US Patent 8431910 Auto-sterilization of electronic and hand held devices

An arrangement is disclosed for automatically sterilizing hand-held electronic devices. The arrangement includes a source of Ultraviolet (UV) light, as well as one or more fiber-optic filaments for transmitting the UV light for output at one or more locations on the hand-held electronic device. Software is provided to enable a user to pre-program a desired sanitization schedule for one or more portions of the device. In one embodiment, a UV protective cover is provided to protect UV-sensitive portions of the hand-held electronic device.