TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of sanitization. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting edible products based on severity index of dust particles and microorganism on the edible products.

BACKGROUND
[0002] Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
[0003] While being inside a building, shopping complex, mall, house, or moving around such premises, an individual happens to intentionally or unintentionally touch various objects in everyday life. Meticulous investigations have shown us that surface-to-surface transmission of various bacteria and virus can take place rapidly, as a surface contaminated by a bacteria and/ or virus source can be touched by a number of individuals, and each of these individuals can subsequently touch other surfaces as they move around, and further, each contaminated surface can be touched again by some other individuals, and hence, exponential spread of the bacteria and/ or virus can take place.
[0004] Spread of some of the most deadly diseases from one part to another part, and even to the remotest corners of the world can be traced back to such surface to surface transmissions. The newly found novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the biggest example of such ‘contact disease spread’ that has used human contact to the infected surfaces or the physical human contact to other infected humans, for its deadly transfer across the whole world thereby causing thousands of deaths.COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, and has since spread globally, resulting in the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.
[0005] According to WHO reports Corona Virus rests up to 72 hours on plastic and mobile surface, one week on masks, and on glass for 96 hours. It requires immediate action to prevent the disease at the community level during the period of latent infection which involves fast-spreading, endangering the health of large numbers of people, and creating the chain of infections through.
[0006] An individual takes care of sanitization of some of the most common and frequently used objects and surfaces, such as, mobile phone, electronic gadgets, table, chair, bag, and cloths. The individual can use various sanitizers, detergents, or soaps to sanitize such objects. However, in case of edible items such as, vegetables and fruits, one cannot use detergents, soaps, or conventional liquid sanitizers that contain alcohol and other such chemical base, as if they remain sticked at surface of the edible items after the process of sanitization and if someone happens to consume those items, they can have negative impact on his/ her health.
[0007] Moreover, washing of edible items through normal water may not result in removal of bacteria and viruses, as market-bought fruits and vegetables are covered in soil and chemicals. Before they may be ingested, consumers want these items to be clean, devoid of foreign substances, and safe. Machines that wash fruits and vegetables with the same amount of water for each item in the washing component are available to make cleaning easier. There is currently no approach for conserving water and disinfectant by detecting the approximate quantity of soil or microorganism on the surface of edible items.
[0008] There is, therefore, a need in the art to provide a solution to mitigate above-mentioned and other problems, and to provide a reliable, cost-effective, easily efficient, and user-friendly apparatus.

OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[0009] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies are as listed herein below.
[0010] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting edible products, such as vegetables and fruits.
[0011] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide an apparatus for dispensing a controlled amount of water to wash edible products.
[0012] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide an apparatus for dispensing a controlled amount of disinfectant to disinfect edible products.
[0013] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide an apparatus operates automatically.
[0014] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide an apparatus for facilitating in maintaining of hygiene.
[0015] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide an efficient, reliable, user-friendly, and cost-effective apparatus.

SUMMARY
[0016] The present disclosure relates to the field of sanitization. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting edible products based on severity index of dust particles and microorganism on the edible products.
[0017] An aspect of the present disclosure pertains to an apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting one or more edible products. The apparatus may include a casing to accommodate the one or more edible products, a rotating element operatively coupled to the casing, and configured to facilitate rotation of the one or more edible products in the casing, a scanning unit coupled to the casing and configured to acquire one or more images of the one or more edible products in the casing, a container positioned at the casing, and the container having a first part to store water, and a second part to store a disinfectant, a control unit operatively coupled to the rotating element 104, the scanning unit, and the sensor.
[0018] In an aspect, the control unit may be configured to receive acquired one or more images of the one or more edible products accommodated in the casing, extract dust particles on each of the one or more edible products, analyse the extracted dust particles to determine effect of the dust particles on each of the one or more edible products, and activate a dispensing unit to dispense a pre-defined amount of water stored in the first part of the container.
[0019] In an aspect, the control unit may be further configured to actuate a sensor to detect one or more microorganisms on each of one or more edible products, wherein the sensor is coupled to the casing, analyse the detected one or more microorganisms to determine effect of the one or more microorganisms on each of one or more edible products, and correspondingly activate the dispensing unit to dispense a pre-defined amount of disinfectant.
[0020] In an aspect, the scanning unit may be positioned at a bottom portion of the casing.
[0021] In an aspect, the control unit may be configured to rotate the one or more edible products the casing at a pre-defined speed.
[0022] In an aspect, the rotating element may include any or a combination of motor and gear assembly.
[0023] In an aspect, the one or more edible products may include any or a combination of vegetables, fruits, and cereals.
[0024] In an aspect, the apparatus may include a power supply unit operatively coupled to the apparatus, and configured to supply electrical power to the apparatus.
[0025] In an aspect, the sensor may be a nanomechanical sensor.
[0026] In an aspect, the disinfectant may be selected from a group consisting of ethyl alcohol, chlorine, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide.
[0027] In an aspect, an outlet may be provided on the casing to drain out used water and disinfectant.
[0028] Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0029] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure. The diagrams are for illustration only, which thus is not a limitation of the present disclosure.
[0030] FIG. 1 illustrate an exemplary block diagram of the proposed apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting edible products, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, to elaborate upon its working.
[0031] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary flowchart associated with working of the proposed apparatus, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0032] FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary functional components of a control unit of the proposed apparatus, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0033] The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
[0034] Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability.
[0035] Embodiments of the present disclosure relates to the field of sanitization. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting edible products based on severity index of dust particles and microorganism on the edible products.
[0036] An aspect of the present disclosure elaborates upon an apparatus 100 for cleaning and disinfecting edible products automatically without human intervention. The apparatus 100 can include a casing 102 that can accommodate one or more edible items (collectively referred to as edible items, and individually referred to as edible item, hereinafter), such as vegetables, fruits, and cereals.
[0037] In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 can include a rotating element 104 that can be operatively coupled to the casing 102. The rotating element 104 can include, any or a combination of motor, belt and pulley assembly, gear assembly, and the like, to facilitate rotation of the edible products in any or a combination of clockwise direction and anti-clockwise direction at a pre-defined speed.
[0038] In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 can include a scanning unit 106 (such as real edge camera) that can be coupled to the casing 102, and the scanning unit 106 can be configured to acquire images of the one or more edible products in the casing 102. The scanning unit 106 can be positioned at a bottom portion of the casing 102, to capture images of edible products in the casing 102 from all sides.
[0039] In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 can include a sensor 114 to detect one or more microorganisms on each of one or more edible products accommodated in the casing 102. The sensor 114 can be a nanomechanical sensor that can be configured to detect small particles such as airborne particles including dust, particulate matter (PM), and microorganisms such as viruses. Also, some other sensors to detect severity index of microorganisms on edible products can be used herein.
[0040] In an embodiment, a container 108 can be positioned at the casing 102, the container 108 can have a first part of the container 108-1 to store water, and a second part of the container 108-2 to store a disinfectant. The disinfectant can be selected from a group consisting of but not limited to ethyl alcohol, chlorine, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide.
[0041] In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 can include a dispensing unit 112, coupled to the casing 102, and can be configured to dispense either water and disenchant based on the received instructions. The dispensing unit 112 can be valve, tap, and the likes. In an exemplary embodiment, the dispensing unit 112 can be configured to facilitate inflow and outflow of water or disinfectant from the first part of the container and the second part of the container respectively.
[0042] In an exemplary implementation, the rotation of the water along with the edible products facilitates in cleaning of said edible products. And, the rotation of the disinfectant along with the edible products facilitates in disinfecting of the edible products.
[0043] In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 can include a control unit 110 that can be operatively coupled to the rotating element 104, the scanning unit 106, and the sensor 114. The control unit 110 can be configured to pre-process the received one or more images of the one or more edible products accommodated in the casing 102. An artificial neural network such as convolutional neural network (CNN) can be used for image recognition and processing to extract dust particles on each of the one or more edible products. The extracted dust particles can be analysed to determine effect of the dust particles on each of the one or more edible products. Upon detection of the dust particle, the control unit 110 can activate the dispensing unit 112 to dispense a pre-defined amount of water stored in the first part of the container 108-1.
[0044] In an embodiment, the control unit 110 can be configured to actuate the sensor 114 to detect one or more microorganisms on each of one or more edible products. The sensor 114 can be coupled to the casing 102 to analyse the detected one or more microorganisms to determine effect of the one or more microorganisms on each of one or more edible products, and correspondingly the control unit 110 can activate the dispensing unit 112 to dispense a pre-defined amount of disinfectant from the second part of the container 108-2.
[0045] Referring to FIG. 2, a flow chart 200 to indicate working of an apparatus 100 is disclosed. Firstly, edible products such as vegetables and/or fruits can be stored in a casing 102 provided in the apparatus 100. A scanning unit 106 (such as real edge camera) can capture images of the edible products accommodated in the casing 102. The captured images can be stored in a database of the control unit 110. To analyse the images an artificial neural network such as convolutional neural network (CNN) can be applied for image recognition and processing to extract dust particles (i.e. soil) present on the surface of the vegetable and/or fruits. Further, the severity index of soil can be evaluated on the surface of the vegetable and/or fruits, and correspondingly the control unit 110 can instruct a dispensing unit 112 to dispense a pre-defined amount of water to clean the vegetable and/or fruits accommodated in the casing 102.
[0046] Secondly, the control unit 110 can be configured to check for microorganisms on the surface of the vegetable and/or fruits via a nanomechanical sensor. When the severity index is evaluated for microorganism present on the surface of the vegetable and/or fruits by applying the convolutional neural network (CNN), the control unit 110 can instruct the dispensing unit 112 to dispense a pre-defined amount of a disinfectant stored in the second part of the container 108-2 The amount of disinfectant dispensed can be determined based on the severity index of microorganism detection on the vegetable and/or fruits, thus save wastage of the disinfectant. Further, the disinfectant can be a solution containing ethyl alcohol. When no microorganism are detected on the edible products, the edible products can be taken out from the apparatus 100 and they are ready to use.
[0047] In another exemplary embodiment, as the edible products rotate along with the water and/or disinfectant, they get washed, and dust and other pollutants found on the edible products, gets collected at the bottom of the casing 102. In another embodiment, in order to remove dust and other pollutants from the apparatus 100, firstly the cleaned and sanitized edible products can be taken out from the apparatus 100, then the normal water can be used to remove dust and other pollutants from the apparatus 100. Further, the valve can be opened, thereby facilitating expulsion of the dust and other pollutants along with the fluid.
[0048] In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 can include a power supply unit (not shown) that can be operatively coupled to the apparatus 100, and can be configured to supply electrical power to the apparatus 100. In an exemplary embodiment, the power supply unit can include, but not limited to, rechargeable battery and solar cells.
[0049] Referring to FIG. 3, a control unit 110 can include one or more processor(s) 302. The one or more processor(s) 302 can be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logic circuitries, and/or any apparatus that manipulate data based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the one or more processor(s) 302 can be configured to fetch and execute computer readable instructions stored in a memory 304 of the control unit 110. The memory 304 can store one or more computer-readable instructions or routines, which may be fetched and executed to create or share the data units over a network service. The memory 304 can include any non-transitory storage apparatus including, for example, volatile memory such as RAM, or non-volatile memory such as EPROM, flash memory, and the likes.
[0050] In an embodiment, the control unit 110 can also include an interface(s) 306. The interface(s) 306 may comprise a variety of interfaces, for example, interfaces for data input and output apparatus, referred to as I/O apparatus, storage apparatus, and the like. The interface(s) 306 may facilitate communication of apparatus 100. The interface(s) 306 may also provide a communication pathway for one or more components of the apparatus 100. Examples of such components include, but are not limited to, learning engine(s) 308 and database 310.
[0051] In an embodiment, the learning engine(s) 308 can be implemented as a combination of hardware and programming (for example, programmable instructions) to implement one or more functionalities of the learning engine(s) 308. In examples described herein, such combinations of hardware and programming may be implemented in several different ways. For example, the programming for the learning engine(s) 308 may be processor executable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and the hardware for the learning engine(s) 308 may include a processing resource (for example, one or more processors), to execute such instructions. In the present examples, the machine-readable storage medium may store instructions that, when executed by the processing resource, implement the learning engine(s) 308. In such examples, the control unit 110 can include the machine-readable storage medium storing the instructions and the processing resource to execute the instructions, or the machine-readable storage medium may be separate but accessible to control unit 110 and the processing resource. In other examples, the learning engine(s) 308 may be implemented by electronic circuitry. The database 310 can include data that is either stored or generated as a result of functionalities implemented by any of the components of the learning engine(s) 308.
[0052] In an embodiment, the learning engine(s) 308 can include an extraction unit 312, a comparison unit 314, a signal generation unit 316, and other unit(s) 318. The other unit(s) 318 can implement functionalities that supplement applications or functions performed by the apparatus 100 or the learning engine(s) 308.
[0053] In an embodiment, the database 310 can include data that is either stored or generated as a result of functionalities implemented by any of the components of the learning engine(s) 308. The database 310 can be a server including several local and/or remote servers
[0054] It would be appreciated that units being described are only exemplary units and any other unit or sub-unit may be included as part of the apparatus 100. These units too may be merged or divided into super- units or sub-units as may be configured.
[0055] In an embodiment, the control unit 110 can be configured to receive images of the edible products from a scanning unit 106 (such as camera) in an electric form. The extraction unit 312 can be configured to extract one or more features from the images by analysing the images, and the extracted information can be transmitted to a comparison unit 314. To analyse the images an artificial neural network such as convolutional neural network (CNN) can be applied for image recognition and processing to extract dust particles (i.e. soil) present on the surface of the vegetable and/or fruits.
[0056] In an embodiment, the comparison unit 314 can be configured to compare the extracted features with a pre-defined set of images, and upon detection of severity index of dust particles on the edible products, the signal generation unit can generate a first set of control signals. The second set of control signals can pertain information of amount of water to be dispensed from the first part of the container 108-1, and upon receiving the second set of control signals, a dispensing unit 112 can be activated to dispense a required amount of water on the edible products to clean the edible products.
[0057] In an embodiment, the control unit 110 can be further configured to receive information of microorganism detected on surface of the edible products through a nanomechanical sensor in an electric form. The extraction unit 312 can be configured to extract severity index of microorganism present on the surface of the vegetable and/or fruits accommodated in the casing 102. To evaluate the microorganism artificial neural network such as convolutional neural network (CNN) can be applied for processing the data provided by the sensor 114, and the extracted information can be compared with a dataset storing information of microorganism on the edible products by the comparison unit 314.
[0058] In an embodiment, upon detection of severity index of microorganism on the edible products, the signal generation unit 316 can generate a second set of control signals. The second set of control signals can pertain information of amount of disinfectant such as ethyl alcohol to be dispensed from the first part of the container 108-1, and upon receiving the second set of control signals, the dispensing unit 112 can be activated to dispense a required amount of disinfectant on the edible products to sanitise the edible products.
[0059] In an exemplary embodiment, when the fruits/vegetables are placed in the casing 102, a rotating element 104 can rotate, and the images of the edible products can be captured from various sides that facilitates in detecting shape and type of the edible products and the information can be transmitted to the control unit 110. The control unit 110 can analyse the images to detect severity index of dust particles and microorganism on the edible products, and correspondingly a specified amount of water and/or disinfectant can be dispense to clean and sanitize the edible products, without wasting water and the disinfectant.
[0060] The above described features, configurations, effects, and the like are included in at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, and should not be limited to only one embodiment. In addition, the features, configurations, effects, and the like as illustrated in each embodiment may be implemented with regard to other embodiments as they are combined with one another or modified by those skilled in the art. Thus, content related to these combinations and modifications should be construed as including in the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
[0061] Further, although the embodiments have been mainly described until now, they are just exemplary and do not limit the present invention. Thus, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will know that various modifications and applications which have not been exemplified may be performed within a range which does not deviate from the essential characteristics of the embodiments. For instance, the constituent elements described in detail in the exemplary embodiments can be modified to be performed. Further, the differences related to such modifications and applications shall be construed to be included in the scope of the present invention specified in the attached claims.
[0062] The present invention encompasses various modifications to each of the examples and embodiments discussed herein. According to the invention, one or more features described above in one embodiment or example can be equally applied to another embodiment or example described above. The features of one or more embodiments or examples described above can be combined into each of the embodiments or examples described above. Any full or partial combination of one or more embodiment or examples of the invention is also part of the invention.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
[0063] The proposed disclosure provides an apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting edible products, such as vegetables and fruits.
[0064] The proposed disclosure provides an apparatus for dispensing a controlled amount of water to wash edible products.
[0065] The proposed disclosure provides an apparatus for dispensing a controlled amount of disinfectant to disinfect edible products.
[0066] The proposed disclosure provides an apparatus operates automatically.
[0067] The proposed disclosure provides an apparatus for facilitating in maintaining of hygiene.
[0068] The proposed disclosure provides an efficient, reliable, user-friendly, and cost-effective apparatus.

We Claims:

1. An apparatus 100 for cleaning and disinfecting one or more edible products, the apparatus comprises:
a casing 102 to accommodate the one or more edible products;
a rotating element 104 operatively coupled to the casing 102, and configured to facilitate rotation of the one or more edible products in the casing;
a scanning unit 106 coupled to the casing and configured to acquire one or more images of the one or more edible products in the casing;
a container 108 positioned at the casing, the container having a first part to store water, and a second part to store a disinfectant;
a control unit 110 operatively coupled to the rotating element 104, the scanning unit, and the sensor, the control unit is configured to:
receive acquired one or more images of the one or more edible products accommodated in the casing 102;
extract dust particles on each of the one or more edible products;
analyse the extracted dust particles to determine effect of the dust particles on each of the one or more edible products; and
activate a dispensing unit 112 to dispense a pre-defined amount of water stored in the first part of the container; and
the control unit 110 is further configured to:
actuate a sensor 114 to detect one or more microorganisms on each of one or more edible products, wherein the sensor is coupled to the casing;
analyse the detected one or more microorganisms to determine effect of the one or more microorganisms on each of one or more edible products; and correspondingly activate the dispensing unit 112 to dispense a pre-defined amount of disinfectant.
2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scanning unit 106 is positioned at a bottom portion of the casing.
3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the control unit 110 is configured to rotate the one or more edible products the casing at a pre-defined speed.
4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotating element 104 comprises any or a combination of motor and gear assembly.
5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more edible products comprise any or a combination of vegetables, fruits, and cereals.
6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus 100 comprises a power supply unit operatively coupled to the apparatus, and configured to supply electrical power to the apparatus.
7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor 114 is a nanomechanical sensor.
8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the disinfectant is selected from a group consisting of ethyl alcohol, chlorine, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide.
9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein an outlet is provided on the casing to drain out used water and disinfectant.