Patent Publication Number: US-2018036446-A1

Title: Mobile unit for rapid group cleaning of uniforms and or sports gear and related method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This is a perfection of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/370,378, filed on Aug. 3, 2016, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Unlike the high heat/humidity “ozone action” days of pollution alerts in the city of the co-inventors, the benefits of using ozone gas, O 3 , are generally known as a purifier and/or antibacterial agent. Recently, there was introduced an individualized device for cleaning one&#39;s CPAP mask, during the day. 
     It is also known to use ozone treatments in a one-on-one machine for cleaning sports equipment per se. See, for example, freshgear.com, sani-sport.com and/or teamcleangear.com. Some of these are provided as laundry additives and/or alternatives. Still others employ an individualized unit for “gassing” one&#39;s sports gear clean using a limited exposure to ozone gas. 
     It would be tedious and very time consuming to use the foregoing practices for treating an entire team&#39;s sports gear, school band uniforms and/or firehouse gear. It is further the case that prior O 3  machines required dropping off one&#39;s shoulder pads, skates, helmets, etc. for an overnight treatment in a small batch operation for pickup the next day, or days later . . . not unlike a cleaners for pressing one&#39;s shirts and suits. 
     What if one could devise a system for bulk cleaning uniforms and/or sports gear to reduce the germs, and smells of the same? What if such bulk cleansing took less time, or as little time as it might take to treat one&#39;s little league (or deck hockey) team to a postgame pizza or round of ice cream? And what if that cleaning “system” came TO the customer rather than lugging a dozen sets of skates and sweaty gloves to a bulk treatment facility? 
     This invention addresses all of the foregoing needs. It does not claim novelty in using ozone gas to cleanse (and fumigate) sports gear per se. But it DOES provide a mobile system that can deliver a rapid cleansing to a whole team&#39;s set of gear . . . dare we say: in situ? 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Rather than bringing one&#39;s STUFF to the cleaners, this invention brings the cleaner to the team . . . at the playing site, most often, or to a neighborhood, or individual residence within said neighborhood. And, rather that sitting around a treatment facility for the hours it might take to fully treat one set of pads, skates and gloves for one, maybe two players, in one of the known individualized treatment units . . . then repeating that cycle of wash-n-wait over and over until the equipment for all 12-15 players have been cleaned or “semi-sterilized” via ozone immersion, this invention enables everyone to be treated altogether. No fuss and no need to figure out ways to entertain a dozen fidgety pre-teens (or young adults) while the team&#39;s gear gets subjected to a mass/group cleansing. Nor is there a need for coaches and/or parents to prioritize whose gear gets treated in the first cycle, second . . . and all the way to the last of 10 or 12 such treatments. 
     This invention accomplishes the foregoing, preferred in situ treating of bulk equipment, more preferably “used” sports equipment, by driving a mobile unit or truck up to a given location for group exposures of the equipment to ozone gas (for 30 minutes or less). That truck would include: a high capacity fan, power generator, an ozone generator, an oxygen concentrator (in this instance, one housed within a steel case on a side exterior of the truck proper); an ozone level monitor; and at least one of: (i) a standing rack; and (ii) a rotating rack, each rack designed for holding a plurality of individual equipment for treatment. A method of using this truck for such bulk treatments, on location, is also disclosed. 
    
    
     
       SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further features, objectives and advantages of this invention will be made clearer with the following Detailed Description made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of one mobile unit for practicing a preferred embodiment of this invention, said mobile unit, or truck, being emblazoned with the inventors&#39; Federally registered service mark: BROZONE®; 
         FIG. 2  is front perspective view of a first rack employable inside the truck of  FIG. 1 , said rack including a plurality of loops above a plurality of legwear posts through which cleansing ozone gas is fed; 
         FIG. 3  is a rotating rack onto which other sports equipment may be hooked for cleansing inside the truck of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a side perspective view showing the operational panel of the  FIG. 1  truck with its ozone making and monitoring units atop a generator for powering all necessary equipment for the operation of this invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The invention employs a mobile unit or truck (like that shown as item  10  in accompanying  FIG. 1 ). Note, the proposed franchise-able name for such a unit includes the logo L, BROZONE®, now a Federally registered service mark. On or in this truck  10 , there would be situated: a high speed, high capacity fan/exhaust port F; and an ozone generator  20  such as one that can produce between: (a) about 4 liters/min (LPM) at a flow rate of about 3% by weight; to (b) about 4 grams/hour from a 5 liters/min LPM at a flow rate of about 0.79% by weight. A representative model is made and sold by Oxidation Technologies L.L.C. as part of its OXG Series of ozone generators. 
     In addition, each mobile unit would include an oxygen concentrator  30  that would be capable of producing about 15 SCFH (sq. cu. ft./hr.) from ambient air—for producing a nominally 93% pure oxygen intermediate for feeding into the aforementioned ozone generator  20 . 
     It is believed that a typical treatment “cycle” should include ozone exposure for at least 10 minutes at a saturation level of at least 5 PPM to be bactericidal. Now, in an enclosed truck, it may take some time to ramp up to that exposure level and some time to ramp down therefrom. A typical, total treatment time of about 20 minutes should suffice. Upon evacuating the ozone from the mobile unit, via an exhaust fan, the franchise operator may safely re-enter his/her truck and dispense with all of the treated clothes and/or equipment (sports/safety, etc.). 
     Note, that this is a fully self-sufficient system. It DOES include its own power generator P. But, it does not require any special (internal or external) source of ozone supply, from tanks or the like. Nor does it generate any residue/end product that would require special post operation or shift treatment, handling and/or disposal. The ozone that would get exhausted from fan F of truck  10  can be safely released into the environment as it will revert to breathable oxygen without any special processing. 
     Ideally, each unit will need an ozone monitor  40  that will serve two main purposes: First, monitoring the actual amount of ozone levels IN the treatment area (i.e., the truck interior) so that operators know that they are providing clinically relevant concentrations of ozone every time. Secondly, it will alert the operators, via alarm  50 , when the previously-evacuated truck  10  is safe to reenter after a treatment cycle has been completed. One such monitor is the OS- 6  Model made and sold by ECO Sensors. To the knowledge of one component supplier, Applicants are the only company actually using sensors to monitor and maintain a study-recommended level of ozone over a clinically recommended time period for ensuring beneficial bactericidal effects. 
     For enabling the bulk cleaning of a whole team&#39;s gear (skates, gloves, etc.), band uniforms and/or a whole firehouse full of coats, pants, etc., the BROZONE® truck would have a two-fold means for mass ozone treating of sports equipment. A skate and glove rack like that depicted as item  60  in accompanying  FIG. 2 , with its plurality of loops  70  and posts  80 , is meant to hold up to 20 pairs/sets of player gloves and skates for a common ozone cleansing, or cleaning treatment. Additional skate/shoe cleansing and/or equipment (gloves, etc.) may be accomplished if the aforementioned loops  70  and/or posts  80  would include a plurality of apertures A that can serve as individualized ozone dispenser pathways into (and then back out of) the respective items being treated. Elsewhere, within truck  10 , there would be situated a rack like item  90  in  FIG. 3 . That rack  90  can be timed to rotate in one (or more) directions, clockwise (and/or counterclockwise), as indicated by arrow R, about the interior of truck  10 . Rack  90  would have a plurality of hooks  100  onto which could be temporarily clamped individual shoulder pads and/or uniform tops/shirts for similar (albeit rotational) bulk ozone exposure. 
     Typical sports include hockey, lacrosse, football and baseball/softball. Then again, the shoes of most any sport can also be cleaned/sanitized hereby. This includes wrestling, track, tennis, basketball and volleyball. The same invention could also be used for still other groups sets of uniform/equipment including but not limited to: band uniforms and/or those of the police, military and/or various municipality fire departments. It could also be used to treat musical instruments to a limited extent though it is recommended that such instruments be physically scrubbed before being subjected to the ozone treatments prescribed above. Lastly, it should be noted that, as a truly mobile cleaning unit, this same vehicle could be driven to a given street or personal residence for making “house call” cleanings of one&#39;s (or one family&#39;s) collection of sports equipment and activewear (i.e., uniforms, etc.). It is the very motto of our organization that “If You Wear It and It Stinks, We Can Sanitize It and Deodorize It” through our unique mobile processing unit described above. 
     Preliminarily, it is expected that a typical beginning-to-end treatment cycle for a whole load (the entire team&#39;s) of equipment (sports and/or safety) may take less than 30 minutes, or about a third of hour at a “typical” rate of ozone gas circulation within the parked mobile unit/truck. It is preferred to keep ozone gas treatments at a rate above about 5 ppm, for at least about 10 minutes before cool downs and operator redistribution of “clean” sports gear BACK to the individual team players waiting nearby. 
     Having described the presently preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the scope of this invention may be otherwise protected by the subject matter of the following system and method claims.