METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TEXTILES DISINFECTION IN HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a UVC technology-based system for disinfecting textiles comprising an ultraviolet light source comprising a power supply; a housing to contain the light source and to protect it from any impact; an electronic card responsible for controlling the switching on or off of the ultraviolet light source; a driving means that activates the movement of the drum and an electrical resistance that allows the generation of heat to start the drying cycle inside the household appliance. The system allows disinfecting textiles by up to 99.9%, saving energy and, at the same time, reducing the process time and damage to the textiles.

Claims

1. A system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum comprising: an ultraviolet light source; a power supply to activate the ultraviolet light source; a housing for housing the ultraviolet light source, wherein the housing is inside the drum of the household appliance; a driving means that activates the movement of the drum; and an electronic card in communication with the power supply of the ultraviolet light source and the driving means to control their activation/deactivation.

2. The system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 1, further comprising a heat source to generate heat inside the household appliance, wherein said heat source is also controlled by the electronic card.

3. The system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet light source is selected from the group comprising at least one lamp, at least one array of LEDs or combinations thereof and wherein the ultraviolet light radiated by said ultraviolet light source has a wavelength ranging from about 250 nm to about 290 nm.

4. The system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 3, wherein the lamp is selected from a halogen lamp or a bulb lamp.

5. The system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 1, wherein the power supply comprises an electronic means.

6. The system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 5, wherein the power supply is an electrical ballast.

7. The system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 1, wherein the housing of the ultraviolet light source is installed in an inner region of the drum that can directly irradiate the textiles, preferably in the upper bearing of the drum of the household appliance.

8. The system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a grid to protect the ultraviolet light source from any impact.

9. The system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 2, wherein the heat source comprises an electrical resistance or a combustion system.

10. The system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 1, wherein the household appliance is a dryer.

11. A method for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum comprising: turning on an ultraviolet light source for a certain time to irradiate the textiles and internal components of said household appliance; wherein controlling the movement of the drum and switching on the light source is carried out by means of an electronic card in communication with said elements.

12. The method for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 11, wherein the wavelength of the ultraviolet light radiated by the ultraviolet light source is in the range of about 240 nm to about 290 nm.

13. The method for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 11, wherein the ultraviolet light source is turned on while the drum is in motion.

14. The method for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 11, further comprising: stopping the movement of the drum for a certain time before turning on the ultraviolet light source; and, repeating all the steps as many times as necessary.

15. The method for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 14, wherein the time the drum stops is about 1 minute and wherein the time during which the ultraviolet light source is turned on is about 13 seconds.

16. The method for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance with a drum of claim 11, further comprising alternately applying UVC light and heat by means of a heat source.

17. A household appliance comprising: a drum; and the system for disinfecting textiles of claim 1.

18. The household appliance of claim 17, wherein said household appliance is selected from a dryer with a heat pump and a dryer with a condensing system.

19. The household appliance of claim 18, wherein the dryer is an open cycle dryer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The illustrative embodiment can be described with reference to the accompanying figures, whereby:

[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates a front right perspective view of the UVC technology-based system for disinfecting textiles applied in a dryer; and

[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed view of the light source assembly in a dryer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The following detailed description is exemplary only and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable those skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. For the purposes of the present description, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “posterior”, “right”, “front”, “vertical”, “horizontal” and their derivatives will refer to the invention as oriented in the figures. In addition, there is no intention to be subject to any explicit or implicit theory presented in the technical field above, background, brief summary or the following detailed description.

[0014] It should also be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the attached claims. Therefore, the specific dimensions and other physical characteristics related to the embodiments described herein should not be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

[0015] The present invention may present several modifications and alternative constructions, some of which are detailed in the drawings below. However, it should be clear that the intention is not to limit the invention to a particular embodiment or form, but rather the present invention should cover changes, additions and modifications as part of its scope. Independent aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the detailed description and drawings.

[0016] The present invention relates to a system for disinfecting textiles in a household appliance (100) comprising an ultraviolet light source (110) that is activated by a power supply. In a preferred embodiment, the power supply (110) comprises electronic means. Preferably, the power supply (110) is an electrical ballast. Said ultraviolet light source (110) is configured to be installed inside the drum of the household appliance. In the illustrated embodiment, said ultraviolet light source (110) is installed in an inner region of the drum that can directly irradiate the textiles, preferably in the upper bearing of a dryer drum (FIG. 2).

[0017] In one embodiment of the invention, the ultraviolet light source (110) is selected from the group comprising at least one lamp, at least one array of LEDs, or combinations thereof. The lamp can be any selected by the person skilled in the art, for example, a halogen lamp or a bulb lamp.

[0018] Said ultraviolet light source (110) has the function of radiating ultraviolet light onto the textiles inside the drum and to the internal components of the household appliance, for example, the drum, baffles, air diffuser and suction duct to eliminate up to 99.9% of viruses and bacteria, reducing the amount of microorganisms present in the textiles and preventing their growth inside the household appliance, thus preventing them from being transferred to the textiles to be placed inside in the next cycle.

[0019] In one embodiment of the invention, the ultraviolet light source (110) is placed inside a housing (114) comprising a grid (111) to protect it from any impact, which can be made of any suitable material, for example, plastic or quartz.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the ultraviolet light is short-wave (UVC) to enable efficient removal of microorganisms from the textiles. Therefore, its wavelength ranges from about 250 nm to about 290 nm.

[0021] The invention also comprises an electronic card (113) responsible for controlling switching the ultraviolet light source (110) on or off, depending on the embodiment in which the present invention is used, as will be detailed later. Said electronic card (113) is also responsible for turning on or off a driving means (112) that activates the movement of the drum and a heat source (115) that allows the generation of heat to start the drying cycle inside the household appliance. The heat source (115) may comprise an electrical resistance or a combustion system.

[0022] The system of the present invention is intended to be applied in a dryer, preferably an open cycle dryer, as well as in a dryer with a heat pump or with a condensing system.

[0023] The present invention also provides a UVC technology-based method for disinfecting textiles, said method being able to have different embodiments, as detailed below.

[0024] In a first embodiment, the UVC light disinfection system of the present invention can be applied in any drying cycle, activating or deactivating the ultraviolet light source (110) by means of the electronic card (113), at the convenience of the user. In this embodiment, the ultraviolet light source (110) is on 100% of the time.

[0025] In a second embodiment, the system is applied in a special disinfection cycle comprising stopping the movement of the drum and turning the ultraviolet light source (110) on at controlled time intervals; that is, prior to the end of a drying cycle, the electronic card (113) deactivates the driving means (112) of the drum, stopping its movement so that the ultraviolet light source (110) irradiates all the components of the household appliance and the textiles inside it. This pattern (stopping the movement of the drum and irradiating all the components of the household appliance together with the textiles with ultraviolet light) can be repeated as many times as necessary.

[0026] As an example, a possible disinfection cycle for a drying process with a total duration of 1.5 hours is described below.

[0027] Pause #1: 1-minute pause (deactivation of the driving means) and radiation of UVC light

[0028] Drum rotation for 13 seconds

[0029] Pause #2: 1-minute pause (deactivation of the driving means) and radiation of UVC light

[0030] Drum rotation for 13 seconds

[0031] Pause #3: 1-minute pause (deactivation of the driving means) and radiation of UVC light

[0032] Drum rotation for 13 seconds

[0033] As the person skilled in the art must understand, the number of pauses and rotations are parametric, so they can be adjusted according to the needs of each case.

[0034] In a third embodiment, UVC light and heat are applied alternately. The duration and number of applications between one technology and another will be defined by the person skilled in the art, according to the specific needs of each case.

[0035] The method and system of the present invention allow to efficiently reduce the amount of microorganisms in the textiles, as well as to reduce the time of the drying cycle (up to 50%), since disinfection is carried out within the same drying cycle, which also allows for energy savings and less damage to the textiles by reducing the process time and the use of high temperatures. In addition, the proposed method provides a flexible alternative to existing methods, since it allows its application in different embodiments, at the user's convenience.

[0036] A person skilled in the art can modify the structure described herein. However, it should be noted that this description relates to preferred embodiments of the invention, and is provided for illustrative purposes only, and should not be understood as limiting the invention. All obvious modifications in the spirit of the invention, such as changes in the shape, material, and dimensions of the elements that make up the invention, should be considered within the scope of the attached claims.