SIPHON TRAP DISINFECTION SYSTEM

Abstract

A disinfection device for a trapped-liquid comprising of a drain trap for a liquid flow having an inner surface to trap a volume of the trapped-liquid and a helical coil capable of generating metal ions to eliminate biological cells attached to said drain trap. An electric valve is connected to a tap water and the helical coil and a power supply provides a current and a voltage to the helical coil for a period of ionization and a sensor system installed in the drain trap to sense flow of a liquid through the drain trap. A timer system to determine the length of a stagnant-time that the trapped-liquid is stagnant in the drain trap; and to determine the length of an ionization-time for the period of ionization.

Claims

1. A disinfection device for a trapped-liquid comprising: a. a drain trap for a liquid flow having an inner surface to trap a volume of said trapped-liquid; b. a helical coil capable of generating metal ions to eliminate biological cells attached to said drain trap; c. an electric valve connected to a tap water from a distal end and connected to said helical coil from a proximal end; d. a power supply to provide a current and a voltage to said helical coil for a period of ionization; e. a sensor system installed in the drain trap to sense flow of a liquid through said drain trap; f. a timer system to determine the length of a stagnant-time that said trapped-liquid is stagnant in the drain trap, and to determine the length of an ionization-time for said period of ionization, and g. a control system to control said period of ionization, and to turn on the power to the helical coil and said electric valve when a timer system indicates that the trapped-liquid is stagnant for a predefined said stagnant-time and turn off the power when the ionization is performed for a predefined said ionization-time or when the liquid flows in the drain.

2. The disinfection device of claim 1, wherein said drain trap is any one of a U-trap, a P-trap, a J-trap, a full S-trap, a ¾ S-trap, a bag trap, or a Y-trap.

3. The disinfection device of claim 1, wherein said helical coil comprise of a copper-silver alloy.

4. The disinfection device of claim 3, wherein said copper-silver alloy comprises of 60-90% copper and 10-40% silver.

5. The disinfection device of claim 1, wherein said helical coil made from the same material and said control system alternates the polarity.

6. The disinfection device of claim 1, wherein said power supply is a DC battery.

7. The disinfection device of claim 1, wherein said sensor being any one of a conductive sensor, a capacitive sensor, a hydrostatic or a float sensor, a laser based sensor, or an acoustic sensor.

8. The disinfection device of claim 1, wherein said sensor being a conductive sensor comprising of a first and a second conductive plates, wherein the first plate being installed inside the trapped-liquid and the second plate being installed outside of the trapped-liquid, and thereby, the resistance between the two plates determines if the liquid is flowing or not.

9. The disinfection device of claim 1, wherein said ionization-time is 3 to 10 minutes.

10. A disinfection device for a trapped-liquid comprising: a. a metallic drain trap having an interior defining a flow-path, said metallic drain trap being a first electrode; b. a copper wire being a second electrode is placed inside said flow-path to generate metal ions to eliminate biological cells, the copper wire is not in contact with said metallic drain trap; c. a power supply to provide a current and a voltage to said copper wire for a period of ionization; d. a sensor system installed in the drain trap to sense flow of a liquid through said drain trap; e. a timer system to determine the length of a stagnant-time that said trapped-liquid is stagnant in the drain trap; and to determine the length of an ionization-time for said period of ionization; and f. a control system to control said period of ionization, and to turn on the power to the copper wire when a timer system indicates that the trapped-liquid is stagnant for a predefined said stagnant-time and turn off the power when the ionization is performed for a predefined said ionization-time or when the liquid flows in the drain.

11. A method of disinfecting a trapped-liquid in a drain trap having an inner surface, said method comprising steps of; a. attaching a helical coil to the drain trap between a tap water and an electric valve; b. installing a sensor on the drain trap to sense the flowing of a liquid inside the drain; c. turning on a power to said helical coil and said electric valve if the liquid is not flowing for a predefined stagnant-time; d. ionizing the tap water for a predefined ionization-time, and then stopping the ionization, and e. repeating steps c. and e.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said stagnant-time is five minutes.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein said ionization-time is obtained from:
t=(predetermined concentration (ppb)−b)V/aI wherein t is the ionization time in seconds, I is the current in mA that is applied to the electrode, V is the volume of the trapped water in liters, and wherein constants a and b are predetermined based on the size and shape of a drain.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein a=10.7 and b=100.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein said predetermined concentration of ions is 800-1200 ppb of a copper ion in the trapped-liquid.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein said predefined ionization-time is 3 to 10 minutes.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein said method further alternating the polarity in said helical coil.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Embodiments herein will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings provided to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the claims, wherein like designations denote like elements, and in which:

[0029] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] FIG. 3(a-e) show a varieties of embodiments for the present invention;

[0032] FIG. 4(a-e) show a varieties of embodiments for the present invention, and

[0033] FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of the disinfection process of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0034] One embodiment of the present disinfection device is shown in FIG. 1. A sink trap 10 is installed under a sink and connected to the sink drain 50. The sink trap 10 can be of any design and can be of any material, e.g., plastic or metal. FIG. 1 shows a U-shaped pipe 10 having a lower U-bend 11, an inlet 18 and an outlet 19. The U-shaped pipe 10 is connected to the drain channel 50 from its inlet 18 and to the sink drain from its outlet 19. A small amount of water 25 becomes trapped in the lower U-bend 11. The trapped water 25 blocks the back flow of gases from the drain to the open sink area. Bacteria may grow in this trapped water 25, if it remains stagnant for a period of time. The present sink trap 10 is equipped with an ionization system to destroy any micro-biological cells in this trapped water 25. To achieve this, a ionization chamber 20 which is separated from the sink trap 10 connected to tap water 100 via an electric valve 60.

[0035] The Ionization chamber 20 comprises of a helical coil copper pipe 21 which has another electrode inside (Cu or Ag) to generate the ions. The specific helical coil shaped 21 is designed to reduce the water flow by dropping the pressure which enable the present invention to generate enough amount of ions.

[0036] The electrodes are preferably made of copper-silver alloy. An alloy of 60-90% copper and 40-10% silver is a good alloy to disinfect water. A preferred ratio of 90% copper+10% silver is shown to be very effective to destroy microbiological cells. However, other electrodes, such as titanium electrodes with mixed oxide coatings based on iridium and/or ruthenium oxide, and doped diamond electrodes can also be used. In addition, the electrodes can be of the same material or different materials. However, it is preferred to make the electrodes from the same material, and alternate the polarity on them. This allows that the two electrodes lose mass as the same rate.

[0037] Again as shown in FIG. 1, a control system 70 electronically controls the electrochemical treatment of the trapped water 25. The control system 70 alternatively changes the polarity on the electrodes—one time one electrode is anode and the next time the other electrode is anode. A flow sensor 30 senses the flow of water in the drain channel 50. A power source provides power to the control system 70.

[0038] When the flow sensor 30 senses that there is no water flow in the drain channel 50, the control system 70 commands the electric valve 60 to open and also apply the specific current to the ionization chamber 20. The taped water 100 comes into the ionization chamber 20 and electrochemical treatment happens inside the helical coil 21 to generate ions.

[0039] In another embodiment of the present invention, the copper wire 80 sized to place inside the sink trap 10 as shown in FIG. 2. The copper wire 80 acts as one electrode for the electrochemical treatment inside the water trapped 25 in the sink trap 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the copper wire 80 cab be fixed inside the sink trap 10 by a holder means 81. The body of the sink trap 10 can be act as a second electrode to perform ionization process. If the sink trap 10 is not made of a metal material, the inner surface of the sink trap 10 can be coated by a metal spray. The electrodes generate the electric field needed to deposit the specific amount of ions into the trapped water 25. Each electrode 80 has an exposed area and is connected by wires to a control system 70. The control system 70 provides applied voltage to the electrode plates 10 and 80 and causes the release of ions. The control system 70 is mounted to the outside wall of the sink trap 10 by an adhesive means.

[0040] The siphon trap disinfection unit 10 is further equipped with a water flow sensor 30 to detect the water flow in the siphon. The sensor unit 30 comprises of two plates mounted on the inner wall of the lower U-bend 11. Plates are electrically connected through an ohm meter. The resistance between the two plates changes when there is water between them or not. If the water flows inside the siphon, the resistance is low, and if there is no water, the resistance is high. Therefore, the sensor unit 30 determines if there is water flow or not. The sensor unit 30 senses the trapped water and determines how long the trapped water has been stagnant in the trap. If the water is not flowing, then the trapped water is considered to be stagnant and a timer times the stagnation time. If the water is flowing, then there is no need for ionization, since water is not stagnant. The sensor unit 30 is connected to the control system 70 by wires 31 to determine the ionization period.

[0041] Other types of sensors, such as conductive and capacitive level sensors, hydrostatic pressure level sensors, acoustic, laser and can also be used. For instance, a conductive level sensor suitable for conductive liquids such as water can be used as a sensor. Such sensors comprise of stainless steel plates having a ceramic, polyethylene or Teflon-based isolators between them. Conductive sensors use low voltages and currents and have the additional benefit of being solid-state devices and are very simple to install and use.

[0042] As shown in FIGS. 3(a-e) and 4(a-e), another embodiment of the present invention can have a different design for a siphon trap disinfection unit which provides a constant sterilizing of siphon trap by using the ionization chamber and the copper wire. The siphon trap in the present invention as shown in FIGS. 3(a-e) and 4(a-e) can have varieties of designs. The siphon trap can be any one of full S-trap (a), ¾ S-trap (b), bag trap (c), Y-trap (d), P-trap (e), U-trap or J-trap. As long as the trap can keep the trapped water in a reservoir, the electrochemical treatment in the trap is possible by the method proposed in the present invention.

[0043] FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the process of the present invention. The process in the present invention starts 40 by checking the water flow with the sensor 30. The system continuously checks whether the flow of the water has stopped. When the sensor 30 indicates that there is no flow in the pipes 41, a first timer, stagnation-timer 42, starts timing to determine how long the trapped water is stagnant in the trap. If the water is stagnant for a set period of time, for example five minutes, then the ionization is started 43. The ionization period is determined with a second timer, ionization timer 44, for a set period of time 45, and then stops 46. If the flow starts anytime during the ionization period, the ionization is terminated immediately.

[0044] In order to determine the ionization time, first a desired ionization concentration is determined. This desired concentration level is based on the following equation from the sprayed coating electrodes:

[00001]$\left[\mathrm{Desired}.Math..Math.\mathrm{concentration}.Math..Math.\left(\mathrm{ppb}\right)\right]=\frac{\mathrm{aIt}}{V}+b$

[0045] where I is the current in mA that is applied to the electrodes, t is time in seconds that the current is applied, V is the volume in liters of the trapped water, and a and b are two constant which are determined based on experimentation. Our tests have shown that the desired concentration can be obtained for the following constants: [0046] a=0.17 b=100

[0047] When the concentration in the trapped water reaches to the desired concentration, ionization terminates. Since the concentration is not measured directly, the time required to reach a certain concentration is determined by the above equation. The ionization time based on the above equation is:

[00002]$t=\frac{V}{\mathrm{aI}}.Math.\left[\mathrm{Desired}.Math..Math.\mathrm{concentration}.Math..Math.\left(\mathrm{ppb}\right)-b\right]$

[0048] The controller is set to apply power for the above ionization time. The system continuously checks to see if the water flows in the pipes or not. If the water does not flow, then the ionization will start again after a pre-set period, preferably five minutes. Therefore, the stagnant water in the trap is ionized every five minutes. If the water is flowing 51, the timer to measure the stagnation time is reset to zero 52, and if the trapped water is being ionized, the ionization is immediately stopped 53. Obviously, the first and the second timers can be replaces with one timer.

[0049] A direct current is applied across the electrodes to stimulate the controlled release of ions. The rate at which the ions are released is automatically maintained by a microprocessor in the control unit. The disinfection process is attributed to the positively charged copper-silver ions that form electrostatic bonds with negatively charged sites on microorganism cell walls. Thereby the present invention supplies electronically controlled amount of copper-silver ions continuously to the water in order to control microbial growth.

[0050] If the water flow is detected by the level sensor in any steps of the present invention, the timer restarts or the ionization process is terminates and the water flow checking and timer counting executed again.

[0051] In another embodiment of the present invention, the trapped water is ionized in a preset interval. In this embodiment there is no need for water flow sensor, and the water is ionized regularly to prevent bacteria growth. For example, the system can perform the ionization every two hours and rinse the trapped water.

[0052] The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

[0053] With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum relationships for the parts of the invention in regard to size, shape, form, materials, function and manner of operation, assembly and use are deemed readily apparent and obvious to those skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.