Abstract:
A sanitizer dispenser unit is mounted on escalator handrails, moving walkway railing or any revolving handrail. It would mount either on the in-going or out-going portion of the handrail, and would continuously sanitize the surface of the handrail with a micromist and be easily refillable by maintenance personnel.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the general art of escalators, and to the particular field of escalator handrails. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Generally, escalators are installed on plural stories of buildings in such a way that the escalator are connected to each other in the zigzag fashion, unlike elevators which travels between a riding story and a desired story. Accordingly, the escalators are predominantly used in department stores in which various products are sold, subways, airports, terminals and the like, to which people flock, rather than business buildings. Recently, moving walkways, which are horizontal traveling type of escalators, are used even in the same story, in order to reduce traffic. 
     The handrails associated with such systems serve as handgrip and are intended to prevent passengers from falling down or slipping. To prevent slippage by the passengers, the handrails are commonly made of a rubber material. 
     Since the handrails come into contact with hands of a multitude of people, if sanitary maintenance of the handrails is not assured, various viruses, bacteria and the like harmful to humans are apt to propagate on the handrails. Therefore, the handrails must be always maintained in the clean condition. Up to now, sanitary maintenance of the handrails has been fulfilled by frequently mopping and cleaning surfaces of the handrails with neutral detergent or antiseptic solution. 
     However, since the conventional handrails of escalators must be frequently cleaned manually, there is a problem in that the maintenance of the handrail requires very high costs. In addition, since the cleaning work cannot positively sterilize and disinfect the handrails by a simple wiping operation, the passengers are exposed to hazard such as disease and bacterial infection due to viruses and bacteria existing on the handrails. 
     Since escalators are used to transport a multitude of people, it is possible to maximize the advertising effectiveness for products and corporations by providing advertising copies to the escalators. However, heretofore, there are only triangular guide plates positioned at intersections of crossed escalators to prevent passengers&#39; heads from being caught in the intersections, and small advertising boards erected at transferring area between successive escalators, as the advertising copies. 
     In department stores, etc., of some countries, until several years ago, an escalator girl has been stationed for each escalator and the cleaning and disinfection of the escalator belt were effected at ordinary times by the escalator girl using a house-cloth to which disinfecting solution was applied. Such stationing of elevator girls, however, has been abolished due to the difficulty of obtaining a personnel for such purpose and to an increased personnel expenses. However, there has not yet been developed a simple device capable of effecting during use of the belt the cleaning and disinfection of the belt in a manner sufficient to act for the role which escalator girls have played. For this reason, escalator belts, including those used in subway stations which have rapidly increased in recent years, are either left to be dirty or, at best, taken care of by an occasional cleaning. Such a situation is deleterious from the standpoint of public health and further, it gives an unclean feeling to those who utilize the escalator. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The above-discussed disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by a sanitizer dispenser unit which is mounted on escalator handrails, moving walkway railing or any revolving handrail. It would mount either on the in-going or out-going portion of the handrail, and would continuously sanitize the surface of the handrail with a micromist and be easily refillable by maintenance personnel. The unit embodying the present invention continuously sanitizes the hand rail so that nobody is required to hold onto a portion of the railing that has not been cleaned. This unit will be especially useful for international airports, amusement parks and the like where the threat of international disease spread is a major concern. 
     Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the invention will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a sanitizer unit embodying the present invention in association with an escalator handrail. 
         FIG. 2  shows a fluid dispensing port of the sanitizer unit. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to the figures, it can be understood that the present invention is embodied in a unit  10  that is associated with an escalator handrail  12  for dispensing sanitizer fluid onto a top surface  20  of the handrail for sanitizing that surface which is the surface engaged by a user when the user is riding the escalator associated with the handrail. The escalator handrail moves in direction  30  and moves past unit  10 , which is stationary with respect to the moving handrail. 
     Unit  10  includes a mounting bracket  40  that is fixedly attached to a stationary structure  42  which also supports the handrail. Bracket  40  includes a mounting end  44  having mounting elements, such as bolts  46 , therethrough and a distal end  48 . An opening  50  is defined through the bracket for a purpose which will be understood from the teaching of this disclosure. Mounting bracket  40  has two elements, one of which is shown in  FIG. 1 , with a second element being located on the other side of the handrail and being identical to the element shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Unit  10  further comprises a hollow housing  60  that is located adjacent to top surface  20  of the handrail and which contains sanitizing liquid that is dispensed from the housing onto the top surface of the handrail to maintain that top surface clean. Housing  60  is arcuate in shape and includes a first end  62 , a second end  64 , a first wall  66  and a second wall  68 . Walls  64  and  66  are arcuate with first wall  66  being interposed between the handrail and the second wall and having a radius of curvature R 66  that is equal to the radius of curvature R 12  of the handrail. Radius of curvature R 68  being equal to the radius of curvature R 12  allows the housing to be placed immediately adjacent to the handrail. Second wall  68  us also curved, but is curved at a radius of curvature R 68  that differs from the radius of curvature of the first wall so the two walls taper towards each other from the first end of the housing towards the second end of the housing for a purpose which will be understood from the teaching of this disclosure. 
     Housing  60  is oriented in an upright orientation so first end  62  is located above second end  64  whereby gravity acts on the liquid stored in the housing to create a pressure gradient therein which causes the pressure of the liquid located adjacent to housing second end  64  to exceed the pressure of the liquid located in the housing adjacent to housing first end  62 . The tapered nature of the housing assists this effect. 
     Housing  60  further comprises a filler cap  70  which is removably mounted on the housing to close first end  62  when the cap is in place on the housing. Filler cap  70  includes a filler port  72  through which sanitizer liquid can flow into the housing to replenish the liquid dispensed from the housing during operation of the unit. The cap can be removed to clean the housing when desired. 
     Housing  60  further includes a fluid dispensing port  80  located in wall  68  adjacent to second end  64 . Dispensing port  80  is located to be immediately adjacent to the top surface of the escalator hand rail so sanitizing liquid dispensed from port  80  flows onto the handrail top surface. As shown in  FIG. 2 , dispensing port  80  includes a plurality of fine ports, such as port  82 , through which sanitizing fluid flows. The ports  82  break up fluid flowing therethrough into a fine mist so a micromist is applied to the top surface of the escalator handrail. The tapering shape of the housing as well as the upright orientation thereof creates a pressure gradient on the liquid in the housing sufficient to create the micromist. 
     A sponge  90  is mounted on the housing adjacent to second end  64  and adjacent to mounting bracket  40 . Sponge  90  is located adjacent to opening  50  in the mounting bracket so the sponge can be accessed for cleaning, repair or replacement without requiring removal or dismantling of the unit  10 . 
     Housing  60  preferably is made of plastic material. 
     While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.