Patent ID: 6710357
Filing Date: 2004-03-23
Classification: A61L

Abstract:
An ultraviolet light irradiation apparatus comprising:an irradiation tunnel having an entrance and having an exit longitudinally displaced from said entrance, a conveyor system for supporting articles to be irradiated from beneath and for transporting them along a longitudinal treatment path from said entrance to said exit, and including a plurality of different longitudinally sequential segments, whereby said different sequential segments contact different laterally separated locations on said articles from beneath, whereby all locations on said article are left unobscured from beneath at some location on said treatment path within said irradiation tunnel between said entrance and said exit thereof, at least one upper ultraviolet irradiation source located within said irradiation tunnel for irradiating said articles from above as they are transported along said treatment path, and at least one lower ultraviolet irradiation source for irradiating said articles from beneath at said plurality of different longitudinally sequential segments of said conveyor system.