BE1029078B1 - AIR PURIFYING RESPIRATOR - Google Patents

Abstract

Air-purifying respirator comprising an annular base (1), which comprises a central opening and means for receiving a hood (5), forming a transparent hollow body in which the user's head can be housed, and a ventilation system (2) mounted on the annular base and forming with it a circuit for supplying fresh filtered air to the hood comprising an inlet filtering element and a circuit for evacuating filtered used air from the hood comprising an outlet filtering element, said filtered fresh air supply circuit being provided with a compressor arranged to extract surrounding air through the inlet filtering element.

Description

] BE2021/5078 AIR PURIFYING RESPIRATOR The present invention relates to an air purifying respirator.

Devices of this kind are known which are intended to protect nursing personnel from infection by infectious agents, such as viruses, microbes, etc. that may be in the ambient atmosphere while working on patients.

These in particular can produce and release these infectious agents into the environment, for example by exhaling or projecting jets or liquid or solid particles, and transmit them to healthcare personnel, if they are not protected.

We therefore provide, to protect him, insulating suits or aprons which cover the body.

The head is covered with a flexible or rigid hood, completely transparent or provided with a transparent visor.

A ventilation system is also provided to allow the user to breathe.

Prefiltered air is introduced into the hood by means of this system, which is worn outside the hood and transfers the filtered air inside it.

The hood can in particular be equipped with the ventilation system directly in front of the face, like a gas mask, or at its top, the system being worn directly on the skull.

These systems are impractical because they interfere with the user's vision or the freedom of movement of his head inside the hood.

In other cases, the ventilation system is attached for example to the user's belt or back and connected to the hood by a long flexible conduit.

The object of the present invention is to develop an air-purifying respirator which makes it possible to protect not only the nursing staff of the patient, but also the patient from the nursing staff.

Indeed, in the event of epidemics, healthcare personnel may also be carriers of the infectious agent and spread it in the environment through the air they exhale.

Advantageously, this respirator will allow maximum freedom of movement at the head of the nursing staff during their intervention.

To solve these problems, there is provided, according to the invention, an air-purifying respirator comprising: i) an annular base, which has a central opening allowing free passage of a user's head and means for receiving a hood, this annular base having a front part and a back part, opposite to the front part, ii) a hood adapted to be supported by said annular base, said hood forming an at least partially transparent hollow body having an internal volume in which said user's head can be housed in a llorally movable manner and comprising at least one rigid part which can be detachably connected with the annular base, and iii) a ventilation system mounted on said dorsal part of the annular base and forming with this base a circuit for supplying fresh filtered air to the hood and a circuit for evacuating filtered used air from the hood, said air conditioning circuit imentation connecting a fresh air inlet arranged on said ventilation system to a filtered fresh air supply provided on said base and comprising an inlet filtering element arranged at said fresh air inlet, said evacuation circuit connecting a used air exhaust provided on said base at a filtered used air outlet disposed on said ventilation system and comprising an outlet filter element at said used air outlet, said filtered fresh air supply and said exhaust of used air being in fluid communication with said interior volume of the hood, said filtered fresh air supply circuit being provided with a compressor arranged to extract surrounding air through the inlet filter element.

In this air-purifying respirator, the user's head is perfectly smooth in its movements, because there is no contact, whether with the hood or with the base, and the user's head is not wearing anything. According to the invention, use has been made of the term hood usually used in the surgical field to designate the protective element of the head. In the present invention, this hood is at least partially rigid so as not to be in contact with the user's face. Preferably, the wall of the hood can be completely rigid and form a kind of helmet. By rigid wall is meant that it is self-supporting around the head of the user. Its thickness can however be very small, of the order of 0.1 mm for example, to allow the transmission of sounds. Advantageously, the hollow body of the hood has, at the periphery, a transparent wall over at least 65% of the periphery, to provide the user with maximum vision and simultaneously a top and/or rear part that is only translucent or even opaque. Preferably, the hollow body of the hood is entirely transparent. The hood may have a cylindrical, conical, fronconical, spherical or other shape provided that it guarantees freedom of movement of the user's head, without contact with him, and that at its base it is adapted to the shape of the ring base. This may indeed have the shape of a circular, elliptical, polygonal or other ring. Furthermore, the annular base and the ventilation system mounted on it together form two circuits, one for the circulation of fresh filtered air towards the inside of the hood and the other for the circulation of filtered used air. to the external environment. By used air is meant air that has already at least partially served for the breathing of the user. The filtrations are carried out by inlet and outlet filtering elements known per se for the filtration of infectious agents, in particular microscopic ones. Advantageously, the filtered used air evacuation circuit can also be provided with an additional compressor which is arranged to extract used air from the hood through the outlet filter element. As compressor or fan, use can be made of elements known per se. A source of electrical energy is of course to be provided for the implementation of the compressor or compressors or other electrically operated elements, such as indicator lights for example. Preferably, the filtered used air evacuation circuit of the aeration system is equipped with a flow measurement element arranged to measure the flow at the used air outlet and adjust the compressor so that the flow at the used air outlet is at all times positive with respect to the pressure at the fresh air inlet. Indeed, it is necessary to avoid a reverse flow of air in the outlet filtering element and thus a release of the contaminants which it contains inside the hood.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the annular base comprises an upper face carrying the hood receiving means and a lower face, the upper face comprising an outer peripheral surface, an annular shoulder projecting upwards, arranged to centering said hood when placing it on the base, and an inner peripheral surface, the outer peripheral surface being arranged to form a support for the hood. This arrangement allows easy and quick centered removal of the hood on the annular base, in particular on the means for receiving it. Advantageously, the hood has a front part to be placed facing the user and the inner peripheral surface of said annular base comprises, as aforesaid fresh air supply in the hood, one or more offices in the front part of the hood. base to form a curtain of fresh air rising along said front part of the hood, inside the latter. This arrangement makes it possible to avoid fogging up the front part of the hood, that is to say that located opposite the user's face.

According to a particular form of the invention, the air-purifying respirator comprises one or more control means chosen from among means for controlling the charge of the energy source, means for controlling the quality of the filtering elements, means for control of leaks from the hood or alternatively means for detecting the mutual engagement between the hood and the annular base. These means can in particular be carried on the annular base or the ventilation system. In the front part of the annular base, one or more light and/or sound indicators can be connected to said control means and be arranged to emit a light and/or sound signal in response to a signal from the control means.

Advantageously, the purifying respirator according to the invention may also comprise one or more means for controlling the circulation of air in the aforementioned supply and evacuation circuits, which are provided on the annular base, in the frontal part thereof, and can be operated manually, for example in the form of control buttons. This allows the user to adjust the air pressure in the hood in the way that suits him, and this in a very easy way. Control means may also be provided to react to signals from said detection means. The compressor(s) start up automatically, for example,

when the detection means observe the removal of the hood on the annular base.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the purifying respirator further comprises a support member to be fitted on the shoulders and/or the thorax of the user and intended to be detachably connected to said annular base on which can be mounted said hood.

The respirator is thus supported by the upper body, but without interfering with the movements of the user's neck and head.

Advantageously, the support member comprises a part in the form of a breastplate to be fixed on the shoulders and/or the thorax of the user and a neck part having a central opening allowing free passage of the user's head, the neck part being supported by the part in the form of a breastplate and being provided with an outwardly projecting collar having an upper surface, this upper surface and the said lower face of the annular base having fastening means allowing engagement mutual centered and detachable.

The neck part thus has the shape of a neck brace around the neck of the user, without contact with the latter.

This collar part can be solid or perforated.

Suitably, said fixing means comprise centering pins projecting upwards from the upper surface of the collar and locking holes intended to receive these pins, in the lower face of the annular base.

According to a particular form of the invention, the purifying respirator comprises, in the position of engagement of said upper surface of said collar and of said lower face of said annular base by said fastening means, a washer of flexible material which is inserted between said upper surface and said lower face, is traversed by the fastening means and has an internal peripheral edge projecting inwardly from the neck portion of the support member.

Advantageously, the flexible material washer is provided with a drawstring allowing the inner peripheral edge of said washer to be tightened around the user's neck.

This allows, after positioning the head of the user through the central opening of the neck part of the support member, the sliding of the washer of flexible material around the head of the user, the fixing of the latter in a manner centered on the support member and sealingly closing the hollow volume of the hood, by tightening the washer around the user's neck.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the purifying respirator comprises, in the position of engagement of said upper surface of said collar and of said lower face of said annular base by said fixing means, an annular protective part made of flexible which is inserted between said upper surface and said lower face, is traversed by the aforesaid fixing means, and has a covering part which protrudes outwardly covering at least partially the support member. Preferably, it covers the entire support member to protect it from any contamination. Advantageously, the annular protection part is provided with a tightening link allowing said covering part to be tightened around the neck part of the support member, below the collar of the neck part. , while the rest of the covering piece spreads over the shoulders of the user like a cape, thus protecting the support member.

Other details and particularities will become apparent from the description given below, with the aid of the appended drawings which illustrate, without limitation, an air-purifying respirator according to the invention.

FIG. 1 represents a perspective view of an air-purifying respirator according to the invention. Figure 2 shows an enlarged view of a detail from Figure 1.

FIG. 3 represents a view of the base of the respirator according to FIG. 1, equipped with its ventilation system, but without a hood.

Figure 4 shows a rear view of the base of Figure 3 without filter element. FIG. 5 represents a view of the air-purifying respirator according to FIG. 1, fitted with a tester member.

FIG. 6 schematically represents the circulation of air in the base provided with the ventilation system and the hood.

FIG. 7 represents an exploded view of an embodiment of purifying respirator according to the invention, presenting a support member.

Figures 8 to 19 illustrate the successive steps of the dressing procedure.

In the various drawings, the same references designate identical or similar elements.

As shown in Figure 1, the illustrated air-purifying respirator comprises an annular base 1, which has a central opening allowing free passage, without contact, of the user's head.

This base has a front part which will face the face of the user and a back part to which is hung a ventilation system 2. The annular base 1 has an upper face comprising an outer peripheral surface 3, which is arranged to form a support for the hood 5 when the latter is placed on the base 1, an annular shoulder 4 projecting upwards, arranged to center the hood 5, and an internal peripheral surface 6. The hood 5 illustrated is completely rigid and its wall is completely transparent.

It forms a hollow body, here cylindrical, having an interior volume in which the user's head can be accommodated in a freely mobile manner.

In the example illustrated, the hood and the base have detachable mutual engagement means, not shown, known per se, such as those allowing for example a bayonet closure.

As shown in Figures 1 to 6, the aeration system 2 comprises, in the example shown, a filter support 7 and a filter cartridge 8 in which are housed two filter elements 9 and 10, one disposed to the fresh air inlet and the other to the filtered used air outlet.

As shown in Figures 4 and 6, the filter support 7 is divided into two housings, the right one being provided to receive a compressor 11 arranged to draw in surrounding air through the inlet filter element 9, this compressor being powered by an electrical energy source 15. This energy source may in particular be a portable element such as a cell or battery, to be recharged or replaced after a predetermined time, this cell or battery being able to be supported by the ventilation system, the ring base or any other suitable support. The filter cartridge 8 is mounted in an easily detachable manner on the filter support 7 so as to be able to quickly replace the filter elements.

Together, the ventilation system 2 mounted on said dorsal part of the annular base 1 and the base itself form a filtered fresh air supply circuit in the hood 5 and an air evacuation circuit used filtered out of the hood.

As illustrated schematically in Figure 6, the supply circuit communicates a fresh air inlet 12 disposed on the ventilation system 7 with a filtered fresh air supply 13 provided on said annular base 1, at the inside the hood. In the example illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, as a supply of fresh filtered air, there is provided, inside the hollow volume of the hood 5, vents 14 which are arranged on the internal surface 6 of the base parallel to the front part of the hood wall. Through these vents 14, the supplied filtered fresh air can enter the hood by forming a curtain of fresh air rising along this front part, which makes it possible to prevent the hood from fogging up in front of the mouth, the nose and the eyes of the user. The air flow thus formed then rolls up along the cylindrical wall and around the user's head.

The filtered used air evacuation circuit communicates a used air exhaust 16, provided on the annular base and in fluid communication with the interior volume of the hood, with a filtered used air outlet 17. A compressor An additional element, not shown, can be provided in the evacuation circuit to draw used air out of the hood through the outlet filtering element 10. This circuit can also be provided with a usual flow measurement element, such as a flowmeter 21, which is arranged to measure the flow rate at the filtered used air outlet and emit an alarm signal when the pressure is no longer compliant.

As shown in Figure 2, in the front part of the annular base 1, on the inner peripheral surface 6, several indicator lights 18 and 19 are provided. They are usually connected to control means, not shown, and can emit a light signal in response to a signal from the latter.

By their arrangement in front of the face of the user, the latter can be kept informed, for example, of an increase or a decrease in the air flow, the state of charge of the battery or batteries, the the cleanliness of the filters, the presence or absence of air leaks.

Means for detecting the mutual engagement between the hood and the annular base can also be envisaged.

In the example illustrated in Figure 1, one can observe, on the front part of the annular base 1, control buttons 20 which for example can be used to adjust the air flow to an appropriate value.

By their location outside the hood, at the level of the user's neck or chin, these buttons are easily operable manually.

The air-purifying respirator shown in Figure 7 includes a support member 22 to be fitted over the user's shoulders.

It is intended to be detachably connected to the annular base 1 before or after the mutual engagement of the hood 5 and the base 1. In the example illustrated the support member 22 comprises two parts, one part in the form of a breastplate 23 to be fixed to the body of the user by straps 24 and a neck part 25, in the form of an openwork neck brace.

The neck part 25 has a central opening and a flange 26 projecting outwards.

On the upper surface of this collar 26 stand fixing pins 27 allowing centered and detachable mutual engagement with corresponding locking orifices provided on the underside of the annular base 1. In the example illustrated, and as well as it emerges in particular from FIGS. 8 to 11, the neck part 25 consists of two symmetrical sections 28 and 29 which can slide towards one another or vice versa on the part in the form of a breastplate 23. In the separated position, these sections allow the user's head to pass between them without contact with it (see FIGS. 8 to 10) while after this passage they can be slid into the close position, for example along slideways 38, and form together the neck portion 25. At this time the user can put on protective overalls.

Before fixing the annular base 1 on the neck part 25 in the position close to its sections 28 and 29, provision may be made to apply to the collar 26 a washer 30 made of flexible material, for example woven or non-woven fabric. woven OR in a flexible film, which has a central opening and an internal peripheral edge 31, provided with a drawstring 32 (see FIGS. 12 to 14). After having slid the user's head through the central opening of the washer 30, it is possible to adjust the latter in a centered manner on the collar 26 by passing the fixing pins 27 through holes corresponding provided on the washer 30. In this position, the inner peripheral edge 31 of the washer protrudes inwardly from the neck portion 25 of the support member 22. The washer 30 can then be tightened around the neck of the user using the cord 32 that is tied.

This operation will allow, when the annular base provided with the hood is mounted on the support member, to ensure the sealing of the hollow volume of the hood.

It is however possible to envisage ensuring the sealing in question by other means instead of or in addition to the washer 30. It is for example possible to conceive of providing the part in the form of a breastplate with a sealed internal padding 39, for example closed-pore foam.

As can be seen from FIGS. 15 to 17, provision may be made, before fixing the annular base 1 on the neck part 25 in the position close to its sections 28 and 29, to apply to the flange 26, or if applicable, on the washer 30, an annular protective piece 33 made of flexible material, for example woven or non-woven fabric or a flexible film, which has a central opening and an outer peripheral edge 34. Between the central opening and the outer peripheral edge 34 is arranged with a drawstring 35. After having slid the user's head through the central opening of the protective part 33, it is possible to adjust the latter so as to centered on the collar 26 by passing the fixing pins 27 through corresponding orifices provided on the protective part 33. In this position, the outer peripheral edge 34 of the protective part 33 extends far beyond the collar 26 of the neck part 25 of the support member 22 and spreads like a cape above the latter.

It is then possible to tighten the drawstring 35 around the neck part 25. After fixing the annular base 1 on the support member, the protective part is thus inserted between the upper surface of the collar 26 and the face bottom of the base 1, is traversed by the fixing pins 27, and has a covering part 36 which protrudes outwards like a cape which completely covers the support member, part in the shape breastplate and collar-shaped part. This arrangement protects the supporting member from any contamination and therefore does not need to be cleaned after use of the respirator. At this stage, the user can put on a protective apron.

As shown in Figures 18 and 19, the annular base 1 provided with the hood 5 and the ventilation system 2 can in turn be slipped around the user's head. During this operation or when fixing the base on the support member, detection means can automatically trigger the implementation of the compressor and therefore the circulation of air in the respirator.

It should be understood that the foregoing description has been given on a non-limiting basis and that many variants or modifications may be provided without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

It is possible for example to provide for the support member to be formed of two half-parts in the form of a breastplate on each of which is fixedly arranged a half-part in the form of a neck. These two support member halves can then be joined together by suitable means around the user's neck.

It is also possible to plan to test the purifying respirator before it is put into service. As illustrated in FIG. 5, a tester member 37 is mounted on the underside of the annular base 1, fitted with the hood 5 and the ventilation system 2, so as to seal the respirator. This tester unit further comprises in particular means for operating the compressor, possibly charging the battery, determining the condition of the filters of the filtering cartridge, checking the correction of the air flow through the respirator, etc.

Claims (18)

1. Air-purifying respirator comprising: i) an annular base (1), which has a central opening allowing free passage for a user's head and means for receiving a hood (5), this annular base having a front part and a back part, opposite to the front part, it) a hood (5) adapted to be supported by said annular base (1), said hood forming an at least partially transparent hollow body having an internal volume in which said user's head can be accommodated in a freely movable manner and comprising at least one rigid part which can be detachably connected with the annular base, and ii) a ventilation system (2) mounted on said dorsal part of the annular base and forming with this base a circuit for supplying fresh filtered air to the hood and a circuit for evacuating filtered used air from the hood, said supply circuit connecting a fresh air inlet (12 ) disposed on said ventilation system (2) to a fresh filtered air supply (13) provided on said base (1) and comprising an inlet filtering element (9) disposed at said fresh air inlet, said circuit evacuation connecting a used air exhaust (16) provided on said base (1) to a filtered used air outlet (17) arranged on said aeration system (2) and comprising an outlet filtering element (10 ) to said filtered used air outlet, said filtered fresh air supply (13) and said used air exhaust (16) being in fluid communication with said interior volume of the hood, said fresh air supply circuit filtered being provided with a compressor (11) arranged to draw off surrounding air through the inlet filtering element (9). 2. Air-purifying respirator according to claim 1, wherein said filtered used air evacuation circuit is provided with an additional compressor which is arranged to draw used air out of the hood through the outlet filter element (10). 3. Air-purifying respirator according to either of claims 1 and 2, in which the evacuation circuit is equipped with a flow measurement element (21) arranged to measure the flow at the outlet of used air and adjust the compressor (11) so that the flow rate at the used air outlet is at all times positive with respect to the pressure at the fresh air inlet (12). 4. Air-purifying respirator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the annular base (1) comprises an upper face carrying said hood receiving means and a lower face, said upper face comprising a peripheral surface external (3), an annular shoulder (4) projecting upwards, arranged to center said hood (5) when the latter is placed on the base, and an internal peripheral surface (6), said surface external peripheral (3) being arranged to form a support for the hood. 5. Air-purifying respirator according to claim 4, in which the hood (5) has a front part to be placed facing the user and in that the internal peripheral surface (6) of the said annular base (1) comprises, as a supply of the aforesaid filtered fresh air into the hood, one or more orifices (17) in the front part of the base to form a curtain of fresh air rising along the said front part of the hood, the interior of it. 6. Air-purifying respirator according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the hollow body of the hood (5) has a periphery and a transparent wall over at least 65% of this periphery. 7. An air-purifying respirator according to any preceding claim, wherein the hood (5) is fully rigid. 8. Air-purifying respirator according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising one or more means for controlling selected from means for controlling the load of an energy source (15) for said compressor (11) and of other electrically operated elements, filter element quality control means, hood leak control means, means for detecting mutual engagement between the hood and the annular base. 9. Air-purifying respirator according to claim 8, further comprising, on the annular base (1), in the front part thereof, one or more indicators (18,19) connected to said control means and arranged to emit a light and/or sound signal in response to a signal from the control means. 10. Air-purifying respirator according to one of Claims 8 and 9, further comprising one or more control means (20) of the circulation of air in the aforementioned supply and evacuation circuits, which are provided on the annular base, in the front part thereof, and are manually operable, and/or which react to signals originating from said detection means. 11. Air-purifying respirator according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a support member (22) to be fitted on the shoulders and/or the thorax of the user and intended to be detachably connected to said annular base (1) on which said hood (5) can be mounted. 12. Air-purifying respirator according to claim 11, in which the support member (22) comprises a part in the form of a plastron (23) to be fixed on the shoulders and/or the thorax of the user and a part of collar (25) having a central opening allowing free passage of the user's head, the collar part being supported by the part in the form of a plastron and being provided with a collar (26) projecting outwardly having an upper surface, this upper surface and the said lower face of the annular base having fixing means (27) allowing centered and detachable mutual engagement. 13. An air-purifying respirator according to claim 12, wherein said securing means (27) includes centering pins projecting upwardly from the upper surface of the collar and locking holes for receiving these pins. , in the underside of the annular base. 14. Air-purifying respirator according to either of claims 12 and 13, comprising, in the engagement position of said upper surface of said collar (26) and of said lower face of said annular base (1) by said fixing means (27), a washer (30) of flexible material which is inserted between said upper surface and said lower face, is traversed by the fixing means (27) and has an internal peripheral edge (31) projecting towards inside the neck portion (25) of the support member (22). 15. Air-purifying respirator according to claim 14, in which the washer (30) of flexible material is provided with a drawstring (32) allowing tightening of the internal peripheral edge (31) of said washer around the neck of the the user. 16. Air-purifying respirator according to any one of claims 12 to 15, in which the part in the form of a plastron is provided with a sealed internal padding (39), which isolates the hollow volume of the hood (5) from the outside. 17. Air-purifying respirator according to any one of claims 12 to 16, comprising, in the position of engagement of said upper surface of said collar (26) and of said lower face of said annular base (1) by said means (27), an annular protective piece (33) of flexible material which is inserted between said upper surface and said lower face, is traversed by the aforementioned fixing means (27), and has a covering part (36) which protrudes outward at least partially covering the support member (22). 18. Air-purifying respirator according to claim 17, in which the annular protection part (33) is provided with a tightening link (35) allowing said covering part (36) to be tightened around said collar part. (25) of the support member (22).