Patent ID: 8522585

Claim:
A method of continuously providing copper to be available to be dissolved in an anti-microbial solution to be in contact with a human hand, the method comprising the steps of: a. providing a mass of solid copper alloy having a copper alloy contact surface; wherein the copper alloy contact surface has a surface roughness characteristic and an associated characteristic for killing microbes; b. said copper alloy contact surface being free of any barrier coating thereon which covers said copper alloy contact surface, isolates said copper alloy contact surface from exposure to atmospheric oxygen and further provides said copper alloy contact surface with an increased wetting angle; c. said copper alloy contact surface being a surface configured to provide a continuous source of copper; d. wherein said step of “providing a mass of solid copper alloy having a copper alloy contact surface; wherein the copper alloy contact surface has a surface roughness characteristic and an associated characteristic for killing microbes”, comprises the steps of: providing a mass of solid copper alloy having a copper alloy contact surface; performing at least one of the steps of a and b: a. examining and thereafter and therefrom determining that the copper alloy contact surface has a surface roughness within a range of 2 to 50 microinches RA and has a microbe killing characteristic of at least a 99% kill rate of microbes within at most 60 minutes of contact with said copper alloy contact surface; and b. configuring the copper alloy contact surface so as to have a surface roughness within a range of 2 to 50 microinches RA; configuring said mass of solid copper alloy so as to facilitate exposure of said copper alloy contact surface with a human hand and thereby cause an anti-microbial solution with continuously replenishing copper dissolved therein to be in contact with a human.