Slab Sanitizer

Sean Burke, Zane Walas,

Simon Moattar, Nicholas Hadiaris.
Table of Contents

● Title ………………………………………….…………………………………………. Slide 1

● Table of Contents ………………………………………….…………………………. Slide 2
● Problem Definition ………………………………………….………………………… Slide 3
● Design Requirements ………………………………………….…………………….. Slide 4
● Our Solution ………………………………………….……………………………….. Slide 5
● Customer Feedback ………………………………………….………………………. Slide 6
● Alternate Concepts ………………………………………….……………………….. Slides 7-8
● Alternate Concepts Evaluation ………………………………………….………….. Slide 9
● Concept Selection ………………………………………….………………………… Slide 10
● Detailed Design ………………………………………….……………………………. Slide 11
● In depth ………………………………………….……………………………………… Slides 12-14
● Results of analysis ………………………………………….………………………… Slide 15
● Product review/summary ………………………………………….………………… Slide 16
● Why you should pick our design ………………………………………….………… Slide 17
Problem Definition
Store checkouts have been plagued by the problem of the build up of bacteria and
harmful viruses. This has lead to store checkouts being the center for spreading
these bacteria and viruses between customers within grocery stores and other
establishments.

Problem One - Checkout clerks manually cleaning the conveyor belt.

Problem Two - The Build up of harmful bacteria and viruses on the conveyor belts.

Problem Three - The spread of Covid-19 at store checkouts.

Design Requirements
-Needs to effectively sanitize the belt surfaces

-Needs to be more efficient than manual labor

-Unobtrusive design

-Energy efficient

-Range of effectiveness on belts

-Well received by customers

-Improve store checkout experience

Our Solution
We have come up with a hands-free way to sanitize the conveyor belts in grocery
stores that is more efficient and kills more bacteria than the current system.
Customer Feedback
Before further development we
needed to make sure that our
product had a market and
demand. After a long survey and
talking to store managers we
found an upwards trend for the
potential use of this product.
Two main questions from the
survey are as shown.
Alternate concepts

This concept used a combination on 2 different sprays

containing bleach and a sanitizer. It would have been
sprayed on the underside of the conveyor belts with and
on and off switch to control the spray.
This concept sketch used a bleach and water
mixture and germicidal UV light to sanitize
the conveyor belt.
Alternate Concepts Cont.

This concept used a self contained apparatus that you would This sketch used a UV light and sponge soaked in a sanitizer to
place on top of the conveyor belt that would dispense a sanitizer disinfect the conveyor belt.
.
Alternate concepts evaluation
We broke our product down into 5
main components and then evaluated
the most efficient means of each
system
Activation Method- Connected to the existing belt
Sanitizer Dispenser- Spray Nozzle
Type of Sanitizer- Alcohol based Sanitizer
Secondary Sanitizer Method- UV light
Conveyor Belt Drying Method- Wiper
The Problems found
Hard to control variables- The spray would cause
trouble with rusting and moisture and potential
leaks
Design Redundancy- Our product would be using
energy for both a spray and a light to do the same
work
Over Complication and production cost- The design
would overcomplicate the checkouts, cost too much
to make, and cause too many potential issues.
Concept Selection
In order to make up for the potential issues of our design we decided to streamline
the product in one major way.

One method of sanitization

We chose to use only a UV light in order to remove redundancy and
over complication. It removes the need for refueling, moisture
protection, drying, and provides a wider range of sanitization
compared to food safe sanitizers
 Detailed Design
Using a sleek undercover design our
final product features a germicidal UV
bulb fastened to a wired connector. The
metal casing allows for an isolated light
on the surface of the belt. The connector
can link with the existing on/off controls
in the belt or be built independently
depending on the existing systems. It
spans the width of the underside of the
belt for full sanitization.
Reasoning
This final design allowed for a sleek undercover
marketable look while maximising in product
efficiency. The simplicity of the design is meant
to not add unnecessary complexity to the
existing systems at checkouts. The UV light
saves resources and power while being more
effective as a sanitary agent. It also requires
almost null maintenance and upkeep.
Casing- In Depth
The casing is used to surround the entirety of the product
and provides a “shelter” to protect the UV light from being
shattered. The Casing is the better of two designs we tried.
The first design was square with rounded edges and took on a ● Polyetherimide plastic
more industrial look. We decided on the second casing ○ Recyclable
featuring a circular more sleek fit. This model better isolates ○ UV Resistant
the UV light and is more compact. It features small screw holes
on either side of the casing so it can be securely installed into
the under belly of the conveyor belts. We chose to make it out
of Polyetherimide plastic which is a recyclable and UV
resistant plastic. We decide to use a plastic because the cost of
production is much cheaper and it is easier to mass produce the
Final Casing
casing shape.
 Germicidal UV Light- In Depth
The Main sanitising component of our design is the UV light.
Using one UV tube light as shown the light is fastened into the
connector and shines on the surface of the belt. The UV rays are
germicidal and act as a sanitary agent for the product. This allows our
design to have an efficient use of energy and output

After a self run experiment using a simulated cough. We found that in

petri dishes with J-152 Sanitizer(currently being used in stores) a
wider range and amount of bacteria formed in comparison to the petri
dishes exposed to UV light. Also in smaller times of being exposed to
the UV light it was more effective in neutralizing the bacteria forming.

UV Lamp for UV-18,UV-18X UV Aire 46365402 UVC

Germicidal Bulb
Wired Connector- In Depth
The connector switch is the home of the basic wiring needed to
operate the mechanism. Despite the option to attach the machine to the
on/off function of the existing belt, below is an example of the potential
function of an independant switch. The wiring is simple and consists of
copper wiring, one switch, the bulb, a resistor, and a power source. It is
also made out of polyetherimide plastic.
Results of analysis
In our lab, we tested how effective uv light is at killing bacteria. We concluded that
the UV light was more effective than the J-512 sanitizer.
Experiment Data J-512 petri dishes UV-C petri dishes

# Bacteria colonies (15 sec 4+ / 4+ (8+ avg) 2 / 6 (4 avg)

exposure)

# Bacteria colonies (30 sec 2 / 3 (2.5 avg) 3 / 2 (2.5 avg)

Exposure)

#Bacteria colonies (60 sec 4 / 3 (3.5 avg) 3 / 1 (2 avg)

exposure)
Product review/Summary
Our design is a feasible attribute to an extremely broad scape of brands and
markets. The potential profits are within the millions based on one endorsement
with a store. The number of belts at a register with the amount of registers in a
store plus the amount of stores in America can make even tiny product profits
multiplied exponentially. The product is easy to envision and understand and can
be seen as a solid and trustworthy investment. Overall our products mass
marketability, simplicity, effectiveness, and relation to current world affairs makes it
a solid investment for future expansion.
Why should you pick our design
Our product design is simple, effective, and discrete.

It's a one time install and has very little upkeep to have it stay effective as a
sanitizer.

It has a mass market appeal and can be utilized in any consumer store that has a
checkout.

It benefits the consumer by keeping them safe from harmful bacteria and viruses
that could be contaminating the checkout belt.