JP7570627B2 - Ultraviolet irradiation system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ultraviolet irradiation system equipped with an ultraviolet lamp.

Conventionally, it has been considered to disinfect, sterilize, or disinfect (hereinafter, collectively referred to as disinfection) bacteria (including microorganisms and viruses) from a hygienic perspective on seats in the interior of a vehicle where unspecified occupants, including passengers in taxis and car sharing services, sit, and on components such as doorknobs, assist grips, and headrests that the occupants have come into contact with. Meanwhile, conventionally, methods have been proposed in which, for example, an ion generator installed in the interior of the vehicle generates positive and negative ions to remove airborne bacteria and odorous components in fibers, and photocatalytic members have been proposed in which a photocatalytic layer is formed on a base material, such as a box-shaped object such as a floor mat, operation panel, or console box in the interior of the vehicle, and short-wavelength light (near-ultraviolet UV-A (UltraViolet-A), etc.) that excites the photocatalyst is irradiated onto the base material (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-96167 A

However, in the conventional technology of Patent Document 1, the light source for irradiating the above-mentioned short-wavelength light onto floor mats, operation panels, and the inside of boxes must already be installed in the vehicle at the time of shipment, and there is no disclosure or suggestion of any technology for adaptively and effectively irradiating ultraviolet light onto the seat on which the passenger sits or onto components that come into contact with the seat, etc., by retrofitting the light source or the like.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an ultraviolet irradiation system that can effectively irradiate ultraviolet rays in order to solve the above problems.

After extensive investigation, the inventors have found that the above object can be achieved by the present invention.

In other words, the ultraviolet irradiation system of the present invention is an ultraviolet irradiation system that is detachably installed on a component inside the vehicle cabin, and is equipped with an ultraviolet irradiation main body having a power receiving means for receiving power from a power terminal inside the vehicle cabin and an ultraviolet lamp for irradiating ultraviolet rays, and irradiates the ultraviolet rays to a target area in the vehicle cabin that includes at least an area that a passenger may come into contact with or an area that may be reached by passenger droplets.

According to this configuration, the ultraviolet irradiation system has the power receiving means such as a power supply cable and the ultraviolet lamp, and since the ultraviolet irradiation main body can be detachably installed on the component, retrofitting is possible, and ultraviolet rays can be effectively irradiated to the target area including at least the area where the customer comes into contact (including the seat where the customer sits, etc.) or the area where splashes from the customer may reach.

In the above configuration,
an optical member for controlling the distribution of ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet lamp;
The ultraviolet lamp has a main emission peak in a wavelength range of 350 to 380 nm,
The radiation intensity of the distributed ultraviolet light may be 65.5 mW/ ^cm2 or more at a distance of 5 cm from the ultraviolet lamp on the light distribution center line. This provides a high disinfection effect.

In the above configuration, the surface of the target area may be subjected to a photocatalytic treatment. This allows the surface of the target area to be disinfected more effectively.

In the above configuration,
an occupant detection sensor that detects the presence or absence of an occupant in the target area and in the vicinity of the target area in the vehicle interior;
The vehicle may further include an irradiation control means for irradiating the ultraviolet light based on a signal received from the occupant detection sensor indicating that the occupant is not in the target area or in its vicinity.
This makes it possible to prevent the ultraviolet rays from being irradiated onto the passengers. Although some ultraviolet rays, such as UV-A, are less harmful to humans, even UV-A rays are thought to cause sunburn, and it is therefore better to prevent the passengers from being irradiated with the ultraviolet rays. It goes without saying that the passengers include the passengers.

In the above configuration,
The ultraviolet irradiation system is installed in a headrest, which is a component in the vehicle interior;
The ultraviolet lamp may be configured to face rearward of the vehicle and irradiate the target area with the ultraviolet light.
As a result, for example, by installing the ultraviolet irradiation system in the headrest of the front seat, the target area including at least the area of the rear seat that the passenger comes into contact with (including the seat on which the passenger sits) or the area that the passenger's droplets reach can be set as the ultraviolet irradiation area. Note that this system may be installed in the headrest by being attached or mounted on a tablet or the like.

In the above configuration, the ultraviolet irradiation body may further include a visible light lamp that irradiates visible light. With this, although ultraviolet light is invisible because its wavelength is outside the visible light range, by emitting the visible light lamp in conjunction with the ultraviolet lamp, the irradiated light is pseudo-visible and the area being disinfected can be visually confirmed. For example, customers can identify vehicles that are being irradiated with ultraviolet light even from outside the vehicle, which prevents customers from being unintentionally exposed to the irradiated ultraviolet light.

The ultraviolet irradiation system of the present invention is capable of effectively irradiating ultraviolet rays.

1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of an ultraviolet irradiation system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of installation of the ultraviolet irradiation system. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another example of installation of the ultraviolet irradiation system. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a target area of the ultraviolet irradiation system and an area subjected to photocatalytic treatment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the electrical system of the ultraviolet irradiation system. FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the ultraviolet irradiation system. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the wavelength distribution of an ultraviolet irradiation device used in a verification experiment of the ultraviolet irradiation system. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing verification results of ultraviolet irradiation by the ultraviolet irradiation system.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that the same reference numerals in each drawing indicate the same or equivalent parts, and unless there is a special explanation for modifications, etc., the explanation will be omitted as appropriate.

1 shows an ultraviolet irradiation system 100 according to one embodiment, with the upper figure showing an overall perspective view and the lower figure showing an exploded perspective view. The ultraviolet irradiation system 100 of this embodiment is used by being attached and detached afterwards to the interior of a vehicle, such as a taxi, a car-sharing vehicle, or a privately owned vehicle (none of which are shown in the figures). The ultraviolet irradiation system 100 includes an ultraviolet irradiation body having at least an ultraviolet lamp 142, which will be described later, and further includes a front case 110, a lens 120, a human sensor 130, an LED board 140, a thermally conductive sheet 150, a heat sink 160, a control board 170, a back case 180, and a fixed arm 190, which are shown disassembled from left to right in this order in the lower figure of FIG. 1. The ultraviolet irradiation body also includes a power receiving means, such as a power receiving unit 920 for a power receiving cable 940 to which a plug 960 in FIG. 5, which will be described later, is connected.

The front case 110 in FIG. 1 is also a design case made of, for example, PC (polycarbonate), and the lens 120 is fixed while being attached to the back case 180. The lens 120 is an optical member including a cylindrical lens for adjusting the irradiation point of ultraviolet light from an ultraviolet lamp (ultraviolet LED) 142 realized by an LED (light emitting diode) or the like described later. The lens 120 is made of, for example, silicon, glass, or plastic, and includes other members such as a diffusion lens or mirror that control the distribution of ultraviolet light, and also includes a focusing lens that focuses the irradiation light from the LED. Here, the irradiation point of the ultraviolet LED 142 through the lens 120 includes a target area in the vehicle cabin that includes at least an area that is in contact with an occupant or passenger, or an area that is reached by droplets from the occupant or passenger. The human presence sensor 130 is an occupant detection sensor that detects the presence or absence of an occupant (typically a customer in a taxi or car sharing service, etc.) in the target area in the vehicle cabin and in its vicinity, for example, an occupant detection sensor that confirms the presence of an occupant in front of the ultraviolet irradiation system 100, and outputs a signal to the irradiation control means described below that indicates that an occupant is not in the target area or in its vicinity, and controls the on/off of ultraviolet irradiation from the ultraviolet LEDs 142. In this embodiment, the human presence sensor 130 is attached to the LED board 140.

The LED board 140 is a board on which a plurality of ultraviolet LEDs (ultraviolet lamps) 142, 142...142 that emit ultraviolet light having a main emission peak in the wavelength range of 350 to 380 nm or ultraviolet light such as UV-A are fixed. The ultraviolet LEDs 142, 142...142 may include a mixture of elements that emit the above ultraviolet light and elements that emit deep ultraviolet light of 310 nm or less, and the LED board 140 may emit light that is a blend of these ultraviolet light. The thermal conduction sheet 150 is made of silicon, PMMA (PolyMethyl MethAcrylate) resin, etc., and is for conducting heat generated from the ultraviolet LEDs 142, 142...142 to the heat sink 160, and in this embodiment, it serves to bond the LED board 140 and the heat sink 160.

The heat sink 160 is made of aluminum or the like, and dissipates heat generated by the multiple ultraviolet LEDs 142, 142...142. The LED board 140 and/or the heat sink 160 are attached to the back case 180. The control board 170 is a board made of glass, epoxy resin, or the like, and controls the on/off of ultraviolet radiation from the multiple ultraviolet LEDs 142, 142...142 described below, and controls the radiation time. The control board 170 is attached to the back case 180. The back case 180 is made of PC or the like, and the front case 110, the LED board 140 and/or the heat sink 160, the control board 170, and the fixed arm 190 are fixed to it.

The fixed arm 190 is made of PC, aluminum, plastic, etc., and is used to fix the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 to the vehicle side (not shown). The ultraviolet irradiation system 100 is, for example, fixed to the headrest of the driver's seat or passenger seat on the vehicle side, fixed to the top of the tablet terminal attached to the headrest, fixed to the back of the seat, or fixed near the interior light (not shown) on the ceiling of the vehicle compartment. The fixed arm 190 of this embodiment has fixing members 192 and 194, and when the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 is fixed to the headrest, which is a component part in the vehicle compartment, the fixing members 192 and 194 engage with two rods SP1 and SP2 (FIG. 2) that support the headrest. The advantage of attaching the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 to the headrest or around the tablet terminal is that the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 can be fixed to the mounting member for the tablet or the rods SP1 and SP2, which are metal supports of the headrest, etc., to dissipate heat thereto, making heat dissipation easier. In addition, by mounting the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 on the back of the seat or on the ceiling, there is an advantage that light sources such as LED 144 (Figure 5) are not directly visible to the driver of the following vehicle, and this can avoid the concern that the visible light from LED 144, which is used to simulate the ultraviolet irradiation light as described below, may dazzle the driver of the following vehicle at night.

The ultraviolet irradiation system 100 is attached to the vehicle using double-sided tape, hook-and-loop fasteners, bolts, clips, etc. Hook-and-loop fasteners in particular are easy to attach and remove, and there is no risk of damage to the fixing members 192, 194 and mounting members when a load is applied by a person leaning on or pulling on them, making them suitable for use in vehicles used by an unspecified number of people, such as taxis and shared cars.

2 and 3 show an example of fixing the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 to the vehicle side. In FIG. 2, the fixing members 192, 194 (FIG. 1) engage with two rods SP1, SP2 supporting the headrest HR of the driver's seat SH1 and the passenger seat (not shown) in the front seats, thereby fixing the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 to the headrest HR. By installing the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 in the headrest HR in the vehicle compartment CB facing toward the rear of the vehicle as shown in the figure, the ultraviolet lamp 142 (FIG. 1) can be set to face toward the rear of the vehicle and irradiate ultraviolet rays to a target area on the rear seat, for example. In FIG. 3, the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 is fixed to the top of the tablet terminal TB attached to the headrest HR, for example, by screws, double-sided tape, etc. By installing the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 on the tablet terminal TB in the vehicle compartment CB facing toward the rear of the vehicle as shown in the figure, the ultraviolet lamp 142 can be set to face toward the rear of the vehicle and irradiate ultraviolet light onto a target area, for example, on the rear seat, as shown in Figure 4 below.

Figure 4 shows the target area of the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 and the area where the photocatalytic treatment is applied. Figure 4 shows an example in which the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 is fixed to the top of a tablet terminal TB attached to a headrest HR. The target area includes at least the area in the vehicle interior CB that is in contact with the occupant or passenger, or the area that is reached by droplets from the occupant or passenger, and is the area to which ultraviolet rays are irradiated from the ultraviolet irradiation system 100. The target area can be, for example, the steering wheel SW, the shift knob SN, the grip GP attached to the above-mentioned seat that the occupant holds to stabilize the body, or the seat backrest SH2a or seat surface SH2b of the driver's seat SH1, the passenger seat (not shown), the rear seat SH2, etc. The photocatalytic treatment is applied so that disinfection can be completed in a short time.

The surface of the target area in this embodiment is photocatalyst-treated. The photocatalyst treatment is achieved by adding a photocatalyst to the seat interior fabric SH1a of the steering wheel SW, shift knob SN, grip GP, driver's seat SH1, passenger seat (not shown), or rear seat SH2, or by adding a photocatalyst to a covering member such as the seat covers CV1 and CV2, or by spraying a photocatalyst dispersion onto the seats or other interior items. Note that fluorescent fibers may be embroidered on the photocatalyst-treated area, such as the seat interior fabric SH1a or the seat covers CV1 and CV2, to fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet light, making the ultraviolet light visible.

Figure 5 shows an overview of the electrical system of the ultraviolet irradiation system 100. The ultraviolet irradiation system 100 includes, as electrical system components, at least the above-mentioned ultraviolet LEDs 142...142 and the LED board 140 to which the human sensor 130 is attached, a control board 170, and a power receiving means 900 for receiving power from a power supply terminal PW in the vehicle compartment CB. The ultraviolet irradiation system 100 may also be equipped with a secondary battery SC for power supply and a visible light LED 144 as a visible light lamp, as described below.

The control board 170 has a calculation processing unit 172 including at least an irradiation control means 178 for controlling ultraviolet irradiation, and further has, for example, an off timer 174 and an on timer 176. The control board 170 receives a detection signal from the human sensor 130 and a signal indicating that the ignition switch from the vehicle side has been turned on, and outputs a command signal to irradiate ultraviolet rays to the ultraviolet LEDs 142...142 (hereinafter, as shown in the figure, simply one ultraviolet LED 142 is used as a representative). In this embodiment, a signal indicating the open/closed state of the door may also be input to the control board 170. In addition, if the vehicle is a shared car, a signal indicating that the shared car has been returned may be input to the control board 170. Based on these signals, the calculation processing unit 172 judges and controls the on/off of ultraviolet irradiation by referring to the count values of the off timer 174 and the on timer 176 as described below.

As described above, the LED board 140 has a human presence sensor 130 and ultraviolet LEDs 142 (multiple). The human presence sensor 130 detects the presence of an occupant in the vehicle cabin CB by inputting infrared rays from the human body, etc., and outputs the detection signal to the arithmetic processing unit 172. The ultraviolet LEDs 142 emit ultraviolet light upon receiving an ultraviolet light irradiation command signal from the arithmetic processing unit 172. The irradiation control means 178 in the arithmetic processing unit 172 controls the ultraviolet light irradiation to be turned on based on input of a signal from the human presence sensor 130, which is an occupant detection sensor, indicating that an occupant (typically a customer in a taxi, car sharing, etc.) is not in or near the target area in the vehicle cabin CB.

The LED board 140 included in the ultraviolet irradiation main body further includes a visible light LED (visible light lamp) 144 that irradiates visible light, and the emission of the visible light LED 144 may be turned on/off in conjunction with the ultraviolet LED 142. This allows the irradiated light to be pseudo-visualized, even though ultraviolet light is invisible because its wavelength is outside the visible light range, and allows the area being disinfected to be visually confirmed, allowing passengers, for example, to identify vehicles that are being irradiated with ultraviolet light even from outside the vehicle. This prevents passengers, etc. from being unintentionally exposed to irradiated ultraviolet light.

The power receiving unit 920 of the power receiving means 900 is connected to a power receiving cable 940, and receives power from a power supply terminal PW on the vehicle side via the power receiving cable 940 and a plug 960 that fits into the vehicle cigarette lighter socket, and distributes the power to the LED board 140, control board 170, and other electrical components of the ultraviolet irradiation system 100. The power receiving unit 920 may receive power from a power source for supplying power to the mounted tablet from the vehicle side. Furthermore, if the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 is equipped with a secondary battery SC, the power receiving unit 920 may receive power from the secondary battery SC as a power source when the ignition switch is off. The secondary battery SC is charged when the ignition switch is on.

The operation of the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 will be explained using the flow diagram of FIG. 6. In this embodiment, the door open/closed state is also taken into account in step S300, but step S300 may be omitted without taking the door open/closed state into account. In addition, the flow may be executed only after the shared car is returned by referring to a signal indicating that the shared car has been returned. When the ignition switch is turned on, power supply from the vehicle side to the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 begins, and the process proceeds to step S100. In step S100, the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 waits for about one minute, for example, for system startup, and the initial setting operation of the system is performed. Note that the on timer and off timer to be used later are reset here. Then, the process proceeds to step S200.

In step S200, it is determined whether or not an occupant is present in the target area for ultraviolet irradiation based on the detection result of the human presence sensor 130. If it is determined that an occupant is present, ultraviolet irradiation is not performed, so the process proceeds to step S210, the off timer is reset, and the process returns to step S200. If it is determined that no occupant is present, the process proceeds to step S220 to proceed to ultraviolet irradiation processing. In step S220, the off timer is counted to measure the time during which no occupant is present. After that, it is determined based on the count value whether the time during which no occupant is present has elapsed, for example, one minute. If it is determined that one minute has not elapsed, the process returns to step S200. If it is determined that one minute has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S300.

In step S300, the door open/close signal is referenced to determine whether the door is open or closed. If it is determined that the door is open, the process proceeds to step S410 since ultraviolet light irradiation is not performed. If it is determined that the door is closed, the process proceeds to step S400.

In step S400, the on timer is counted to measure the ultraviolet irradiation time. The count value is then used to determine whether or not the ultraviolet irradiation time has elapsed, for example, 10 minutes. If it is determined that 10 minutes have not elapsed, the process proceeds to step S430, where the ultraviolet irradiation is turned on (or kept on), and the process returns to step S200. If it is determined that 10 minutes have elapsed, the process proceeds to step S410, where the on timer is reset, and then in step S420, the ultraviolet irradiation is turned off, and the process returns to step S200.

で与えられる。 The results of verification of ultraviolet irradiation by the ultraviolet irradiation system 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. As shown in Fig. 7, the light output characteristics of the ultraviolet lamp 142 of this embodiment have a main emission peak in the wavelength range of 350 to 380 nm, and the radiation intensity (irradiance) of the distributed ultraviolet light is 65.5 mW/cm2 ^{or more} per unit time at a distance of 5 cm from the ultraviolet lamp 142 on the center line of the light distribution. Therefore, the intensity is 39.3 J/cm2 or ^more during 10 minutes of irradiation, 78.6 J/cm2 or ^more during 20 minutes of irradiation, and 117.9 J/cm2 ^{or more} during 30 minutes of irradiation. If the spectral irradiance corresponding to the light of wavelength λ is E _λ , the irradiance is expressed as follows:

is given by:

As for the virus inactivation ratio, according to FIG. 8, irradiation with UV-A for 10 minutes results in an inactivation ratio of -1 in terms of common logarithm, and when photocatalyst (titanium oxide [TiO ₂ ]) is added, the inactivation ratio is -2 or more in terms of common logarithm. Furthermore, the inactivation ratio increases as the UV-A irradiation time increases. From these results, it is clear that in order to achieve an inactivation ratio of -2 or more in 10 minutes, the intensity of the ultraviolet light at a distance of 5 cm needs to be 65.5 mW/cm ² or more. Also, according to FIG. 8, the virus inactivation ratio of barium sulfate [BaSo ₄ ], which is an inorganic fine particle that is not a photocatalyst, is about the same as that of only UV-A irradiation. From this, it can be confirmed that the inorganic fine particle itself does not have a virus inactivation effect. Therefore, it was found that the only factor that improves the inactivation effect of the photocatalyst (titanium oxide) is the catalytic effect.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various additions, modifications, or deletions are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, such additions, modifications, or deletions are also included within the scope of the present invention. Such configurations are also included within the scope of the present invention.

For example, the ultraviolet irradiation system may have another form in which the wavelength of the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet lamp 142 is 250 to 280 nm, and preferably 190 to 230 nm. The ultraviolet irradiation system may be a scanning type irradiation system using a micromirror in the lens 120. Furthermore, the ultraviolet irradiation system may be a scanning type irradiation system in which the LED board 140 or the lens 120 is rotated. The ultraviolet irradiation system may also be one that irradiates the inside of a vehicle trunk with ultraviolet light to disinfect the inside of the trunk when food or the like is carried in the trunk. In this case, ultraviolet light may not be irradiated when the trunk is open, but may be irradiated after the trunk is closed, and irradiation may be stopped by an on timer or the like.

100 Ultraviolet irradiation system 120 Lens (optical member)
130 Human presence sensor (occupant detection sensor)
178 Irradiation control means 142 Ultraviolet LED (ultraviolet lamp)
144 Visible light LED (visible light lamp)
900 Power receiving means CB Vehicle interior GP Grip (target area)
HR Headrest SC Secondary battery SN Shift knob (target area)
SW Handle (target area)
SH2a Seat backrest (target area)
SH2b Seat surface (target area)

Claims (5)

An ultraviolet irradiation system that is detachably installed on a component in a vehicle interior,
power receiving means for receiving power from a power supply terminal in the vehicle interior;
An ultraviolet lamp for irradiating ultraviolet rays;
An ultraviolet ray irradiation body having
The ultraviolet light is irradiated onto a target area in the vehicle cabin, the target area including at least an area that a passenger may come into contact with or an area that may be splashed by the passenger;
The headrest is installed in the vehicle interior,
The ultraviolet lamp is configured to face the rear of the vehicle and irradiate the ultraviolet light onto the target area.
Ultraviolet irradiation system. 2. The ultraviolet irradiation system according to claim 1,
an optical member for controlling the distribution of ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet lamp;
The ultraviolet lamp has a main emission peak in a wavelength range of 350 to 380 nm,
The radiation intensity of the distributed ultraviolet light is 65.5 mW/cm2 or more at a distance of 5 cm from the ultraviolet lamp on the center line of the light distribution.
Ultraviolet irradiation system. 3. The ultraviolet irradiation system according to claim 1,
The surface of the target area is subjected to a photocatalytic treatment.
Ultraviolet irradiation system. The ultraviolet irradiation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
an occupant detection sensor that detects the presence or absence of an occupant in the target area and in the vicinity of the target area in the vehicle interior;
and an irradiation control means for irradiating the ultraviolet light based on a signal received from the occupant detection sensor indicating that the occupant is not in the target area or in its vicinity. The ultraviolet irradiation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The ultraviolet irradiation body further includes a visible light lamp for emitting visible light.
Ultraviolet irradiation system.

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