Patent Publication Number: US-6983745-B2

Title: Isolation suit with two-way air supply/disinfection pump

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to isolation suits. More particularly, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a protective isolation suit as might be worn by hospital staff or hospital patients especially in infectious disease wards. 
   Infectious airborne diseases are readily transmitted from person-to-person in environments such as hospital infectious disease wards. Protective suits are worn in such environments as a form of physical barrier. 
   It would be impractical for an uninfected person wearing a protective suit to carry an oxygen tank for example. Such tanks are heavy and have a limited oxygen supply and are expensive and time-consuming to replenish. 
   Furthermore, in the instance where an infected person is wearing a protective gown to protect those in the vicinity, some means of filtering his or her exhaled air is needed. 
   In early stages of infection, an infected person might not know that he or she is infected and therefore a two-way air filtering system is desirable. 
   OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages and/or more generally to provide a protective gown having a two-way filtering pump for exhaled air and air to be inhaled by its wearer. 
   DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
   There is disclosed herein an isolation suit having a two-way air supply/disinfection pump attached thereto, the pump comprising a pair of through-passages each communicating with an interior of the suit by respective airlines, and a fan in each through-passage, one of which delivers air to the suit and the other of which extracts air from the suit. 
   Preferably, the pump further comprising a disinfection means in each through-passage for disinfecting air that is drawn therethrough by the fans. 
   Preferably, the disinfection means each comprise an ultraviolet light. 
   Preferably, the fans draw air through each through-passage in mutually opposite directions. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of a protective gown having a two-way filter pump attached thereto, and 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic perspective cut-away diagram of the two-way filter pump. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   In the accompanying drawings there is depicted schematically a protective suit  10  having a hood  11 . Attached to a belt  13  about the suit  10  is a two-way filter pump  12  having a pair of flexible airlines  14  and  15  extending therefrom to the hood  11 . The flexible airlines might be attached to short pipe extensions formed integrally with or attached to the hood  11 . 
   The filter pump  12  comprises a pair of cylinders  16  and  17  each having an electrically powered fan  18  therein. Power to each fan might be from rechargeable or disposable batteries located within respective compartments  19  and  20 . Each fan is driven by an electric motor (not shown, but located within the respective compartments  19  and  20  or nearby those compartments). The fans rotate in opposite directions to one another. 
   One or more ultraviolet fluorescent tubes  21  are located within each cylinder. 
   At one end of each cylinder there is provided a airline attachment port  22  to which the flexible airlines  14  and  15  are connected. At the other end of each cylinder there is a vent or grate  23 . Immediately behind each vent or great there might be provided a physical particle filter (not shown). 
   There is a switch  24  connected electrically with the batteries so as to activate the fans  18  and the ultraviolet fluorescent tubes  21 . 
   In use, the switch  24  is turned on so as to activate the ultraviolet tubes  21  and the fan motors. Air that is drawn through each cylinder is disinfected by ultraviolet light emanating from the fluorescent tubes so that air passing both to and from the isolation suit  10  via the tubes  14  and  15  is disinfected. The interior of each cylinder might be reflective to increase efficiency. Furthermore there might be just a single motor driving both fans in opposite directions by a twisted belt for example extending about drive pulleys.