Anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus and process

Abstract

An anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus includes a chassis and a container containing an anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid. There is a means mounted on the chassis for applying plasma-based surface activation unto a stationary surface underneath the chassis. There is also a means mounted on the chassis for spraying the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid on the surface underneath the chassis. A third means mounted on the chassis for shining UV light onto the surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid. Optionally, there is a means mounted on the chassis for baking the surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid. The plasma-based surface activation may be replaced with the spraying of a non-photocatalytic prime coating. The equivalent anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating processes for coating stationary surface are also introduced.

Claims

1. An anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus, comprising: a chassis; a container containing an anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid; means mounted on the chassis and capable of applying plasma-based surface activation onto a stationary underneath the chassis; means mounted on the chassis and capable of spraying the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid onto the plasma-activated surface underneath the chassis; means mounted on the chassis and capable of shining an ultraviolet (UV) light onto a surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid; and optionally, means mounted on the chassis and capable of baking the surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid, wherein the chassis is movable.

2. An anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus, comprising: a chassis; a container containing an anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid; and a container containing a non-photocatalytic prime coating liquid; means mounted on the chassis and capable of spraying the non-photocatalytic prime coating liquid onto a stationary surface underneath the chassis; means mounted on the chassis and capable of spraying the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid onto the surface sprayed with the non-photocatalytic prime coating liquid; means mounted on the chassis and capable of shining an ultraviolet (UV) light onto the surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid; and optionally, means mounted on the chassis and capable of baking the surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid, wherein the chassis is movable.

3. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 1 or 2, further comprising means mounted to the chassis and capable of moving the chassis over the stationary surface.

4. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the chassis is portable by hand.

5. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means mounted on the chassis and capable of spraying the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid comprises more than one spray heads.

6. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the means capable of shining the UV light onto the surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid comprises an elongated UV light.

7. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the baking means comprises an elongated infrared (IR) light.

8. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein photocatalytic particles of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid are photocatalytic activated by ambient light with at least 95% of a spectral power distribution (SPD) in a visible light wavelength range greater than 400 nm.

9. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid has at least 90% light transparency.

10. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid comprises at least 95% net weight of water and less than 5% of net weight of photocatalytic particles.

11. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein a main active ingredient of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid comprises titanium dioxide (TiO.sub.2).

12. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the main active ingredient of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid comprises rhombus-shaped anatase-type titanium dioxide (TiO.sub.2).

13. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 12, wherein the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid contains at least one other active metal ingredient comprising silver, gold, copper, zinc, nickel, or a combination thereof.

14. The anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein a main active ingredient of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid comprises a noble metal nanoparticle comprising gold (Au) or sliver (Ag).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying drawings are included to aid further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate a select number of embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the detailed description below, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, as some components may be shown to be out of proportion to size in actual implementation in order to clearly illustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

(2) FIG. 1 schematically depicts a diagram of a moveable anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus.

(3) FIG. 2 schematically depicts a diagram of another anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus.

(4) FIG. 3 schematically depicts a flowchart of an anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating process.

(5) FIG. 4 schematically depicts a flowchart of an anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Overview

(6) Various implementations of the present disclosure and related inventive concepts are described below. It should be acknowledged, however, that the present disclosure is not limited to any particular manner of implementation, and that the various embodiments discussed explicitly herein are primarily for purposes of illustration. For example, the various concepts discussed herein may be suitably implemented in a variety of lighting apparatuses having different form factors.

Example Implementations

(7) The FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of the present disclosure 100, which includes a chassis 101 and a container 102 containing anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid. A plasma injection head 103 is mounted on the chassis. Multiple stationary spray heads 104 are used for spraying the anti-bacterial photocatalytic liquid evenly onto the surface under the chassis with a single pass. Also mounted on the chassis are an elongated UV light 105 and an elongated IR light 106. The apparatus is on wheels 107a-107d and with a push-handle 108. During operation, the apparatus is pushed from right to left. So the plasma injection head 103 will hover over the untreated surface first. The plasma injection head 103 applies plasma to the plastic or rubber surface to activate the surface. Then the spray heads 104 spray the anti-bacterial photocatalytic liquid onto the surface activated by the plasma. The elongated UV light 105 then activates the photocatalytic particles on the surface and enhance the binding of the photocatalytic film onto the surface. Finally, the elongated IR light bakes and dries the anti-bacterial photocatalytic liquid. It is foreseeable to add a motor to the chassis so as to make it self-propelling. It is also foreseeable to add a control subsystem to control the self-propelling speed, the spray rate of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic liquid, the intensity of the UV light, and/or the temperature of the IR light.

(8) For ceramic, terra cotta, or concrete surface, plasma is not effectively in activating the surface for photocatalytic coating. A more suitable option for preparing the surface for photocatalytic coating is through the application of a prime coating. FIG. 2 is an embodiment of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating apparatus of the present disclosure 200, which includes a chassis 201 and a container 202 containing anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid, and a container 203 containing the prime coating liquid. The plasma injection head 103 in FIG. 1 is now replaced with multiple spray heads 204 for spraying the prime coating. As the apparatus is moving from right to left in operation, the surface is underneath the chassis is first sprayed with the prime coating liquid, and followed by the spraying of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid. It is foreseeable to add another baking/drying means between spraying of the prime coating liquid and the spraying of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid so as to dry up the prime coating liquid appropriately before the spraying of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid.

(9) The FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating process of the present disclosure 300 using plasma for surface activation. The process consists 4 steps. Step 1 301 is the applying plasma surface activation onto a stationary surface. Step 2 302 is the spraying a non-photocatalytic prime coating liquid onto a stationary surface. Step 3 303 is the shining UV light onto the surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid. Then optionally, Step 4 304 is the baking the surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid. The emphasis on the stationary surface is that this disclosure is meant for photocatalytic coating onto a pre-installed surface, as opposed to a photocatalytic coating process during manufacturing where the object to be coated is moving through the photocatalytic coating equipment. The Step 4 baking process is optional because natural curing (natural drying) of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid is suitable for some surface material.

(10) The FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating process of the present disclosure 400 using a prime coating for surface preparation. The process consists 4 steps. Step 1 401 is the spraying a non-photocatalytic prime coating liquid onto a stationary surface. Step 2 402 is the spraying an anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid onto a stationary surface. Step 3 403 is the shining UV light onto the surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid. Then optionally, Step 4 404 is the baking the surface sprayed with the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid. It is foreseeable to add another baking/drying step between Step 1 and Step 2 so as to dry up the prime coating liquid appropriately before the spraying of the anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating liquid.

ADDITIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE IMPLEMENTATION NOTES

(11) Although the techniques have been described in language specific to certain applications, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or applications described herein. Rather, the specific features and examples are disclosed as non-limiting exemplary forms of implementing such techniques.

(12) As used in this application, the term or is intended to mean an inclusive or rather than an exclusive or. That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, X employs A or B is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then X employs A or B is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles a and an as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean one or more, unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.