WO2010130891A1

WO2010130891A1 - Decontamination apparatus with reactivation by code word

Info

Publication number: WO2010130891A1
Application number: PCT/FR2010/000358
Authority: WO
Inventors: Frederic Goessens
Original assignee: Gloster Europe
Priority date: 2009-05-11
Filing date: 2010-05-10
Publication date: 2010-11-18
Also published as: FR2945225B1; FR2945225A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a decontamination apparatus (1) for decontaminating an enclosed area by atomizing a liquid treatment product into the volume of said enclosed area, said apparatus being of the type comprising a body which is provided with spray means whose function is regulated by control means, especially by at least one microprocessor (9). This apparatus is characterized in that it comprises monitoring means that are able to deactivate it when at least one shutdown condition defined in its control means is met, and to reactivate its function by entry, into said monitoring means, of a specific reactivation code.

Description

Key word reactivation decontamination device

The present invention relates to a decontamination apparatus, in particular by misting a disinfectant on surfaces to be treated, and more specifically on the walls and objects of a room.

It is known that the bacterial agents that cause the contamination and are suspended in the air of a room tend to sediment on the various surfaces and objects contained therein. Moreover, it is known that, conversely, bacterial agents that develop on the objects and on the walls of a room, (for example, operating theaters, clean rooms or various treatment rooms, etc.). .) tend to suspend in the atmosphere. These premises are thus in a situation of permanent exchange between the walls and objects on the one hand and the atmosphere on the other hand.

It has been proposed to ensure the overall decontamination, that is to say of both the atmosphere and the walls and various objects of a room, by spraying in the volume of the latter a disinfectant product.

The Applicant has proposed in patent FR 2 859 650, to improve the quality of this spray by increasing the efficiency of fractionation of the sprayed drops and this by using an injection device to obtain fine droplets whose dimensions are of the order of 2 microns to 20 microns and which thus have the property of being suspended in the entire volume of the room and to be deposited on the walls and objects contained therein without agglomerating between them; the fog thus generated being called "dry fog". t The applicant also proposed in the application FR

09.00134 a misting apparatus in which the fragmentation is further improved by using a specific injector to create in a room to be treated large volume, of the order of 200 to 300 m ³ , such a dry fog allowing to achieve total eradication of any bacterial germ.

It is known that decontamination devices, whether they are of the dry-mist generation type or of the conventional type, must imperatively undergo checks, periodical in time, after a certain number of hours of operation, on pain of see progressively degrade their effectiveness.

Furthermore, it is known that these devices are mostly equipped with devices able to control their operation and to deliver the user messages on their operating status or the quality of the spray performed. These messages, depending on their content, require the user to intervene more or less quickly. They go from the purely informative message to the demand for almost immediate cessation.

However, experience shows that the user does not always give these messages the importance they deserve, either because he personally does not know how to interpret them, sometimes for lack of sufficient training, or because he prefers to pursue them. its processing operation, for example for reasons of time. However, the nature of some of these messages requires, under penalty of either to undermine the integrity of the device or to affect the quality of the work itself, interrupt the spraying and remedy the defects mentioned.

It has been described in the prior art, particularly in application US 2005/224596, spraying a disinfectant product in a room which are equipped with devices causing them to stop operating under certain conditions, in particular when the apparatus is under heavy mechanical stress or when the reservoir containing the treatment product is empty. It is in fact a simple shutdown of the device that allows, when the cause causing the shutdown is removed, to operate it again. According to the invention, it is not a matter of putting the device in a simple stop situation but of generating a deactivation thereof, which means that if the cause causing the device to shut down is eliminated. the latter remains deactivated and can be refitted only if it is reactivated. This reactivation is performed by the introduction of a specific code determined in its management system. This allows for example the manager of a fleet of devices according to the invention, which is holder of the reactivation code, for example constrain a user conscientious to have his revisions in due time.

The present invention aims to provide a decontamination device able to manage, instead of the user or assistance to it, the deadlines for review and interventions of said device.

The present invention thus relates to an apparatus for decontaminating a room by misting a liquid treatment product in the volume thereof, of the type comprising a body provided with spray means whose operation is controlled by means management system, in particular by at least one microprocessor, characterized in that it comprises monitoring means able to deactivate it when at least one deactivation condition defined in its management means is fulfilled, and reactivate its operation by entering, in said monitoring means, a specific reactivation code.

The decontamination device will preferably comprise a backup type clock, in particular for measuring its usage time since its last maintenance operation.

According to the invention, the deactivation condition will notably consist in the fact that the time of use of the apparatus exceeds an authorized usage time.

The device management means may include a non-volatile memory, including a so-called flash memory, in which operating parameters will be stored and in particular the date of the last maintenance performed and / or a unique reference characteristic of the device.

The latter will advantageously include means able to address to the user messages relating to the operation of the device and / or the maintenance of the latter.

According to the invention, the deactivation condition may be constituted by a malfunction state of the apparatus. Moreover, this deactivation of this one will preferably follow at least one message relating to its maintenance or to a state of dysfunction.

The reactivation code of the device can be obtained by combining a reference specific to each machine, including a serial number thereof, with another reference, including the date of last maintenance of the device.

In a variant of the invention, the apparatus will be provided with means of connection and communication with a network, in particular of the Internet type, capable of enabling it to communicate with a remote server from which it will receive including the reactivation code. The remote communication network will be used to transmit the operating parameters of the apparatus to said server.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a decontamination apparatus according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a variant of the decontamination apparatus shown in FIG.

The decontamination apparatus 1 according to the invention, which is shown in FIG. 1, is capable of spraying a treatment product in the volume of a room, in particular in the form of a dry mist, for a determined time and according to treatment modalities that depend on the characteristics of the room and the treatment protocol to be performed.

This apparatus 1 comprises, within a body 3, a spraying system 5 which is essentially variable according to the type of the apparatus and according to the treatment that it is desired to carry out.

The spraying systems may in particular comprise a compressor capable of drawing a flow of air into a nozzle in which, together with this flow, is suctioned, for example by Venturi effect, a treatment liquid which is thus pulverized in suspension in the pulsed air flow.

The spraying means may also, for example, consist of a piezoelectric transducer adapted, by the vibrations it transmits to a treatment liquid, to vaporize it and to spray it in the atmosphere under the joint action propulsion means. This apparatus comprises an electronic control card 7 which is provided with a microprocessor 9 to which is devolved the management function of the entire processing process, and which, for this purpose, is able to control in particular the means of control. supply of treatment liquid to the spraying system 5. To do this, the microprocessor 9 is connected with a series of sensors 10a, 10b, 10c ... 10n which are able to detect and measure various operating parameters of the apparatus , such as, in particular, the power of the spray jet, the presence in the apparatus of treatment liquid, etc., and to address this information, in processed or untreated form, to the user on a display screen 11. The microprocessor 9 also provides a dialogue function with the user, particularly via the display screen 11 and control means such as a keyboard 13. The microprocessor 9 is thus able to address the util the device, on the display screen 11, various messages intended to guide him in the implementation of the treatment protocol that he wishes to apply.

These software means may be accompanied by other software means capable of informing the user of the operating status of the device by means in particular of error messages concerning certain malfunctions of the latter.

The electronic card 7 may also include a nonvolatile memory 15, particularly flash type, able to retain the data therein. are registered even in case of power failure.

Such messages can be categorized according to the level of urgency with which they must be handled by the user. For example, we will have:

Level 1 :

This category includes messages that are only informative on the state of operation of the device, whether or not this condition is satisfactory; these messages do not require any user intervention on the device, at least in the immediate future.

For example, we can have messages of the following type:

- "Proper operation of the device"

- "Attention maintenance of the device in nnn hours"

- "Dissemination too slow on the main circuit"

- "Change of broadcast circuit" Level 2:

This category will be able to group the messages which the user must take into account in the long term and which deserve all the more consideration as they are repetitive. For example, we can have messages of the following type:

- "Be careful, you only have 11 hours left to maintain the device"

- "Attention check the broadcast" - "Broadcast too slow backup circuit"

- "Pump too slow"

Level 3:

These will be messages that indicate a serious malfunction of the device that requires non-recovery of the treatment process once it is completed.

For example, we can have messages of the following type: - "Attention this is the last possible treatment before the maintenance operation"

- "Attention abnormal temperature rise"

- "Contact the service department to check the flow of the nozzle" - "Not enough disinfectant"

Level 4:

These will be messages that indicate a serious malfunction of the device that requires an immediate stop thereof. For example, we can have messages of the following type:

- "Attention the oil level of the compressor is too low"

- "Be careful there is no more treatment liquid in the tank"

- "Attention partial diffusion of the product"

- "No treatment liquid"

The management system is able to handle some of these messages, in other words it is able to make the decisions on the continuation of the processing process, on its non-recovery or on the pure and simple deactivation of the device.

An example of how the device will take such decisions into account in the problem of maintenance of the apparatus will be described below. In this example, in order to allow the system to know the operating time of the device, especially since its last maintenance, the electronic card 7 is provided with a time measurement system consisting of a clock 17 provided with means backup battery backup, so as to maintain this measurement of time, even in the absence of power supply of the device. The system comprises means capable of enabling it to record in the flash memory 15 a certain number of data and especially the date t ^ of the last maintenance. The management system is thus able to determine at any time the time T which has elapsed since the last maintenance by a simple comparison of the date t _{0 thereof} to the current time t. given by the clock 17 (T = t-to).

If this time T is greater than a limit usage time value T _L , the system, after having displayed to the user a setpoint message, for example a level three message, deactivates the device at the end of the last treatment cycle that is to say that it stops its operation and prevents its restart. The user is then forced to request the intervention of the operator in charge of its maintenance so that the latter performs it. Once the maintenance is done, the maintenance operator enters a reactivation code into the management system and the device is then operational again.

Of course, before deactivating the device, the system will have sent the user one or more level 1 messages informing him of the approach to the maintenance deadline and, without reaction from him, a message from level 2, preferentially more urgent. If, despite these various messages, the user still does not perform maintenance, the device management system deactivates the device.

During the maintenance operation, the date of last maintenance to is updated, so that the user has again some limited time T _L possible work possible before the next maintenance. It will be noted that the operator to whom the user is speaking to carry out the maintenance operation may, if he wishes, consider that, given the apparatus, his age, and / or his state of maintenance etc ... a limited duration of use different T _L i must be applied and it is this value which is then entered in the flash memory 15.

Decisions to disable the device by the management system thereof can of course be made in various other situations different from the maintenance of the devices.

In another example, it may include a malfunction of the device due to a "partial release of the product." The system thus displays such a message which must lead the user to check the state of its diffusion nozzle which may for example be obstructed by a foreign body. If, after several messages the situation persists, the management system executes a command to deactivate the device. In such a situation the user can sometimes troubleshoot his device himself. But he can only reactivate it by means of the reactivation code that he must obtain, especially from the operator, which will force him to contact him. This will have the ability to remotely check with the user if the troubleshooting operation was conducted in the rules. If this is the case the operator will give the user a reactivation code that the latter will enter the device using the keyboard 13. In order that this code is single-use and can not be used in the future for other reactivation operations, it is used to constitute it to a specific number which each device is equipped (including a serial number), which will be available to the user who will communicate to its operator, this number which can be marked on the machine and / or entered into the memory, in particular the flash memory 15, and this number will be combined by the operator with other parameters. We will thus obtain a reactivation code consisting of a unique encrypted code.

The flash memory 15 of the device may also receive the date of last maintenance. This date combined for example with the serial number of the device following a mode of encryption particular to the operator will allow the latter to generate a unique code that can only be valid for the user during a given work period . ^Of course, the same could be done in order to enable the apparatus to make any disabling decision from any other detection of any malfunction.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, which is shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus may be provided with connection means 21 making it possible to connect it to a network R, in particular of the internet type, so that it is able to communicate through this network with a computer 23 of the operator providing maintenance or with a specific server 25 managed by the latter. In such an embodiment of the invention the transmission of the reactivation code of the apparatus will be done directly by the communication network R. Another advantage of such an embodiment of the invention is that it also allows to transfer to the operator, automatically, almost all operating parameters of the device, which then allows the latter to have a perfect monitoring of the state of it as well as consumptions made, especially in treatment products.

Claims

1. - Apparatus for decontaminating (1) a room by misting a liquid treatment product in the volume thereof, of the type comprising a body provided with spray means whose operation is controlled by management means , in particular by at least one microprocessor (9), characterized in that it comprises monitoring means capable of deactivating it when at least one stopping condition defined in its management means is satisfied, and reactivating its operation. by the input, in said monitoring means, of a specific reactivation code.

2. - Decontamination device according to claim 1 characterized in that it comprises a clock (17) of the backup type, in particular for measuring its time of use (T) since its last maintenance operation.

3.- Decontamination device according to one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that the deactivation condition is constituted by the fact that its use time (T) exceeds an authorized use time (T _L ).

4. Decontamination device according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the management means comprise a non-volatile memory (15), in particular a so-called flash memory, in which operating parameters are stored.

5. Decontamination device according to claim 4 characterized in that one of the operating parameters is constituted by the date of the last maintenance performed and / or a unique reference characteristic of the device.

6. Decontamination device according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that it comprises means (11) adapted to address the user messages relating to its operation and / or maintenance.

7.- decontamination device according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the deactivation condition is constituted by a state of dysfunction thereof.

8. Decontamination device according to one of claims 6 or 7 characterized in that its deactivation follows at least one message relating to its maintenance or a state of dysfunction thereof.

9. Decontamination device according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the reactivation code is obtained by combining a reference specific to each machine, including a serial number thereof, with another reference, including the date of last maintenance of the device.

10. Decontamination device according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the apparatus is provided with connection means (21) and communication with a network, including Internet type, able to allow him to communicate with a server remote (23,25) of which it receives in particular the code of reactivation.

11. Decontamination device according to claim 10 characterized in that it comprises means (21) adapted to transmit by said network (R) remote communication its operating parameters to said server (23,25).