Disinfection system
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsJames J. Childress, Mark L. Cloud, Karen Lee Hills
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for disinfecting a lavatory inside a vehicle in response to a set of criteria being met. A determination is made as to whether a set of criteria for activation of a disinfection system that emits far-ultraviolet radiation to perform a disinfection process inside a lavatory has been met. In response to a determination that the set of criteria has been met, the disinfection system is activated to perform the disinfection process inside the lavatory using the far-ultraviolet radiation.
Claims18
An apparatus comprising:
- a disinfection system to perform a disinfection process inside an area when the area is not in use, wherein the disinfection system is inactive when the area is in use, and wherein the disinfection system comprises a source of far-ultraviolet radiation, the source configured to perform the disinfection process inside the area;
- an activation system that controls activation and deactivation of the disinfection system;
- a door closing mechanism configured to close a door to the area automatically;
- and
- a controller that receives information from a sensor system, determines whether a set of criteria has been met based on the information, and activates the disinfection system to place the disinfection system in an active mode in response to a determination that the set of criteria has been met.
A method for disinfecting an area, the method comprising:
- determining, by a controller, whether a set of criteria for activation of a disinfection system to perform a disinfection process inside the area has been met, wherein the disinfection system comprises a source of far-ultraviolet radiation;
- and after this determining step,
- activating the disinfection system to perform the disinfection process inside the area in response to a determination that the set of criteria has been met.
A method for disinfecting an area, the method comprising:
- determining whether a door to an area is closed in response to a determination that the area has been occupied a selected number of times since a previous disinfection of the area;
- activating a disinfection system to perform a disinfection process inside the area in response to the determination that the door is closed, wherein the disinfection system comprises a source of far-ultraviolet radiation configured to perform the disinfection process inside the area;
- and
- deactivating the disinfection system after completion of the disinfection process.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.