Lavatory disinfection system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9623133-B2
Application number	US-201514610022-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 30, 2015
Priority date	Jan 30, 2015
Publication date	Apr 18, 2017
Grant date	Apr 18, 2017

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.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a disinfection system to perform a disinfection process inside a lavatory when the lavatory is not in use, wherein the disinfection system is inactive when the lavatory is in use; and
an activation system that controls activation and deactivation of the disinfection system;
wherein the disinfection system comprises a source of far ultraviolet radiation, the source located in or on a ceiling of the lavatory to perform the disinfection process on at least one surface inside the lavatory.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the activation system activates the disinfection system in response to a determination that a set of criteria has been met, wherein the set of criteria includes the lavatory being unoccupied and at least one of a door to the lavatory being closed, the lavatory having been occupied a selected number of times since a previous disinfection of the lavatory, or a selected amount of time having passed since the previous disinfection of the lavatory.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the activation system comprises:
a sensor system that detects whether the lavatory is occupied or unoccupied and whether the door to the lavatory is closed or open.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the activation system further comprises:
a controller that receives information from the sensor system, determines whether the 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 the determination that the set of criteria has been met.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the controller deactivates the disinfection system to place the disinfection system in an inactive mode when the door to the lavatory is opened prior to completion of the disinfection process.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the controller deactivates the disinfection system to place the disinfection system in an inactive mode after completion of the disinfection process.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a reflective material applied to a plurality of surfaces inside the lavatory to reflect the far-ultraviolet radiation onto at least one selected surface inside the lavatory.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the disinfection system comprises:
an ultraviolet radiation source that emits the far-ultraviolet radiation, wherein the far-ultraviolet radiation has a wavelength between about 150 nanometers and about 240 nanometers.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the disinfection system further comprises:
a number of reflector devices that reflect the far-ultraviolet radiation onto at least one selected surface inside the lavatory.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an indicator device associated with an exterior of the lavatory, wherein the indicator device displays a visual indication of whether the disinfection system is in an active mode or in an inactive mode.

11. An aircraft incorporating the apparatus of claim 1 .

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a mechanism for lifting a lid of a toilet in the lavatory to expose the lid to the far-ultraviolet radiation, wherein, responsive to an activation of the disinfection system, the mechanism lifts the lid of the toilet to expose the lid to the far-ultraviolet radiation.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a reflective material applied to a plurality of surfaces inside the lavatory to reflect the far-ultraviolet radiation onto one or more selected surfaces inside the lavatory;
wherein the source directs the far-ultraviolet radiation at the reflective material in order to disinfect the one or more selected surfaces.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the selected surfaces are a floor surface around a toilet of the lavatory, a drawer handle or a cabinet knob, and a sink surface in and around a sink in the lavatory.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a number of reflective devices inside the lavatory to reflect the far-ultraviolet radiation onto an external surface of a toilet;
wherein the source directs the far-ultraviolet radiation at the number of reflective devices in order to disinfect the external surface of the toilet.

16. A method for disinfecting a lavatory, the method comprising:
determining whether a set of criteria for activation of a disinfection system to perform a disinfection process inside the lavatory has been met; and
activating the disinfection system to perform the disinfection process inside the lavatory in response to a determination that the set of criteria has been met;
wherein the disinfection system comprises a source of far ultraviolet radiation, the source located in or on a wall of the lavatory and configured to perform the disinfection process on at least one surface inside the lavatory.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein determining whether the set of criteria has been met comprises:
determining whether the lavatory is unoccupied;
determining whether the lavatory has been occupied a selected number of times since a previous disinfection of the lavatory; and
determining whether a door to the lavatory is closed.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
deactivating the disinfection system to place the disinfection system in an inactive mode after completion of the disinfection process.

19. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
monitoring a door to the lavatory using a sensor system; and
deactivating the disinfection system to place the disinfection system in an inactive mode in response to a detection by the sensor system of the door to the lavatory being opened during the disinfection process.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein deactivating the disinfection system comprises:
halting emission of the far-ultraviolet radiation from an ultraviolet radiation source in less than a second after the detection by the sensor system that the door to the lavatory has opened.

21. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
reflecting the far-ultraviolet radiation onto at least one selected surface in the lavatory using at least one of a number of reflector devices located inside the lavatory or a reflective material on a plurality of surfaces inside the lavatory.

22. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
emitting the far-ultraviolet radiation from at least one ultraviolet radiation source.

23. A method for disinfecting a lavatory, the method comprising:
determining whether the lavatory is unoccupied;
determining whether the lavatory has been occupied a selected number of times since a previous disinfection of the lavatory, in response to a determination that the lavatory is unoccupied;
determining whether a door to the lavatory is closed in response to a determination that the lavatory has been occupied the selected number of times since the previous disinfection of the lavatory;
activating a disinfection system to perform a disinfection process inside the lavatory in response to a determination that the door is closed; and
deactivating the disinfection system after completion of the disinfection process;
wherein the disinfection system comprises a source of far ultraviolet radiation located in or on a ceiling or a wall of the lavatory and configured to perform the disinfection process on at least one surface inside the lavatory.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the vehicle is an aerospa

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Childress James J
• Cloud Mark L
• Hills Karen Lee

Classifications

• A61L2103/75

  Room floors or walls · CPC title

• H05B47/16

  by timing means · CPC title

• B64D11/02

  Toilet fittings · CPC title

• A61L2202/14

  Means for controlling sterilisation processes, data processing, presentation and storage means, e.g. sensors, controllers, programs · CPC title

• A61L2/10 Primary

  Ultraviolet [UV] radiation · CPC title