US 12,144,902 B2
Self-cleaning device
Lavinia Andreea Danielescu, San Francisco, CA (US); Aditi Maheshwari, San Francisco, CA (US); and Mark Benjamin Greenspan, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to Accenture Global Solutions Limited, Dublin (IE)
Filed by Accenture Global Solutions Limited, Dublin (IE)
Filed on Jun. 1, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/335,344.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/032,979, filed on Jun. 1, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0369883 A1, Dec. 2, 2021
Int. Cl. A61L 2/08 (2006.01); A61L 2/10 (2006.01); A61L 2/24 (2006.01); A61L 101/12 (2006.01); A61L 101/28 (2006.01)
CPC A61L 2/088 (2013.01) [A61L 2/10 (2013.01); A61L 2/24 (2013.01); A61L 2101/12 (2020.08); A61L 2101/28 (2020.08); A61L 2202/13 (2013.01); A61L 2202/14 (2013.01); A61L 2202/26 (2013.01)] 24 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A device, comprising:
a portion that is constructed for repeated use by different living beings;
a fabric that covers the portion and that is coated with a photocatalyst, the fabric having a surface that is exposed to contaminants or germs through the repeated use by the different living beings;
one or more fiber optic light sources that are embedded in the fabric in a pattern that, when activated, allows diffused light to illuminate all of the fabric surface that is exposed to the contaminants or the germs through the repeated use by the different living beings; and
a triggering mechanism that selectively activates the one or more fiber optic light sources that are embedded in the fabric in the pattern, thereby initiating a self-cleaning cycle of the fabric surface that is exposed to the contaminants or the germs through the repeated use by the different living beings, wherein the triggering mechanism comprises a controller and a light sensor which is included in threads of the one or more fiber optic light sources, and wherein the controller is configured to:
determine detection of at least a threshold intensity of light by the light sensor;
determine that the portion is unoccupied based on the detection of the threshold intensity of light; and
initiate the self-cleaning cycle of the fabric surface based on the determination that the portion is unoccupied.