Dry sterilizing device and dry sterilizing method

Abstract

A sterilizing device includes a housing having an opening in at least one direction thereof. The housing also has a hollow portion configured to allow insertion of an object (target) including part of a human body from the opening into the hollow portion. The sterilizing device also includes at least one air blower unit configured to send a flow of air toward an interior of the hollow portion, and at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit configured to emit ultraviolet light toward the interior of the hollow portion. The ultraviolet light emitted from each ultraviolet light emitting unit includes at least part of ultraviolet light having a wavelength between 190 nm and 230 nm and at least part of ultraviolet light having a wavelength between 230 nm and 237 nm, but does not include ultraviolet light having a wavelength below 190 nm and beyond 237 nm.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sterilizing device comprising:
 a housing having an opening in at least one direction thereof, and also having a hollow portion configured to allow insertion of an object including part of a human body from the opening into the hollow portion;   at least one air blower unit configured to make a flow of air toward an interior of the hollow portion; and   at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit configured to emit ultraviolet light toward the interior of the hollow portion,   the ultraviolet light emitted from the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit including at least part of a wavelength between 190 nm and 230 nm and at least part of a wavelength between 230 nm and 237 nm, but not including a wavelength below 190 nm and beyond 237 nm.   
     
     
         2 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit includes:
 a light source to emit light including ultraviolet light having a wavelength between 190 nm and 237 nm; and   a filtering member through which the light emitted from the light source passes, such that the light having passed through the filtering member proceeds toward the interior of the hollow portion, and   the filtering member being configured to transmit at least part of the ultraviolet light having the wavelength between 190 nm and 230 nm and at least part of the ultraviolet light having the wavelength between 230 nm and 237 nm and to block transmission of the ultraviolet light having the wavelength outside a wavelength range between 190 nm and 237 nm when the light emitted from the light source enters the filtering member at an incident angle of zero degree.   
     
     
         3 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 2 , wherein the light source is a KrCl excimer lamp or a KrBr excimer lamp. 
     
     
         4 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 3 , wherein a lighting tube of the KrCl excimer lamp or the KrBr excimer lamp is made from a dielectric substance, and is a rectangular parallelepiped hollow tube having a rectangular cross-sectional shape. 
     
     
         5 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 2 , wherein the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit includes a reflection member configured to reflect the light emitted from the light source toward the interior of the hollow portion through the filtering member. 
     
     
         6 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 2 , wherein the filtering member has a dielectric multi-layer film made from at least one SiO 2  layer and at least one Al 2 O 3  layer. 
     
     
         7 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 2 , wherein the filtering member has a dielectric multi-layer film made from at least one HfO 2  layer and at least one SiO 2  layer. 
     
     
         8 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit emits the ultraviolet light such that the ultraviolet light reaches at least part of an inner wall of the hollow portion. 
     
     
         9 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 1 , wherein the opening is provided at an upper portion of the hollow portion, and the hollow portion has at least two facing side walls and a bottom opposite to the opening, and
 the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit emits the ultraviolet light such that the ultraviolet light reaches the side walls and the bottom of the hollow portion.   
     
     
         10 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 1 , wherein the hollow portion has two facing side walls, and the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit includes two ultraviolet light emitting units disposed on the two side walls, respectively. 
     
     
         11 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit includes a single ultraviolet light emitting unit, the hollow portion has two facing side walls, the single ultraviolet light emitting unit is disposed on one of the two side walls, and a reflection mirror is disposed on the other of the two side walls such that the reflection mirror reflects part of the ultraviolet light emitted from the single ultraviolet light emitting unit toward the interior of the hollow portion. 
     
     
         12 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 1  further comprising:
 at least one sensor unit configured to detect presence of the object in the hollow portion; 
 a power supply unit configured to supply electricity to the at least one air blower unit, the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit and the at least one sensor unit; and 
 a controller unit configured to control the power supply unit based on a detection result of the at least one sensor unit, in order to control operations of the at least one air blower unit and the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit. 
 
     
     
         13 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 12 , wherein the controller unit controls the power supply unit to deactivate the at least one air blower unit and the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit after a predetermined period of time elapses upon detecting absence of the object in the hollow portion by the at least one sensor unit. 
     
     
         14 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 12 , wherein the controller unit controls the power supply unit to activate the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit when the at least one sensor unit detects the presence of the object in the hollow portion, and the controller unit controls the power supply unit to activate the at least one air blower unit after a predetermined period of time elapses upon activation of the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit. 
     
     
         15 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 12 , wherein the controller unit controls the power supply unit for a predetermined period of time to activate the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit while the at least one sensor unit is not detecting the presence of the object in the hollow portion. 
     
     
         16 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 15 , wherein the controller unit controls operations of the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit such that an activation period of the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit and a deactivation period of the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit are alternately repeated for a predetermined number of times while the at least one sensor unit is not detecting the presence of the object in the hollow portion. 
     
     
         17 . The sterilizing device according to  claim 15 , wherein the controller unit keeps deactivating the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit if the at least one sensor unit does not detect the presence of the object in the hollow portion for a predetermined period of time after deactivation of the at least one ultraviolet light emitting unit upon detecting absence of the object in the hollow portion by the at least one sensor unit. 
     
     
         18 . A sterilizing method comprising:
 making a flow of air toward an interior of a hollow portion of a housing, the hollow portion having an opening in at least one direction of the housing to allow insertion of an object including part of a human body from the opening into the hollow portion, and   irradiating the interior of the hollow portion with ultraviolet light, the ultraviolet light including at least part of a wavelength between 190 nm and 230 nm and at least part of a wavelength between 230 nm and 237 nm, but not including ultraviolet light having a wavelength below 190 nm and beyond 237 nm.