Description

The present invention relates to a container structure for products.

As is known, odours are caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds, even at a very low concentration, that human beings or other animals perceive by the sense of smell.

An odour is an emanation mainly transmitted by the air perceived by the olfactory apparatus of human beings and animals in general and consequently bad odours are perceived and manifested mainly in closed environments .

In addition to bad odours, mildew can be a problem in closed environments and also produces a pungent and characteristic smell. Mildew spores formed inside closed environments create a problem especially with respect to the inhalation of spores. The spores of some mildews, in fact, cause powerful allergies (as they are allergens) .

The spores of some fungi, moreover, release powerful toxins which create inflammations and lesions in the lungs, especially in children.

In closed environments, the presence of mildew can indicate a defect of a structural or accidental origin: lack of sun exposure (mildew is often killed by direct sunlight) , excessive humidity, for infiltrations of water or condensation on cold walls, insufficient ventilation .

In particular, in closed containers such as cupboards , shoe racks and the like, garments , such as clothing and/or sho have or cause bad smells and/or stench or mold and, even if the garment is new, these odours remain persistently in the fabric or upper shoe.

It is normal that in wardrobes or shoe racks of a house or in a small and poorly ventilated room, the formation and persistence of bad odours is favoured, including the proliferation of bacteria or microbes.

Furthermore, some types of wood or agglomerates are more subject to the development of mildew and fungi.

Wardrobes and shoe racks are closed environments that receive very little air exchange and for this reason they tend to impregnate clothes and/or shoes with the characteristic odour of a closed environment.

There are numerous remedies for eliminating odours and/or mildew from wardrobes but they are all relatively ineffective as they are based on particular perfumes or deodorants that only serve however for covering the odour without eliminating its formation or persistence .

Furthermore, the use of deodorants entails disadvantages due to their significant purchase costs and rapid exhaustion, together with the disturbance caused, for many individuals, by strong and penetrating perfumes, but above all, as already indicated, to the fact that the problem is attenuated but not solved.

There is also the annoying problem of the proliferation of harmful volatile organic compounds which require further sanitizing and perfuming systems of closed closet environments.

The aim proposed by the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the known art indicated above .

Within this aim, an objective of the invention is to provide a container structure for products which allows polluting substances, in particular bacteria, viruses, mildew, to be destroyed in its interior, and also to eliminate odours.

A further objective of the invention is to provide a container structure for products which allows a photochemical reaction to be obtained in its interior, which binds an additional oxygen molecule (0) to the pre-existing hydrogen and oxygen molecules of the humidity present in the air (¾0) , thus generating both hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) molecules and oxidizing ions.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a container structure for products which allows a safe, effective and above all complete and repetitive sanitation, as it is capable of destroying most of the polluting compounds, such as bacteria, viruses, mildew, allergens and odours.

This aim, together with these and other objectives are achieved by a container structure for products having a closed body defined by a base, a ceiling and side walls having at least one door communicating with its interior, wherein means are present for housing the products in a prearranged fashion, characterized in that it comprises sanitation means of the air present inside said body having a supporting element of a ventilation group for generating a flow of air, at least one inlet opening and at least one outlet opening of said air flow, an ultraviolet lamp and a catalyst positioned between said ventilation group and said outlet opening communicating with the interior of said body, and activation means of said sanitation means.

The subordinate claims specify more clearly that the container structure for products comprises guiding means of said air flow associated with said outlet opening for sending said sanitized air flow along the whole internal development of said body.

The ventilation group comprises a tangential fan.

The ultraviolet lamp is high-density and the catalyst has a metal alloy with a honeycomb matrix consisting and composed of titanium dioxide and other noble metals.

In particular, the inlet opening is positioned on said body and the activation means comprise a timer which activates the sanitation for a certain time when said door is opened.

The guiding means comprise ducts with outlet holes for carrying said air flow along said side walls of said body and the holes have a variable diameter in relation to their distance from said sanitation means or are variably distributed along said ducts.

The supporting element is outside said body.

The products housed in the container are clothing items and the container can be a wardrobe, a shoe rack or a refrigerating cell for perishable natural products such as fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and the like.

These characteristics and the advantages of the invention will appear more evident from the following indicative and non-limiting description of preferred but non-exclusive embodiments of a container structure for products illustrated in the following figures, in which :

figure 1 is a raised sectional side view of a piece of furniture having the sanitation means according to the invention in its interior;

- figure 2 is a raised sectional side view of a shoe rack having the sanitation means according to the invention in its interior;

figure 3 is an enlarged view of the sanitation means of figures 1 and 2 according to the invention;

- figure 4 is a perspective view of the sanitation means of figure 3 according to the invention .

With particular reference to the above figures, the container structure of products according to the invention is generically indicated with the reference number 1.

The container structure 1 has a closed body 2 defined by a base 3, a ceiling 4, and side walls 5.

One or more doors 6 are present on the side walls 5, which communicate with the interior of the body 2 in which housing means 7 of the products 8 are present in a prearranged fashion.

The closed body 2 can advantageously be a wardrobe as represented in a sectional view in figure 1, or a shoe rack, as represented in a sectional view in figure 2, or also a refrigerating cell for housing perishable products, not represented.

The body 2, whatever it may be, has air sanitation means, generally indicated with 11, which is contained inside the same.

In particular, the sanitation means 11 comprise a supporting element 10 of a ventilation group 12 for the generation of an air flow 13 and provided with at least one inlet opening 14 and at least one outlet opening 15 of the air flow.

A UV lamp 16 and a catalyst 17, also supported by the supporting element 10, are positioned between the ventilation group 12, defined by a tangential fan, and the outlet opening 15.

The outlet opening 15 always communicates with the interior of the body 2, whereas the inlet/outlet opening may or may not be made in the body 2, as indicated, for example, with 18 in figure 3 on the upper and/or lower part of the side wall 5, which rests against the wall of the room in which the furniture is located, in relation to whether the sanitation means are positioned inside or outside the body 2.

The sanitation means can in fact be positioned according to requirements, for example, on the ceiling and/or on the side walls and/or on the base of the body 2.

Furthermore, the ventilation group comprises activation devices 20 of the sanitation means 11 which, for example, comprise a micro-switch 40 which is activated or deactivated by opening and closing the door .

The activation means can also comprise a timer 41 which activates the sanitation means according to pre- established time intervals.

The timer may or may not be connected to the micro- switch so as to optimally coordinate the activation or deactivation of the sanitation means, avoiding useless energy waste.

In relation to the requirements and dimensions of the body 2 and volume of air to be sanitized, present therein, the sanitation means can be housed for example in its interior and the outlet opening 15 communicates with a diverter 21 for directing the air downwards as far as the base 3.

In the case of extremely high containers and with various housing means 7, for example, shelves, the body 2 comprises guiding means 22 of the air flow associated with the outlet opening 15 for sending the flow of sanitized air along the whole internal development of the body 2. The guiding means 22 can also be used for rechanneling the return air flow in order to send it to the inlet opening 14.

In this case, the closing element 24 of the housing of the sanitation means can provide passages 25.

In a preferred solution, as can be seen in the drawings, the body 2 respectively has, above and below the side wall 5 which rests against the wall, an inlet and outlet opening 18 of the air flow 13 generated by the fan 12, and spacers 33.

In this way, the air flow 13 passes along the whole height and width of the interior of the body 2, passing beyond the various shelves 7, as these are suitably spaced, at least in their front part, by the side wall 5 or door 6.

When the air flow 13 reaches the bottom 3 of the body 2, it exits from the outlet opening and is advantageously sent upwards due to the suction of the fan 12 and the presence of the wall 34 and spacers 33 situated above and below the openings 18.

In this way, a forced circulation of the air flow 13 is created, which passes inside the body 2 and outside the same between the wall and side panel 5.

This forced circulation of the flow 13 allows the sanitation of the air and internal walls of the body 2 to be obtained, and also the outside of the side panel 5, facing the wall, and the wall itself, where bacteria are normally nested and where mildew is created.

The ultraviolet lamp 16 is of the high-density type and the catalyst 17 is composed of a metal alloy with a honeycomb matrix consisting of titanium dioxide and other noble metals.

In particular, as the lamp 16 is a high-density lamp, it has technical features determined by a UV light with a wavelength lower than 385 nanometers capable of optimally activating the catalyst 17 which is positioned at a pre-established distance from the same, in relation to its specific technical-functional characteristics .

In addition to titanium dioxide, the metal alloy of the catalyst 17, in fact, also has rhodium for converting the oxides, silver and copper for accelerating the reaction process and platinum for attracting and withholding the electrons, delaying their recombination.

The guiding means 22, defined by the space present between the shelves 7 and one or more of the side walls 5 and/or door(s) 6, comprise, in a construction variant, ducts with outlet holes 27 for carrying the air flow along the side walls of the body 2. The holes 27 have a variable diameter in relation to their distance from the sanitation means or are distributed irregularly along the ducts so as to uniformly dose the sanitization air along the whole height of the body 2.

The sanitation means associated with a wardrobe or a shoe rack or a refrigerating cell effect a photocatalytic oxidation which allows the polluting substances, in particular bacteria, viruses, mildew and also odours, to be destroyed with a natural active principle .

In particular, the sanitation means 11 inside the body 2, generate a photochemical reaction which binds an additional oxygen molecule (0) to the pre-existing hydrogen and oxygen molecules of the humidity present in the air (¾0) , thus generating both hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) and oxidizing ions.

The hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) generated by the photocatalytic reaction in minimum quantities, not higher than 0.02 PPM, is extremely effective in destroying the microbial charge, both in the air and on the surface of the furniture and products contained therein .

The sanitation means also comprise a hydrophilic coating 30 suitable for interacting with the water of the humidity present in the environment.

For an optimum functioning, the relative humidity present in the environment must be equal to at least 20%.

With the photocatalytic reaction, the H ₂ O ₂ generated is capable of attacking and destroying the molecular structure of the polluting agents, subtracting protons from the cell and generating a water recombination.

From experimental tests carried out in this respect, it was surprisingly found that by placing a microbial charge, deposited on the plates containing agarized medium, inside the closed body, whether it be a wardrobe, shoe rack or refrigerating cell, the difference in contamination between the sample and the control proved to be greater, the longer the exposure time of the plates.

It was estimated that after 24 hours of treatment, the microbial charge (mainly mildew normally present in the environment) found on the agarized medium in the presence of the sanitation means in the body 2, is about 100 times lower (2 log) than that of the control, i.e. that present on a plate left in the same environment but not in the presence of sanitized air.

In other tests carried out on plates inoculated with a known number of colonies of E. Coli treated in an environment with reduced dimensions with a low-power blower, the effectiveness of the device on a bacterial form was demonstrated, also under these conditions.

Even for very short treatment times (1 h) , in fact, there is a drastic reduction in the microbial charge.

It can be asserted with certainty that after 4 hours of treatment, there is an almost total abatement of the microbial charge inoculated at zero time.

In practice, it can be affirmed that the container structure for products according to the invention is particularly advantageous for eliminating germs, bacteria and viruses, which, by proliferation, cause the spreading of diseases and allergies, for eliminating odours inside wardrobes and/or shoe racks and/or refrigerating cells, for reducing harmful micro- particles present in the air, including ultrafine particulate generally not treated by common filters, and for reducing clusters of powder.

In practice, the materials used, as also the dimensions, can vary according to requirements and the state of the art.