Reusable food or beverage container sanitizing and washing system
AssigneeRedi Technology, Inc.
InventorsLaurence B. Sperry, Brian A. Murch
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sanitizing and washing system encourages the use of reusable food or beverage containers by utilizing a quick and compact system to sanitize and wash the containers prior to reuse. The doors of the pass-through chamber allow the customer to insert an unsanitized and unwashed container on the entry (“dirty”) side of the system, and the retail employee to remove the sanitized and washed container from the exit (“clean”) side of the system without having to touch any other surface (doors, knobs, handles, etc.) than the container itself. The system utilizes a UV light source to sanitize the exterior surfaces of the container, while a washing nozzle sprays cleaning fluid to wash and remove residue from the interior surfaces.
Claims24
A reusable food or beverage container sanitizing and washing system, comprising:
- a housing;
- a chamber inside the housing that is sized, dimensioned, and configured to envelope a reusable food or beverage container;
- an access door providing access to the chamber when the access door is in an open state and blocking access to the chamber when the access door is in a closed state;
- at least one UV light source disposed within the chamber and configured to direct UV light at a predetermined intensity level and time duration onto a reusable food or beverage container positioned inside the chamber in such a way as to result in sanitizing of exterior surfaces of the reusable food or beverage container;
- and
- at least one washing nozzle configured to spray cleaning fluid to wash interior surfaces of the reusable food or beverage container;
- wherein when the access door is in the closed state a sanitization and washing cycle is initiated using the UV light source and washing nozzle and when the sanitization and washing cycle is complete, the access door is moved to an open state.
A method for sanitizing and washing a reusable food or beverage container, the method comprising:
- providing a reusable food or beverage container sanitizing and washing system, comprising:
- a housing;
- a chamber inside the housing that is sized, dimensioned, and configured to envelope a reusable food or beverage container;
- an access door providing access to the chamber when the access door is in an open state and blocking access to the chamber when the access door is in a closed state;
- at least one UV light source disposed within the chamber and configured to direct UV light at a predetermined intensity level and time duration onto a food or beverage container positioned inside the chamber in such a way as to result in sanitizing of surfaces of the food or beverage container;
- at least one washing nozzle adapted to spray cleaning fluid to wash interior surfaces of the reusable food or beverage container;
- wherein when the access door is in the closed state a sanitization and washing cycle is initiated using the UV light source and washing nozzle and when the sanitization and washing cycle is complete, the access door is moved to the open state;
- inserting an unsanitized and unwashed reusable food or beverage container into the chamber;
- initiating a sanitization and washing cycle sanitizing and washing the reusable food or
- beverage container;
- and
- retrieving a now sanitized and washed reusable food or beverage container from the
- chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.