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US 5,526,841 AGranted
Water line decontamination system
OwnerSteven G. Detsch, Scott L. Prestoninventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A water line decontamination unit has inlets for connection to a supply of irrigant liquid, a supply of disinfectant, and a pressurized gas supply, and an outlet for connection to a water line inlet. A valve assembly in the unit controls the supply of irrigant liquid, disinfectant and gas to the water line so that only one of the fluids is supplied to the water line at any one time. A manual selector allows an operator to select a run condition in which irrigant liquid is supplied to the water line, a flush condition in which disinfectant is supplied to the water line, and a purge condition in which gas is supplied to purge liquid from the water line.
Claims35
A water line decontamination system, comprising:
- a housing having a first inlet for connection to a pressurized gas source, a second inlet for connection to a supply of irrigating liquid, a third inlet for connection to a supply of disinfectant liquid, and an outlet for connection to a water line inlet;
- a valve assembly in the housing for selectively connecting any one of said inlets to said outlet while disconnecting the other two inlets from said outlet;
- and
- control means for controlling said valve assembly to supply gas continuously from said first inlet to said outlet in a purge condition to purge liquid from a water line attached to said outlet and dry the water line to suppress biofilm development, said second and third inlets being disconnected from said outlet in said purge condition, to connect said irrigating liquid supply from said second inlet to said outlet in a run condition during normal use of said water line while said first and third inlets are disconnected from said outlet, and to supply disinfectant liquid from said third inlet to said outlet in a flush condition for disinfecting said water line, said first and second inlets being disconnected from said outlet in said flush condition.
1 more element
A water line decontamination system, comprising:
- a housing having a first inlet for connection to a pressurized gas source, a second inlet for connection to a supply of irrigating liquid, a third inlet for connection to a supply of disinfectant liquid, and an outlet for connection to a water line inlet;
- a valve assembly in the housing for selectively supplying fluid from any one of said inlets to said outlet and disconnecting the other two inlets from the outlet;
- control means for controlling said valve assembly to supply gas from said first inlet to said outlet in a purge condition to purge all liquid from a water line connected to said outlet and dry the water line to suppress biofilm development, to supply irrigating liquid from said second inlet to said outlet in a run condition during normal use of said water line, and to supply disinfectant liquid from said inlet to said outlet in a flush condition to disinfect said water line;
- said housing having a first adapter for releasable connection to a first bottle for containing said irrigating liquid, and a second adapter for releasable connection to a second bottle for containing a disinfectant liquid, said second inlet being provided in said first adapter and said third inlet being provided in said second adapter, said first adapter having a first gas inlet for supplying gas to said first bottle and said second adapter having a second gas inlet for supplying gas to said second bottle, said valve assembly including valve means for selectively connecting said housing gas inlet to said first and second adapter gas inlets in said run and flush conditions, respectively.
1 more element
A water line decontamination system, comprising:
- a housing having a first inlet for connection to a pressurized gas source, a second inlet for connection to a supply of irrigating liquid, a third inlet for connection to a supply of disinfectant liquid, and an outlet for connection to a water line inlet;
- a gas sterilizing means connected to said first inlet for sterilizing gas entering the housing;
- a water micro-filter connected at the water line outlet, the water micro-filter comprising a check valve for preventing passage of bacteria from the water line into the housing;
- a valve assembly for controlling the supply of gas, irrigating liquid and disinfectant liquid to the outlet, the valve assembly comprising valve means for connecting any one of said inlets to said outlet while disconnecting the other two inlets from said outlet;
- said valve assembly having a first, purge condition in which gas only is supplied from said gas inlet to said outlet to purge all liquid from the water line, replace the purged liquid with gas, and dry the line, whereby biofilm development is suppressed, said second and third inlets being disconnected from said outlet in said purge condition, a second, run condition during normal use of the water line in which irrigating liquid is supplied from said second inlet to said outlet while said first and third inlets are disconnected from said outlet, and a third, flush condition in which disinfectant liquid is supplied from said third inlet to said outlet to disinfect said water line while said first and second inlets are disconnected from said outlet;
- and
- a manual control device for controlling the operation of said valve assembly.
4 more elements
A water line decontamination system, comprising:
- an irrigating liquid supply;
- an irrigating liquid supply line connected to said supply of irrigating liquid;
- a disinfectant liquid supply;
- a disinfectant supply line connected to said supply of disinfectant;
- a pressurized gas source;
- a gas line connected to said pressurized gas source;
- an outlet line for connection to a water line;
- a connecting manifold connected to the irrigating liquid supply line, the disinfectant supply line, the gas supply line and the outlet line;
- a valve assembly for controlling the supply of irrigating liquid, disinfectant and gas to the irrigating liquid supply line, the disinfectant supply line, and the gas supply line, respectively, to supply fluid to only one of said lines at any one time, said valve assembly having a first, purge condition in which gas only is supplied via said gas line to said outlet line to purge any liquid from said water line connected to the outlet line and dry said water line to suppress biofilm development, a second, run condition in which irrigating liquid only is supplied via said irrigating liquid supply line to said outlet line during normal use of said water line, and a third, flush condition in which disinfectant liquid only is supplied via said disinfectant line to said outlet line to disinfect said water line;
- and
- manual control means for controlling the operation of said valve assembly.
8 more elements
A method of decontaminating a water line and reducing bacteriologically contaminated aerosols, comprising the steps of:
- connecting a first end of a water line to a valve unit for selectively connecting the water line to at least one of a supply of irrigating liquid, a supply of biofilm removing disinfectant of sufficient strength to break down biofilm when left in the line for a sufficient time period, and a pressurized gas supply, the water line having an opposite, second end for connection to an instrument;
- supplying sufficient disinfectant to the water line via the valve unit to fill the water line;
- leaving the disinfectant standing in the water line for a predetermined time period sufficient to break down biofilm formed in the water line;
- at the end of the time period, supplying pressurized gas to the water line via the valve unit to purge the disinfectant from the second end of the water line;
- after all disinfectant has been purged from the water line, irrigating liquid is supplied to the water line for use during a patient treatment period.
2 more elements
A method of decontaminating a water line, comprising the steps of:
- connecting a water line to a valve unit for selectively connecting the water line to one of three separate fluid supplies, comprising a supply of irrigating liquid, a supply of disinfectant, and a supply of pressurized gas;
- supplying irrigating liquid to the water line during successive treatment periods;
- carrying out a water line disinfecting procedure between successive treatment periods;
- and
- when the water line is not in use for an extended time period, carrying out a maintenance procedure for suppressing biofilm growth in the water line;
- the water line disinfecting procedure comprising the steps of:
- supplying sufficient disinfectant to the water line to fill the water line;
- leaving the disinfectant standing in the water line for a first predetermined time period for disinfecting the water line;
- at the end of the time period, supplying pressurized gas to the water line to purge disinfectant from the water line and fill the water line with gas;
- after disinfectant has been purged from the water line, supplying irrigating liquid to the water line during the next treatment period;
- after the treatment period, supplying pressurized gas to the water line for a second time period to purge the liquid from the water line;
- the water line maintenance procedure comprising purging liquid from the water line and leaving gas standing in the water line for a predetermined time period longer than said first time period to dry the water line and suppress biofilm development in the water line.
9 more elements
A method for reducing production of bacteriologically contaminated aerosols at a medical handpiece connected to a water line for supply of irrigating liquid to the handpiece, comprising the steps of:
- providing a supply of pressurized gas, a supply of sterilized irrigating liquid, and a supply of disinfectant liquid;
- connecting the pressurized gas supply, the irrigating liquid supply and the disinfectant liquid supply to a valve unit for connecting only one of the supplies at any one time to a water line;
- connecting a micro-filter between the valve unit and the water line to isolate the valve unit from any bacteria in the water line;
- during each of a series of patient treatment periods, controlling the valve unit to connect the irrigating liquid supply to the water line;
- between each successive pair of patient treatment periods, disconnecting the irrigating liquid supply and connecting the water line to the pressurized gas supply to supply gas to the water line and purge all of the irrigating liquid from the water line;
- after purging all irrigating liquid from the water line, controlling the valve unit to connect the disinfectant liquid to the water line and supplying sufficient disinfectant to the water line to fill the water line;
- leaving the disinfectant liquid standing in the water line for a predetermined time period sufficient to disinfect the water line;
- connecting the pressurized gas supply to the water line via a gas micro-filter at the end of the predetermined time period to purge disinfectant from the water line;
- and
- at the end of a series of patient treatment periods, connecting the pressurized gas supply to the water line, supplying gas to the water line to purge liquid from the water line and drying the water line to suppress biofilm development while the water line is not in use.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.