"Handle Device"

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a handle device; in particular a device for sanitising door handles.

Background of the Invention

Germs and bacteria are often deposited on handles such as door handles when they are touched by an unclean hand. Handles in public places are often particularly dirty, since a large number of people touch them on a daily basis. Bacteria can easily be transferred via a door handle from one person's hand to another and in this way disease may be spread.

The problem is amplified in places where harmful bacteria are more likely to be found, such as public toilets. For this reason, many people try to avoid touching door handles when exiting a public toilet, in case they pick up bacteria from a previous user.

A number of devices have been proposed to address this problem. Proposed solutions include disposable wipes or gloves, which a user can wear to touch a door handle or foot- activated opening of doors. These devices do not provide solutions that allow a user to open a door in the conventional way.

One document that does describe a sanitary handle device that allows a user to open a door in a conventional manner is US4046508 (McDonald). This document describes a handle mechanism comprising a wheel inside a housing with an opening in the housing. A user touches the part of the wheel that is exposed through the opening to pull the door open. Opening of the door causes the wheel to rotate through sanitising "wicks", which apply sterilising solution, and a

"squeegee" which removes excess fluid. Each user is therefore presented with a sterilised part of the wheel to use as a handle.

A similar device is disclosed in US7080427 (Campopiano). However, in US7080427 the device is actuated by the door closing automatically. Upon closing of the door, a circular handle having an exposed portion and an unexposed portion rotates through 180 degrees. The exposed portion is gripped by a user. The unexposed portion is located inside a housing and is cleaned by rotating through a fluid reservoir before being wiped.

A number of other prior art documents describe sanitation mechanisms for door handles.

US4658469 (Hawkins) describes a door handle that offers a solution to the problem of unclean door handles by presenting a surface that has not previously been touched by another person. The handle comprises a housing containing a supply spool and a take-up spool. Material is wound on the spools and the portion of the material between the spools is exposed for a user to grip. A light sensor detects a user's hand approaching the handle and this causes a motor to wind material from the supply spool onto the take-up spool. In this way a new, untouched section of material is presented to each user.

A number of other documents describe devices for sanitising door handles that are actuated by movement of the handle. The device described in US2005/0011042 (Hupp) comprises a handle with a user contact portion that is a rotatable drum. The drum is attached to a fluid applicator housing and when the user pulls the handle and releases it, the drum rotates relative to the fluid applicator housing and cleaning fluid is applied to the drum.

GB2382987 (Smith) also describes the use of rotating rollers in a handle sanitising device. This document discloses a handle that has a user contact portion comprising a number of rollers. When a user grips the handle, at least some of the rollers rotate relative to a base member, which contains disinfecting fluid.

The cleaning members described in US4046508 (McDonald) and US2005/0011042 (Hupp) are wicks that have one end immersed in a cleaning fluid and the other end in contact with a handle member. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that it relies upon a wick drawing up cleaning fluid. The wicks of these devices would need to be constantly saturated in order for the devices to work and to clean a handle uniformly. In US7080427 (Campopiano) the handle is turned directly through a fluid reservoir. This arrangement requires a drying wipe to wipe excess fluid from the handle and thus wastes cleaning fluid. GB2382987 (Smith) does not teach the reader how the disinfecting agent is supplied to the base member.

It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved handle device.

Summary of the Invention

One aspect of the invention provides a handle device as specified in Claim 1.

Preferred aspects of the invention are specified in the claims dependent on Claim 1 and the description which follows:

The invention provides an improved handle device that can be easily fitted to a door or other furniture.

Advantageously, the device includes a number of handle members that are cleaned by one or more cleaning members as they rotate inside a housing. A user grasps one of the handle members and in doing so causes rotation of the handles. The used handle member is rotated so that it is concealed within the housing and in its place a sanitised handle member is presented to the next user.

In an embodiment of the invention a ratchet mechanism ensures that the handle unit can only be rotated in one direction. Preferably, a shaft guard extending between the handles blocks access to the interior of the device inside the housing.

Advantageously, the handle members are moveable relative to the central shaft of the handle device. They may be biased away from the central shaft by a biasing means, which in the present example is a spring and their lateral movement may be restricted by guides, which are preferably in the form of slots.

Each handle member may have at least one associated follower. The followers may be the points of contact with a cam plate. The handle members are preferably moved in the guides by the compression and extension of the spring, which varies according to the width / shape of the cam plate at any particular point. Further biasing means may be associated with the slot at its distal end and these biasing means may be compressed by a user when a handle member is pulled.

Preferably, the cam plate guides the gears associated with the handle members to engage with a fixed gear, which causes rotation of respective handle member with respect to the cleaning member and preferably the drying member as the handle unit rotates.

Advantageously, the device of the invention further includes a peristaltic pump mechanism, which supplies sanitising fluid to a cleaning member located inside the housing. Excess cleaning fluid may be collected and recycled, thus reducing waste. In one embodiment the cleaning fluid is stored in a reservoir, which can be accessed to replenish cleaning fluid as and when required.

In one embodiment of the invention, the device may include a removable element, which may be replaceable. Preferably, the removable element includes the cleaning and/or

drying member. The removable element may also include a reservoir. The pump or parts thereof may be removable as part of the removable element.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiments by way of example:

Figure Ia shows a schematic representation of one embodiment of the handle device.

Figures Ib and Ic show a schematic representation of one embodiment of the handle device of

Figure Ia.

Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of the handle unit of the handle device of Figure 1 a

Figure 3a shows a perspective view of the handle device of Figure 1 a.

Figure 3b shows a cross-sectional view of the handle device of Figure 1 a.

Figure 3c shows a cross-sectional view of the handle device of Figure 1 a.

Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the handle device of Figure Ia.

Figure 5 shows a schematic representation of the handle device of Figure Ia.

Figure 6 shows a schematic representation of an alternative embodiment of the handle device.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

With reference to Figures 1 a to 1 c, a handle device 1 comprises a housing 2 with an opening 3 and a handle unit 4 located in the housing 2. The handle unit 4 comprises a number of handle members 5, 6, and 7, which in the example comprise rollers rotatable about their longitudinal axes.

The handle unit 4 is itself rotatable about a central shaft 9. The handle unit 4 includes handle members (5,6,7) and a may also include shaft guards (not shown) located between the handle members.

The handle device 1 includes a pumping mechanism that pumps fluid from a fluid reservoir 11, through a flexible tube 14 to a cleaning member 12. The handle device 1 further includes a second cleaning member 13. Cleaning member 13 may be supplied with cleaning fluid from the flexible tube 14 or alternatively the cleaning member 13 may be a drying member and performs a drying function on the handle members 5,6,7.

The cleaning members 12 and 13 may be made of sponge or other absorbent materials. Alternatively, a cleaning member 12 and/or 13 could be in the form of a brush or other material, which may not need to be squeezed. In another alternative the cleaning member 12 and/or the cleaning member 13 may comprise an absorbent material and a brush.

The cleaning members 12 and 13 are of sufficient area to allow a handle member (5, 6, 7) to roll its entire surface over each of them. Therefore if the circumference or length of the handle members is increased, the area of the cleaning members 12 and 13 should be increased by a corresponding amount.

The cleaning members 12 and 13 may be shaped so that their cleaning surfaces correspond to the profile of the cam 16.

In alternative embodiments of the invention, the location, size, shape and material of the cleaning members 12 and /or 13 may be varied.

Referring to Figures 3a and 3b, at each end of each of the handle members 5, 6 and 7 is follower 20 and a gear 18. Each handle member (5, 6, 7) is moveable relative to the central shaft 9 through a slot in a slotted guide 15.

Each handle member (5, 6, 7) is biased away from the central shaft 9 against a cam plate 16 by a biasing means, which in the present example is a spring 19. When inside the housing 2,

the followers 20 are in contact with the cam plate 16 and are guided by the cam plate 16. The cam plate 16 remains fixed. Therefore as the handle unit 4 rotates, the profile of the cam plate at a particular point inside the housing 2 determines the position of the handle member relative to the central shaft 9 at that point.

At the point 16a where a handle member 5, 6 or 7 becomes exposed in the opening 3, the cam plate 16 is shaped such that spring 19 is no longer compressed by the cam plate and is allowed to extend to its point of natural extension, where it is neither compressed nor expanded. At this point the shape of the cam plate 16 and the length of the spring 19 are such that the follower 20 is not in contact with the cam plate 16 and the handle member 5,6 or 7 is visible to a user through the opening 3.

The springs 19 may require a reaction force to be applied to the object to which the device 1 is attached upon a person pulling or pushing on the exposed handle member. For example, an automatic door closing device.

The handle device 1 may be mounted on a door, in particular on a toilet door or on other furniture and fittings that are touched. In use, a user pulls one of the handle members to open the door on exiting the toilet.

In the example, the handle device 1 includes three handle members, although other numbers of handle members may be foreseen without departing from the invention. The device is arranged such that on each successive movement of the handle unit 4 one handle member is cleaned by the cleaning member 12 after being pulled by a user.

When the handle device 1 is in a resting position as shown in Figure 3b, only one of the handle members 5 is exposed through the opening 3 in the housing 2. A user pulls or pushes the exposed handle member 5 the handle unit 4 rotates in an anticlockwise direction. The user pulls

the exposed handle member 5 away from the spring 19 towards another biasing means, which in the present example is a compression spring 19a. The compression spring 19a is located at the distal end of the slot in the slotted guide 15. Spring 19a is compressed by the pulling of the handle member 5. The pulling action also causes rotation of the handle unit 4 in an anticlockwise direction around the central shaft 9.

Upon a user pulling or pushing the exposed handle member 5, handle members 6 and 7 move across the cleaning members 12 and 13 respectively. The gear 18 attached to handle member 7 engages with the teeth of a gear 17. Gear 17 is fixed inside the handle device 1 and does not move. Therefore as the handle member 7 is pushed along the cleaning member 13, the engagement of the gears 18 and 17 causes handle member 7 to rotate counter-clockwise generating a scrubbing action between the surface of the handle member 7 and the cleaning member 13. The entire circumference of handle member 7 is therefore cleaned by the cleaning member 13. The gear 17 may extend along the full length of the cleaning members 12 and 13, or only partially along one or more of the cleaning members 12 or 13.

In the configuration shown in Figures 3b and 3c the force generated by the spring 19 presses the handle member 7 against the cleaning member 12. The shape of the cam plate 16 is such that upon a handle member moving towards the cleaning member 12, its associated spring 19 is able to expand, thrusting the handle member 7 onto the cleaning member 12. The handle member 7 exerts a squeezing action on the cleaning member 12 so that cleaning fluid is released. The same force is maintained by the springs 19 on the handle member 7 throughout its travel across the cleaning member 12.

A further advantage of the spring-loaded handle members is that the housing 2 for the device can be made smaller and less cumbersome.

Near the opening 3, the cam plate 16 is shaped to allow a spring 19 to expand. This gives the effect that each cleaned and dried handle moves forward in the slotted guide 15 into the opening 3 so that it is readily accessible for a user. When a user pulls or pushes the exposed handle member, the handle unit 4 rotates and when released by the user, the used handle member moves inwards towards the central shaft 9 following contour of the cam plate 16.

As a user pulls the handle member 5, the handle unit 4 is caused to rotate counterclockwise with the follower 20 associated with handle member 5 engaging with the part 16a of the cam 16 until part 16b of the cam 16 is reached. The part 16b is an abrupt change in the shape of the cam 16. The profile of the cam 16 and the length of the opening 3 prevent the handle unit 5 from passing the point 16b until it is released by a user.

Upon reaching the part 16b, the handle is released by a user so that the spring 19a is released from compression. Releasing the spring causes the handle member 5 to retract back inside the housing 2 over point 16c.

The release of the handle by the user and the shape of the cam 16 around points 16e to 16f causes the energy stored in the spring 19 and with the handle member 7 to be released, generating rotation of the handle unit 4 in a counter-clockwise direction and pulling the cam followers 20 associated with the handle member 5 over the part 16c and onto part 16d of the cam 16.

In the resting position as shown in Figure 3b, handle member 7 is positioned next to the cleaning member 13. The teeth of the gear 18 associated with handle member 7 are engaged with the gear 17. Therefore when handle member 5 is pulled by a user, handle member 7 is caused to rotate counter-clockwise generating a scrubbing action between the surface of the handle member 7 and the cleaning member 13. This ensures that excess cleaning fluid has been removed from each handle member after cleaning, and that each handle member is cleaned

and/or dried by cleaning member 13 before being presented to a new user through the opening 3.

If the handle device 1 is mounted on a toilet door, each user exiting the toilet will only touch a cleaned handle member. The next user will be presented with a cleaned, dried handle and the previous handle touched by the previous user will no longer be accessible through the opening 3, and will be concealed by a shaft guard and/or housing 2.

A ratchet mechanism ensures that an unclean handle member is never presented to a user. When a handle member (5, 6, 7) is pulled in the anticlockwise direction by a user, it passes a pawl 21. The pawl is able to pivot in one direction only and therefore the handle unit 4 is prevented from being turned in a clockwise direction by the pawl 21 preventing clockwise movement of handle member 6 in the present example. In an alternative embodiment, the handle device 1 could be configured to work only in the clockwise direction.

As illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 the handle device 1 further includes a pumping mechanism for pumping cleaning fluid from the fluid reservoir 11 to the cleaning member 12. In a preferred embodiment, a peristaltic pump 22 includes a pump head 23, comprising rollers 24 which compress the tube 14.

One end of the flexible tube 14 is in fluid communication with the fluid reservoir 11 and its other end releases fluid to the cleaning member 12 and/or cleaning member 13. When the handle unit 4 is turned, the pump head 22 is rotated about the central shaft 9. The rollers 24 compress the flexible tube 14, which draws fluid up through the flexible tube 14 to the cleaning member 12.

Fluid drains from the cleaning member 12 and cleaning member 13 back into the fluid reservoir 11 , where it can be recycled. The cleaning fluid can be replenished through access in the housing 2.

The cleaning and drying members may also be replaceable. The cleaning and/or drying member and cleaning fluid may form part of a removable and/or consumable element such as a cartridge, which may be removed from the handle device 1 and replaced or cleaned and re-used. The peristaltic pump 22 or parts thereof could also form part of a removable element.

Figure 5 shows cam plates 16, gears 17, pawls 21 and slotted guides 15 both above and below the handle unit 4. Each handle member (5, 6, 7) has associated gears 18 and followers 20 at each end of the handle member.

Alternative embodiments of the handle device 1 are envisaged, having different arrangements of the gears and or/cam plates. A handle device 1 could function without a cam plate and/or without gears. Various alternative pumping mechanisms are also envisaged. The cleaning fluid may be delivered to the cleaning member 12 and or cleaning member 13 by an alternative pumping method or under the force of gravity, for example, if the fluid reservoir is positioned above the cleaning member.

In an alternative embodiment illustrated in Figure 6, handle members 5, 6, 7 and 8 form part of the pumping mechanism by compressing the tube 14 against the housing 2 to draw fluid up and push it along the flexible tube 14 in a peristaltic motion in the direction of rotation of the handle unit 4 to the cleaning member 12.