Object decontamination apparatus and method
Provided is a decontamination apparatus including a base, and a source that emits UVC light at a suitable intensity to at least partially decontaminate a target object and render the target object pathogen reduced. An adjustable support is coupled to the base and includes an adjustment mechanism that can be manipulated to adjust a position of the source relative to the base. A controller is operatively connected to the source to control emission of the UVC light and establish at least one of a suitable duration of a decontamination process and a suitable intensity of UVC light to render the target object pathogen reduced.
1. A decontamination apparatus capable of reducing contaminants by at least a 1 log 10 reduction of contagions on a surface in a room comprising:
a base;
a source that emits UVC light at a suitable intensity to at least partially decontaminate a target object on which the UVC light is imparted to render the target object pathogen reduced;
an adjustable support coupled to the base that supports the source, the adjustable support comprising an adjustment mechanism that is manipulable to adjust a position of the source relative to the base;
a redundant occupant sensing system that includes a plurality of sensors that each independently senses a different property indicative of the presence or absence of a room occupant; and
a controller that is in communication with the redundant occupant sensing system and is operatively connected to the source to control a decontamination cycle, wherein the controller is configured to terminate the decontamination cycle when the presence of a room occupant is detected.
2. The decontamination apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the property of the plurality of sensors indicative of the presence or absence of a room occupant are selected from the group comprising:
movement within a predetermined distance from the decontamination apparatus;
audible sounds within the predetermined distance from the decontamination apparatus;
changes in light within the predetermined distance from the decontamination apparatus; and
whether a door through which an occupant may enter the room has changed from closed to open or open to closed.
3. The decontamination apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors can be deactivated.
4. The decontamination apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to allow the source to operate in an occupied mode when the presence of a room occupant is detected.
5. The decontamination apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to restart the decontamination cycle when the sensors in the redundant occupant sensing system return to their normalized values indicating the absence of a room occupant.
6. The decontamination device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is in communication with a computer-readable medium capable of storing a record of the decontamination cycle.
7. The decontamination apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the computer-readable medium is at least one of an SD card configured to be inserted into an SD card port on the controller, a hard drive built into the controller, a non-transitory computer-readable medium provided to the controller, a remote hard drive located over a communication network, or a non-transitory medium remotely located over a communication network.
8. The decontamination apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the computer-readable medium is configured to log a record of the decontamination cycle to document a time when the decontamination cycle was completed.
9. The decontamination apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the computer-readable medium is configured to log a record of premature termination of the decontamination cycle.
10. The decontamination apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the record of premature termination comprises data concerning at least one of a cause of an interruption, a time of an interruption, and information indicative of a specific location in which an interruption occurred.
11. The decontamination apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is capable of reducing contaminants by at least a 3 log 10 reduction of contagions on a surface.
12. The decontamination apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is located remotely from the decontamination apparatus.
13. The decontamination apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller wirelessly communicates with the decontamination apparatus.
14. The decontamination apparatus of claim 13 further comprising a transceiver.
15. The decontamination apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the transceiver wirelessly communicates with the controller.
16. The decontamination apparatus of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors is a remote sensor located remotely from the decontamination apparatus.
17. The decontamination apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the remote sensor is a door sensor located at a door through which an occupant may enter the room.
18. The decontamination apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the door sensor is a beam of light that is broken if an occupant enters the room through the door.
19. The decontamination apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the remote sensor is a pressure sensor operatively connected to a bed in the room.