Sanitiser

Abstract

The present invention provides a sanitiser 10 for sanitising a user, having a plasma generator 20, for generating a plasma 22, a reservoir 30, for storing plasma 22 generated by the plasma generator 20 and having one or more inlets 32 connected to the plasma generator 20 and a first and second outlet 34, 36. One or more fluid movers 40, 42 cause movement of the plasma 2 from the first and second outlets under the control of a controller 50 such as to cause the flow of plasma 22 out of one or other or both of said outlets 34, 36.

1 . A sanitiser having an external casing, a first portion and a second portion:
 a) a plasma generator, for generating a plasma;   b) a reservoir, for storing the plasma generated by the plasma generator and having one or more inlets connected to the plasma generator and a first and a second outlet,   c) one or more fluid movers, for causing movement of the plasma,   d) a controller, for controlling the one or more fluid movers such as to cause a flow of the plasma out of one or other or both of said outlets.   
     
     
         2 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said plasma generator is contained within the reservoir. 
     
     
         3 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said sanitiser has an upper portion and a lower portion and wherein said first outlet of the reservoir comprises a divergent outlet towards the upper portion of the sanitiser for directing the plasma generally outwardly and downwardly from the sanitiser. 
     
     
         4 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and further including a drier. 
     
     
         5 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and further including a drier comprising a jet drier for creating a jet of air and an outlet for directing said air towards a user and wherein said second outlet of the reservoir is positioned proximal to the hand drier outlet for directing the plasma towards a user. 
     
     
         6 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and further including a drier comprising a heater for heating air and an outlet for directing said heated air towards a user and wherein said second outlet of the reservoir is positioned proximal to the drier outlet for directing the plasma towards a user. 
     
     
         7 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and further including a drier and a drier outlet for directing said air towards a user wherein said second outlet from the reservoir surrounds the drier outlet. 
     
     
         8 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said second outlet includes an outlet plenum comprising a plenum inlet and a plenum outlet, the plenum outlet offset from the plenum inlet to slow the velocity and control the direction of the plasma directed to a user. 
     
     
         9 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said controller is operable in a first mode to cause the operation of the one or more fluid movers such as to cause flow of the plasma out of said first outlet alone. 
     
     
         10 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said controller is operable in a second mode to prevent operation of the one or more fluid movers such as to store the plasma in said reservoir. 
     
     
         11 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said controller is operable in a third mode to cause an operation of the one or more fluid movers such as to cause flow of the plasma out of the second outlet alone. 
     
     
         12 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said controller is operable in a fourth mode to cause an operation of the one or more fluid movers such as to cause flow of the plasma out of both the first and second outlets simultaneously. 
     
     
         13 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and including a presence sensor for sensing the presence of a user and wherein said controller is operably connected to said sensor for receiving a signal upon the detection of a user. 
     
     
         14 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 13  and wherein said controller is operably connected to the presence sensor and to the one or more fluid movers for ceasing the operation thereof and, thereby, preventing flow of the plasma from said reservoir for a period of time upon the detection of a user. 
     
     
         15 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 13  and wherein said controller is operably connected to said hand drier for detecting the operation thereof and is operably connected to the presence sensor and to the one or more fluid movers for allowing flow of the plasma from said reservoir out of said second outlet and towards the user upon cessation of the flow of air from the hand drier. 
     
     
         16 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said controller is operable upon receipt of a signal from a presence sensor to operate the one or more fluid movers to cause the plasma to be directed out of said first outlet when no user is detected. 
     
     
         17 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 13  and wherein said controller is operable upon receipt of a signal from the presence sensor to operate the one or more fluid movers to cause the plasma to be directed out of said first outlet when a user is detected. 
     
     
         18 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said one or more fluid movers comprise one or more fans. 
     
     
         19 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 18  and wherein a first fan of said one or more fans is at the first outlet to the reservoir whilst a second fan of said one or more fans is at the second of said outlets to the reservoir. 
     
     
         20 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said one or more fluid movers from the reservoir comprise a single bi-directional fan. 
     
     
         21 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  and wherein said one or more inlets to the reservoir comprises one or other of the first and second outlets. 
     
     
         22 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 4  and including a timer connected to the controller for causing the operation of the one or more fluid movers after the cessation of flow from the hand drier. 
     
     
         23 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  further including a display for informing the user when the sanitising process is complete. 
     
     
         24 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 23  wherein the display comprises a plurality of LEDs for indicating the time remaining until the sanitising process is complete. 
     
     
         25 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  further including a gas sensor for detecting the concentration of a particular gas, operably connected to the controller, the controller including a comparator for comparing a gas concentration threshold for the particular gas with the concentration of the particular gas detected by the gas sensor and operable to activate or deactivate the plasma generator when the concentration of the particular gas is at or passes the gas concentration threshold. 
     
     
         26 . The sanitiser according to  claim 25  wherein the controller is operable to deactivate the plasma generator if the concentration of the particular gas is at or above the gas concentration threshold. 
     
     
         27 . The sanitiser according to  claim 25  wherein the particular gas is ozone. 
     
     
         28 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 1  for sanitising the hands of a user. 
     
     
         29 . The sanitiser as claimed in  claim 4  wherein the drier is a hand drier.