Patent Grant
11253621
The invention is generally related to door handles, and more specifically to sanitizing door handles.
Conventional door handles suffer from actual or perceived cleanliness or sanitation issues. Such door handles may include, but are not limited to, restroom door handles, medical/hospital door handles, refrigerator or other food storage door handles, hotel/motel door handles, airplane bathroom handles, school door handles, clean room door handles, and other door handles.
In some instances, door handles with improved cleanliness and/or sanitation are needed. In some instances, door handles with fluid dispensers, such as, but not limited to sanitizing fluid dispensers, are needed.
Various implementations of the invention are directed toward a sanitizing door handle and/or components of such sanitizing door handle such that the sanitizing door handle is sanitized or cleaned in some fashion. Various implementations of the invention are directed toward a manual sanitizing door handle and/or components of such sanitizing door handle. In such implementations, a user manually operates a pump that dispenses a fluid, such as, but not limited to, a sanitizing fluid, onto a grip of the sanitizing door handle. Various implementations of the invention are directed toward an auto-sanitizing door handle. In such implementations of the invention, the user operates the sanitizing door handle, and such operation automatically actuates the pump to dispense the fluid onto the the grip of the sanitizing door handle. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is dispensed directly onto an exterior of the sanitizing handle. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is dispensed into an interior of the sanitizing handle and flows through to the exterior of the sanitizing handle. In various implementations of the invention, the fluid selected for use with various implementations of the invention controls, in part, the level of “cleaning” or “sanitizing” of the door handle from sterilized to disinfected to cleaned or to some other level of cleanliness.
Various implementations of the invention are directed to a hand sanitizing dispenser that dispenses a fluid, such as a sanitizing fluid, onto hand(s) of a user when the user operates or otherwise engages a door handle, such as, but not limited to, the sanitizing door handles discussed above. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is dispensed directly onto the hands of the user. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is dispensed onto the exterior of the sanitizing handle and is subsequently passed onto the hands of the user through contact with the sanitizing door handle. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is dispensed into an interior of the sanitizing handle, flows through to the exterior of the sanitizing handle, and subsequently is passed onto the hands of the user through contact with the sanitizing door handle. In various implementations of the invention, the fluid selected for use with various implementations of the invention controls, in part, the level of “cleaning” or “sanitizing” of the hands of the user from sterilized to disinfected to cleaned or to some other level of cleanliness.
Various implementations of the invention are directed toward a sanitizing door handle and/or components of such sanitizing door handle such that the sanitizing door handle is sanitized or cleaned in some fashion. Various implementations of the invention are directed toward a manual sanitizing door handle and/or components of such sanitizing door handle. In such implementations, a user manually operates a pump that dispenses a fluid, such as, but not limited to, a sanitizing fluid, onto a grip of the sanitizing door handle. Various implementations of the invention are directed toward an auto-sanitizing door handle. In such implementations of the invention, the user operates the sanitizing door handle, and such operation automatically actuates the pump to dispense the fluid onto the the grip of the sanitizing door handle. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is dispensed directly onto an exterior of the sanitizing handle. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is dispensed into an interior of the sanitizing handle and flows through to the exterior of the sanitizing handle. In various implementations of the invention, the fluid selected for use with various implementations of the invention controls, in part, the level of “cleaning” or “sanitizing” of the door handle from sterilized to disinfected to cleaned or to some other level of cleanliness.
Various implementations of the invention are directed to a hand sanitizing dispenser that dispenses a fluid, such as a sanitizing fluid, onto hand(s) of a user when the user operates or otherwise engages a door handle, such as, but not limited to, the sanitizing door handles discussed above. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is dispensed directly onto the hands of the user. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is dispensed onto the exterior of the sanitizing handle and is subsequently passed onto the hands of the user through contact with the sanitizing door handle. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is dispensed into an interior of the sanitizing handle, flows through to the exterior of the sanitizing handle, and subsequently is passed onto the hands of the user through contact with the sanitizing door handle. In various implementations of the invention, the fluid selected for use with various implementations of the invention controls, in part, the level of “cleaning” or “sanitizing” of the hands of the user from sterilized to disinfected to cleaned or to some other level of cleanliness.
These, and other implementations and/or inventions and/or components thereof are now described.
Door handle 100 may be configured as a grip, a knob, a lever, a button, a pushbar, a pullbar, a latch, or other suitable handle by which a user opens, closes, latches, unlatches, locks, unlocks, or otherwise operates door handle 100 to open or close a door to which door handle 100 is operatively attached. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to push open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to pull open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to push to actuate a latch to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to pull to actuate the latch to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to rotate up to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to rotate down to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to rotate up to actuate the latch to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to rotate down to actuate the latch to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to slide left to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to slide right to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to slide left to actuate the latch to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to slide right to actuate the latch to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to be depressed to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to be depressed to actuate the latch to open the door. In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 may be configured to open the door or actuate the latch in other manners as would be appreciated.
According to various implementations of the invention, door handle 100 includes a door handle grip 120. In some implementations of the invention, door handle grip 120 may be fabricated from a variety of materials, including, but not limited to: metal (e.g., aluminum, titanium, stainless steel, etc.), plastic, polymer, ceramic, fiberglass, wood, rubber, other materials that may be used to fabricate door handle grip 120, and/or combinations thereof (e.g., polymer coated metal, etc.), as would be appreciated.
In some implementations of the invention, door handle grip 120 is operatively coupled to, for example, a door latch linkage 160 and/or a door latch actuator 170 as illustrated in
According to various implementations of the invention, when the user operates door handle 100 via door handle grip 120, a fluid is dispensed onto door handle grip 120. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is a sanitizing fluid that is dispensed onto door handle grip 120 to sanitize door handle grip 120. In some implementations of the invention, the sanitizing fluid is dispensed directly onto door handle grip 120 to sanitize door handle grip 120. In some implementations of the invention, the sanitizing fluid is dispensed into an interior of door handle grip 120 and flows through door handle grip 120 to sanitize door handle grip 120. In various implementations of the invention, the sanitizing fluid may be dispensed onto door handle grip 120, before, during, and/or after the operation of door handle 100 by the user.
According to various implementations of the invention, when the user operates door handle 100 via door handle grip 120, a fluid is dispensed onto the hand(s) of the user. In some implementations of the invention, the fluid is a sanitizing fluid that is dispensed onto the hand(s) of the user to sanitize the hand(s). In some implementations of the invention, the sanitizing fluid is dispensed directly onto the hand(s) of the user to sanitize the hand(s). In some implementations of the invention, the sanitizing fluid is dispensed directly onto door handle grip 120 to sanitize the hand(s) of the user when the hand(s) come into contact with handle grip 120. In some implementations of the invention, the sanitizing fluid is dispensed into an interior of door handle grip 120 and flows through door handle grip 120 to sanitize the hand(s) of the user when the hand(s) come into contact with handle grip 120. In various implementations of the invention, the sanitizing fluid may come into contact with the hand(s) before, during, and/or after the operation of door handle 100 by the user.
In some implementations of the invention, door handle 100 includes a fluid container assembly disposed in interior housing chamber 112.
According to various implementations of the invention, fluid pump 140 is coupled to fluid container 130 and configured to pump a fluid (not otherwise illustrated) from inside of fluid container 130 into tubing 310. In some implementations of the invention, tubing 310 is operatively coupled to fluid pump 140; however, in other implementations of the invention, tubing 310 may be operatively coupled directly to fluid container 130 as would be appreciated. In some implementations of the invention such as that illustrated in the drawings, fluid pump 140 is a diaphragm pump which operates by mechanically depressing the diaphragm of fluid pump 140 to force some amount of the fluid out of fluid container 130, through fluid pump 140, and into tubing 310. In some implementations of the invention, other types of pumps may be used, including various other mechanical type or electrical type pumps. In some implementations of the invention, fluid pump 140 may be manually actuated by the user; for example, the user may depress the diaphragm of fluid pump 140 to fluid actuate pump 140. In some implementations of the invention, fluid pump 140 may be indirectly actuated by the user; for example, fluid pump 140 may be indirectly and automatically actuated when the user operates door handle 100, either via cams, levers, linkages, etc., to mechanically actuate fluid pump 140, or via a switch to electrically actuate fluid pump 140, as would be appreciated.
In some implementations of the invention, the fluid may be a sanitizing fluid, which may include any fluid having sterilizing, disinfecting, antiseptic, antimicrobial, and/or other sanitizing or cleaning properties. Active ingredients in the sanitizing fluid may include alcohol-based sanitizing fluids such as, but not limited to, isopropyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, n-proponal, and other alcohol-based fluids; or non-alcohol-based sanitizing fluids such as, but not limited to, benzalkonium chloride (a chemical disinfectant), triclosan (an antiseptic), thymol (an organic antibacterial agent), and/or other non-alcohol-based sanitizing fluids. In some implementations of the invention, the active ingredients may be mixed with a carrier ingredient such as glycerol or other gel-like ingredient to achieve a certain amount of viscosity as would be appreciated. In some implementations of the invention, the active ingredients may be aerosolized to be sprayed onto hand(s) or door handles as would be appreciated. Sanitizing fluids are available from various manufacturers and sold under names, including, but not limited to: Purell®, Germ-X®, CleanWell™, Babyganics®, CVS®, BlumNaturals®, and other manufacturers and/or names.
In some implementations of the invention, tubing 310 facilitates transport of sanitizing fluid from fluid container 130 through distribution manifold 330 to door handle grip 120. In some implementations of the invention, tubing 310 facilitates transport of sanitizing fluid from fluid container 130 to door handle grip 120; in such implementations, door handle grip 120 incorporates distribution manifold 330 or door handle grip 120 functions on its own in a manner similar to distribution manifold 330. In various implementations, tubing 310 may include, but is not limited to: nylon tubing, vinyl tubing, pvc tubing, rubber tubing, Teflon tubing, Tyron tubing, hdpe tubing, PFA tubing, FEP tubing, MFA tubing, PTFE tubing and other types of tubing as would be appreciated.
In some implementations of the invention, distribution holes 510 are sized based on various fluid parameters of the sanitizing fluid, for example, viscosity, evaporation rate, density, and/or other various fluid parameters. In some implementations of the invention, distribution holes 510 may be “self-healing” in the sense that when the sanitizing fluid in distribution manifold 330 is under pressure (e.g., pressure created by fluid pump 140), distribution holes 510 open, allowing sanitizing fluid to be dispensed; and when the sanitizing fluid in distribution manifold 330 is not under pressure, distribution holes 510 close, allowing little, if any, sanitizing fluid to be dispensed. Such self-healing implementations may be configured using, for example, nylon tubing, or the like, as would be appreciated. In some implementations of the invention, distribution manifold 330 is coupled to and/or disposed within door handle grip 120.
In some implementations of the invention, fluid container assembly 300 is a replacement fluid container assembly 300 such that once the fluid is emptied from fluid container assembly 300, such an “empty” fluid container assembly 300 may be removed from door handle 100, and a new fluid container assembly 300 may be installed in door handle 100. In some implementations of the invention, fluid container assembly 300 may be sold together with door handle 100; while in some implementations of the invention, fluid container assembly 300 may be sold separately from door handle 100 as would be appreciated. In some implementations of the invention, fluid container 130 may be refillable without replacing fluid container assembly 300.
In some implementations of the invention, a plurality of grip holes (illustrated, for example, as a plurality of grip holes 430 in
In some implementations of the invention, distribution manifold 330 is operatively coupled to door handle grip 120. In some implementations of the invention, distribution manifold 330 is disposed in interior grip chamber 440 of door handle grip 120. In such implementations, when the fluid is dispensed through distribution manifold 330, the fluid enters interior grip chamber 440 of door handle grip 120 and is subsequently dispensed through grip holes 430 to exterior grip surface 450 of door handle grip 120. In some implementations of the invention, distribution holes 510 are aligned with grip holes 430 to facilitate flow of the fluid through distribution manifold 330 to exterior grip surface 450 of door handle grip 120 as would be appreciated.
In some implementations of the invention, distribution manifold 330 is integrated directly into door handle grip 120. In such implementations, tubing 310 is operatively coupled to door handle grip 120 which in turn functions as both grip and distribution manifold as discussed above.
In some implementations of the invention, check valve 340 is coupled between fluid pump 140 and distribution manifold 330. In some implementations of the invention, check valve 340 is coupled directly to fluid pump 140. In some implementations of the invention, check valve 340 is coupled directly to distribution manifold 330. In some implementations of the invention, check valve 340 is coupled to tubing 310 in between pump 140 and distribution manifold 330 (i.e., check valve 340 coupled between tubing 310A and 310B as illustrated in
According to various implementations of the invention, check valve 340 is configured to allow the fluid from fluid container 130 to flow in only one direction, namely from fluid container 130 to distribution manifold 330. When actuated, fluid pump 140 pumps (i.e., forces) the fluid from fluid container 130 into tubing 310, through check valve 340 and on toward distribution manifold 330. Once pressure from fluid pump 140 subsides, check valve 340 closes to prevent the fluid from flowing back to fluid container 130 and also to maintain pressure in tubing 310 between check valve 340 and distribution manifold 330 until the fluid is dispensed.
In some implementations of the invention, check valve 340 may be shaped or “keyed” to aid in aligning or positioning various components of fluid container assembly 300 in door handle 100. For example,
In some implementations of the invention (not otherwise illustrated), keyed check valve 630 may be directly coupled to distribution manifold 330. In such implementations, keyed check valve receiver 620 may be integrated into door handle grip 120 to align, orient, and/or position distribution manifold 330 in door handle grip. In some implementations of the invention (not otherwise illustrated), keyed check valve 630 and keyed check valve receiver 630 may be disposed at various locations in door handle 100 to maintain alignment, orientation, and/or position of various components of fluid container assembly 300 as would be appreciated.
While keyed check valve 630 is described herein as a single component, it may be separated into two separate components, namely a check valve and a key, as would be appreciated. While fluid pump 140 and keyed check valve 630 are illustrated in
In some implementations of the invention, tubing cap 320 is shaped or “keyed” to a corresponding key hole in distal end 410 of interior grip chamber 440 of door handle grip 120. In some implementations of the invention, tubing cap 320 is sized to friction fit or snap fit tubing cap 320 into the key hole of interior grip chamber 440 of door handle grip 120 to maintain alignment, orientation, and/or position of distribution manifold 330 within interior grip chamber 440 as would be appreciated.
In various implementations of the invention, fluid container 130 (and associated components) are disposed externally to a door handle.
While various implementations of the invention have been described herein in reference to certain door handles illustrated in the drawings, for example, other door handles and configurations thereof may be used as would be appreciated.
This Application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/000,650, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle with External Fluid Container,” filed on Jun. 5, 2018, now granted as U.S. Pat. No. 10,617,777; which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/663,506, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle,” filed on Apr. 27, 2018; this Application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/699,846, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle,” filed on Dec. 2, 2019; which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/000,642, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle,” filed on Jun. 5, 2018, now granted as U.S. Pat. No. 10,494,166; which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/663,506, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle,” and filed on Apr. 27, 2018; this Application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/000,644, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle Fluid Container Assembly,” and filed on Jun. 5, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/663,506, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle,” and filed on Apr. 27, 2018; this Application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/000,646, entitled “Method for Dispensing a Fluid During Door Operation,” and filed on Jun. 5, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/663,506, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle,” and filed on Apr. 27, 2018; this Application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/000,647, entitled “Handle-Mounted Distribution Manifold,” and filed on Jun. 5, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/663,506, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle,” and filed on Apr. 27, 2018; this Application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/000,649, entitled “Distribution Manifold with Integrated Check Valve,” and filed on Jun. 5, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/663,506, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle,” and filed on Apr. 27, 2018; this Application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/000,652, entitled “Electronic Sanitizing Door Handle,” and filed on Jun. 5, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/663,506, entitled “Sanitizing Door Handle,” and filed on Apr. 27, 2018. Each of the foregoing patent applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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