Patent Issued for Antimicrobial Fabric Application System (USPTO 10,087,568)
By a
Patent number 10,087,568 is assigned to
The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: "Field
"The present invention is in the technical field of antimicrobial treatment of fabrics and textile materials. More particularly, the present invention provides a system providing metallic ion generation and dilution, in desired concentrations, for batch storage and entrainment in a flow for use in antimicrobial treatment of fabrics and a method for controlled introduction of the antimicrobial agent into the textile.
"Related Art
"Shortcomings of existing antimicrobial treatments can lead to stain and odor causing bacteria build-up, mold and mildew as well as the spread of infection through direct contact, airborne disease and waterborne disease. These diseases can be acquired by their victims from contacting contaminated surfaces, breathing air containing pathogens, or drinking pathogen containing water. Contamination of fabrics or textiles in uniforms, surgical scrubs, sheets, blankets, napkins, table cloths and similar materials by microbial pathogens can contribute to spread of disease.
"Prior art antimicrobial treatments do not provide effective lasting antimicrobial benefit after the treatment has been administered. Existing antimicrobial treatments can also lead to immunization of evolved pathogens to the respective treatment. Such immunization of evolved pathogens can result in infections which cannot be treated with the conventional treatments that caused the pathogens to become immune.
"Enterprises which specifically have problems with microbial issues ranging from bacterial odor through the spread of infectious diseases include, but are not limited to: the cruise line industry, hotel and gaming, professional sports teams, health and fitness clubs, nursing homes, and hospitals. Healthcare facilities currently have a growing problem with immunized pathogens being virtually untreatable with conventional methods. With such hospital infections, the harmful microbes are often carried in the linens and clothing provided by the hospital. Once hospital textiles have been laundered and treated, they are susceptible to recontamination by microbes and pathogens. Pathogens carried by these textiles can infect hospital patients and even cause death. Since almost every patient spends the majority of his or her time in bed, in a gown, between the sheets, this linen environment is the core of the overall hospital environment for the patient, and a primary site in the battle against infection. In the Cruise Ship industry, textiles are ubiquitous on cruise ships, including napkins, tablecloths, aprons, uniforms, towels, and robes.
"In the healthcare field antimicrobial fabrics have been employed in which an antimicrobial ingredient is imparted into the threads or fibers during fiber or textile manufacturing. The fibers are embedded, dipped, soaked, or coated with antimicrobial agent during the manufacturing process. However, efficacy declines over time as the antimicrobial agent in the fabric is washed away and never restored.
"These methods are not satisfactory for the market. In addition to the efficacy/performance issues listed above and because the textiles are manufactured to already include the beneficial antimicrobial agent such as silver, these products require linen providers to make a large upfront capital investment to purchase new, impregnated linen inventory. Inventory replacement can cost millions of dollars for large industrial laundering businesses. Additionally, the linen's antimicrobial efficacy steadily degrades over time. After each use and wash, the antimicrobial feature is diminished, causing effectiveness to decrease over time. Further, the products are aesthetically unpleasing and uncomfortable to the touch. Linen providers have reported that silver-embedded fabrics can often exhibit an off-white discoloration and are difficult to press.
"It is therefore desirable to provide an antimicrobial treatment system which may be employed directly in water supply systems to provide efficacious antimicrobial action in order to transform ordinary textile materials/products into lasting active antimicrobial entities."
In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent: "The present embodiment disclosed herein provides an antimicrobial textile treatment system which employs a process water supply. A metallic ion supply provides a high ion concentrate to an output. A dilution reservoir is connected to the metallic ion supply output and has an input from the process water supply. A dosing pump connected to an output of the reservoir. A manifold is connected to the pump providing a dilute concentrate to at least one washing system. An electronics control module is connected to a first flow controller between the process water supply and the dilution reservoir and a second flow controller between the metallic ion supply output and the reservoir."
The claims supplied by the inventors are:
"What is claimed is:
"1. A method for infusing a metallic ion into a textile, comprising: supplying, from a metallic ion supply, a high ion concentrate to a dilution reservoir connected to the metallic ion supply, wherein supplying the high ion concentrate comprises: receiving, by a metering pump, the high ion concentrate from a feed line of the metallic ion supply extending from a receiver of metallic ion supply, which engages a connection interface of a leak proof container, and outputting, using the metering pump via a conduit of the metallic ion supply, a metered quantity of the high ion concentrate from the leak proof container of the metallic ion supply; receiving, in the dilution reservoir, a process water supply; mixing, in the dilution reservoir, the high ion concentrate and the process water supply to form a dilute concentrate; and transferring the dilute concentrate from the dilution reservoir to at least one washing system including the textile.
"2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the process water supply comprises operating, using an electronics control module, a first flow controller between the process water supply and the dilution reservoir, and wherein supplying the high ion concentrate to the dilution reservoir comprises operating, using the electronics control module, a second flow controller between the metallic ion supply and the dilution reservoir.
"3. The method of claim 2, wherein the high ion concentrate is a metallic silver solution.
"4. The method of claim 2, further comprising detecting an identification element of the container recognizable by the electronics control module.
"5. The method of claim 4, further comprising determining, by the electronics control module and based on the detected identification element, a presence of the container.
"6. The method of claim 4, further comprising determining, by the electronics control module and based on the detected identification element, an origin of the high ion concentrate in the container and a usage history of the container.
"7. The method of claim 1, further comprising mixing the high ion concentrate in the container.
"8. The method of claim 7, wherein mixing the high ion concentrate in the container comprises operating a mixing driver in the receiver, which engages a mixing element in the container.
"9. The method of claim 2, further comprising operating, using the electronic control module, a third flow controller to control a flow of the high ion concentrate between the dilution reservoir and a dosing pump, wherein the dosing pump is connected to an output of the dilution reservoir and a manifold for transferring the dilute concentrate from the dilution reservoir to the at least one washing system.
"10. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving, by the electronics control module, a first input from a dose level sensor; receiving, by the electronics control module, a second input from a reserve level sensor; receiving, by the electronics control module, a third input from a concentration sensor in the dilution reservoir; determining, by the electronics control module based on the first input, the second input and the third input, an operating time period for providing a desired concentration of the metallic ion in the dilution reservoir; and operating the metering pump for the determined operating time period to achieve the desired concentration of the metallic ion in the dilution reservoir.
"11. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving, from a user interface, user input indicating the desired concentration of the metallic ion, wherein the first input and the second input each indicate a respective volume measurement, and wherein determining the operating time period comprises determining the operating time period based on the user input and the respective volume measurements of the first input and the second input.
"12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, based on the third input from the concentration sensor, operating a metering pump to supply the metered quantity of the high ion concentrate.
"13. The method of claim 11, further comprising, based on the third input from the concentration sensor, operating the first flow controller to reduce the concentration of the metallic ion in the dilution reservoir.
"14. A method for infusing a metallic ion into a textile, comprising: providing, from a metallic ion supply to an output, a high ion concentrate of the metallic ion, wherein the metallic ion supply comprises: a leak proof container for the high ion concentrate, a metering pump receiving high ion concentrate from the leak proof container, and a conduit providing the output of the metallic ion supply; supplying, using the metering pump, the high ion concentrate from the output to a mixer; operating, using an electronics control module, a flow controller to cause a process water supply to supply process water to the mixer; mixing, using the mixer, the high ion concentrate and the process water to form a dilute concentrate; and providing, via a manifold connected to the mixer, the dilute concentrate from the mixer to at least one washing system, wherein the at least one washing system includes the textile.
"15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving the textile in a basin of the at least one washing system; and agitating, in the basin, the textile while submerged in the dilute concentrate to infuse the textile with the metallic ion.
"16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: determining a mass of the textile in the basin; and determining, based on the mass of the textile, a dosing rate for providing the dilute concentrate from the mixer to the at least one washing system.
"17. The method of claim 16, further comprising determining, based on the mass of the textile, a dosing time period during which the dilute concentrate is provided from the mixer to the at least one washing system.
"18. A method for infusing a silver ion into a textile, comprising: simultaneously receiving, in a dilution reservoir, (i) a metered quantity of high ion concentrate of the silver ion from a silver ion supply and (ii) a metered quantity of water, wherein the silver ion supply comprises a leak proof container for storing the high ion concentrate and a conduit for providing the high ion concentrate to the dilution reservoir, wherein the metered quantity of high ion concentrate is received in the dilution reservoir from a metering pump; mixing, in the dilution reservoir, the high ion concentrate and the water to form a dilute concentrate; and providing the dilute concentrate from the dilution reservoir to at least one washing system that includes the textile.
"19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: determining a mass of the textile in the at least one washing system; and determining, based on the mass of the textile, a dosing rate for providing the dilute concentrate from the dilution reservoir to the at least one washing system.
"20. The method of claim 18, further comprising determining, based on the mass of the textile, a dosing time period during which the dilute concentrate is provided from the dilution reservoir to the at least one washing system."
URL and more information on this patent, see: Morham, Sean D.; Morris, William M.; Brown, David E.;
(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)
How To Compare Car Insurance Prices And Save Money
New Emergency Preparedness Findings from Food and Drug Administration Outlined (An Inter-regional US Blood Supply Simulation Model to Evaluate Blood Availability to Support Planning for Emergency Preparedness and Medical Countermeasures)
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News