Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A62—LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING
  • A62B—DEVICES, APPARATUS OR METHODS FOR LIFE-SAVING
  • A62B18/00—Breathing masks or helmets, e.g. affording protection against chemical agents or for use at high altitudes or incorporating a pump or compressor for reducing the inhalation effort
  • A62B18/02—Masks
  • A62B18/025—Halfmasks
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A41—WEARING APPAREL
  • A41D—OUTERWEAR; PROTECTIVE GARMENTS; ACCESSORIES
  • A41D13/00—Professional, industrial or sporting protective garments, e.g. surgeons' gowns or garments protecting against blows or punches
  • A41D13/05—Professional, industrial or sporting protective garments, e.g. surgeons' gowns or garments protecting against blows or punches protecting only a particular body part
  • A41D13/11—Protective face masks, e.g. for surgical use, or for use in foul atmospheres
  • A41D13/1161—Means for fastening to the user's head
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A62—LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING
  • A62B—DEVICES, APPARATUS OR METHODS FOR LIFE-SAVING
  • A62B7/00—Respiratory apparatus
  • A62B7/10—Respiratory apparatus with filter elements
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A41—WEARING APPAREL
  • A41D—OUTERWEAR; PROTECTIVE GARMENTS; ACCESSORIES
  • A41D13/00—Professional, industrial or sporting protective garments, e.g. surgeons' gowns or garments protecting against blows or punches
  • A41D13/05—Professional, industrial or sporting protective garments, e.g. surgeons' gowns or garments protecting against blows or punches protecting only a particular body part
  • A41D13/11—Protective face masks, e.g. for surgical use, or for use in foul atmospheres
  • A41D13/1107—Protective face masks, e.g. for surgical use, or for use in foul atmospheres characterised by their shape
  • A41D13/1115—Protective face masks, e.g. for surgical use, or for use in foul atmospheres characterised by their shape with a horizontal pleated pocket
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A41—WEARING APPAREL
  • A41D—OUTERWEAR; PROTECTIVE GARMENTS; ACCESSORIES
  • A41D13/00—Professional, industrial or sporting protective garments, e.g. surgeons' gowns or garments protecting against blows or punches
  • A41D13/05—Professional, industrial or sporting protective garments, e.g. surgeons' gowns or garments protecting against blows or punches protecting only a particular body part
  • A41D13/11—Protective face masks, e.g. for surgical use, or for use in foul atmospheres
  • A41D13/1107—Protective face masks, e.g. for surgical use, or for use in foul atmospheres characterised by their shape
  • A41D13/113—Protective face masks, e.g. for surgical use, or for use in foul atmospheres characterised by their shape with a vertical fold or weld
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A62—LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING
  • A62B—DEVICES, APPARATUS OR METHODS FOR LIFE-SAVING
  • A62B23/00—Filters for breathing-protection purposes
  • A62B23/02—Filters for breathing-protection purposes for respirators
  • A62B23/025—Filters for breathing-protection purposes for respirators the filter having substantially the shape of a mask

Definitions

• the face mask is configured to provide a worn state in which the inner surface is placed against the user's face, and a mouth and a portion of the nose of the user passes through the at least one cut-out.
• portions of the inner surface of the elastic sheet contact the user's face to create a substantially continuous line of engagement circumscribing the chamber region, effectively sealing the chamber region relative to user's breathing passages, with the pleated filtering web able to expand in shape via the pleat(s) as the user exhales.
• the filtering web forms two vertical pleats that are located at opposite sides of a centerline of the face mask.
• FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the face mask of FIG. 1 ;
• FIG. 5C is a plan view of another elastic sheet useful with face masks of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 1 OB is a plan view of the face mask of FIG. 1 OA and illustrating inward folding of flaps provided with the face mask;
• FIG. 15 is a plan view of another face mask in accordance with principles of the present disclosure, which plan view is of the outward-facing side;
• FIG. 16 is a plan view of another face mask in accordance with principles of the present disclosure, which plan view is of the inward- facing side.
• the perimeter P can define one or more flaps as described below. Regardless, in the worn state, a viewer or wearer of the face mask 20 will readily perceive or understand the longitudinal direction L to be vertical (i.e., when the wearer is standing upright, the longitudinal direction L identified above will appear vertical relative to ground), and the transverse direction T to be horizontal. Other features of the face mask 20 are described below relative to these so- defined vertical and horizontal directions.
• the shape-related features illustrated and described with respect to the cut-out 28 of FIG. 4 are but one acceptable embodiment in accordance with principles of the present disclosure.
• the cut-out 28 can have a variety shapes conducive to passage of a person's mouth and at least a portion of the person's nose.
• the elastic sheet 22 can form a plurality of cut-outs in the central portion 50.
• FIG. 5A illustrates an alternative elastic sheet 22' defining first and second cut-outs 28a', 28b' in the form of slits. Slits 28a', 28b' are arranged to intersect one another, forming an X shape and generating several flaps 90. When pressed against a person's chin, mouth and/or nose, the flaps 90 separate from one another to permit passage of the wearer's facial anatomy.
• the minor holes in the first and second lateral end portions 52, 54 and otherwise spaced away from the central portion 50 can balance the desire for breathability, elongation, or comfort, as well as the desire for good contact of the face mask 20 around the wearer's nose and mouth. Regardless, when provided, the minor holes can be orders of magnitudes smaller than the cut-out 28 and/or do not pass through an entire thickness of the elastic sheet 22. In other embodiments, the minor holes can be omitted.
• all of the central portion 50 and lateral end portions 52, 54 can be stretched in one or more directions.
• the ability of the elastic sheet 22 to stretch in at least one of the transverse T or longitudinal L directions will typically allow for fuller coverage of the wearer's face and provide for more flexibility in accommodating variously sized faces of potential users.
• horizontal and vertical stretching in the central portion 50 will typically allow for better fitting on the face.
• the elastic sheet 22 is an elastic nonwoven web.
• the elastic nonwoven web or portion thereof comprises a spunbonded, meltblown, or spunlace nonwoven.
• spunbonded refers to small diameter fibers that are formed by extruding molten thermoplastic material as filaments from a plurality of fine, usually circular capillaries of a spinneret with the diameter of the extruded filaments then being rapidly reduced to fibers.
• Spunbond fibers are generally continuous and have diameters generally greater than about 7 microns, more particularly, between about 10 and about 20 microns.
• Spunlacing uses high-speed jets of water to strike a web to intermingle the fibers of the web.
• Spunlacing is also known as hydroentangling and can be carried out on fibrous webs made, for example, using carded webs and air- laid webs.
• Exemplary useful materials for making the elastic nonwoven web or portion thereof include thermoplastic elastomers such as ABA block copolymers, polyurethane elastomers, polyolefin elastomers (e.g., metallocene polyolefin elastomers), polyamide elastomers, ethylene vinyl acetate elastomers, and polyester elastomers.
• thermoplastic elastomers such as ABA block copolymers, polyurethane elastomers, polyolefin elastomers (e.g., metallocene polyolefin elastomers), polyamide elastomers, ethylene vinyl acetate elastomers, and polyester elastomers.
• An ABA block copolymer elastomer generally is one where the A blocks are polystyrenic, and the B blocks are conjugated dienes (e.g., lower alkylene dienes).
• the A and B blocks may be configured, for example, in linear, radial, or star configurations.
• An ABA block copolymer may contain multiple A and/or B blocks, which blocks may be made from the same or different monomers.
• a typical block copolymer is a linear ABA block copolymer, where the A blocks may be the same or different, or a block copolymer having more than three blocks, predominantly terminating with A blocks.
• Multi-block copolymers may contain, for example, a certain proportion of AB diblock copolymer, which tends to form a more tacky elastomeric film segment.
• Materials can be selected for the elastic nonwoven portion or sheet, for example, depending on how they feel against the skin.
• the elastic nonwoven sheet can be made from materials that feel soft against the skin.
• the elastic nonwoven sheet can also be made from materials that have a rubbery feeling so that they can stay in place.
• the filtering web 24 forms at least one pleat 100.
• the pleat 100 is a flat pleat made, for example, by folding the filtering web 24 material back on itself a first time, and then folding it back on itself a second time as illustrated in FIG. 3, resulting in fold lines 102, 104.
• the pleat 100 shown in FIG. 3 is a single pleat, double pleats or other multiple pleats may also be used with face masks of the present disclosure.
• the above- described folding pattern is usually repeated twice with the same folding direction.
• this folding pattern is usually repeated multiple times.
• the filtering web 24 is a nonwoven material (e.g., a polypropylene nonwoven material).
• the filtering web 24 can be a microreplicated perforated film.
• the filtering web 24 may also include multiple layers of nonwoven materials or microreplicated perforated films.
• the filtering web 24 is electrically charged. Charged filtration medium typically increases filtration efficiency by drawing particles to be filtered toward the filter by virtue of their electrical charge.
• the filtering web 24 is an electret. Electret treatment can be carried out by a number of techniques (e.g., those described in U.S. Patent Nos.
• the filtering web 24 has a filtering efficiency of at least 99 (in some embodiments, 98, 97, 96, or 95) percent.
• the filtering web 24 is useful, for example, for protecting the face mask wearer from unpleasant odors.
• the filtering web 24 is loaded with activated carbon or other particles.
• the filtering web 24 may include two or more layers of material, for example in the form of a pad.
• the filtering web 24 or portion thereof is a nonwoven web of microfibers that are thermally insulating.
• the filtering web 24 may comprise a mixture of microfibers and crimped staple fibers as described in U.S. Patent No. 4,1 18,531, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
• the filtering web 24 can include two or more layers of material, for example in the form of a pad.
• the vertical pleats 1 10, 1 12 can slightly expand with stretching of the elastic sheet 22, better ensuring that the elastic sheet 22 will conform to and contact the user's face 166 at the nose root region 152 regardless of a particular shape or size of the nose root region 152. More particularly, as the elastic sheet 22 is pulled or stretched toward the user's ears, tension is experienced by the facemask 20' at the nose root region 152; the inwardly- facing fold line of the vertical pleats 110, 1 12 are drawn toward the user's face in response to this tension, conforming to a shape of the nose root region 152. As a point of reference, a rigidity of the nose root region 152 may result in incomplete contact between the elastic sheet 22 and the nose root region 152 and thus an incomplete seal about the chamber region 26.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Physical Education & Sports Medicine (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Emergency Management (AREA)
• Pulmonology (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Zoology (AREA)
• Respiratory Apparatuses And Protective Means (AREA)
• Orthopedics, Nursing, And Contraception (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=49882403

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Families Citing this family (80)

Family Cites Families (11)

• 2013
  • 2013-02-25 US US14/408,910 patent/US20150173436A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2013-02-25 WO PCT/US2013/027665 patent/WO2014007847A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2013-02-25 KR KR20157002375A patent/KR20150036251A/ko not_active Withdrawn
  • 2013-02-25 CN CN201710234641.7A patent/CN107095374A/zh active Pending
  • 2013-02-25 EP EP13813860.7A patent/EP2866902A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2013-02-25 CN CN201380035077.6A patent/CN104519965A/zh active Pending
  • 2013-02-25 BR BR112015000124A patent/BR112015000124A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2013-02-25 JP JP2015520155A patent/JP2015527500A/ja not_active Ceased
  • 2013-02-25 CA CA2878169A patent/CA2878169A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2013-03-01 TW TW102107381A patent/TW201402171A/zh unknown

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