Granted Patent B2

US 7,884,335 · App. 12/016,841 · Granted Feb 8, 2011

Abstract

Claims (27)

1. A water treatment system comprising:

a chamber having an inlet for receiving ozonated water and a transparent portion configured to allow UV light to pass;

a UV light source having a first portion and a second portion, the first and second portions configured to effectively pass UV light from a single light bulb at a first wavelength and a second wavelength,

respectively; and

a housing having an air inlet and an air outlet, the housing configured to secure the UV source and to receive a portion of the chamber, wherein the UV source and the chamber are affixed to the housing such that the inside of the transparent portion of the chamber is exposed to the first portion of the UV light source for killing bacteria and disassociating ozone molecules within the ozonated water and wherein the second portion of the UV light source is configured to convert oxygen molecules to ozone molecules in the air between the air inlet and the air outlet, and separate from the chamber, to form ozone gas.

2. The water treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the chamber comprises entirely of the transparent portion.

3. The water treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the first wavelength is set at a wavelength where micro organisms are killed and ozone molecules are disassociated.

4. The water treatment system of claim 3 , wherein the first wavelength has a range of 250-280 nanometers.

5. The water treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the transparent portion is configured to allow UV light to pass without altering a wavelength characteristic of the UV light.

6. The water treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the second wavelength is set at a wavelength where oxygen molecules are converted to ozone molecules.

7. The water treatment system of claim 6 , wherein the second wavelength has a range of 170-200 nanometers.

8. The water treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the UV light bulb is configured to emit a first range of wavelength, and wherein the transparent portion of the chamber is configured to alter the first range wavelength to kill micro organisms and disassociate ozone molecules.

9. The water treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the UV light bulb is configured to emit a first range of wavelengths, and wherein the first portion of the UV light is configured to alter the first range of wavelengths to kill micro organisms and disassociate ozone molecules.

10. The water treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second wavelengths generated by the first and second portions of the UV light are the same, and wherein the transparent portion of the chamber is configured to alter the first wavelength such that it will eliminate micro organisms and disassociate ozone molecules.

11. The water treatment system of claim 1 , further comprising a wavelength transformer placed inside the housing between the first portion of the UV light source and the transparent portion of the chamber, wherein the wavelength transformer is configured to transform the first wavelength such that it will eliminate micro organisms and disassociate ozone molecules.

12. The water treatment system of claim 10 , wherein the first and second wavelengths are selected such that they convert oxygen molecules into ozone molecules.

13. The water treatment system of claim 10 , wherein the air inlet and outlet are positioned such that air flow from the air inlet passes through the first and second portions of the UV light source to the air outlet.

14. The water treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the transparent portion comprises quartz, glass or plastic.

15. A sanitizing system comprising:

a chamber to hold a water-ozone combination fluid, the chamber having a transparent wall; and

a single UV light bulb having a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first portion being coupled to the chamber such that the inside of the transparent wall is exposed to UV light of a first wavelength generated by said single UV light bulb for killing micro-organisms and disassociating ozone molecules in the water-ozone combination fluid in the chamber, and wherein the second portion has a second wavelength configured to convert oxygen molecules into ozone molecules for generating ozone gas outside of the chamber.

16. The sanitizing system of claim 15 , wherein the first wavelength is approximately 260 nanometers.

17. The sanitizing system of claim 15 , wherein the second wavelength is approximately 185 nanometers.

18. The sanitizing system of claim 15 , wherein the transparent wall is configured to allow UV light to pass without altering a wavelength characteristic of the UV light.

19. The sanitizing system of claim 15 , further comprising a wavelength converter disposed between the UV light source and the chamber, wherein the wavelength converter converts a wavelength of the UV light to a second wavelength that kills micro-organisms and separates ozone molecules.

20. The water treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the air outlet is in fluid communication with a mixer configured to mix the generated ozone gas with water to form the ozonated water, the mixer being disposed upstream of the chamber.

21. The water treatment system of claim 20 , wherein the UV light source is parallel to the direction of fluid flow through the chamber.

Assignments (11)