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EP-3908333-B1 - DEVICE FOR DISINFECTING AT LEAST ONE OBJECT

EP3908333B1EP 3908333 B1EP3908333 B1EP 3908333B1EP-3908333-B1

Inventors

  • KEA, Thijs Joop
  • HOEK, Daan Jelmer

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20200106

Claims (12)

  1. Device (600; 700) for disinfecting at least one object (517; 617; 617'), which device is provided with at least one UV-C light source (610'; 710') by means of which UV-C light can be emitted in a closable chamber of the device, wherein at least one object-suspension element (603'; 703) permeable to UV-C light is provided in the chamber, by means of which the object can be suspended in the chamber, wherein the at least one UV-C light source (610'; 710') is incorporated in the object-suspension element, or in that a light conductor is provided in the object-suspension element, by means of which light from the at least one UV-C light source can be conducted to a position where a dose of UV-C light is to be delivered, so that light from the suspension element itself shines onto a surface of the object where this is suspended, characterized in that the object-suspension element (603'; 703) is configured to perform a pressure test on the object.
  2. Device (600; 700) according to Claim 1, wherein the at least one object-suspension element is provided with a displacement mechanism for displacing and/or rotating the object.
  3. Device (600; 700) according to Claim 2, wherein the displacement mechanism is operable during a UV-C light treatment.
  4. Device (600) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one object-suspension element is displaceable (P1, P2) in the chamber of the device by means of a displacement unit.
  5. Device (600; 700) according to Claim 4, wherein the at least one object-suspension element is displaceable so that an object which is suspended therefrom is disinfectable by means of UV-C light while hanging freely.
  6. Device (600; 700) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the device is provided with at least one guide element (803; 803') for guiding elongate objects in the chamber at a vertical distance from the suspension element.
  7. Device (600; 700) according to Claim 6, wherein a further UV-C light source (810; 810') is incorporated in the at least one guide element, or wherein a light conductor is provided in the guide element by means of which light from a further UV-C light source can be conducted to a position where a dose of UV-C light has to be delivered, so that light from the guide element itself shines onto a surface of the object which faces the guide element.
  8. Device (600; 700) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a further UV-C light source (1; 1') is provided with a displacement device for displacing the light source with respect to or in the chamber.
  9. Device (600; 700) according to Claim 1, wherein a pressure test can be performed by means of the object-suspension element by connecting a pressure line (618) in the object-suspension element to a valve (522) of a medical object, such as for example an endoscope.
  10. Device (600; 700) according to Claim 1 or 9, wherein an object can be fitted to the object-suspension element by means of a leakage-test pressure nipple (607; 707) of the object-suspension element (603'; 703).
  11. Device (600) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the device (600) is provided with differently designed suspension elements (603; 603') for carrying or attaching different shapes of objects or different types of objects, and with at least one object-suspension mechanism (601) by means of which in each case one of the various object-suspension elements can be releasably connected.
  12. Device (600) according to Claim 11, wherein the object-suspension mechanism (601) is configured for performing a pressure test on an object.

Description

The invention relates to a device for disinfecting at least one object, which device is provided with at least one UV-C light source by means of which UV-C light can be emitted in a closable chamber of the device. The device described in US 2004/0099812 is able to disinfect objects in a closed chamber by means of UV-C light. With this known device, an object is placed in a receptacle by a user. The receptacle is configured as a kind of tray. However, the tray is not particularly suitable for all objects which can be disinfected by means of the known device, in particular for objects whose parts, if placed on the tray, may overlap. The surfaces of the overlapping parts are outside the reach of the UV-C light, as a result of which these parts of the object will not receive the dose of UV-C light prescribed for the disinfection of the object, as a result of which the object cannot be disinfected completely. US 20140341777 describes a device for disinfecting at least one object, which device is provided with at least one UV-C light source by means of which UV-C light can be emitted in a closable chamber of the device, wherein at least one object-suspension element permeable to UV-C light may be provided in the chamber by means of which the object can be suspended in the chamber. WO 2015/168111 discloses a disinfecting chamber with a hook transparent for UVC light, wherein an object to be disinfected can be attached to the hook. The hook may include a UVC light emitting diode (LED) or similar UVC light source. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a device which is improved compared to the known devices. In addition, it is a further object to provide a device which is easy to use and/or by means of which objects which are relatively difficult to clean using UV-C light can be disinfected in a quick and improved way. This object is achieved by the device for disinfecting at least one object having the characteristics as defined in Claim 1. The device is provided with at least one UV-C light source by means of which UV-C light can be emitted in a closable chamber of the device, wherein at least one object-suspension element permeable to UV-C light is provided in the chamber, by means of which the object can be suspended in the chamber. At least one UV-C light source is incorporated in the object-suspension element or a light conductor is provided in the object-suspension element, by means of which light from the at least one UV-C light source can be conducted to a position where a dose of UV-C light is to be delivered, so that light from the suspension element itself shines onto a surface of the object where this is suspended. By incorporating the at least one UV-C light source or a light conductor connected thereto in the object-suspension element, a device is provided by means of which objects suspended in the chamber can be disinfected better, namely completely or virtually completely, by means of UV-C light. This device is particularly suitable for elongate objects which do not have a fixed shape, that is to say objects of which the parts to be disinfected may overlap if these objects are placed or deposited on a support. By only using UV-C light to perform the disinfection, it is also possible to disinfect (medical) electronic apparatus by means of this device. Examples of medical electronic objects/apparatus having no fixed shape are endoscopes, blood pressure cuffs and infusion pumps. By suspending such relatively long objects in a chamber which is closable for the UV-C treatment, such objects can be disinfected with a reduced or even virtually impossible risk of overlapping parts of the object forming shadows. Obviously, it is also possible to suspend dimensionally stable objects and objects of reduced longitudinal dimensions in the device. Disinfection by means of UV-C light offers a user-friendly method for disinfecting objects. Using the correct dose of this light, it is possible to disinfect to at least log-5 (99.999% extermination) within a period of 20 to 60 seconds. Disinfection of an object by means of UV-C light does not have any, or only minimal, negative effects on the object to be disinfected. Also, a disinfection can be performed at relatively low temperatures (15-40 degrees Celsius) and due to the fact that no liquids or chemicals are used, the UV-C light disinfection process is quick, relatively safe and reliable and, in particular, suitable for electronic objects. In order to ensure that the parts by which the object is suspended from the object-suspension element are irradiated with UV-C light during a treatment, the object-suspension element is made so as to be permeable to UV-C light, i.e. transparent to UV-C light, so that the parts of the object by means of which the object is suspended are likewise disinfected. The object-suspension element is preferably configured in such a way that it is suitable for suspending a large number of different objects, for example objects