Apparatus and method for sanitizing or washing footwear

Abstract

A method and apparatus for dispensing a fluid of mixed disinfectant and water in a spray to footwear of a worker is disclosed. The apparatus includes a housing including a base section, a platform installed within the base section, a fluid dispensing assembly coupled to the housing, and a fluid dispensing system of mixed disinfectant and water including a first valve assembly configured to dispense fluid to the fluid dispensing assembly when a force is applied to the platform so that the spray of the fluid is dispensed onto the footwear. A method of sanitizing the footwear of a worker with a fluid may include the steps of detecting when the worker has stepped onto a platform and dispensing the fluid onto the footwear for at least a predetermined period. A method of sanitizing the footwear of a worker entering or exiting a location in a work or industrial environment may include the steps of positioning an apparatus at the entrance or exit of the location, coupling the apparatus to a supply of a fluid and wherein the apparatus is actuated to provide a flow including the fluid when the worker steps into the apparatus so that the flow including the fluid is dispensed onto the footwear of the worker.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.