JP7529472B2 - Disinfection System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a disinfection system for disinfecting a room.

Infections caused by the novel coronavirus are spreading worldwide. Frequent indoor disinfection work is required to remove the virus, which is a cause of infection indoors. However, wiping down a room with a disinfectant is time-consuming and there is a risk that some areas will not be wiped clean.

As a method for disinfecting all contact surfaces in a room, a technique for ozone fumigation is known in which ozone gas is released into the room to expose the room to the gas (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Special Publication No. 2012-531979 JP 2019-162046 A JP 2019-187653 A

According to the above technology, when a room is fumigated with ozone, the entire room is filled with ozone gas, and people may not be able to enter the room before the concentration of ozone gas drops. Patent Document 3 proposes a disinfection device that disinfects the room at a low concentration so as not to affect the human body. However, there is an issue in that a sufficient disinfection effect cannot be expected at a concentration that does not affect the human body.

The present invention aims to provide a disinfection system that allows people to enter a room even while disinfection is in progress.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a disinfection system comprising: an air blowing unit that blows air into a room to generate an air curtain and form an area partitioned off by the air curtain; a generating unit that generates a disinfectant gas and releases air containing the disinfectant gas into the area; a sensor unit that detects the concentration of the disinfectant gas in the area; and a control unit that controls the generating unit to adjust the concentration of the disinfectant gas in the area based on the detection value detected by the sensor unit, wherein the sensor unit detects the concentration of the disinfectant gas outside the area, and the control unit adjusts the concentration of the disinfectant gas in the area so that it is higher than the concentration outside the area.

According to the present invention, the generating unit releases air containing disinfectant gas into an area separated by an air curtain in a room using the blower unit, thereby making it possible to create an area to be disinfected and other areas within the room.
In addition, the area can be locally disinfected with disinfectant gas, while people can be allowed to enter the area outside the area.

The control unit of the present invention may also be configured to control the generating unit to adjust the temperature within the region to be lower than the temperature outside the region.

According to the present invention, by lowering the temperature inside the region compared to the temperature outside the region, it is possible to prevent the air containing disinfectant gas released into the region from escaping into the surroundings.

The air blowing section of the present invention may also be configured to blow air taken in from below within the area upward to create an air curtain.

According to the present invention, air containing disinfectant gas that has flowed downward within the area is taken in from below and blown upward to generate an air curtain, and the generating unit at the top takes in air containing disinfectant gas, thereby circulating air containing disinfectant gas within the area.

The present invention may also include a light source that illuminates the area, and the control unit may be configured to turn on the light source while the generating unit is operating.

According to the present invention, by illuminating the area being disinfected indoors with a light source, people can be prevented from approaching the area.

According to the present invention, by disinfecting the room locally, people can enter the room while it is being disinfected.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a disinfection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a disinfection system.

Below, an embodiment of the disinfection system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The disinfection system disinfects a room with ozone gas. The disinfection system is applied to places that require disinfection, such as rooms used by virus-infected persons, break rooms, toilets, and restaurants. The disinfection system disinfects areas of a room or space partitioned off by air curtains.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the disinfection system 1 includes a generator 10 that generates disinfectant gas, an air blower 12 that generates an air curtain A, a sensor 14 that detects the concentration of the disinfectant gas, a controller 16 that controls the generator 10 and the air blower 12, and a memory 18 that stores data related to the control.

The generator 10 generates, for example, ozone gas as a disinfectant gas and releases air containing the ozone gas. The generator 10 is provided, for example, in the ceiling of room H. The generator 10 may be provided in an air conditioning device that adjusts the temperature in the room. The generator 10 releases air containing ozone gas whose temperature has been adjusted into the room. The generator 10 includes an ozone generator 10A that generates ozone gas and a blower 10B that circulates air.

The ozone generator 10A has, for example, parallel electrodes and a dielectric placed between the electrodes. Oxygen gas, dry air, etc. are supplied between the electrodes, and when a high AC voltage is applied between the electrodes, a discharge occurs in the dielectric, and ozone is generated from the oxygen. The blower 10B has, for example, a fan driven by a motor, and circulates air by the rotation of the fan. The blower 10B is connected to the intake port 10C.

The generating unit 10 draws in indoor air from the intake port 10C and circulates it through the ozone generator 10A, and releases the air containing the generated ozone into the room from the air outlet 10D. From the air outlet 10D, the air containing ozone is released at a wind speed of, for example, 0.3 m/s or more. The generating unit 10 may be provided with a filter that captures dust in the air. The generating unit 10 is provided, for example, in an air conditioner. The generating unit 10 may be provided separately from the air conditioner. When one or more regions R are formed, multiple air outlets 10D may be formed according to the positions of the regions R.

The air intake 10C is positioned to take in air blown from the blower 12. The air outlet 10D is positioned to blow air containing ozone gas into an area partitioned by an air curtain A generated by the blower 12 as described below.

The air blowing unit 12 blows air into the room H to create an air curtain A, and forms an area R partitioned off by the air curtain A. The air blowing unit 12 blows the air taken in from below within the area R upward, creating the air curtain A. The air blowing unit 12 has a blower 12A that circulates air. The blower 12A has, for example, a fan driven by a motor, and circulates air by rotating the fan.

The blower 12 has an opening 12B at the bottom. The blower 12A is connected to the opening 12B through piping. Air containing ozone gas generated by the generator 10 is taken in from the opening 12B. A filter for capturing dust may be provided in the opening 12B. The blower 12 has an air outlet 12C at the top. The blower 12A is connected to the air outlet 12C through piping. The air taken in from the opening 12B is blown upwards from the blower 12A through the air outlet 12C. An upward airflow is generated from the air outlet 12C, generating an air curtain A.

By generating the air curtain A, air containing ozone gas is prevented from leaking outside the region R. Within the room H, a region R is formed that is partitioned by the air curtain A even if no walls are provided. Air containing ozone gas generated by the generator 10 flows within the region R. Another blower 12 may be provided within the wall B facing the air curtain A.

The other blowing unit 12 takes in air containing ozone gas in region R and circulates it to the generator 10 above. By providing the other blowing unit 12, the air containing ozone gas is diffused and circulated throughout region R. A plurality of blowing units 12 may be provided to form region R separated by air curtain A. One or more regions R may be formed. By forming region R, the risk of infection can be efficiently reduced by dividing the room into zones and disinfecting it even when people are present in room H.

A sensor unit 14 that detects the concentration of ozone gas is provided within region R. The sensor unit 14 includes multiple sensors that are installed at multiple locations in the room. The multiple sensors are installed at positions 50 cm or more above the floor surface that is frequently touched by people. The sensor has a detection limit of 0.01 ppm and detects ozone gas at a concentration of 0.01 ppm or more. The sensor may be provided outside region R within room H.

The storage unit 18 stores data such as the control program and the ozone concentration setting conditions. The storage unit 18 is a storage medium such as a HDD or flash memory. The storage unit 18 may be connected via a network.

The control unit 16 controls the generation unit 10 based on the detection value detected by the sensor unit 14 to adjust the concentration of ozone gas in the region R. The control unit 16 adjusts the concentration of ozone gas in the region R to be higher than the concentration outside the region R. For example, the control unit 16 adjusts the concentration of ozone gas in the region R to be in the range of 1 to 5 ppm, and adjusts the concentration of ozone gas outside the region R to be 0.1 ppm or less.

The control unit 16 controls the generating unit 10 to adjust the temperature within the region R to be about 3°C to 4°C lower than the temperature outside the region R. This prevents the airflow containing ozone gas from diffusing to the surroundings. However, in order to prevent the occurrence of a contraction phenomenon in which the area reached by the air containing ozone gas shrinks, the control unit 16 controls the generating unit 10 to appropriately adjust the temperature difference between inside the region R and outside the region R so that contraction does not occur. If the generating unit 10 and the air conditioning device are provided separately, the control unit 16 may control the air conditioning device to adjust the temperature within the region R.

When multiple regions R are formed, the control unit 16 may adjust the concentration of ozone gas for each of the multiple regions R by controlling flaps (not shown) of the air outlet 10D provided according to the position of the region R. The control unit 16 and the memory unit 18 may be realized by a terminal device such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone. These terminal devices may be remotely operated via a network.

Room H may be equipped with a light source that illuminates area R. The control unit 16 may control the generation unit 10 to turn on the light source while it is operating. The light source may be the lighting in the room, or the color or illuminance of the lighting may be changed while area R is being disinfected. This provides a visual alert to people in the room that area R is being disinfected, ensuring safety. In addition, a display unit that displays that area R is being disinfected and a speaker that plays audio may be provided inside and outside room H.

The generator 10, the blower 12, and the air conditioner may be provided with a decomposition catalyst or a chemical filter for decomposing and removing ozone gas. After disinfection with ozone gas in the region R is completed, the control unit 16 may cause the air containing ozone gas flowing through the generator 10, the blower 12, and the air conditioner to flow through the decomposition catalyst or the chemical filter to reduce the concentration of ozone gas in the region R. At this time, the control unit 16 may release the air containing ozone gas in the region R to the outside air to reduce the concentration of ozone gas in the region R.

As described above, the disinfection system 1 disinfects the room locally, allowing people to enter the room during disinfection. The disinfection system 1 can disinfect areas with a high risk of infection, such as patient beds and conference areas, and areas R where people tend to be crowded together, without leaving the room unattended. The disinfection system 1 can reduce the risk of infection by having a disinfectant supply ozone gas to dangerous areas R with a high risk of infection before starting work, thereby disinfecting the dangerous areas. The disinfection system 1 can form an air curtain A to form an area R separated by the air curtain A even if there are no walls or the like in the room H, and only the area R can be disinfected.

The control unit 16 described above is realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware.

The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed by inserting the storage medium into a drive device. The computer program may also be distributed to a computer via a communication line, and the computer that receives the program may execute the program.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the disinfection system 1 may be applied to disinfection using a disinfectant gas other than ozone gas, such as a disinfectant gas containing hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, hypochlorous acid, etc.

Reference Signs List 1 Disinfection system 10 Generation unit 10A Ozone generator 10B Blower 10C Intake port 10D Air outlet 12 Air outlet 12A Blower 12B Opening 12C Air outlet 14 Sensor unit 16 Control unit 18 Memory unit A Air curtain B Wall H Room R Area

Claims (4)

A blower unit that blows air in the room to generate an air curtain and form an area partitioned by the air curtain;
A generator that generates a disinfectant gas and releases air containing the disinfectant gas into the area;
A sensor unit for detecting a concentration of the disinfectant gas in the area;
A control unit that controls the generating unit to adjust the concentration of the disinfection gas in the area based on the detection value detected by the sensor unit ,
The sensor unit detects a concentration of the disinfectant gas outside the area,
The control unit adjusts the concentration of the disinfection gas in the region so as to be higher than the concentration outside the region .
Disinfection system. The control unit controls the generating unit to adjust the temperature in the region to be lower than the temperature outside the region.
10. The disinfection system of claim 1. The air blowing unit blows the air taken in from below within the area upward to generate the air curtain.
A disinfection system according to claim 1 or 2 . a light source for illuminating the area;
The control unit turns on the light source while the generating unit is operating.
A disinfection system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .

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