Alex Trelinski
A COSTA BLANCA company that makes machines to process nuts has come up with a patent for a coronavirus-free elevator.
The creation has come from Denia-based inventor, Jose Roig.
He runs the Borrell food processing machine makers and used this year’s lockdown to produce the ‘safe’ lift using similar techniques to sterilise nuts.
45-year-old Jose Roig said: “We have more than a million elevators in Spain, which is far more per head than countries like America and Germany. That made me think that we could adapt what we use already to create a sterile lift.”
Roig’s prototype life uses up to 220 nanometres of ultraviolet light to disinfect the elevator in less than a minute once it comes to a halt and people have exited.
The prototype also includes a locking mechanism that closes the doors and triggers an alarm if it detects that the lift is overcrowded, therefore ensuring some kind of social distancing.
The smart elevator could be especially suitable for hospitals and schools, according to Roig.
The inventor clearly has a creative mind with 14 patents to his name and another four in the pipeline.
He also feels that Spain should not be pigeon-holed over the way it is viewed.
Jose Roig said: “Spain seems to have an international image solely revolving around service industries and tourism.”
” It is important to point out that we have a powerful industrial and innovative sector with products that are sold around the world.”
