Patent ID: 11524083

Abstract:
A personal, portable, handheld UV light sanitizer (20) having a tubular housing (22) with a UV light source (32) for uniformly radiating a user's hand through a light transmittable outer wall (24) of the housing having a girth and length that enables substantially the entire the exterior surface of the outer wall to be covered by a user's hand when fully grasping the outer wall. A rearward annular wall (41) reduces any rearward light leakage and provides a bearing surface against which the edge of the user's hand may rest to prevent slippage. An annular forward wall (40) reduce forward light leakage and mounts actuation switches (36, 56), remote sensors (58, 60), a status indicator light (61) and an alarm speaker (59). When the skin surface sanitization mode switch (36) is actuated, skin sanitizing UV light radiation (42) radiates the inside of the user's hand for a preselected time period, unless there have previously been an excessive number of past hand sanitization cycles or too little time has passed since the last hand sanitization cycle (FIG. 9). Once energization, it is automatically deenergized after a preselected maximum time period (FIG. 9). Mounted to the front of the forward annular wall is another UV light source (51) that radiates UV light to suspect target surfaces spaced from the user's hand. A range finder (58) helps the user to hold the surface UV light source at the right distance from the target surface for effective sanitization, and energization is immediately terminated in response to an infrared sensor detecting that the surface UV light source is directed at a person's skin.