Patent Publication Number: US-2023143746-A1

Title: Antimicrobial apparatus for tubing

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a divisional of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/156,093, filed Jan. 22, 2021, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/965,378, filed Jan. 24, 2020. The entire contents of the aforementioned applications are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present invention relates to an antimicrobial apparatus for tubing. 
     SUMMARY 
     Many consumer and commercial devices utilize tubing (e.g. plastic, glass, etc.) to transport liquids and gases intended for human exposure or consumption. Non-limiting examples of such consumer and commercial devices include coffee machines, ice machines, nebulizers, and vending machines. The tubing used in such devices may be susceptible to the development of harmful mold and bacteria, which may be inadvertently consumed by people using the devices. 
     In one aspect, the application provides a system including a tube for transferring fluid, a fiber optic cable that extends through an interior of the tube, and a light source configured to project high intensity narrow spectrum light into the fiber optic cable. 
     Other aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a front view of a lighting assembly according to one embodiment. 
         FIG.  2    is a side view of the lighting assembly illustrated in  FIG.  1    according to one embodiment. 
         FIG.  3    is a side view of the lighting assembly illustrated in  FIG.  1    according to another embodiment. 
         FIG.  4    is a side view of the lighting assembly illustrated in  FIG.  1    according to another embodiment. 
         FIG.  5    is a block diagram of a system including the lighting assembly illustrated in  FIG.  1    according to one embodiment. 
         FIG.  6    is a block diagram of a system including more than one of the lighting assembly illustrated in  FIG.  1    according to one embodiment. 
         FIG.  7    is a block diagram of a system including more than one of the lighting assembly illustrated in  FIG.  1    according to another embodiment. 
         FIG.  8    is a block diagram of an antimicrobial system including a fiber optic cable according to one embodiment. 
         FIG.  9    is a block diagram of an antimicrobial system including a fiber optic cable according to another embodiment. 
         FIG.  10    is a front view of an antimicrobial system including a fiber optic cable according to some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Before any embodiments are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not limited in its application to the details of the configuration and arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are capable of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof are meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. 
     In addition, it should be understood that embodiments may include hardware, software, and electronic components or modules that, for purposes of discussion, may be illustrated and described as if the majority of the components were implemented solely in hardware. However, one of ordinary skill in the art, and based on a reading of this detailed description, would recognize that, in at least one embodiment, the electronic-based aspects may be implemented in software (e.g., stored on non-transitory computer-readable medium) executable by one or more electronic processors, such as a microprocessor and/or application specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”). As such, it should be noted that a plurality of hardware and software based devices, as well as a plurality of different structural components, may be utilized to implement the embodiments. For example, “servers,” “computing devices,” “controllers,” “processors,” etc., described in the specification can include one or more electronic processors, one or more computer-readable medium modules, one or more input/output interfaces, and various connections (e.g., a system bus) connecting the components. 
       FIGS.  1 - 4    illustrate a luminaire, or lighting assembly,  100  that is configured to transmit High-Intensity Narrow Spectrum, or ultraviolet, light according to some embodiments of the application. The lighting assembly  100  may be, for example, a purpose-built solid-state lighting assembly configured to provide on-demand and/or continuous disinfectant light to an object being cleaned, such as a tube or other fluid carrying medium. The lighting assembly  100  may include a housing  105 , a printed circuit board (PCB)  110 , one or more light sources  115 , and an optional optical system  120  ( FIG.  4   ). 
     The housing  105  provides a mechanical base for lighting assembly  100  on which other components of the lighting assembly  100  are mounted. The housing  105  is illustrated as being generally rectangular in shape; however, it should be understood that the housing  105  may also be constructed to have a circular, elliptical, or other type of shape. The housing  105  may be constructed from plastic and/or thermally conductive materials (for example, aluminum alloys) such that housing  105  provides a heat sink for the heat dissipated by light sources  115  during operation of the lighting assembly  100 . 
     The housing  105  further includes a hole, or opening,  125  formed in the housing  105 . The opening  125  is sized and shaped to enable tubing and/or tubing couplings and connectors to pass through it. In some embodiments, the opening  125  is formed in the center of housing  105  such that it is fixed in size and position. In other embodiments, the opening  125  may have an adjustable size that is configurable to receive tubing and tubing connectors of varying shapes and sizes. For example, the opening  125  may be adjusted to receive tubing of a diameter that lies within in a predetermined range, such as 0.25-0.5 inches. In some embodiments, the housing  105  further includes a tool that is configured to remove undesirable coatings from tubing passing through opening  125  in the housing  105 . In such embodiments, the tool may be implemented as a blade, or similar edge tool, that selectively protrudes from the inner periphery of the opening  125 . Accordingly, the blade tool may be configured to strip or scrape undesirable coatings from tubing as it passes through opening  125  of the housing  105 . In some embodiments, the inner periphery of the opening is lined with an abrasive material, such as sandpaper, that may be used to remove undesirable coatings from the tubing. 
     The housing  105  is configured to support a printed circuit board (PCB)  110  on which light sources  115  are mounted. In some embodiments, the PCB  110  may be annular in shape and positioned on the housing  105  such that an opening in the PCB  110  aligns with the opening  125  of the housing  105 . Accordingly, the opening in PCB  110  is sized and shaped to enable the tubing and/or tubing couplings and connectors passing through opening  125  to pass through it as well. Although illustrated as being generally annular in shape, in other embodiments, the PCB  110  may take the form of any one of a variety of shapes (for example, a rectangle or trapezoid) that includes an opening configured to receive tubing and/or tubing connectors and couplings. In some embodiments, the PCB  110  does not include an opening. 
     The PCB  110  may be operatively coupled to a variety of components of lighting assembly  100 , such as a controller having an electronic processor, a memory, a power supply, switching elements, and the one or more light sources  115 . The controller may be configured to selectively provide power from the power supply to the one or more light sources  115  continuously, on an on-demand basis, on a scheduled basis, and/or in accordance with operation of a device in which the lighting assembly  100  is located. The controller may additionally be configured to adjust or alter the brightness, emission pattern, and/or temperature of the light emitted by light sources  115 . In some embodiments, the power supply of lighting assembly  100  receives power from the device in which the lighting assembly is located. In other embodiments, the power supply may receive power directly from an AC source, such as a wall outlet, or directly from a DC source, such as a battery. The power supply may include a plurality of power converting elements such as AC/DC converters, DC/AC converters, AC/AC converters, and DC/DC converters. 
     In some embodiments, such as the illustrated embodiment of  FIGS.  1 - 4   , the one or more light sources  115  are surface mounted on PCB  110 . In other embodiments, the one or more light sources  115  may be mounted directly on the housing  105  of lighting assembly  100 . In some embodiments, the light sources  115  are configured to emit high-intensity narrow-spectrum light (HINS) having disinfectant and germicidal properties. In particular, the light sources  115  may be configured to emit 405 nanometer (nm) light that has significant antimicrobial properties with respect to a wide variety of bacterial and fungal pathogens that may be present in tubing and/or other fluid carrying mediums. In other embodiments, the light sources  115  may be configured to emit ultraviolet (UV) light. In some embodiments, the one or more light sources  115  may be implemented as, for example, light emitting diodes (LEDs) that are designed to emit 405 nm light. In some embodiments, the one or more light sources may be implemented as lasers, or laser diodes, capable of emitting 405 nm light. Although lighting assembly  100  is illustrated as including eight light sources  115 , it should be understood that lighting assembly  100  may include any number of light sources  115  that is desirable (for example, one, two, ten, etc.) 
       FIG.  2    illustrates a side view of the lighting assembly  100 . As shown in  FIG.  2   , the PCB  110  and, equivocally, light sources  115  may be mounted on a first surface  130  of the housing  105  of lighting assembly  100 . Accordingly, during operation of the lighting assembly  100 , the light sources  115  emit disinfectant HINS light that is projected in a generally outward direction with respect to the first surface  130 . In some cases, it may be desirable for a lighting assembly  100  to be capable of emitting disinfectant HINS light in plurality of directions. Thus, as illustrated in  FIG.  3   , a lighting assembly  100   b  may include a first PCB  110   a , a first set of light sources  115   a , a second PCB  110   b , and a second set of light sources  115   a . The first PCB  110   a  and, equivocally, the first set of light sources  115   a  are mounted on the first surface  130  of housing  105  of the lighting assembly  100   b . The second PCB  110   b  and, equivocally, the second set of light sources  115   b  are mounted on a second surface  131  of housing  105  of the lighting assembly  100   b . Accordingly, during operation of the lighting assembly  100   b , the first set of light sources  115   a  emit disinfectant HINS light that is projected in a generally outward direction with respect to the first surface  130 , and the second set of light sources  115   b  emit disinfectant light that is projected in a generally outward direction with respect to the second surface  131 . In some embodiments, additional light sources may be mounted on side surfaces of the lighting assembly  100 . 
     In some embodiments, the light sources  115  may include built-in optical devices that are configured to direct the projection of disinfectant light emitted by the light sources  115  in a desired direction. In some embodiments, as illustrated in  FIG.  4   , the lighting assembly  100  includes optical system  120 , which is configured to direct the projection of light emitted by light sources  115  in a desired direction. In particular, the optical system  120  is configured to optically couple the disinfectant HINS light emitted by the lights sources  115  to a tube or equivalent fluid transferring medium that is to be serviced by lighting assembly  100 . 
     The optical system  120  may be mechanically coupled to the first surface  130  of the housing  105  in a position such that the optical system  120  protrudes outwards from the first surface  130  and guides or directs the disinfectant HINS light emitted by the light sources  115  towards a tube or equivalent fluid transferring medium being serviced by the lighting assembly  100 . Although illustrated as having a generally conic shape, the optical system  120  may be implemented as any shape that is desirable for directing light in a desired direction. For example, in cases in which the optical system  120  is designed to bend light around a corner, the optical system  120  may be constructed as having an elbow shape. 
     The optical system  120  may be composed of a combination of optically transmissive materials, such as acrylic, and/or optically reflective materials, such as glass or aluminum. The optical system  120  may include optical features that are configured to facilitate the optical coupling of disinfectant HINS light emitted by the light sources  115  and a tube or equivalent fluid transferring medium being serviced by the lighting assembly  100 . The optical features may be laser-engraved or otherwise manufactured features formed in surfaces of the optical system  120 . For example, the optical features may be formed with injecting molding, vacuum forming, three-dimensional printing, application of a laminated film, embossing, engraving, etching, or the like. The optical features may be implemented in the optical system  120  in a uniform and/or non-uniform manner. 
       FIG.  5    illustrates a system  500  in which a luminaire, such as lighting assembly  100 , may be implemented. The system  500  may be, for example, a consumer or commercial device that utilizes tubing to transport liquids and/or gases intended for human exposure or consumption. Non-limiting examples of such consumer and commercial devices include, for example, coffee machines, ice machines, nebulizers, and vending machines. The tubing used in such devices may be susceptible to the development of harmful mold and bacteria, which may be inadvertently consumed by people using the devices. For example, the tubing in ice machines may be most susceptible to the growth of harmful mold and bacteria when residual amounts of standing water accumulate in the ice machine tubing. System  500  is illustrated as including a single lighting assembly  100  and a single tube  505 ; however, it should be understood that system  500  may include any number of tubes  505  and as many lighting assemblies  100  as are necessary to supply the tubes  505  with ample disinfectant HINS light. 
     In some embodiments, the system  500  is a newly manufactured device in which lighting assemblies  100  are installed at the time of manufacture. In other embodiments, the system  500  is an existing device that was retrofitted by installing lighting assemblies  100  after the time of manufacture. The lighting assembly  100  may be installed in the system  500  in any one of a variety of ways. For example, in some embodiments, the lighting assembly  100  may be fixedly secured to a coupling of the tube  505  such that the coupling of the tube  505  protrudes through and forms a friction fit with opening  125  of the housing  105  of lighting assembly  100 . In a similar manner, the lighting assembly  100  may be fixedly secured directly to the tube  505  such that tube  505  protrudes through and forms a friction fit with opening  125  of the housing  105  of lighting assembly  100 . In some embodiments, the lighting assembly  100  may be installed in the system  500  such that the housing  105  of the lighting assembly  100  is mechanically coupled to components of the system  500 . For example, the housing  105  of the lighting assembly  100  may be fixedly secured to an interior structure, such as a wall or beam, of the system  500  via screws, hooks, and/or any other appropriate type of mechanical fastener. 
     The tube  505  of system  500  is illustrated as passing through the opening  125  in the housing  105  of lighting assembly  100 ; however, as explained above, in some embodiments a coupling or connector device for the tube  505  may alternatively pass through the opening  125 . In some embodiments, the tube  505  may constructed from a material that is translucent to and capable of transmitting disinfectant HINS light, such as 405 nm light, throughout its length. For example, the tube  505  may be constructed from translucent plastics, such as polyethylene, and/or glass. In some embodiments in which the tube  505  is constructed from translucent materials, an additional sheathing may be added to an interior and/or exterior surface of the tube  505  that is designed to enhance the ability of tube  505  to reflect and/or transmit disinfectant HINS light, such as 405 nm light, throughout its length. The sheathing may include, for example, serrations, engravings, and/or similar optical features designed to enhance the ability of the tube  505  to reflect and/or enable travel of disinfectant HINS light throughout its length. 
     In some embodiments of the system  500 , such as embodiments in which the system  500  is a preexisting device, the tube  505  may be constructed from transparent materials such as clear plastic or glass that are incapable of reflecting and/or transmitting disinfectant HINS light through its length. In such embodiments, a sheathing and/or reflective coating may be applied to the interior and/or exterior surface of the tube  505  such that tube  505  is enabled to reflect and/or transmit disinfectant HINS light through its length. In some embodiments, the tube  505  may include an opaque coating that prevents the tube  505  from being optically coupled to the lighting assembly  100 . In such embodiments, the specialized tool that is optionally included in the lighting assembly  100  may be used to remove the opaque coating from the tube  505 . Accordingly, a sheathing and/or reflective coating may then be applied to the interior and/or exterior surface of the tube  505  such that tube  505  is enabled to reflect and/or enable the travel of disinfectant HINS light throughout its length. 
     During operation of the lighting assembly  100  installed in system  500 , the controller of the lighting assembly  100  selectively supplies power to the light sources  115 . When the controller of lighting assembly  100  delivers power to the light sources  115 , the light sources  115  emit disinfectant HINS light, such as 405 nm light. The optical system  120  of lighting assembly  100  optically couples the disinfectant HINS light that is emitted by light sources  115  to the tube  505  such that the emitted disinfectant HINS light is projected into and through the tube  505 . As the emitted disinfectant HINS light is projected into the tube  505  by optical system  120 , the disinfectant HINS light travels through the tube  505 , such as in a manner that is similar to the manner in which light travels through an fiber optic cable. Accordingly, the disinfectant HINS light traveling through the tube  505  actively kills existing and prevents the growth of new mold and bacteria inside the tube  505 . 
     As described above, the optical system  120  is configured to guide the projected disinfectant HINS light into the tube  505 . In addition to the optical system  120 , the tube  505  itself may utilize edge lighting or wave guide principles to direct the disinfectant HINS light through an outer surface of and into the tube  505 . When there are no contaminants present on a surface of or within the tube  505 , the disinfectant HINS light passes through the material of the tube  505  and travels through the length of the tube  505  as described above. However, when a contaminant is present on a surface of or within the tube  505 , the contaminant may alter the optical properties on the surface of the tube  505 . When the optical properties on the surface of the tube  505  are altered by a contaminant, the disinfectant HINS light is directed to bombard, or otherwise concentrate its direction of travel towards, the contaminant until the contaminant is eliminated from the surface of tube  505  by the disinfectant HINS light. Accordingly, the utilization of edge lighting or wave guide principles enables the disinfectant HINS light projected by light sources  115  to automatically target the contaminant. 
     In some embodiments, the controller of lighting assembly  100  continuously provides power from the power supply to the light sources  115 . In such embodiments, the lighting assembly  100  provides continuous disinfectant HINS light to the tube  505 . In some embodiments, the controller of lighting assembly  100  provides power from the power supply to the light sources  115  when fluid is not flowing through tube  505 . For example, in the case in which system  500  is an ice machine, the controller of lighting assembly  100  may activate the light sources  115  at times in which water is not flowing through the tube  505 . In other embodiments, the controller of lighting assembly  100  may be configured to activate the light sources  115  even when fluid is flowing through the tube  505 , for the fluid in the tube  505  may aid in the transmission of disinfectant HINS light throughout the tube  505 . In some embodiments, the controller may activate the light sources  115  on a scheduled basis. For example, the controller may be configured to repeatedly activate the light sources  115  for fifty-five minutes and deactivate the light sources  115  for five minutes. 
     In some systems, more than one lighting assembly  100  may be desired to provide ample disinfectant HINS light throughout the entire length of tubing in the system. For example, a tube&#39;s ability to transmit disinfectant HINS light may vary with the material composition, size, and shape of the tube. Moreover, in systems in which the tubing has poor optical qualities, disinfectant HINS light may emitted from the light sources  115  of a lighting assembly  100  may leak out of the tubing as it travels through the tubing. 
     Accordingly,  FIG.  6    illustrates a system  600  in which serial lighting assemblies  100  are installed and configured to emit disinfectant HINS light to a tube  605 . The lighting assemblies  100  operate in the same manner as described above with respect to system  500 ; however, the multiple lighting assemblies  100  may be capable of transmitting disinfectant HINS light throughout the entire length of tube  605  with a more consistent intensity. For example, if the tube  605  of system  600  is composed of a material from which disinfectant HINS light escapes as it travels through the tube  605 , additional lighting assemblies  100  that are positioned along the length of tube  605  provide additional disinfectant HINS light to the tube  605  to supplement disinfectant HINS light lost to leakage. In some embodiments, the serial lighting assemblies  100  may be positioned along the length of tube  605  in evenly spaced intervals, such at eighteen inch intervals. In some embodiments, additional lighting assemblies  100  may be positioned at points on the tube  605  in which disinfectant HINS light is more likely to leak from the tube  605 . For example, additional lighting assemblies  100  may be placed immediately in front of and/or behind a bend in the tube  605 . Similarly, additional lighting assemblies  100  may be placed on either side of a connector or coupling of tube  605 . 
     In some systems, such as system  700  illustrated in  FIG.  7   , serial lighting assemblies  100   a  and  100   b  may be installed on a tube  705  such that they emit disinfectant HINS light in opposing directions. Accordingly, the disinfectant HINS light emitted from lighting assembly  100   a  is projected through the tube  705  in a direction from left to right, and the disinfectant HINS light emitted from lighting assembly  100   b  is projected through the tube  705  in a direction from right to left. In some systems, the lighting assembly  100   b  illustrated in  FIG.  3    may be installed to provide disinfectant HINS light to tubing in opposing directions. 
       FIG.  8    illustrates an alternative embodiment of a system  800  designed to provide disinfectant HINS light to tubing utilized by consumer and/or commercial devices to transport liquids and/or gases intended for human exposure or consumption. System  800  includes a tube  805  that is configured to transport liquids and/or gases intended for human exposure or consumption, a fiber optic cable  810 , and a light source  815 . The fiber optic cable  810  may be installed inside of the tube  805  such that it extends throughout the length of the tube  805 . The light source  115  is configured to project disinfectant HINS light into the fiber optic cable  810  such that the fiber optic cable  810  transmits the disinfectant HINS light throughout the length of tube  805 , providing active disinfection of existing and prevention of the growth of new mold and bacteria inside the tube  805 . 
     In some embodiments, the light source  815  may be a standalone light source  815  operatively coupled to a controller that is configured to selectively active the light source  815  to emit disinfectant HINS light, such as 405 nm light, into the fiber optic cable  810 . The standalone light source  815  may be implemented as, for example, an LED, a laser, a laser diode, or any other suitable solid-state light source capable of emitting disinfectant HINS light. In a similar manner as described above, the controller that is operatively connected to standalone light source  815  may be configured to activate the standalone light source  815  continuously, when fluid is not flowing through the tube  815 , when fluid is flowing through the tube  815 , on a regularly scheduled basis, or for any other period of time that is desirable. 
     In other embodiments of the system  800 , such as the embodiment illustrated in  FIG.  9   , the light source  815  may be implemented as the lighting assembly  100  from the embodiments described above. In such embodiments, when the controller of lighting assembly  100  activates the light sources  115  to emit disinfectant HINS light, the optical system  120  guides the emitted disinfectant HINS light into the fiber optic cable  810 . Accordingly, the disinfectant HINS light emitted by the light sources  115  travels through the fiber optic cable  810  and actively disinfects existing and prevents the growth of new mold and bacteria in the tube  805 . 
       FIG.  10    illustrates a variety of non-limiting example embodiments for installing a fiber optic cable  810  in a tube  805 . For example, as illustrated by embodiment 1 of  FIG.  10   , the fiber optic cable  810  may be installed in tube  805  such that it is fixed to an interior wall  820  of the tube  805 . In such embodiments, the fiber optic cable  810  may extend eccentrically through the tube  805  such that the center of optic fiber cable  810   a  does not align with the center of tube  805 . As illustrated by embodiment 2 of  FIG.  10   , the fiber optic cable  810  may be installed in the tube  805  such that it is held in place by a plurality of supporting members  825  that extend from the interior wall of tube  805 . Although illustrated as there being two supporting members  825  that hold the fiber optic cable in place in embodiment 2, in some embodiments, there may be more or less than two supporting members  825  holding the fiber optic cable  810  in place. For example, as illustrated by embodiment 3 of  FIG.  10   , there may be only one supporting member  825  that holds the fiber optic cable  810  in place. In some embodiments, such as embodiment 4 illustrated in  FIG.  10   , the fiber optic cable  810  is installed such that it is free floating within the tube  805 .