rahim bhimani: odor eliminating ultraviolet sports pack

‘ultra-violet sports pack’ by rahim bhimani

cape town’s annual design indaba conference offers a line-up of international speakers working in varying creative disciplines from graphic to product design, interactive installation to architecture. as part of the program each year, among the professionals the design indaba committee selects seven young, emerging designers to share their experiences and projects through a pecha kucha-type talk. one of this year’s selected participants was rahim bhimani a graduate from ottawa, canada’s carleton university’s industrial design programme who presented his ‘ultra violet sports pack’ (USVP), an innovation which solves the issue of odor and bacteria within an athlete’s shoe.

conducting surveys with varsity athletes, bhimani found that there were limited solutions to solving the issue of shoe odor. many individuals often only air dry their shoes, some even just leave their footwear in their bags, letting bacteria causing odors to manifest and spread. other temporary solutions used by the sportsmen are anti-odor aerosol sprays which are harmful to the environment, and ultimately only mask the rather than eliminate the problem.

two UV hubs are inserted into an athlete’s shoes to help eliminate odors

through his research, bhimani concluded that the use of UV-C light would be most effective in terminating bad shoe smells. UV-C is part of the ultraviolet light spectrum that is filtered by the earth’s atmosphere, the ‘C’ standing for the particular frequency of UV light that controls bacteria and kills germs by altering their genetic structure. within hospitals, this technology is used for extinguishing viral and bacterial microorganisms which live in the air and on surfaces.

through this data, bhimani structured the ‘UVSP’ which features two wired hubs nested with 10 UV LED lights. these slip conveniently into an athlete’s shoes, which are then placed within a convenient sack which seals and protects one’s eyes from the irritations that prolonged exposure to UV light can cause. the device runs on two AA batteries which can be easily swapped with the easy-access sliding cover.

the ‘UVSP’ includes two safety features that ensure that the hubs are not powered on when they are outside the bag. simply zip up the bag until it is completely closed to activate the first circuit. next, snap the sipper tag in place. this triggers a green LED to illuminate, indicating that the UV hubs within are activated.

demonstrating the use of the ‘USVP’ device

from left to right, top to bottom: 1. open the USVP and place the two UV hubs into each shoe. 2. place the shoes inside the bag along with the UV hubs. 3. zip-up the bag until it is completely closed to activate the first circuit. this is the first safety feature to ensure the UV hubs are placed inside the bag. 4. snap the zipper tag to the bag and once the green LED turns on, the UV hubs are activated by a 3 hour timer. this is the second safety feature which assures that the hubs are only powered once they have been placed securely within the bag. 5. once the three hours are up, the device will automatically shut off. 6. when necessary slide the bag’s front cover to replace the AA batteries.

‘USVP’ testing

general assembly 1. battery holder – upper housing 2. strain relief, PVC 3. wire, PVC 4. USVP hub – top housing 5. OP4 ultraviolet transmission acrylic, transparent 6. UV LEDs, transparent

general assembly 7. battery holder – lower housing 8. PCB board 9. battery holder 10. copper wire 11. USVP hub – lower housing 12. peg board / circuit board

concept drawings