System and Method for Disinfecting an Occupied Environment Using Direction Controlled Germicidal Radiation
OwnerRalph Birchard Lloydinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method of disinfecting an area using germicidal radiation. The system is configured to capture images of an environment, analyze the images to determine locations of a person or unprotected skin of a person in the environment, and control one or more germicidal radiation emitters to decontaminate the environment where the person or exposed skin of persons in the environment are not located. The system and method allow for safe decontamination of an environment using hazardous levels of germicidal radiation while occupied by a person who may not be fully protected from the radiation.
Claims20
A system for disinfecting an environment, the system comprising:
- an imaging system configured to capture an image of an environment;
- a germicidal radiation emitter that emits germicidal radiation into the environment;
- and
- processing circuitry configured to:
- analyze the image and determine an area within the environment either where a person is located or where exposed skin of a person in the environment is located;
- adjust at least one of a shape of a beam that is emitted by the emitter, an intensity of the germicidal radiation, and a direction of the germicidal radiation to prevent the germicidal radiation from being emitted into the environment in the area where the person is located or where the exposed skin is located.
A system for disinfecting an environment, the system comprising:
- a germicidal radiation emitter that emits hazardous levels of germicidal radiation into the environment;
- at least one camera that captures an image of the environment;
- and
- processing circuitry configured to:
- analyze the image and determine a first area in the environment where the hazardous levels of the germicidal radiation can be emitted and cause the germicidal radiation emitter to emit the hazardous levels of the germicidal radiation in the first area;
- analyze the image and determine a second area in the environment where a person is located and where less than the hazardous levels of the germicidal radiation can be emitted and cause the germicidal radiation emitter to emit less than the hazardous levels of the germicidal radiation in the second area.
A method of disinfecting an environment comprising:
- determining a location of a person or unprotected skin of the person in an environment using computer analysis of images of the environment;
- emitting germicidal radiation into the environment in areas where the person is not located or where there is no unprotected skin.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.