DESC:BACKGROUND
Technical Field
[0001] Embodiments of this disclosure generally relate to an air and surface disinfection apparatus, and more particularly, to an air and surface disinfection apparatus for killing microorganism inside a vehicle.
Description of the Related Art
[0002] Disinfection is a method to destroy most microbial forms, especially vegetative pathogens rather than bacterial spores, by using physical and chemical procedures such as UV radiation, boiling, vapor. Disinfection is an essential tool to help to reduce pathogen loads, disease transmission, and postoperative infections. In addition to a vast array of detergents and cleaning/disinfecting equipment, common chemicals used for disinfection include alcohol, chlorine and chlorine compounds, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, iodophors, orthophthalaldehyde, peracetic acid, phenolics, and quaternary ammonium compounds. However, these chemicals and detergents are harmful to the human beings.
[0003] People who are known or suspected to have COVID-19 may use non-emergency vehicle services, such as passenger vans, accessible vans, and cars, for transportation to receive essential medical care. We all spend a lot of time in our cars, and we are breathing in some allergens and other airborne contaminants that could affect our health, which may raise the risk of asthma, allergies, and other respiratory disease. Hence, it is important to make sure that it is a clean environment for us. At a minimum, clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces in the vehicle at the beginning and end of each shift and between transporting passengers who are visibly sick, it is ensured that cleaning and disinfection procedures are followed consistently and correctly, including the provision of adequate ventilation when chemicals are in use. Doors and windows should remain open when cleaning the vehicle. When cleaning and disinfecting, individuals should wear disposable gloves compatible with the products being used as well as any other PPE required according to the product manufacturer’s instructions. For disinfection of hard non-porous surfaces within the interior of the vehicle such as hard seats, arm rests, door handles, seat belt buckles, light and air controls, doors and windows, steering wheel, gear shifter, hand brake, sun visors, seat adjustment levers, dashboard, touch screens and all the buttons and knobs throughout the cabin and grab handles, appropriate disinfectants including antimicrobial products, diluted household bleach solutions and alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol are used to neutralize any contagions. However, these disinfectants may cause damage to surfaces within the interior of the vehicle and more volume of disinfectants is needed to clean the interior of the vehicle, which is expensive as well.
[0004] It is important to note that in order to prevent damage to cabin materials and electronics, the disinfectant should be carefully chosen. Not all home cleaning agents are suitable for use. Bleach, hydrogen peroxide and ammonia-based products would be too harsh for a vehicle’s interior and are generally not advisable.
[0005] Accordingly, there remains a need for an air and surface disinfection system for disinfecting a vehicle to effectively kill microorganisms like bacteria, germs, viruses, corona etc. without causing any damage to the surface of the vehicles.
SUMMARY
[0006] In view of the foregoing, an embodiment herein provides an air and surface disinfection apparatus for disinfecting a vehicle. The air and surface disinfection apparatus is adapted to attach/integrate to the vehicle. The air and surface disinfection apparatus includes an accelerometer sensor, an ozone generator, a mist generator, an artificial intelligence model and a microcontroller. The accelerometer sensor senses vibration in the vehicle. The ozone generator generates ozone (O3) by ionizing the oxygen present in the air for disinfecting the vehicle. The mist generator generates mist. The generated mist mixes in the air inside the vehicle to improve the humidity and to improve the vehicle disinfection. The microcontroller is communicatively connected to the artificial intelligence model, the ozone generator, and the mist generator. The artificial intelligence model identifies an idle time, after the vehicle is stopped, over a period of time and computes a disinfection cycle for disinfecting the vehicle. The idle time is a time period when the accelerometer sensor does not detect the vibration in the vehicle. When in operation, the artificial intelligence model provides an instruction to the microcontroller to start the disinfection cycle during the idle time. Upon receiving the instruction, the microcontroller activates (i) the ozone generator to generate ozone, for disinfecting the vehicle during the idle time, and (ii) the mist generator to generate mist for a predefined time period at period intervals to improve the vehicle disinfection.
[0007] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus further includes an ion generator that generates negative ions to disinfect the microorganisms inside the vehicle during the disinfection cycle.
[0008] In some embodiments, during non-idle time, when the disinfection cycle is not activated and when the accelerometer sensor senses the vibration in the vehicle for a predefined time, the microcontroller activates the ion generator to generate the negative ions to disinfect the microorganisms inside the vehicle. The predefined time period for generating the mist is 5 seconds and the periodic interval is 30 seconds. In some embodiments, the disinfection cycle includes, for disinfecting the vehicle: (i) activating the ozone generator for 15 minutes for a first day, (ii) activating the ozone generator for 5 minutes for a second day, (iii) activating the ozone generator for 5 minutes for a third day, (iv) activating the ozone generator for 10 minutes for a fourth day, and (v) activating the ozone generator for 5 minutes for subsequent days.
[0009] In some embodiments, during the idle time, when the accelerometer sensor senses the vibration in the vehicle, the microcontroller deactivates the ozone generator and stops the disinfection cycle, when the disinfection cycle is stopped/interrupted during the idle time, the artificial intelligence model provides a first second to the microcontroller to restart the disinfection cycle during the idle time.
[0010] In some embodiments, the microcontroller controls the ozone generator to generate the ozone in a concentration ranging from 100 to 1000 parts per billion (PPB) for disinfecting the vehicle. In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus provides an option to a user to start the disinfection cycle manually. The microcontroller provides an alert to indicate a level of ozone present inside the vehicle after completion of the disinfection cycle and activates an alarm to provide an alert after an ozone deactivation cycle to indicate that the vehicle disinfection process is completed.
[0011] In some embodiments, the cloud receives and stores accelerometer data, ozone generation data and mist generation data from the microcontroller. The artificial intelligence model is trained using the accelerometer data, the ozone generation data, and the mist generation data.
[0012] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus includes an air quality sensor that is communicatively connected to the microcontroller. The air quality sensor senses a quality of the air inside the vehicle and the microcontroller communicates the air quality data to the cloud. The artificial intelligence model identifies whether the vehicle is used or not based on the accelerometer data and the air quality data and adjusts the timing of the disinfection cycle of the next day if the vehicle is not used for the previous day.
[0013] In one aspect, a method for disinfecting a vehicle using an air and surface disinfection apparatus is provided. The air and surface disinfection apparatus is adapted to attach/integrate to the vehicle. The method includes (i) sensing, using an accelerometer sensor, vibration in the vehicle, (ii) identifying, using an artificial intelligence model, an idle time, after the vehicle is stopped, over a period of time and computes a disinfection cycle for disinfecting the vehicle, (iii) generating, using an ozone generator, ozone (O3) by ionizing the oxygen present in the air for disinfecting the vehicle, (iv) generating, using a mist generator, mist, wherein the generated mist mixes in the air inside the vehicle to improve the humidity and to improve the vehicle disinfection, (v) providing, using the artificial intelligence model, an instruction to the microcontroller to start the disinfection cycle during the idle time, and (vi) upon receiving the instruction, activating, using the microcontroller, (a) the ozone generator to generate ozone, for disinfecting the vehicle during the idle time, and (b) the mist generator to generate mist for a predefined time period at period intervals to improve the vehicle disinfection.
[0014] The air and surface disinfection apparatus is an advanced and intelligent air purification system. The air and surface disinfection apparatus utilizes ozone, as it reaches each and every corner of the vehicle to effectively disinfect the entire vehicle including the surface of the vehicle. The air and surface disinfection apparatus features fully automated both disinfection cycle and ozone deactivation cycle. The air and surface disinfection apparatus is adapted to attach/integrate to the vehicle. The air and surface disinfection apparatus is compact in size and may be placed in between a front side seat and a back-side seat of the vehicle. The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 provides 360° disinfection and automatically maintains safe level of ozone and effectively deodorizes and sterilizes the air and surfaces inside the vehicle. The air and surface disinfection apparatus ensures 99.7% disinfection. The air and surface disinfection apparatus is significantly economic and highly portable. The air and surface disinfection apparatus is very safe and efficient, does not use any liquids, harmful UV rays, harsh chemicals, or heat, and does not damage any surfaces or leave any chemical residues behind.
[0015] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which:
[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a system view of an air and surface disinfection apparatus for disinfecting a vehicle according to an embodiment herein;
[0018] FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of the air and surface disinfection apparatus of FIG. 1 for disinfecting a vehicle according to an embodiment herein;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for disinfecting a vehicle using the air and surface disinfection apparatus according to an embodiment herein;
[0020] FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate an ozone monitor observation chart for disinfecting a vehicle at different locations using the air and surface disinfection apparatus of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment herein;
[0021] FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate an ozone depletion chart after 30 minutes of disinfection of a vehicle at different locations using the air and surface disinfection apparatus of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment herein;
[0022] FIG. 6 illustrates a bacterial test observation chart shows the reduction of bacteria after disinfecting a vehicle using the air and surface disinfection apparatus according to an embodiment herein; and
[0023] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a computer architecture in accordance with the embodiments herein; and

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0025] As mentioned, there remains a need for an air and surface disinfection apparatus that effectively disinfects a vehicle by killing microorganisms present inside the vehicle. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 7, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown preferred embodiments.
[0026] FIG. 1 illustrates a system view of an air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 for disinfecting a vehicle according to an embodiment herein. The disinfection apparatus 100 includes an accelerometer sensor 102, an ozone generator 104, a mist generator 106, an artificial intelligence model 110 and a microcontroller 108. The accelerometer sensor 102 senses vibration in the vehicle. The ozone generator 104 generates ozone (O3) by ionizing the oxygen present in the air for disinfecting the vehicle. The mist generator 106 generates mist. The generated mist mixes in the air inside the vehicle to improve the humidity and to improve the vehicle disinfection. The microcontroller 108 is communicatively connected to the artificial intelligence model 110, the ozone generator 104, and the mist generator 106. The artificial intelligence model 110 identifies an idle time, after the vehicle is stopped, over a period of time and computes a disinfection cycle for disinfecting the vehicle. The idle time is a time period when the accelerometer sensor 102 does not detect the vibration in the vehicle. When in operation, the artificial intelligence model 110 provides an instruction to the microcontroller 108 to start the disinfection cycle during the idle time. Upon receiving the instruction, the microcontroller 108 activates (i) the ozone generator 104 to generate ozone, for disinfecting the vehicle during the idle time, and (ii) the mist generator 106 to generate mist for a predefined time period at period intervals to improve the vehicle disinfection.
[0027] The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 may comprises a light sensor that determines a light information based on the light present inside the vehicle. The light information comprises a daytime or a nighttime. The light sensor transmits the light information to the microcontroller 108 through a wired or a wireless network. The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 may detect a humidity level present inside the vehicle and transmits the humidity information comprising the humidity level to the microcontroller 108. If the detected humidity level is below a threshold level, the microcontroller 108 activates the mist generator 106 to generate mist. The mist generated mixes in the air inside the vehicle and improves a disinfection process. The vibration in the vehicle may be due the movement of the vehicle. The vehicle gets vibrated when a person is present inside the vehicle moves/shakes or when the vehicle is in motion. The mist generator 106 may be an ozone mist generator. The mist generator 106 may generate 3 milliliters (ml) to 5 ml mist per a minute. The mist generator 106 may store 50 millimeters (mm) of water. In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 further includes an ion generator that generates negative ions to disinfect the microorganisms inside the vehicle during the disinfection cycle.
[0028] In some embodiments, during non-idle time, when the disinfection cycle is not activated and when the accelerometer sensor 102 senses the vibration in the vehicle for a predefined time, the microcontroller 108 activates the ion generator to generate the negative ions to disinfect the microorganisms inside the vehicle. The predefined time period for generating the mist may be 5 seconds and the periodic interval is 30 seconds. In some embodiments, the disinfection cycle includes, for disinfecting the vehicle: (i) activating the ozone generator 104 for 15 minutes for a first day, (ii) activating the ozone generator 104 for 5 minutes for a second day, (iii) activating the ozone generator 104 for 5 minutes for a third day, (iv) activating the ozone generator 104 for 10 minutes for a fourth day, and (v) activating the ozone generator 104 for 5 minutes for subsequent days.
[0029] In some embodiments, during the idle time, when the accelerometer sensor 102 senses the vibration in the vehicle, the microcontroller 108 deactivates the ozone generator 104 and stops the disinfection cycle, when the disinfection cycle is stopped/interrupted during the idle time, the artificial intelligence model 110 provides a first second to the microcontroller 108 to restart the disinfection cycle during the idle time. In some embodiments, the artificial intelligence model 110 is implemented on a cloud 112 and identifies an idle time, after the vehicle is stopped, over a period of time and computes a disinfection cycle for disinfecting the vehicle and provides instructions to the microcontroller 108 to activate at least one of (i) the ozone generator 104 to generate ozone, (ii) the mist generator 106 to generate mist, and (iii) the ion generator to generate negative ions during the idle time for disinfecting the vehicle.
[0030] In some embodiments, the microcontroller 108 controls the ozone generator 104 to generate the ozone in a concentration ranging from 100 to 1000 parts per billion (PPB) for disinfecting the vehicle. In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 provides an option to a user to start the disinfection cycle manually. The microcontroller 108 provides an alert to indicate a level of ozone present inside the vehicle after completion of the disinfection cycle and activates an alarm to provide an alert after an ozone deactivation cycle to indicate that the vehicle disinfection process is completed.
[0031] In some embodiments, the cloud 112 receives and stores accelerometer data, ozone generation data and mist generation data from the microcontroller 108. The artificial intelligence model 110 is trained using the accelerometer data, the ozone generation data, and the mist generation data.
[0032] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 includes an air quality sensor that is communicatively connected to the microcontroller 108. The air quality sensor senses a quality of the air inside the vehicle and the microcontroller 108 communicates the air quality data to the cloud 112. The artificial intelligence model 110 identifies whether the vehicle is used or not based on the accelerometer data and the air quality data and adjusts the timing of the disinfection cycle of the next day if the vehicle is not used for the previous day.
[0033] In the ozone deactivation cycle, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 may allow the ozone present inside the vehicle to completely decay. The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 may include an ozone / ion / mist output port to remove the ozone / ion / mist in the ozone deactivation cycle. In some embodiments, the decay time of the ozone present in the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 is approximately 20 minutes. In some embodiments, the disinfection apparatus 100 includes an alarm unit that provides an audio / video indication to the user after completion of the disinfection process.
[0034] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 includes an indicator which indicates the ozone level present inside the vehicle. The indicator indicates red, yellow, or green colour indications based on the level of the ozone present inside the vehicle. The indicator provides a red indication when a high level of the ozone is present inside the vehicle. The indicator provides a yellow indication when a medium level of the ozone is present inside the vehicle. The indicator provides a green indication when there is no ozone present inside the vehicle. In some embodiments, the microcontroller 108 controls the ozone generator 104 to generate ozone in different concentrations ranging from 100 – 1000 PPB for different types of microorganisms.
[0035] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 includes an interactive display unit that includes a user interface to enable the user to select a start button manually to disinfect the vehicle. The interactive display unit may include a deep disinfection button, an ion indication, and a power ON or OFF button. The interactive display unit may include the indicators to indicate the level of ozone present inside the vehicle. In some embodiments, the interactive display unit comprises a delay start option. In some embodiments, the user selects the delay start button, the microcontroller 108 delays the start of the disinfection cycle for a predefined time period. This may ensure the safety of the person while using the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100. In some embodiments, the predefined time period may be 10 to 150 seconds. In some embodiments, the interactive display unit is communicatively connected to the microcontroller 108 and the microcontroller 108 activates the ozone generator 104 when the user starts the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 manually. In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 is compact in size and is placed in between a front side seat and a back-side seat of the vehicle.
[0036] In some embodiments, the microcontroller 108 includes a memory that stores a list of microorganisms and the ozone required to kill that microorganisms. In some embodiments, the ozone generated for kill the microorganism may be low, medium, and high (in PPB) for different type of microorganisms. In some embodiments, the vehicle may be a car, a bus, a van, and an ambulance etc.
[0037] In some embodiments, the microorganisms or microbes are microscopic organisms that exist as unicellular, multi cellular, or cell clusters such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, algae, spores, unicellular eukaryotic organisms such as plasmodium, etc. and other biological agents like prions present in a specific surface, object or fluid.
[0038] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 is an advanced and intelligent air purification system. In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 utilizes ozone which is a widely known powerful oxidizer and aerial disinfectant. Due to its good penetration capacity, it reaches each and every corner of the vehicle to effectively disinfect the entire vehicle.
[0039] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 is communicatively connected to the cloud 112. The microcontroller 108 transmits details of a last disinfection cycle (e.g. a duration of the last disinfection cycle, a time at which the last disinfection cycle is happened, etc.) and a next disinfection cycle (e.g. a duration of the new disinfection cycle, a time at which the new disinfection cycle will happen, etc.) to the cloud112, in order to alert the user to disinfect the vehicle manually.
[0040] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 features fully automated both disinfection cycle and ozone deactivation cycle. Ozone is also called as trioxygen, contains three oxygen atoms, which is safe and environmentally friendly. Ozone gas kills bacteria, viruses (including new corona virus), odours and other contaminants in the air and disappears/decayed rapidly. The Ozone quickly attacks and eliminates contaminants that it comes in contact with. Pure oxygen and air remain after the ozone cleans and sanitizes the vehicle. This advanced ozone technology helps to maintain high professional hygiene standards and increase user safety and protect the environment inside the vehicle.
[0041] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 uses new innovative ozone module and provides safe level of ozone for air purification which freshen up the vehicles by removing bacteria, viruses, odours etc. In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 provides 360° disinfection. The ozone reaches every corner of the vehicle due to its high penetration capacity and ozone is superior than UV radiation as UV has limited penetration which could only disinfect air close to the lamp. In some embodiments, the free oxygen atoms or radicals of ozone are highly reactive and they will oxidize almost anything (including viruses, bacteria, organic and inorganic compounds) in contacts, making it as enormously powerful disinfectant and oxidizer. Disinfection efficiency of ozone is superior than UV radiation and HEPA filter.
[0042] The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 automatically maintains safe level of ozone and effectively deodorizes and sterilizes the air and surfaces inside the vehicle. In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 maintains a high level of hygiene by killing all harmful germs & odours in air and surface inside the vehicle. In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 covers every corner and cleansing whatever space it’s positioned in and gives peace of mind. As the ozone is produced using Corona discharge process, it does not require any maintenance. The disinfection process based on ozone does not require harmful chemicals and human resource for disinfection. This ozone disinfection process is an environmental friendly and very efficient method for removing bad smell from mold, tobacco smoke, sweat, garbage, food, etc. This ozone disinfection process is an effective way to freshen up vehicles by removing odor from mold, tobacco, sweat, garbage, and food debris. The disinfection apparatus 100 removes airborne contaminants and smoke and helps to decrease the possibility of contracting allergies and asthma.
[0043] In some embodiments, the ozone generated from the ozone generator 104 is a gas and the generated ozone easily penetrates to the vehicle at 3600 angles for a predefined period of time to kill microorganisms. The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 ensures 99.7% disinfection and the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 is significantly economic and highly portable.
[0044] The anti-microbial properties of the ozone provide a powerful disinfecting effect that is capable of killing 99.7% of 650 different kinds of pathogenic organisms (bacteria and fungi) in 20-30 minutes. The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 is very safe and efficient, does not use any liquids, harmful UV rays, harsh chemicals, or heat, and does not damage any surfaces or leave any chemical residues behind. Furthermore, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 is able to penetrate into cavities that were previously unreachable so the hard-non-porous surfaces within the interior of the vehicle are more thoroughly cleaned and sanitized. The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 gives maximum protection against germs with minimum effort and zero risk, all in a unit that is both compact and extremely easy to operate.
[0045] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 has the compact size of 65 mm length, 65 mm width, 145 mm height and weight of 320 grams (gms). The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 consumes a very low input voltage of 12V DC and power consumption with passenger is 2.4 Watts (i.e. 200 mA), and the peak power consumption without passenger is 11 Watts (800 mA). The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 may generate 50 milli gram (mg) ozone per hour. The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 may generate ions of 6 million pcs /cm3.
[0046] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 includes a water tank assembly. The water tank assembly includes a water tank, the mist generator 106 and the ion generator. In some embodiments, the working process of the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 as follows: (i) open the water inlet lid, (ii) fill 50 ml of RO water and close the water inlet lid, (iii) keep the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 in a flat surface or in a car cup holder, (iv) connect the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 with 12V DC power supply, (v) press the power ON / OFF button in the interactive display (vi) the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 disinfect the air and surface of the vehicle automatically.
[0047] FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 of FIG. 1 for disinfecting a vehicle according to an embodiment herein. The disinfection apparatus 100 includes an accelerometer sensor 102, an ozone generator 104, a mist generator 106, an artificial intelligence model 110 and a microcontroller 108. The accelerometer sensor 102 senses vibration in the vehicle. The ozone generator 1024 generates ozone (O3) by ionizing the oxygen present in the air for disinfecting the vehicle. The mist generator 106 generates mist. The generated mist mixes in the air inside the vehicle to improve the humidity and to improve the vehicle disinfection. The microcontroller 108 is communicatively connected to the artificial intelligence model 110, the ozone generator 104, and the mist generator 106. The artificial intelligence model 110 identifies an idle time, after the vehicle is stopped, over a period of time and computes a disinfection cycle for disinfecting the vehicle. The idle time is a time period when the accelerometer sensor 102 does not detect the vibration in the vehicle. When in operation, the artificial intelligence model 110 provides an instruction to the microcontroller 108 to start the disinfection cycle during the idle time. Upon receiving the instruction, the microcontroller 108 activates (i) the ozone generator 104 to generate ozone, for disinfecting the vehicle during the idle time, and (ii) the mist generator 106 to generate mist for a predefined time period at period intervals to improve the vehicle disinfection. The predefined time period for generating the mist is 5 seconds and the periodic interval is 30 seconds. The vibration in the vehicle may be a movement of the vehicle. The vehicle gets vibrated when a person is present inside the vehicle moves/shakes or when the vehicle is in motion. The mist generator 106 may be an ozone mist generator. The mist generator 106 may comprises a tank of 50 milliliters (ml) for storing water. In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 further includes an ion generator 202 that generates negative ions to disinfect the microorganisms inside the vehicle during the disinfection cycle.
[0048] In some embodiments, during non-idle time, when the disinfection cycle is not activated and when the accelerometer sensor 102 senses the vibration in the vehicle for a predefined time, the microcontroller 108 activates the ion generator 202 to generate the negative ions to disinfect the microorganisms inside the vehicle. The predefined time period 10 seconds. In an example, if the accelerometer sensor 102 senses the vibration for more than 60 seconds, the ion generator 202 continuously generate the negative ions. In an example, if the accelerometer sensor 102 does not sense the vibration for more than 30 seconds, the ion generator 202 stops generating the negative ions. In an example, the ion generator 202 does not generate the negative ions if the accelerometer sensor 102 sense the vibration for less than 10 seconds. In some embodiments, the disinfection cycle includes, for disinfecting the vehicle: (i) activating the ozone generator 104 for 15 minutes for a first day, (ii) activating the ozone generator 104 for 5 minutes for a second day, (iii) activating the ozone generator 104 for 5 minutes for a third day, (iv) activating the ozone generator 104 for 10 minutes for a fourth day, and (v) activating the ozone generator 104 for 5 minutes for subsequent days.
[0049] In some embodiments, during the idle time, when the accelerometer sensor 102 senses the vibration in the vehicle, the microcontroller 108 deactivates the ozone generator 104 and stops the disinfection cycle, when the disinfection cycle is stopped/interrupted during the idle time, the artificial intelligence model 110 provides a first second to the microcontroller 108 to restart the disinfection cycle during the idle time. In some embodiments, the artificial intelligence model 110 is implemented on a cloud 112 and identifies an idle time, after the vehicle is stopped, over a period of time and computes a disinfection cycle for disinfecting the vehicle and provides instructions to the microcontroller 108 to activate at least one of (i) the ozone generator 104 to generate ozone, (ii) the mist generator 106 to generate mist, and (iii) the ion generator 202 to generate negative ions during the idle time for disinfecting the vehicle.
[0050] In some embodiments, the microcontroller 108 controls the ozone generator 104 to generate the ozone in a concentration ranging from 100 to 1000 parts per billion (PPB) for disinfecting the vehicle. In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 provides an option to a user to start the disinfection cycle manually. The microcontroller 108 provides an alert to indicate a level of ozone present inside the vehicle after completion of the disinfection cycle and activates an alarm to provide an alert after an ozone deactivation cycle to indicate that the vehicle disinfection process is completed.
[0051] In some embodiments, the cloud 112 receives and stores accelerometer data, ozone generation data and mist generation data from the microcontroller 108. The artificial intelligence model 110 is trained using the accelerometer data, the ozone generation data, and the mist generation data.
[0052] In some embodiments, the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 includes an air quality sensor 204 that is communicatively connected to the microcontroller 108. The air quality sensor 204 senses a quality of the air inside the vehicle and the microcontroller 108 communicates the air quality data to the cloud 112. The artificial intelligence model 110 identifies whether the vehicle is used or not based on the accelerometer data and the air quality data and adjusts the timing of the disinfection cycle of the next day if the vehicle is not used for the previous day. The microcontroller 108 may stop the disinfection cycle if a level of power in the power supply/battery 206 is below a threshold level. Based on the usage of the vehicle, the microcontroller 108 controls (i.e. start or stops) the disinfection cycle, thereby preventing the power supply or battery usage/drain.
[0053] The air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 further a power supply 206. The ion generator 202 generates negative ions to disinfect the microorganisms during daytime. The generated negatively charged ions attach to microorganisms and removing them from the air present inside the vehicle. The power supply 206 is connected to the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 to provide power to the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100. In some embodiments, the power supply 206 uses a battery power for all time (e.g. 24/7).
[0054] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for disinfecting a vehicle using an air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 according to an embodiment herein. At step 302, the vibration in the vehicle is sensed using an accelerometer sensor 102. At step 304, an idle time is identified using an artificial intelligence model 110 after the vehicle is stopped, over a period of time and a disinfection cycle is computed for disinfecting the vehicle. At step 306, ozone (O3) is generated using an ozone generator 104 by ionizing the oxygen present in the air for disinfecting the vehicle. At step 308, mist is generated using a mist generator 106. The generated mist mixes in the air inside the vehicle to improve the humidity and to improve the vehicle disinfection. At step 310, an instruction is provided to the microcontroller 108 using the artificial intelligence model 110 to start the disinfection cycle during the idle time. At step 312, upon receiving the instruction, activating, using the microcontroller 108, (i) the ozone generator 104 to generate ozone, for disinfecting the vehicle during the idle time, and (ii) the mist generator 106 to generate mist for a predefined time period at period intervals to improve the vehicle disinfection.
[0055] FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate an ozone monitor observation chart for disinfecting a vehicle at different locations using the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment herein. The X-axis represents a time between every two minutes and the Y-axis represents the ozone range in parts per billion (PPB). FIG. 4A shows the ozone monitor observation chart during a disinfection cycle-1 and a disinfection cycle-2 for disinfecting a driver seat and a front passenger seat of the vehicle. FIG. 4B shows the ozone monitor observation chart during the disinfection cycle-1 and the disinfection cycle-2 for disinfecting a right-hand side back seat and a left-hand side back seat of the vehicle.
[0056] The table 1 below shows the experimental data of the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 for disinfecting a vehicle for different disinfection cycles. The time duration of each disinfection cycle is 0-15 minutes and the car model is Tata Indica LE1.
[0057] Table 1: Disinfection cycle-1 (first 15 minutes) and Disinfection cycle-2 (second 15 minutes):
Time O3 Range in PPb Relative Humidity (RH) in % Air temperature in °C
in Front Back Front Back Front Back
Mins Driver Passenger RH LH Driver Passenger RH LH Driver Passenger RH LH
0 11 14 8 19 33 33 34 33 27.0 34.4 35.7 31.8
2 82 87 30 118 33 33 34 33 27.0 34.4 35.7 31.8
4 275 140 115 228 34 33 34 33 27.0 34.5 35.9 31.7
6 264 205 173 303 33 33 34 33 27.0 34.4 35.9 31.7
8 347 275 214 354 33 33 34 33 27.0 34.4 35.9 31.7
10 394 297 237 399 34 33 34 33 27.0 34.4 35.9 31.6
12 404 302 261 438 33 33 33 33 26.9 34.4 35.9 31.5
15 437 329 284 442 33 33 34 33 26.9 34.4 35.9 31.5
0 207 207 206 289 33 33 34 33 26.8 34.3 35.9 31.4
2 349 245 232 351 33 33 34 33 26.7 34.2 35.9 31.4
4 398 288 281 411 34 33 34 33 26.7 34.3 35.9 31.4
6 419 324 305 446 33 33 34 33 26.7 34.2 35.8 31.3
8 460 360 327 471 34 33 33 33 26.6 34.2 35.9 31.3
10 507 374 338 468 33 34 33 33 26.7 34.1 35.9 31.3
12 498 386 341 480 33 34 33 33 26.7 34.1 35.8 31.1
15 534 394 372 499 33 34 33 33 26.5 34.1 35.8 31.1

[0058] FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate an ozone depletion chart after 30 minutes of disinfection of a vehicle at different locations using the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment herein. The X-axis represents a time between every two minutes and the Y-axis represents the ozone range in parts per billion (PPB). FIG. 5A shows the ozone monitor observation chart after 30 minutes of disinfection of disinfecting a driver seat and a front passenger seat of the vehicle. FIG. 5B shows the ozone monitor observation chart after 30 minutes of disinfection of disinfecting a right-hand side back seat and a left-hand side back seat of the vehicle.
[0059] The table 2 below shows the consumption / depletion of ozone used the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 after disinfecting a vehicle for different disinfection cycles.
[0060] Table 2: Ozone depletion after 30 mins of sterilization:
Time
in
Mins O3 Range in PPb Relative Humidity (RH) in % Air temperature in °C

Front Back Front Back Front Back

Driver Passenger RH LH Driver Passenger RH LH Driver Passenger RH LH
0 535 396 375 501 33 33 34 33 27.0 34.4 35.7 30.9
2 285 283 258 344 33 33 34 33 27.0 34.4 35.7 30.9
3 240 241 216 290 33 33 34 33 27.0 34.4 35.7 30.9
4 182 182 175 217 34 33 34 33 26.4 33.9 35.6 30.9
5 136 150 141 174 34 33 34 33 26.3 33.9 35.6 30.8
6 104 115 109 130 34 33 34 33 26.3 33.9 35.6 30.8
7 83 98 96 113 34 33 34 33 26.2 33.8 35.5 30.8
8 68 76 82 87 34 33 34 33 26.2 33.8 35.5 30.8
9 51 66 66 74 34 33 34 33 26.2 33.7 35.5 30.7
10 43 54 54 63 34 33 34 33 26.2 33.7 35.5 30.7
11 34 48 50 55 34 33 34 33 26.2 33.7 35.5 30.7
12 28 44 43 47 34 33 34 33 26.2 33.7 35.5 30.7
13 24 40 36 39 34 33 34 33 26.2 33.7 35.5 30.7
14 23 37 31 37 33 34 34 33 26.2 33.6 35.4 30.7

[0061] FIG. 6 illustrates a bacterial test observation chart shows the reduction of bacteria after disinfecting a vehicle using the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100 according to an embodiment herein. The X-axis represents a location of the vehicle (i.e. a driver seat, a front passenger seat, right-hand side passenger seat and a left-hand side passenger seat) and Y-axis represents a bacteria count before disinfection of the vehicle and after disinfecting the vehicle. FIG. 6 shows that, after disinfecting the vehicle using the air and surface disinfection apparatus 100, the bacteria or the pathogen is reduced in the vehicle. The instrument used for bacterial analysis is hygiena EnSURETM Touch.
[0062] The table 3 below shows that the bacteria count before disinfection/sterilization and after disinfection of the vehicle.
Table 3:
Location Before Sterilization
Bacteria range in Relative Light Unit (RLU) After 30 Mins of
Sterilization
Bacteria range in RLU Bacteria
Reduction %
Driver Seat 14055 7097 49.5%
Passenger-
Front 13042 8354 35.9%
Right Side-
Back 14672 7681 47.6%
Left Side-
Back 12368 6478 47.6%
[0063] A representative hardware environment for practicing the embodiments herein is depicted in FIG. 7, with reference to FIGS. 1 through 6. This schematic drawing illustrates a hardware configuration of a server/computer system/ computing device in accordance with the embodiments herein. The system includes at least one processing device CPU 10 that may be interconnected via system bus 14 to various devices such as a random access memory (RAM) 12, read-only memory (ROM) 16, and an input/output (I/O) adapter 18. The I/O adapter 18 can connect to peripheral devices, such as disk units 38 and program storage devices 40 that are readable by the system. The system can read the inventive instructions on the program storage devices 40 and follow these instructions to execute the methodology of the embodiments herein. The system further includes a user interface adapter 22 that connects a keyboard 28, mouse 30, speaker 32, microphone 34, and/or other user interface devices such as a touch screen device (not shown) to the bus 14 to gather user input. Additionally, a communication adapter 20 connects the bus 14 to a data processing network 42, and a display adapter 24 connects the bus 14 to a display device 26, which provides a graphical user interface (GUI) 36 of the output data in accordance with the embodiments herein, or which may be embodied as an output device such as a monitor, printer, or transmitter, for example.
[0064] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope. ,CLAIMS:I/We claim:

1. An air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) for disinfecting a vehicle, wherein the air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) is adapted to attach/integrate to the vehicle, characterized in that, wherein the air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) comprises:
an accelerometer sensor (102) that senses vibration in the vehicle;
an ozone generator (104) that generates ozone (O3) by ionizing the oxygen present in the air for disinfecting the vehicle;
a mist generator (106) that generates mist, wherein the generated mist mixes in the air inside the vehicle to improve the humidity and to improve the vehicle disinfection; and
a microcontroller (108) that is communicatively connected to an artificial intelligence model (110), the ozone generator (104), and the mist generator (106), wherein the artificial intelligence model (110) identifies an idle time, after the vehicle is stopped, over a period of time and computes a disinfection cycle for disinfecting the vehicle, wherein the idle time is a time period when the accelerometer sensor (102) does not detect the vibration in the vehicle;
wherein, when in operation, wherein the artificial intelligence model (110) provides an instruction to the microcontroller (108) to start the disinfection cycle during the idle time, wherein upon receiving the instruction, the microcontroller (108) activates (i) the ozone generator (104) to generate ozone, for disinfecting the vehicle during the idle time, and (ii) the mist generator (106) to generate mist for a predefined time period at period intervals to improve the vehicle disinfection.

2. The air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) further comprises an ion generator (202) that generates negative ions to disinfect the microorganisms inside the vehicle during the disinfection cycle.


3. The air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein, during non-idle time, when the disinfection cycle is not activated and when the accelerometer sensor (102) senses the vibration in the vehicle for a predefined time, the microcontroller (108) activates the ion generator (202) to generate the negative ions to disinfect the microorganisms inside the vehicle, wherein the predefined time period for generating the mist is 5 seconds and the periodic interval is 30 seconds.

4. The air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the disinfection cycle comprises, for disinfecting the vehicle:
activating the ozone generator (104) for 15 minutes for a first day;
activating the ozone generator (104) for 5 minutes for a second day;
activating the ozone generator (104) for 5 minutes for a third day;
activating the ozone generator (104) for 10 minutes for a fourth day; and
activating the ozone generator (104) for 5 minutes for subsequent days.

5. The air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein, during the idle time, when the accelerometer sensor (102) senses the vibration in the vehicle, the microcontroller (108) deactivates the ozone generator (104) and stops the disinfection cycle, when the disinfection cycle is stopped/interrupted during the idle time, the artificial intelligence model (110) provides a first second to the microcontroller (108) to restart the disinfection cycle during the idle time.

6. The air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said microcontroller (108) controls said ozone generator (104) to generate the ozone in a concentration ranging from 100 to 1000 parts per billion (PPB) for disinfecting the vehicle.

7. The air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) provides an option to a user to start the disinfection cycle manually, wherein the microcontroller (108) provides an alert to indicate a level of ozone present inside the vehicle after completion of the disinfection cycle and activates an alarm to provide an alert after an ozone deactivation cycle to indicate that the vehicle disinfection process is completed.


8. The air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the artificial intelligence model 110 is optionally implemented on a cloud 112 and the cloud (112) receives and stores accelerometer data, ozone generation data and mist generation data from the microcontroller (108), wherein the artificial intelligence model (110) is trained using the accelerometer data, the ozone generation data and the mist generation data.


9. The air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) comprises an air quality sensor (204) that is communicatively connected to the microcontroller (108), wherein the air quality sensor (204) senses a quality of the air inside the vehicle and the microcontroller (108) communicates the air quality data to the cloud (112), wherein the artificial intelligence model (110) identifies whether the vehicle is used or not based on the accelerometer data and the air quality data and adjusts the timing of the disinfection cycle of the next day if the vehicle is not used for the previous day.


10. A method for disinfecting a vehicle using an air and surface disinfection apparatus (100), wherein the air and surface disinfection apparatus (100) is adapted to attach/integrate to the vehicle, characterized in that, wherein the method comprises:
sensing, using an accelerometer sensor (102), vibration in the vehicle;
identifying, using an artificial intelligence model (110), an idle time, after the vehicle is stopped, over a period of time and computes a disinfection cycle for disinfecting the vehicle;
generating, using an ozone generator (104), ozone (O3) by ionizing the oxygen present in the air for disinfecting the vehicle;
generating, using a mist generator (106), mist, wherein the generated mist mixes in the air inside the vehicle to improve the humidity and to improve the vehicle disinfection;
providing, using the artificial intelligence model (110), an instruction to the microcontroller (108) to start the disinfection cycle during the idle time; and
upon receiving the instruction, activating, using the microcontroller (108), (i) the ozone generator (104) to generate ozone, for disinfecting the vehicle during the idle time, and (ii) the mist generator (106) to generate mist for a predefined time period at period intervals to improve the vehicle disinfection.