front side on which a pivot point is placed and configured to allow the lower part to rotate towards the handle.

Brief description of drawings

[00017] The present invention is illustrated by examples of embodiments. However, it is not limited to the embodiments illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

[00018] Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the accompanying drawing, in which:

[00019] Figure 1 shows an exploded view of an embodiment according to the present invention.

[00020] Figure 2 shows a 3D general view of the mechanism of the apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[00021 ] Figure 3 shows an upper view of the housing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[00022] Figure 4 shows a 3D view of the holder inside an embodiment of the present invention.

[00023] Figure 5 shows a side view and upper view of the front side of an

embodiment of the present invention.

[00024] Figure 6 shows angled surfaces of one of the embodiments of the present invention.

[00025] Figure 7 shows a front side of a second embodiment according to the present invention. [00026] Figure 8 shows a front side of a third embodiment according to the present invention.

Detailed description

[00027] Briefly described, Fig. 1 illustrates an apparatus according to an

embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus is configured to be attached to any type of doors for sanitizing door handles of different shapes, such as elongated handles or door lever. The apparatus 100 comprises a housing 101 , 102, 103, 104 having a holder with a container 107 of germicide such as a bottle of disinfectant in liquid or gaseous form to be sprayed by a shooting mechanism.

[00028] Specifically, the apparatus comprises an outer housing including a front side 101 , a top side 102 which acts as a lid in order to switch on the apparatus and/or replace the bottle with the germicide, a pair of side walls 103 and a back side 104 made of aluminium. However, any other suitable material should be considered. The back side 104 is made as a wall mount and it makes use of mounting tapes 1 19 to be fixed to any door. The self-adhesive mounting tapes 1 19 allow any user to easily install the apparatus without the need of professional staff. Time and costs are reduced for users and not only organisations benefit from such easy installation but also private users will be able to install the apparatus in their own homes at a low cost.

[00029] The outer housing includes a holder having a front part 105, a rear part 106 and a bottle-protection part 108 of a plastic material. Other materials are also possible. The holder 105,106, 108 receives and holds a container 107 which may be a bottle or a can of aerosol full of germicide such as disinfectant in liquid or gas form and a battery compartment (not shown). Furthermore, the holder 105, 106, 108 is dealing with a substantial part of the shooting mechanism which is described below. The container 107 shown in the embodiment of Fig 1 is an aerosol bottle 107 placed upside down in the holder 105, 106, 108 but removably mounted to be replaced when necessary. The holder 105, 106, 108 includes also a biasing mechanism such as a divider spring (not shown) for applying a biasing force against the aerosol bottle 107 to maintain a steady pressure which secures the sealing of the connection to the in-built valve of the bottle and keep the bottle in a fully loaded position. Next to the holder, there is control circuit 1 17 and a top board 1 18 placed on the top of the control circuit 1 17.

[00030] Adjacent to the aerosol bottle 107, there is a pivotable locking element 1 1 1 positioned on the top of a sliding element 1 10. The locking element 1 1 1 is adapted to lock the position of the bottle 107 by pivoting towards the centre of the bottle 107 and consequently engaging the bottom of the bottle. Moreover, the locking element 1 1 1 in cooperation with a sliding element 1 10 is adapted to move the position of the bottle 107 by holding and bringing the bottle downwards until a built-in valve (not shown) of the bottle is opened so the flow of the germicide is released. The sliding element 1 10, mounted on guide rails on the front side of the apparatus and connected to a servomotorl 16 with an arm 1 12, slides in a vertical direction through the guide rails. The vertical movement created by the sliding element 1 10 is allowing the bottle 107 to move downwards, open the built-in valve, and dispense the germicide through the nozzles. After the germicide is released, the bottle which is fixed to the locking element returns back to its initial higher position by using a spring element 1 15.

[00031 ] As seen in Fig. 1 , the apparatus 100 further comprises a fluid distributor 1 14 located next to the holder 105,106,108 adapted to provide at least two nozzles 1 13 with germicide so the germicide can be sprayed simultaneously forming a cloud of germicide spray. Each nozzle 1 13 is adjacent to an angled surface of the front part 101 . The lower nozzle includes also a lid 109 that protects the nozzle from dirt and dust.

[00032] The angled surfaces are allowing the nozzles to spray in different directions and to create, when acting together, an ellipsoidal spray pattern. However, in order to achieve such an ellipsoidal spray pattern, at least one of the nozzles 1 13 needs to be directed upwards and at least one is directed downwards. This specific embodiment is showing two nozzles, however other embodiments of the present invention may contain plenty of nozzles. The advantage of having more nozzles 1 13 is that the certainty of obtaining a complete disinfection is higher, i.e. that the nozzles will not miss any part of the handle when spraying on it. [00033] Fig 2 shows a 3D general view of the mechanism of the apparatus according to an embodiment. The apparatus comprises a bottle 207 fixed by a locking element 21 1 which is positioned on a sliding element 210. The servomotor 216 has an arm 212 which controls the sliding element 210 to slide upwards and downwards so the bottle when is positioned in the lower level pushes the built-in valve to open it so the germicide is conducted to the fluid distributor 214 and consequently distributed to the upper and lower nozzles 213 by tubes 121 , 221 .

[00034] In Fig 3, an upper view of the holder 305,306 showing detailed parts of the mechanism according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. As previously explained, the apparatus according to the present invention is configured to be fixed behind any handle on any door. The handles are normally used by many users that open or close the doors constantly. The handles become dirty and full of germs after repeated uses. The embodiment shown in Figure 3 comprises an apparatus configured to detect vibrations of a handle of a door when the handle is touched by a user. In order to detect the vibrations an accelerometer or a vibration sensor is used which is usually mounted on an control circuit in the apparatus. The vibration detected by the vibration sensor activates a program sequence which starts the electric actuator such as a servomotor 316 after a predetermined time or delay that can vary between 5-20 seconds. During this delay, the user has normally the time to release the handle. Upon this delay, the servomotor 316 drives the sliding element 310 to slide the bottle downwards and release the germicide so all the germs and bacteria can be killed. In case of a user takes a longer time than the

predetermined time to release the handle after use i.e. after opening or closing the door, the servomotor 316 will not be actuated until the detected vibrations are ceased for avoiding that no germicide is sprayed on the user. However, the predetermined time or delay can be adjusted as preferred. Sometimes, when repeated powerful movements are registered by the vibration sensor, the apparatus turns into standby/sleep mode.

[00035] In another embodiment according to the present invention, the apparatus may comprise an additional sensor capable of detecting movements. This sensor may be an IR sensor, motion sensor, etc. The advantage of having an additional sensor lies in the ability to interrupt the program sequence when an object is detected adjacent to the handle. The object may be of a low height and without the intention of opening or closing the door, e.g. a toddler or a pet.

[00036] Upon the start of the program sequence, a series of mechanical steps are followed to finally open the flow of germicide from the container. In this

embodiment, the servomotor 316 comprises an arm 312 which pulls and controls a sliding element 310 disposed on guide rails to be guided in one direction of the front part of the holder. The pivotable locking device 31 1 is adapted to lock and unlock the container such as an aerosol bottle 307. The bottom of the bottle 307 is fixed by the locking device 31 1 and moved downwards by using the sliding element 310 until an in-built valve of the bottle 307 is opened.

[00037] In order to replace the bottle 307 when it is empty of germicide or disinfectant spray, the locking element 31 1 which is fixed to the bottle 307 is pivoted away from the bottle 307 to release it from the locking mechanism. A spring 1 15 lifts the consumed bottle up to around 15mm so the bottle can easy be removed and replaced by a new one. The bottle is then removed by opening the top side which acts as a lid to the outer housing. The movement of pivoting the locking element 31 1 indicates to a built-in magnet 120, 320 to give a signal to a micro magnet sensor 124, 324 built into the top part of the control circuit 1 17, so called top board 1 18. This micro magnet sensor 124, 324 resets a counter configured to count the spraying occasions of the apparatus and to alert when the bottle 307 needs to be replaced. The alert signal may be displayed by a Light Emitting Diode, LED, in connection to the top board 1 18 by blinking red on the front side 101 of the apparatus. At the same time a text "LOW SPRAY" is shown next to a red LED on the top board 1 18 of this apparatus. Other embodiments may have other texts or alert signals of different colours. The control circuit may also comprise several other indicators such as warning lamps which light up when the battery is low or for e.g. switching ON/OFF the apparatus.

[00038] The in-built valve of the new bottle is fixed to the fluid distributor 314 and secured with the locking element 31 1 . When the locking element is introduced in its original position, a program sequence automatically detect how deep the bottle needs to move in order to be capable of spraying. The apparatus is then calibrated to function optimally.

[00039] In addition, the apparatus needs a power supply to actuate the servomotor to automatically dispense the germicide after each use of the handle placed next to the apparatus. Figure 4 illustrates the holder containing a power supply compartment 423. In this case, the compartment 423 is used for batteries but other alternatives are also possible. Figure 4 also shows the space where the bottle is placed in the holder and how the fluid distributor 414 is fixed to the holder and in connection with the bottle (not shown).

[00040] Once the valve of the bottle is opened, the flow of the germicide is then conducted to a fluid distributor which distributes the germicide to at least two nozzles or spraying valves via two tubes for obtaining a ellipsoid spray pattern or cloud which allows at least a substantial part of the handle of the door to be covered by the germicide. The ellipsoid spray pattern is only achieved when the nozzles are placed in opposite directions and in specific angles as shown in Figure 5. In this

embodiment, each nozzle is placed on an angled surface A, B on the front part 501 of the apparatus limiting the upper and lower part respectively of a gap specially designed for providing enough space for any handle, i.e. around 10 x 5 cm at most and wide angles at each side of around 124 degrees. As shown in Fig. 5, the design of the lower part of the apparatus may be of a crescent shape providing a suitable gap for any door handle. Furthermore, the upper part of the gap is limiting to the lower portion of the holder inside the apparatus and has an angled shape allowing an angled spray shooting above the door handle.

[00041 ] The angled surfaces on which the nozzles 613 are located are shown in detail in Figure 6. The embodiment depicts a front view and a side view of the front side of the apparatus. The example shown in Fig. 6 depicts a gap in the lower part of the front side which has a straight length L1 of around 95 mm, a width L2 of between 49 and 51 mm and two wide angles V1 of around 124 degrees each. [00042] The angle V3 is the spread angle seen from the side view of the front side of the housing and the angle V2 is the spread angle seen from the front view of the front side of the housing. Both spread angles show how the germicide provided by the nozzles 613 totally covers a handle 621 . As shown, the upper and lower nozzles have the same spread angles V1 and V2.

[00043] It is difficult to determine the most appropriate size of the spread angles to obtain the best cover of germicide on the handle 621 that may vary between 5-15 cm in length and 10-50mm in width. The example in Fig 6 further shows the size of the spread angles V2 and V3 in relation to a specific handle 621 . In this case, the handle has a length of 10-15 cm and a width of 15mm. In order to fully cover this type of handle, the angle V2 should be around 99 degrees and the angel V3 should be around 27 degrees. It is further to be considered that the spread angles V2 and V3 are the results of both the angled surfaces where the nozzles 613 are disposed and the specific design of the nozzles 613.

[00044] Moreover, the nozzles 613 are developed to achieve a fluid-dynamical flow thanks to its internal angles and to provide a particle density suitable for the task of the apparatus. One of the characteristics of these nozzles 613 is having small orifice outlets to avoid using back pressure valves for preventing air to be delivered into the tubes.

[00045] Further in Figure 7, a second embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this embodiment, all the functionalities described in previous variations or embodiments are unchanged with the exemption of the lower part of the apparatus. In other words, the spread angles, the tubes for supplying the germicide and the nozzles do not differ from previous embodiments. The advantage of this second embodiment is that it allows the use of a handle with a vertical shape, such as a door pull. These types of handles can be found in many public places , such as public toilets, shops, etc.

[00046] Specifically, the second embodiment comprises a front side having a pivot point at its centre. At the pivot point , there is positioning device for determining the position of the lower part which acts as a pivotable arm. The lower part is attached to the pivot point and rotates counter clockwise or clockwise towards the handle or door pull until it reaches a position determined by the positioning device and remains there. The example depicted in Fig. 7 shows the front side 701 of the second embodiment having an upper part 701 A and a lower part 701 B. The lower part of the front side 701 B is pivotable with a rotation of 90 degrees on both directions, i.e. clockwise in steady lines and counter clockwise in dashed lines. The direction of the rotation is depending on the location of the attached apparatus and/or the handle/door pull 721 .

[00047] According to a third embodiment, the apparatus may be identical to the first and second embodiment or to any variations discussed previously. However, additional features are distinguishing this embodiment from previous ones. An additional feature is a infra-red (IR) sensor which is immediately activated by a movement of a user to clean or sanitize the handle before its use. Alternatively, the sensor may be a piezo electric sensor triggered by for instance motion or pressure. An example of the third embodiment is shown in Fig.8 which comprises an apparatus according to the present invention having an in-built pressure sensor and/or an infra-red (IR) sensor 825 behind a push-button placed above the upper nozzle 813 for activating the sensor by the pressure of the push-button of a user.

[00048] In general, the present invention may have a different shape and/or may have other additional features and may as well include alternative embodiments than those described herein.

[00049] Reference list

1 Front side

2 Top side

3 Side walls

4 Back side

5 Front part

6 Rear part Aerosol bottle

Bottle-protection part Nozzle lid

Sliding element

Locking element

Arm of servomotor

Nozzles

Fluid distributor

Bottle spring

Servomotor

Control circuit

Top board

Mounting tapes

Magnet

Handle

Tubes

Power supply compartment Magnet sensor

Infra-red sensor

Claims

An apparatus for cleaning handles configured to be attached to a door, said apparatus comprising:

- a holder that receives a container of liquid or gaseous germicide;

characterized in that said apparatus further comprises:

- at least one sensor wherein the at least one is a vibration sensor for detecting whether a handle of the door is in use and;

- at least two nozzles, each positioned on an angled surface and fluidly connected to the container to convey the germicide from the container onto the handle; and

- a control circuit configured to control the apparatus to automatically spray the germicide on the handle via the at least two nozzles upon receiving signals from the at least one sensor.

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least two nozzles are simultaneously provided with germicide by means of a fluid distributor.

The apparatus according to any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the control circuit is configured to provide a predetermined delay between the signals received from the at least one sensor and the automatic spraying on the handle.

The apparatus according any of previous claims, further comprising a second sensor which is a motion sensor, an infra-red sensor or a pressure sensor.

The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second sensor is activated by a movement of a user of the handle.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the pressure sensor which is placed behind a push-button on the front side of said apparatus is activated upon the pressing of the push-button by a user of the handle.

7. The apparatus according to any of previous claims, wherein one of the at least two nozzles is configured to spray the germicide in an upward direction.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the nozzles are configured to spray the germicide in opposite directions to form a homogenous cloud over the handle.

9. The apparatus according to any of the previous claims, wherein the

container of germicide is an aerosol bottle of germicide placed upside down.

10. The apparatus according to any of the previous claims, said apparatus is fixed to a door by self-adhesive mounting tapes or similar tapes.

1 1 . The apparatus according to any of the previous claims, wherein the nozzles comprise small orifice outlets.

12. The apparatus according to any of previous claims, wherein a lower part of the apparatus is mounted behind the handle on the door.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said lower part of the

apparatus is of a crescent shape and is situated below said holder.

14. The apparatus according to any of claims 12 or 13, said apparatus having a front side on which a pivot point is placed and configured to allow the lower part to rotate towards the handle.