GB2228420A

GB2228420A - Holder for respirator

Info

Publication number: GB2228420A
Application number: GB9003139A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kazimierez Jan Korny
Original assignee: Hellberg International Ltd
Current assignee: Hellberg International Ltd
Priority date: 1989-02-14
Filing date: 1990-02-12
Publication date: 1990-08-29
Anticipated expiration: 2010-02-12
Also published as: GB2260709B; WO1990009209A2; CA2010055A1; GB2260709A; GB2228420B; AU5094290A; ZA901116B; IE900458L; GB9003139D0; WO1990009209A3; GB8903266D0; GB9226339D0; NZ232496A

Abstract

In order to provide a disposable element type respirator with a good facial seal the present invention provides a holder (1) for receiving the respirator and provides means for holding it in contact with the face of the wearer. In one embodiment that is by way of carrier means (7) providing eye protection and engaging the nose bridge of the wearer with the holder being mounted for adjustment relative to the carrier by first connection means (17) engaging in the region of the nose bridge and second connection means (19) each engaging a respective arm of the carrier. The arms may be hooked to fit round the ears or carry ear protectors or connect with a headband/harness. In a preferred embodiment the holder incorporates a resilient sealing member (37) for urging the respirator into contact with the face and may be used with or without the aforementioned carrier means.

Description

Title: Holder for Respirator DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a holder for a respirator, especially for a disposable mask type respirator.

An existing holder for a disposable element type respirator mask comprises a malleable metail frame provided with clips for holding a mask element, and which is deformable to adopt a shape suited to holding the respirator snuggly over the mouth and nostrils of the wearer. Another disposable mask type respirator incorporates a deformable metal or plastic nose clip, defomable to suit facial fit. Such masks and other like them are held in place by an elasticated headband which passes around the back of the head of the wearer to hold the mask in place over the face of the wearer.

Frequently the need to wear a respirator mask is accompanied by the need to have eye protection and/or hearing protection. To date with the exception of face visors incorporating a respirator, this has necessitated the use of separate devices, each requiring its own fixing strap. Indeed to date, no one has come up with an alternative way of achieving a satisfactory fitting of a respirator to the face other then by the aforesaid elasticated strapping.

It is an aim of the present in + ion to provide for improved fitting of a respirator, and one embodiment provides a solution especially for the case where the wearer is required to have eye protection, with or without hearing protection.

According to one aspect of the present invention then there is provided a holder for a respirator, preferaX y of disposable element type, the holder comprising a former shaped or shapable for holding the respirator over the mouth and nostrils, conveniently also locating under the chin, and having means, preferably providing adjustment of the holder, which provides for direct or indirect cooperating location on or over the nose bridge of the wearer and optionally the ear of the wearer.

Preferably that cooperating location is by way of carrier means. The carrier may be purpose designed solely for the respirator, engaging on the nose bridge and with the ear in the manner of spectacles, but omitting eye protection. However, in a preferred embodiment, the carrier provides eye protection and preferably takes the form of a pair of spectacles, usually safety type spectacles, or goggles, of the sort having an arm which engages with the ear, either by a hook like arrangement, or by means of an ear protector carried on the end of the arm. Alternatively, engagement with the ear maybe dispensed with in favour of connection of the carrier be they spectacles or otherwise, with elasticated strapping and/or a head band/harness.

More particularly the holder has first connection means engaging with the carrier, spectacles or goggles in the region of the nose bridge. With the particular spectacles we have in mind, a clip is provided in the region of the nose bridge, actually serving a lens retention function and one option is to modify the clip to provide for attachement thereto of the holder.

Preferably, the connection comprises inter engageable male and female parts, in snap-fitting manner, preferably also providing for a hinging or swivel movement of the holder to the carrier. Alternatively, the lens itself, especially for the case of a plano lens, can be modified to receive the connection means say by aperturing of the lens to receive a reception part, preferably affording some swivelling movement.

The holder preferably has a second connection means, as a pair of connectors to opposite sides of the holder adapted to engage with a respective side extension arm of the carrier, spectacles or goggles. It is particularly advantageous if that connection means provides for positional adjustment of the holder relative to the arms in a step wise or continuously variable manner, preferably to give hinging about the first connection. That is conveniently done by way of a sliding connection. Indeed it is preferrred to use the same construction for each of the first and second connection means, ie. each connection means has a step wise adjustment in the manner of a sliding connection.

More particularly the first connection means includes provision for adjustment of the holder in upward and downward directions relative to the eyewear protection and also in forward and aftward directions. This is conviently done by means of a semi-rigid but flexible strip which engages slidably with a first connection to the spectacle frame, lens or retention clip, and which clip cooperates with a further step wise adjustable connection carried preferably in a swivel manner by the holder.

Another aspect of the invention provides for sealing of a disposable mask type respirator to~the face of the wearer by means of a resilient sealing member of or associated with a holder comprising a shell or former shaped or shapable for holding the respirator over the mouth and nostrils, conveniently also locating under the chin.

Such a sealing member enables the disposable respirator to achieve leakage performance of less than 2 1/2% The shell or holder has some degree of rigidity rendering it shape sustaining so as to back up operation of the resilient sealing member giving a surface against which it can react directly or indirectly. The resilient sealing member desirably extends to define a peripheral sealing boundary and it is preferred for the shell or holder to have a peripheral rim, groove or other formation preferably continuouos to carry the resilient member. The respirator mask resilient sealing member and the shell or former form a sandwich construction when viewed in section, and it is preferred for the resilient sealing member to be interposed between the former and the latter.The resilient sealing member may be a push fit in such as a receiving groove or spaced lugs of the shell or former, or secured with such as adhesive. Replacement sealing members can be supplied.

It is preferred that the above described sealing means be applied to the above described holder according to the first mentioned aspect although it has application to a holder having other types of locating means such as a simple elasticated fixing.

Accordingly another aspect of the invention also contemplates a holder for a respirator, comprising a former shaped or shapable for holding the respirator over the mouth and nostrils, conveniently also under the chin, and a resilient sealing member of/or associated with the holder to provide a sealing boundary to the face of the wearer.

The present invention will now be described further, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a holder for a respirator; Figure 2 is a detail section on AA of Figure 1 showing sealing detail; Figure 3a and 3b are perspective views showing ear location by way of ear caps (Figure 3a) and ear hooks (Figure 3b); Figure 4 is a sectional view showing connection means according to one embodiment.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a holder with sealing means; Figure 6 is a section of the holder of Figure 5 on line C-C; Figure 7 shows an alternative embodiment of front fixing means; Figure 8 is a perspective view of an alternative first connection; Figure 9 is a side view of a head band harness for use with the eyewear protection; and Figure 10 is a side view of safety eyewear with respirator holder located by the modified connection of Figure 8 and provided with the fixing means of Figure 9.

Referring firstly to the drawings of Figure 1 to 4 there is shown a respirator of disposable element type, comprising a holder 1 for holding a respirator element, as at 3, over the mouth and nostrils of the wwearer and as illustrated engaging under the chin of the wearer. The holder is illustrated as a preshaped 3dimensional member, say as a moulded plastic part with a plurality of air holes 5, although it will be understood that other materials could be used, and it may exhibit some flexibility for comfort although this is not essential.

Also shown are a pair of safety spectacles 7 utilising our unique arrangement of having ear locations by way of ear cups 9 (providing hearing attenuation protection) mounted adjustably at the end of the spectacle # army 11 as at 15 in the -case of Figure 3a.

The holder depends from the spectacles 7 which acts as a carrier, and for that purpose connection means 17 are provided.

Three connection points are provided between the holder 1 and the carrier 7 and it is preferred to use a substantially identical construction for each connection as shown in greater detail in Figure 4. The preferred connection 17 provides variable adjustment of one portion 19, relative to its connection with the carrier.

In the illustrated embodiment the portion 19 is a striplike formation of the holder which is received slidably in a coupler 21 affording linear movement in the direction of arrow A, actually preferred as a step wise adjustment for which the formation has alternative transverse troughs and ribs 23 with which bars 25 cooperate. The coupler has a chamber which is received on a spherical lug 27 to afford swivelling of the coupler relative to the carrier as indicated by arrows B.C. The lug 27 may be integral with the carrier or, as illustrated, in the form of a separate part which is received in a bore in the carrier part.

One of the connections 17 is disposed centrally in the region of the bridge of the spectacles and the lug 27 passes through a bore in the plano lens 29. The other two connections are with arm parts of the spectacles which carry respective lugs 27 with the formation 19 being at the end of wing-like parts 20 extending to opposite sides of the shell.

Figure 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment in which the connection 17 with the arms are as described above, but the central connection 17' is modified and is in the form of a hinge like mechanism which in the illustrated embodiment comprises snap together male 19' and female 21' parts having partcircular cooperating parts for hinging purposes as indicated by arrow A'. The connection means 17' is disposed in the region of the bridge piece of the spectacles, for which purpose, a lens relation clip 83 is modified by incorporation of the male part 19, although it will be undertstood that disposition the male and female parts could be reversed.

From the above it will be understood that the respirator element 3 can be placed in the holder and then the assembly of parts placed in position by the wearer, with the location at the nose bridge and around the ear providing for retention of the respirator over the mouth and the nostrils. The connection means 17 provides for adjustment to suit individual facial characteristics and preferences for contact pressure.

The arrangement avoids the need for an eleasticated head-band for holding the respirator in position.

The first connection means described hereinbefore provides for upward and downward positions of the holder with respect to the safety eye wear, but it is also advantageous to be able to provide forward and outward adjustment. Figure 8 illustrates a first connection which achieves this by providing the strip 19 as a part 19' separate from the holder and having its end 60 remote from the connection 21 received in ratchet like manner in a further connector 21' which is carried pivotally by the holder. Thus connection 21 provides upward and downward movement indicated by arrows C as well as a swivel movement in three planes by a ball arrangement indicated by arrows D,E, and the further connector 21' provides adjustment in the forward and of aftward directions as indicated by arrow F as well as a rotational movement denoted by arrow F by way of a journal connection to the holder.The strip 19' is formed from a plastics material and has a hinge part at 61 formed by a thinning in the material.

In certain circumstances, where hearing protection is not required, and a particularly effective respirator seal is called for, each of the side arms can be replaced by a respective snap-in connection piece 70 which carries the ratchet adapter 21 to receive the respective side straps 19 of the respirator holder. The connection piece has slots to receive an elasticated band 72 which connects with a flexible plastics head band/harness 74.

Figure 10 shows spectacles 7', although they could be goggles, with connection piece 70 attached which in turn comes the headband/harness 74 amd the respirator holder is shown at 1 with first connection having strip 19' and first connection 21 and further connection 21'. The arrangement gives secure location to effect a good seal of the respirator to the face.

Referring more particularly to the construction of the holder 1, this has a boundary defining rim part 35 which is shaped to receive a resilient sealing member 37 made of a foam plastics material or the like and adhered to the rim part 35. The seal provides a peripheral boundary axially coincident with the boundary of the respirator 3 and in use serves to urge the respirator into conformity with the facial contours.

This is made possible by the presence of the holder which backs up the sealing member. Velcro (probably a Registered Trade Mark) or such-like may be used to locate the respirator in the holder.

Figure 3b shows an embodiment in which the arms 39 of the spectacle are provided with hooked ends 41 for fitting round the ear which is an alternative to the ear cups 9.

Where reference has been made above to spectacles it will be understood that the same -could be goggles.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the first connection means could take other forms that could provide the desired location in the area of the nose bridge such as a simple hook type clip engaging a spectacle part, but also extending to direct engagement with the nose bridge by suitable shaping then avoiding the need to contact a spectacle part so that the carrier becomes in effect part of the holder. With such an embodiment it is envisaged that the second connection means could then be directly with the ear by way of an adjustable arm or ear cup.

Lastly Figure 5 illustrates a holder 101 for a disposable element type respirator 3 having wing-like pats 101 to which an elasticated headband 112 is secured. As previously the holder has slots 5 and is of moulded plastics construction with a peripheral boundary defining rim 35 which receives a resilient sealing member 35. The sealing member serves to ensure sealing of the respirator around the facial contours as previously described.

Claims

1. A holder for a respirator of disposable element type, the holder comprising a former shaped or shapable for holding the respirator over the mouth and nostrils, carrier means which provides for direct or indirect cooperating location on or over the nose bridge of the wearer and positional adjustment of the holder relative to said means.

2. A holder as claimed in claim 1 in which the carrier means provides eye protection.

3. A holder as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the carrier means cooperates with a head band/harness for location on the head of the wearer.

4. A holder as claimed in claim l or 2 in which the carrier means provides cooperating location with the ears of the wearer.

5. A holder as claimed in claim 4 in which cooperating engagement with the ears is by hooked arms of the carrier means.

6. A holder as claimed in claim 4 in which cooperating engagement with the ears is by ear protectors adjustably mounted on side arms of the carrier means.

7. A holder as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 in which positional adjustment of the holder relative to said carrier means is by way of first connection means engaging with the carrier in the region of the nose bridge.

8. A holder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which positional adjustment of the holder relative to said carrier means further comprises second connection means each of which engages with the respective side extension arm of the carrier.

9. A holder as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8 in which either of the first or second connection means comprises a sliding connection.

10. A holder as claimed in claim 7 in which the first connection means comprises an elongate strip of material having a first slidable connection with the carrier means and a further slidable connection with the holder.

11. A holder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the former has a peripheral resilient sealing member for urging the respirator into contact with the face of the wearer in use.

12. A holder for a respirator of disposable element type constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings of Figure 1 or Figure 3a or 3b or 10 including or excluding the features of Figure 3, 4, 7, 8 or 9.

13. A holder for a disposable element respirator comprising a former shaped or shapable for holding the respirator over the mouth and nostrils, and a resilient sealing member of or associated with the holder to provide sealing boundary to the face of the wearer.

14. A holder as claimed in claim 13 in which the resilient sealing member is disposed around the periphery of the former.

15. A holder as claimed in claim 13 or 14 in which the resilient sealing member is received in a peripheral groove of the former.

16. A holder as claimed in any one of claims 13, 14 or 15 in which the resilient sealing member is foam plastics.

17. A holder for a disposable element type respirator constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings of Figures 1, 2, 3a, 5, 6 or 10.