MXPA00004470A - Respiratory masks having valves and other components attached to the mask by a printed patch of adhesive - Google Patents

Abstract

A respiratory mask comprises a body portion that is formed from an air-permeable material and that has at least one component, for example an exhalation valve, secured to the body portion by a printed patch of adhesive. In one embodiment, the mask is a fold-flat mask (1) comprising panels (3, 5, 7) each of which is formed from superposed layers of air-permeable material. An exhalation valve (13) is secured to the centre panel (3) by a patch of adhesive that is printed on the outer layer of the panel. Use of a printed patch of adhesive enables components to be accurately secured to the mask body at high speeds.

Description

RESPIRATORY MASKS THAT HAVE VALVES AND OTHER COMPCWENTS UNITED TO THE MASK BY A PRINTED ADHESIVE PATCH FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention pertains to respiratory masks that are formed of one or more layers of air permeable material and that incorporate bonded components such as valves, fastening bands and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Respiratory masks are used er. u a wide variety of applications to protect the respiratory system je ur. r.umar-c ae particles suspended in the air or unpleasant gases c noxious. They are also frequently used by, for example, medical care providers to prevent the spread of canine microalanisms to or from the user.

Some respiratory masks are predominantly formed by one or more layers of permeable material.

REF .: 119703 air. Such masks generally have a limited shelf life, since they are designed to be discarded, and generally fall into two categories cup shaped masks and flat folding masks, molded cup-shaped masks offer the advantage of having a body of tightly constructed mask that is separated from the face garment. Molded cup-shaped masks which are formed of one or more layers of air-permeable material are described in, for example, GB-A-1 569 812 and 2 280 620, and in US-A-4 536 440; 4 807 619; 4 850 347; 5 307 796; and 5,374,458. Flat folding masks offer the advantage that, if desired, they can be constructed to fold for storage, allowing them to be transported in a user's pocket until needed and re-folded so that they can be kept clean between uses. A mask of this type, which opens to provide a cup-shaped air chamber over the user's mouth and nose during use, is described in WO 96/28217 and US Patent Application 08/612, 527. other collapsible masks formed of layers of air permeable material are described in, for example, US-A5 322 061, 5 020 533; 4 920 960; and 4600 002.

A respiratory mask that is formed of one or more layers of air permeable material generally incorporates at least one coupled component, more typically a fastening band or ties by which the mask can be secured to the wearer's head. The mask can, however, incorporate other attached components including valves, nose clips and masks all of which are known. One method that is frequently employed to join such components is ultrasonic welding (as mentioned in US-A-5 325 892), although, for some components, bonding with adhesives or mechanical bonding are also known (as mentioned in US Pat. -A-5 374 458 and 5 080 094, and in WO 96/11594 and 96/28217).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned with providing an alternative method of joining components, such as valves, to respiratory masks that include one or more layers of air permeable material in the body of the mask.

In summary, the present invention provides a respiratory mask comprising: a) a respirator body which is formed of at least one layer of air permeable material and which is formed to be fixed on at least the nose and face of the wearer; and b) at least one component that is secured to the air permeable material by a printed patch of adhesive. The adhesive patch may, for example, be a patched patch.

The present invention further provides a method of manufacturing the body of a respiratory mask from an air permeable material, such method comprising the steps of: (a) printing at least one adhesive patch on the air permeable material; (b) positioning a component of the mask over the adhesive patch to secure the component to the material; and c) forming the material in a mask body capable of being fixed on at least the user's nose and mouth. In a method according to the invention, the steps have not necessarily been carried out in the order in which they have been specified.

The term "printed adhesive patch" means a patch of adhesive deposited on any air permeable material or component by temporary contact between a printing surface in which the shape of the adhesive patch is predefined, and any material permeable to the adhesive. air or component as may be the case. The term includes the case in which the printing surface is a screen or a plate with raised or depressed areas, but excludes the case in which the printing surface is a surface of the component.

The term "printing" means a process by which the printed adhesive patch is formed.

The use of a printing process to form adhesive patches to secure components during the manufacture of respiratory masks allows the masks to be manufactured at high speeds. Adhesive patches can also be positioned very precisely on the air permeable material or on the component. The invention has been found suitable for making respirators faster than those obtained using known techniques such as ultrasonic welding. The invention can also more accurately and easily bind the component over known techniques such as gluing or stapling. The amount of adhesive used can be precisely controlled to provide a coating of adhesive of predetermined size and arrangement. In this way the invention is advantageous in that it allows the rapid securing of components to the body of a respiratory mask with high precision.

Brief description of the drawings.

As an example only, the embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 shows a flat collapsible breathing mask in an open condition and on a user's face; FIG. 2 is a front view of the mask in the open condition of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a front view of the mask in the folded position in plan; FIG. 4 is a rear view of the mask in the folded condition of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a process for the manufacture of the respirator of FIGS. 1 to 4; FIGS 6 to 8 illustrate the configurations of the networks of the process of FIG. 5; FIG. 9 shows a strip of respiratory masks produced by the process of FIG. 5; FIG 10 is a perspective front view of the exhalation valve of the mask of FIGS. 1 to 4; FIG. 11 is a rear view of the valve of FIG. 10; FIG 12 is a diagrammatic illustration of a process for joining the exhalation valve of FIGS. 10 and eleven; and FIG 13 shows the shape of a patch of adhesive applied to a network during the process illustrated in FIG. 12; FIG 14 is a front view of another mask incorporating an exhalation valve of the type shown in FIGS 11 and 12.

Detailed Description of Preferred Modalities FIG. 1 shows a respiratory mask 1 folded flat in an open condition and in use on a user's face. The interior of the mask can be seen in FIG. 2. the body of the mask (which provides a camera over the nose and mouth of the user generally in the form of a cup) comprises a central panel 3 generally elliptical 3 and upper and lower panels 5,7 each formed of at least one network of cloth. A fastening band 9 (in this case, a two-part band) secures the mask to the user's head and a malleable nose fastener 11 is provided inside the upper panel 5 to allow the mask to be fixed closely to the User's face on the nose and cheeks. An exhalation valve 13, described in greater detail below, is located on the outside of the central panel 3 to facilitate the passage of exhaled air from the interior of the mask to the ambient air.

The mask of FIGS. 1 and 2 can be flattened for storage by flipping the upper and lower panels 5,7 down and behind the central panel 3, as illustrated by FIGS. 3 and 4.

Each of the panels 3,5,7 of the mat typically comprises at least one layer of filtering material located between the inner and outer cover networks. The central panel 3 may also include a layer of reinforcing material, and the upper panel 5 may also include a strip of foam material.

Respiratory masks similar to those illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 are shown and described in U.S. Patent Applications. 08/612, 527, 29 / 059,265, and 29/062, 787, 29 / 065,342 and in the Publications Internationals WO '96/28217 and WO 97/32494.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the example of a process for the continuous manufacture of collapsible respirators of the type shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. a succession of nose fasteners 20 is cut from a fastener material 21 provided to an application station. of nose clips 22 and positioned along one end of an outer cover net 23, and the nose clips and reinforcing material are covered with filter media 25 followed by a net for interior coverage 26. The network 27 which is formed in this way goes to a station 82 where a series of circular seals 71 each extending through all the layers of the network assembly, are formed in a central location. The circular seals 71 define the locations of the exhalation openings to be formed subsequently during the passage of the assembly of the network 27 through the manufacturing line as described below. The seals 71 are formed by holding the assembly of the network 27 to heating and pressing between a pattern axis and a backing axis (not shown) but could alternatively be formed by ultrasonic welding. The assembly of the network 27 then passes to a welding station 28 where it is welded along the fixing lines of the faces 30 shown in separate sections in FIG. 6. The network assembly then passes under scoring wheels 31 which mark two parallel folding lines 54 in the network, for the purpose described below.

In an alternative process, the foam strip 29 and / or the nose clip 20 can both be positioned on an exterior surface to the inner cover network 23 or the foam strip 29 can be positioned within the layers of the network assembly . As another modification, two or more layers of filter media can be included in the assembly of the network instead of only one layer 25 illustrated in FIG. 5.

The assembly of the network 30 now advances to a cutting station of the exhalation openings mentioned above are cut within the circular seals 71. The exhalation openings indicated in FIG. 5 by reference number 77. the assembly of the network 30 then advances to a cutting station 36, where it is cut along the edge lines fixing the faces 38, 40 to form a cut-off network assembly 42 as it is illustrated in FIG. 7. Excess material 44 of the net on each side of the cut net assembly 42 is removed and the cut net assembly advanced to a nose fastener forming station 45 in which the nose clips 20 can be trained to a particular form if required. Station 45 is, however, optional and may be omitted.

The assembly of the net 42 then proceeds to a folding station 50 where the portions 52, 53 (FIG 7) on the outer sides of the parallel folding lines 54 that were formed by the scoring wheels 31 are folded inwardly to form a continuous line 55 of smooth face masks.

The folded masks of smooth faces then advance to the welding and joining stations of the fastening bands 57, 8, in which the points are joined along the lines 59, 60 (FIG 8) adjacent respectively to the locations of the lines of the fixing edge of the faces 38, 40. The material of the strip 56 is applied and joined in the locations 62, 64 forming a network assembly 65 of the points of the frame joined with an excess of material 68. as shown in FIG. 8. The line of the fixing edge of the face 40 is visible in FIG. 8 in the adjacent joint line 60 but the outer line of the fixing edge of the face 38 is shown in the dashed lines where they are below the portion of the folded net 53.

The assembly 65 then advances to a 180 ° bending station 46a to reverse the network so that the folded portions 52, 53 are on the bottom. The inverted assembly 65 then passes to a valve station 46 where (as will be described in more detail below) the exhalation valves 48 are attached to the network of the outer cover 23 on the highest side of the assembly 65, over the openings of exhalation 77. The valve assembly of the network 66 then advances to a cutting station 67 where the excess material 68 beyond the connecting lines 59, 60 is removed, and the cross sections are made along the lines 70 (FIG 8) adjacent to the binding locations of the bands 62, 64 to produce a mask of the discrete face 69. the facial mask 69 is then packaged.

The lines of the seam 70 between the masks 69 can alternatively be perforated to form a line of facial masks as shown in FIG. 9. In such a case, the masks 69 can be packaged on a roller. A portion of the material of the fastening band 56 at the edges 70 can be removed by the drilling process, as illustrated in FIG 9. Alternatively, the material of the band can be left at the termination of the edges 70.

Regardless of whether the masks are completely separated from one another or not, the packaging within which the masks are placed may take the form of a continuous package that is perforated in the locations corresponding to the regions between the adjacent masks. In this way, the masks can be packed in a roll as if they had already been separated from one another in the cutting station 67.

The various materials used in the process illustrated in FIG. 5 (namely the filter medium 25, the net cover materials 23, 26, the foam material 29, the reinforcing material 24, the nose support material 21, and the material of the fastening band 56) can be as described in the US Patent Application 08/881, 348 and W 96/28217. alternatively, the material of the fastening web 56 may be as described in Patent Application 08/611, 340 and International Publications WO 97/32493 or WO 97/32494. many other forms of bands and bands, however, are also contemplated, including, for example, a band that includes two separate bands or individually joined to the mask.

Filtering materials that are commonly placed in a respiratory mask such as mask 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, frequently contains a complicated network of micro fibers injected by fusion (BNF). BMF fibers typically have an average fiber diameter of about 10 micrometers (μm) or less. When they are randomly entangled in a network, they have enough integrity to be handled like a mat. Examples of fibrous materials that can be used as filters in a mask are described in US-A-5 706 804; 5 472 481; 5 411 576 and 4 419 993. The fibrous materials may contain additives to increase the filtration performance, such as the additives described in US-A-5 025 052 and 5 099 026 and may also have low levels of extractable hydrocarbons to improve your performance. The fibrous webs may also be manufactured to have an increased resistance to oily vapor as shown in US-A-4 874 399. The electrical charge may be imparted to the fibrous webs of non-woven BMF using techniques described in for example, US Pat. A-5 496 507; 4 592 815; and 4 215 682. The outer and inner cover material networks of the panels 3,5 and 7 of the mask 1 protect the layer of filter material from the abrasive forces and retain any fiber that can be lost from the filter material. Coverage networks may also have filtering abilities, although typically not as close to good as the filter material layer. Coating networks can be made of non-woven fibrous materials containing polyolefins and polyesters (see, for example, US-A-4 807 619 and 4 536 440).

The exhalation valves 48 employed in the process illustrated in FIG. 5 can be as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. The valve shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 comprises a valve seat 72 on which a raised valve cover 74 is secured. The valve seat 72 is provided with a flat back surface, or tab 73 by which the valve can be secured to the respiratory mask as described below. The valve seat contains a circular hole 76 and, beneath the valve cover 74, bears a flexible valve trap 78 (partly visible in FIG.11 through the orifice 76), when the valve is attached to the valve. The mask, orifice 76 covers an exhalation opening 77 (FIG.2) in the mask, as described below. The valve trap 78 is designed to seal against the seat of valve 72 and close the orifice when the user exhales. The air inhaled in this way enters the mask through the filter medium of the filter media of the mask while the exhaled air passes through, from the exhalation opening 77 in the mask, the orifice 76 in the seat of the mask. valve 72 and finally through the openings 80 in the valve cover 74.

The valve shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 is of a type described in US-A-5 325 892. The valve seat 72 and the valve cover 74 are plastic molded components, typically formed of a polypropylene material.

The manner in which the valves 48 are attached to the inverted assembly of the network 65 in the process of FIG. 5 will be described now. The valve station 46 of FIG. 5 comprises two process stations through which the inverted assembly of the network 65 passes as illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 12. The first of these process stations is an adhesive printing station. 88 in which a patch of adhesive is printed on the outer cover network 23 (FIG 5) on top of the assembly of the network 65, around each of the exhalation openings 77 cut in the station 104. one of the adhesive patches 90 is shown in FIG. 13, the patch is indicated in segmented lines. The outer shape of the patch 90 is generally rectangular and corresponds to the exterior shape of the valve seat 72 of the exhalation valve (see FIG 11). At the center of the patch 90 is a circular free region of adhesive 92 formed in station 71 of FIG. 5. the dimensions of the adhesive patch 90 are preferably such that the adhesive-free center region 92 is only slightly larger (typically about 1 mm all the way around) than the exhalation opening 77, and so that the outer edges of the patch are located just inside the outer edges of the flange 73 of the valve seat 72 (typically about 1 mm). By forming the patch with these dimensions, it can be ensured that the adhesive will not propagate around the edges of the valves 45 when the latter is subsequently joined, or is located within the circular seal 94 and that the adhesive free central region 92 of the adhesive patch 90 terminates in the region of the network 92 between the valve opening and the seal (so that the latter is covered by the adhesive patch).

The adhesive patches 90 are applied to the assembly of the network 65 by a rotary screen printing process employing a cylindrical printing pattern 98 and a backup roll 100. the assembly of the network 65 passes between the printing pattern 98 and the roller of backup 100, with the printing plot located on top of the network assembly. The printing web 98 is provided with the desired pattern of the adhesive patches 90, and a coating head 192 provides a hot melt adhesive flowing into the web from where it is passed through the web with the pattern by a razor of doctor (not shown) and deposited on the assembly of the network 65. The coating head 102 is a precision matrix groove, which allows the amount of adhesive distributed over the screen 98 to be precisely controlled. The printing of the printing weft 98 can, as is known, be carried out with extreme precision using etching techniques that allows the adhesive patches 90 to be printed on the network assembly with high precision. The surface velocity of the backing roll 100 should be matched to the linear speed of the assembly of the network 65 through the process of FIG. 5, possibly with a small difference in the rate of incorporation to disengage the pattern from the web of the webs. printed patches. The printing pattern 90 98 should typically carry several repeated patterns of the adhesive patch 90, separated by a certain distance according to the dimensions of the respiratory masks being produced.

After the printing station of the adhesive 88, the assembly of the network 65 advances to a connection station of the valves 106 where it passes under a laying head where the exhalation valves 48 (provided to the laying heads by feeders 112 and an escape mechanism 113) can be positioned in the correct orientation on the successive adhesive patches 90. the assembly of the network with the valve 66 then passes to the cutting station 67 of FIG. 5, already described above.

Following the placement of the exhalation valves 48 on the assembly of the network 65, it may be necessary to hold the valves on the network (by means of support bands, for example) and / or to cool the valves (by means of cold air). , for example) until an adequate degree of adherence is achieved. The adhesion of the valves to the network is assisted by the use of an adhesive that has a high degree of initial fixation.

The rotary printing plot apparatus suitable for use in the adhesive printing station of FIG. 12 is available, under the commercial description "Hot Melt Rotary Die Coating System", by Nordson Corporation of Norcross Georgia, USA and under the commercial description "Coater of Hot Melting Patterns by Rotary Screen", by May Coating Technologies, Inc. of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, USA.

The hot-melt adhesive used to form the patches 90 is selected taking into consideration the net material of the outer cover 23 of the network assembly 65 and the material from which the valve 72 of the exhalation valve is formed. 48. In the particular case that the net of the outer cover 23 is a polypropylene material bonded by spinning and the seat of the valve 72 is also formed of polypropylene, a hot melt adhesive based on polyolefins or a hot melt adhesive based on EVA. Suitable adhesives are available under the commercial descriptions "Jet Melt 3762 LM", "Jet Melt 3792 LM", "Jet Melt 3748", and "Spray Bond 6111" from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. To ensure that the adhesive is maintained at a sufficiently high temperature, the coating head 102 of the adhesive printing station 88 is heated. Additionally, hot air may be provided to the interior of the printing cylinder 98.

The step of the adhesive coating for the patches 90 should be selected taking into consideration the exhalation valve 48 which will be attached to the assembly of the network 65. Typically the weight of the coating will be in a range of 50 to 200 g / m2.

Although FIG. 12 illustrates the application of the valves to the top of the network assembly 65, it should be possible to leave the network assembly without flipping (i.e., eliminating 180 ° flipping prior to the valve placement station 46) so that the valves could be applied to the underside of the network. It is also possible to modify the process illustrated in FIG. 5 so that the steps for forming the circular seals 71 and the exhalation openings 77 and the gluing of the valves 48 are carried out at different points in the process. For example, those steps could all be carried out in a countercurrent location of the folding station 50. as an alternative, referring to FIG. 5, the station 104 in which the exhalation openings 767 are cut off moves to a location immediately following the station 82 in which the seals 71 are formed. It is also possible, as another alternative, to cut the exhalation openings 77 after the adhesive patches 90 have been applied instead of before.

As another modification of the process illustrated in FIG. 5, the scoring wheels 31 are omitted and the cutting station 36 is additionally provided with cutting wheels which, instead of making folding lines, form a series of separate cuts in the assembly of the network to mark the locations in which the network will be folded in station 50. the cuts may, for example, be about 2.5 cm long and separated by a distance of about 1.5 mm.

The presence, in the mask 1 of FIGS 1 to 4, of the circular seals 94 in combination with the adhesive layer provided by the patch 90 on the net of the cover 23 ensures that, when the mask is in use, there is no a leak in the mask between the fabric layers of the panel 3. The sealing step could be omitted if the mask was formed only of a layer of fabric. Although the circular seal 94 shown in FIG. 13 as that which was formed by a discontinuous seal line that can be described as "dotted", this is not essential. The seal line. The seal line could instead be continuous and could define a linear contour figure around the exhalation aperture, instead of a circle. Additionally, the exhalation opening will not necessarily be circular but could have any other suitable shape.

The use of the rotary printing screen process for applying the adhesive patches 90 in station 88 of FIG. 12 is particularly advantageous when the production process illustrated in FIG. 5 is carried out at high speeds, because it allows the union of the exhalation valves to the assembly of the network 65 at equally high speeds. Adhesive patches 90 can be printed accurately, with well-defined edges and precisely positioned on the network assembly. By forming the patch so that the area of adhesive applied to the network is only slightly smaller than the part of the valve to be joined, it can be ensured that the adhesive will not spread around the edges of the valve . It can also be ensured that the adhesive will not be deposited in the area of the pre-cut exhalation opening 77 in the assembly of the network 65, to prevent the deposit of adhesive on the inner cover 26 of the lower and upper panels 5,7 from the mask. The form of adhesive patch can, on the other hand, be varied because the apparatus of the printing weft 98, 102 is not restricted to the production of rectangular shapes.

As an alternative to the use of a screen printing process to apply the adhesive patches 90, a gravure offset printing process could be used with comparable results.

Another alternative to a printing process, depending on the shape of the adhesive patches, the adhesive could be pressure coated on the network assembly. The pressure coating could, for example, be used to produce a rectangular adhesive patch including, through the use of a combination of diffuse notches, a rectangular patch with an adhesive-free region at the location of the exhalation aperture.

Although the union of the exhalation valves has been described, a rotary screen printing process as used in station 88 of FIG. 12 (or a photogravure offset printing process) could be used to apply adhesive patches for the attachment of other components to the network assembly during the manufacture of the respiratory masks including, the fastening bands and the joining articles (such as buckles and automatic fasteners) for fastening bands, nose clips, face seal gaskets, masks, and neck protectors.

The process of joining the valves described with reference to FIG. 12 is not restricted to respiratory masks of the type described with reference to FIGS 1 to 4, or their use in the manufacturing processes described with reference to FIG. 5. A similar process of joining valves could be used in the manufacture of other forms of respiratory masks from air permeable material.

As another alternative, a similar method of attachment to that described above can be used to attach articles to a respiratory mask after the mask has been formed. In this case the mask will need not to be a collapsible mask but could, for example, be a cup-shaped mask as described in US-A-5 307 796 or as described in US-A-4 897 924.

FIG. 1 for example, shows an exhalation valve 120 (of a type similar to the valve described in US-A-5 307 796. the mask has a preformed cup-shaped body 122 projected, used, to cover the mouth and nose The body of the mask 122 typically comprises at least one layer of filtration material, and a formation layer that provides the structure to the body of the mask and support for the filter layer.The formation layer can be made from a non-woven web or thermally bonded molded fibers, using known methods, within an exhalation opening (not visible) is formed in the body of the mask and the exhalation valve 120 is joined using a method similar to that illustrated in FIG. FIG 12 and described above, more particularly, the molded bodies of the mask are fed at appropriate intervals and in a suitable orientation for a print roller with wefts (corresponding to the roller 98 of the FIG 12) that prints an adhesive patch on the body of each mask at the mark with the exhalation opening. The bodies of the masks pass in succession to a valve joining station where the exhalation valves 120 are positioned in the correct orientation on the adhesive patches. Each mask body is then provided with straps 123 to securely fasten it to the user's caxa, and with a nose clip 124.

All patents and patent applications cited above are incorporated for reference within this patent application as if they reproduced in total.

The present invention can be practiced properly in the absence of any element not specifically described in this document. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Having described the invention as above, the content of the following is claimed as property.

Claims (11)

1. A respiratory mask characterized in that it comprises: (a) a respirator body that is formed of at least one layer of air permeable material and that is formed to be fixed on the hands of the user's nose and mouth; and (b) at least one component that is secured to the air permeable material by a printed adhesive patch.

2. The respiratory mask of claim 1, characterized in that the outer shape of the adhesive patch corresponds to the external shape of the part of the component that is secured to the material.

3. The respiratory mask of claim 1 or claim 2 characterized in that the component is formed of a molded plastic material and wherein the air permeable material includes a spun yarn material.

4. The respiratory mask of any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the respiratory body is formed of a plurality of superposed layers of air permeable material, at least one including a filtering material.

5. The respiratory mask of any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the component is an exhalation valve and where the adhesive patch is around the exhalation opening in the respirator body.

6. A method of manufacturing the body of a respiratory mask from an air permeable material, the method characterized in that it comprises the steps of: (a) printing of at least one adhesive patch on the air permeable material; (b) positioning a component of the mask over the adhesive patch to secure the component to the material; and (c) the formation of the material in the body of the mask capable of being fixed on at least the nose and mouth of the user.

The method of claim 6, characterized in that a plurality of adhesive patches are printed on the air permeable material, and a respective component of the mask is positioned on each patch.

8. The method of Claim 7, characterized in that it further includes the steps of: forming at least one mold of a respiratory mask of the air permeable material and forming the body of the mask of the mold.

9. The method of any of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the / each of the adhesive patches is printed by webs in the material.

10. The method of any of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the adhesive is a hot melt adhesive.

11. The method of any of claims 6 to 10, characterized in that the component is an exhalation valve and the adhesive patch contains a free region of adhesive on the exhalation opening. UNITED TO THE MASK BY A PRINTED ADHESIVE PATCH SUMMARY A respiratory mask that includes a portion of the body that is formed from an air-permeable material and has at least one component, for example an exhalation valve, secured to the body portion by a printed patch of adhesive. In one embodiment, the mask is a flat-bent mask (1) including panels (3,5,7) each of the adhesives is formed of superposed layers of air-permeable material. An exhalation valve (13) is secured to the central panel (3) by a patch of adhesive which is printed on the outer layer of the panel. The use of a printed patch of adhesive allows the components to be secured precisely to the body of the mask at high speeds.