Abstract:
An apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting footwear or the foot of a user. More particularly, a user controlled multi-functioning device that performs both cleaning and disinfecting of footwear upon contact. The cleaning and disinfecting apparatus includes one or more cleaning rollers physically contacting the footwear or foot and one or more disinfectant sources, which may be radiation sources that emits UV rays e.g., or charge particle source that emits a cold plasma blast.

Description:
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST 
     The following description was made in the performance of official duties by employees of the Department of the Navy, and, thus the claimed invention may be manufactured, used, licensed by or for the United States Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The following description relates generally to an apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting footwear. More particularly, a user controlled multi-functioning device that performs both cleaning and disinfecting of footwear upon contact. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Infectious diseases can be spread by shoe traffic and the handling of footwear. One study found that up to about 421,000 units of bacteria may reside on the outside of a shoe. Some of the bacteria found are known for causing intestinal and bloodstream infections, bacterial meningitis and pneumonia. The spread of infectious diseases is highlighted in situations where one moves from one location that houses these bacteria, to another location with organisms that are susceptible to these bacteria. For example, visitors to livestock and agricultural facilities can transmit diseases to the vulnerable livestock and agriculture. Similar risks exist because of shoe traffic to and from medical facilities, residential homes, day cares, schools, and vehicles, particularly vehicles that travel internationally, such as airplanes and cruise and cargo ships. 
     As a solution to this problem, the prior art teaches the use of mats, liquid cleaners and disinfectants, spray-on disinfectants, and the use of pressurized water. These devices all teach cleaning and/or disinfecting of footwear by a single cleaning or disinfecting means. The prior art does not teach a multi-functioning device capable of thoroughly cleaning the footwear by using a combination of cleaning techniques. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one aspect, the invention is a cleaner and disinfectant apparatus for footwear. In this aspect, the cleaner and disinfectant includes a support base having an upper surface having an upper surface window, a lower surface, one or more side surfaces, and a hollow interior within the upper surface, the lower surface, and the one or more side surfaces. The cleaner and disinfectant also includes a plurality of spaced-apart rotatable elongated brushes positioned within the hollow interior of the support base. According to the invention, at least a portion of the each of the plurality of the spaced-apart rotatable elongated brushes extends through the upper surface. The cleaner and disinfectant apparatus also includes a plurality of spaced-apart disinfectant sources projecting one of UV radiation, nano UV radiation, cold plasma, or non-thermal plasma through the upper surface window of the support base. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features will be apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. 
         FIG. 1  is an exemplary perspective top view of a cleaning and disinfecting apparatus, according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exemplary side view of a cleaning and disinfecting apparatus, according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an exemplary sectional front view of a cleaning and disinfecting apparatus through line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is an exemplary block diagram of a cleaning and disinfecting apparatus, according to an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is an exemplary perspective top view of a cleaning and disinfecting apparatus  100 , according to an embodiment of the invention. As outlined below, the cleaning and disinfecting apparatus  100  is provided for cleaning and/or sanitizing footwear. The apparatus  100  may be removably positioned or fixed at any desired location to provide the cleaning and/or disinfecting service. For example, the cleaning and disinfecting apparatus  100  may be positioned at the entrance or within a permanent or temporary medical facility, an agricultural facility, a government building, a daycare building, a residential building, an aircraft, a cruise or cargo ship, or a train. 
     As shown, the cleaning and disinfecting apparatus  100  includes a support base  110  having a front side  111 , a back side  112 , and lateral sides  113  and  114 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the apparatus also includes a plurality of spaced-apart cleaning rollers  120 , which as outlined below, are rotatably mounted within the support base  110 . Each roller  120  may include brushes or bristles, thereby forming an elongated brush, to enhance cleaning.  FIG. 1  also includes a plurality of spaced-apart disinfectant sources  130 , which may be a radiation source or a charged particle source. A radiation source may be a UV tube providing UV rays or nano UV rays for killing bacteria and other germs. A charged particle source may be a cold plasma gun or a non-thermal plasma gun which emit an ionized gas that kills harmful bacteria and germs. Whatever the type, the source  130  is preferably positioned to release the disinfectant medium so that it strikes the footwear at about 90 degrees in order to optimize the disinfecting process. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the cleaning rollers  120  and the disinfectant sources are arranged in an alternating array. This alternating arrangement optimizes cleaning and disinfecting by allowing the charged particle disinfectant or the radiation disinfectant access to bacteria and other germs, as dirt, dust, bacteria, and other micro particles are being physically removed by the rotation of the cleaning rollers  120 .  FIG. 1  shows an alternating arrangement having two spaced-apart cleaning rollers  120  and three spaced-apart disinfectant sources  130 . It should be noted that depending on the requirements, other alternating arrangements may be utilized. For example, the cleaning and disinfecting apparatus  100  may be an arrangement having only one cleaning roller  120  flanked by two disinfectant sources  130 , or for example, the apparatus  100  may have three cleaning rollers  120  in an alternating arrangement with four disinfectant sources  130 . 
     It should be noted that the disinfectant source  130  may be selected based on the application. Thus, in situations where cold plasma particles are most effective, a cold plasma source would be selected, as opposed to a UV source. Alternatively, there may be situations where it is desired to have different types of disinfectant used simultaneously. Thus for example, in such a situation, the illustration of  FIG. 1 , the middle disinfectant source  130  may be a UV source, and the outer sources  130  may be cold plasma sources. Alternatively, the middle source may be a cold plasma source and the two outer sources may be a UV source. 
       FIG. 2  is an exemplary side view of a cleaning and disinfecting apparatus  100 , according to an embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 2  shows the support base  110  having a lower surface  115  and an upper surface  117 .  FIG. 2  further shows the cleaning rollers  120  and the disinfectant sources  130  substantially within the support base, with a top portion of the cleaning rollers  120  protruding through complementary openings  118  in the upper surface  117 . The upper surface  117  also includes an upper surface window  119  (shown as dotted lines in  FIG. 1 ). Depending on the application, i.e., whether the disinfectant source  130  is a radiation source or a charged particle source, the window  119  may be a transparent material or may be a material having openings to allow the charged particles through. 
     As shown the apparatus  100  also includes a debris collection tray  170  below the rollers  120  at the lower surface  115  for collecting debris removed from the footwear or foot. The collection tray  170  may be mounted for sliding into and out of the support base  110 . Also shown are cleaner supply cartridges  180  which may be included, for supplying cleaner to the cleaning rollers. The cleaner supply may be a solid or a liquid cleaner, and the cleaner supply cartridges  180  may be movable into and out of contact with the rollers. This movement into and out of contact with the roller  120  may be facilitated by an actuator, outlined below. Arrows  182  show the displacement movement of the disinfectant cartridges  180  from an engaged position to a disengaged position. According to one embodiment, the cleaner supply cartridge  180  supplies liquid cleaner to the roller  120 , so when the cartridge  180  is engaged with the roller  120 , wet brush cleaning is activated. Dry brush cleaning may be performed when the cartridge  180  is retracted from the roller  120 . 
       FIG. 2  shows bidirectional motors  140  which are provided for driving the cleaning rollers  120 .  FIG. 2  also shows gear trains  145  through which the cleaning rollers  120  are rotated. Because the motors  140  are bidirectional, the cleaning rollers may be optionally rotated in the same direction or may be rotated in opposite directions. It should be noted that even though  FIG. 2  shows one motor  140  per cleaning roller  120 , other embodiments may have a single motor  140  for driving all the rollers  120  by means of a gear train that allows the single motor  140  to drive all the rollers  120 . 
       FIG. 2  also shows an arm  150  that extends vertically from the support base  110 . A lower portion of the arm  150  is attached to the support base  110 . Gripping handles  155  are formed at an upper portion of the arm  150 . A user my grip the handles  155  for support and balance when cleaning and disinfecting her shoes. The arm  150  may include a telescoping joint  151  to adjust according to a user&#39;s height. The cleaning and disinfecting apparatus  100  may be powered by any known means. For example, the apparatus  100  may be powered via a power cord  185 , which may be attached to a conventional wall unit. An ON/OFF switch may be positioned at an upper part of the arm  150  to power up and shut off the apparatus  100 . 
       FIG. 3  is an exemplary sectional front view of a cleaning and disinfecting apparatus through line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 3  shows one of the cleaning rollers  120  being mounted on an axle  320  about which the roller  120  rotates.  FIG. 3  further shows the gear train  145  connected to the roller for delivering rotational movement powered by the motor  140 . Also shown in the disinfectant cartridge  180  extending the entire width of the cleaning roller  120 , and the collection tray  170 . 
       FIG. 3  also shows a control panel  160  which a user may use to manually control the operation of the apparatus  100 . The control panel may include an input device  162  such as a keypad, touchpad, or the like, and a display  164 , such as for example, an LCD or flat screen.  FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a control arrangement that may be included in the cleaning and disinfecting apparatus  100 , according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown, the apparatus  100  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  210 , a main memory  220 , the input device  162 , the display device  164 , the bidirectional motor  140 , the disinfectant source  130 , which as outlined above, may be a radiation source or a charged particle source. Also illustrated is the actuator  181  associated with each supply cartridge  180  for moving each cleaner supply cartridge  180  into and out of engagement with the respective cleaning roller  120 . Each of the constituents of the controller arrangement is connected to one another through a bus  205 , so that necessary information can be transmitted to the constituent elements. 
     The CPU controls the operation of the cleaning and disinfecting machine based on input commands from the user via the input device  162  and a simple operations program stored on the main memory  220 . Thus in operation, when a user stands on the upper surface  117  of the support base  110 , the user may control the speed, and direction of rotation of the respective cleaning rollers, via the control panel  160 . Thus, rollers may be rotated in similar or opposite directions. A user may also control whether to engage the cleaning supply cartridge  180  with roller  120  when cleaning, allowing for wet or dry cleaning. Alternatively, a user may decide if to use the cleaning rollers  120  only or to use the disinfectant sources  130  only, or if to use both rollers and disinfectant sources simultaneously. Therefore for example, a user may, via the control panel, shut off the cleaning rollers  120  and activate the disinfectant sources  130  only. 
     What has been described and illustrated herein are preferred embodiments of the invention along with some variations. The terms, descriptions and figures used herein are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations. For example, although the cleaning and disinfectant apparatus is outlined for working on footwear, the apparatus may also be used to clean and disinfect feet. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many variations are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention, which is intended to be defined by the following claims and their equivalents, in which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated.