US3820538A - Safety mask - Google Patents

Abstract

An improved safety mask for an emergency refugee, which broadly comprises a mask body member having upper and lower inside portions mutually segregated by a transverse protrusion extending substantially from the human nose septum to cheekbones, and an oxygen container secured at a lower portion of the body member. The oxygen container is intermittently connected with the inside lower portion of the body member through an oxygen suction valve provided at the central bottom of the body member, which valve is operative to open and shut automatically in response to an inhalation and exhalation of the mask wearer. For the exhaust of the wearer''s exhalation, slits are provided about such portions of the body member as corresponding to the human cheek portions, and for the wearer''s sight, transparent windows and a lighting means are provided.

Description

1 nited States Patent 1 1 Nakanishi- 1 June 28, 1974 SAFETY MASK 1,158,845 12/1963 Germany 128/141 R [76] Inventor: Motoyoshi Nakanishi, 11-13 Prtmary Exammer-R1chard A. Gaudet Homach Funabashl Japan Assistant ExaminerG. F. Dunne [22] Filed: Mar. 12, 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Arthur A. March [21] Appl. No.: 340,291 I [57] ABSTRACT Related Apphcatmn Data An improved safety mask for an emergency refugee, [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 95,929, Dec. 7, 1970, which broadly comprisesamask body member having abandoned upper and lower inside portions mutually segregated by a transverse protrusion extending substantially U-S- from the human nose septum to che kbones and an Cl. I xygen Containgr ecured at a lower portion of the Fleld of Search member The oxygen ontainer is intermittently 128/142.5, 142.4, 142.6, 142.7; 2/3 R, 5, 6 connected with the inside lower portion of the body v member through an oxygen suction valve provided at References Cited the central bottom of the body member, which valve is UNITED STATES PATENTS operative to open and shut automatically in response 456,687 7/1891 Bader 128/142.3 to an inhalation and exhalation of the mask Wearer- 1,749,993 3 1930 l i 2 5 For the exhaust of the wearers exhalation, slits are 1,945,919 2/ 1934 Seijo 128/142 provided about such portions of the body member as 2,375,147 5/1945 Teaque 128/l42.4 corresponding to the human cheek portions, and for 2,897,817 8/1959 Marina 128/142.2 th w arer ight, transparent windows and a lighting FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS {means are provlded' 472,491 2/1929 Germany 128/141 R 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PAIENTEnmza m4 INVENTOR Moro 10 1; Min/mm BY HKTWfl/f f7 ATTORNEYS SAFETY MASK This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 95,929, filed Dec. 7, 1970 now abandoned. i

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention concerns a mask for safety of life, preventing a mortal accident such. as a gaseous toxication and suffocation by way of checking the admission of smoke, toxic gas or the like in fire accidents or other pollution gaseous matters, and at the same time, by supplying oxygen or fresh air. The life safety mask of the invention not only is effectively used in case of emergency such as fires in particular, but also makes it possible for the wearer to positively engage in fire fighting operation.

In recent years, the atmospheric environment has become extremely polluted. In this connection, a pollution of air due to such gas as-exhausted by automobiles in operation or discharged from factories in general, particularly, is highly detrimental to human'health, and to the people living in such a polluted atmospheric environment, it forms a necessity to provide for a means capable of supplying fresh air or oxygen. More specifically, in fire accidents a heavy generation of smoke or, if not heavy, the emanation of a poisonous gas is most dangerous to the human body, so that cases are more frequent where the death in a fire was attributed to a difficult breathing to suffocation in furious smoke or poisonous gas rather than to the flame itself, and a necessity lies also in such events for a means which can be put on with ease and operated without fail toinhibit admission of the smoke and injurious gas, while supplying fresh air or oxygen to the wearer, and allowing the wearer to move freely and rapidly.

, Before this invention, various safety masks were developed for same purposes, and a typical example of the known devices is based on the system in which outer air is filtrated and then inhaled. With this type of the device, the disadvantage admitted resides in that, while used effectively for a certain specific sort of gas, it does not have a filtratiion toward other sorts of the gas. A further type known of the safety mask is of a mode of feeding oxygen into the mask from an oxygen cylinder provided independently of the mask, and the shortcoming to be indicated of this device is that, however urgent the case may be, a refugee with such a device has to have time enough to put on the mask and, in addition, shoulder the oxygen cylinder. Further, it is highly likely in this case that the refugee that has shouldered an oxygen cylinder, which is relatively heavy, may lose a physical freedom which he may have otherwise had.

It is therefore the object of this invention to obliterate such drawbacks of the prior art devices by providing an improved safety mask, which an emergency refugee can wear with extreme ease and rapidity even in the event of his being overwhelmed by smoke, and with which he can secure means for an inhalation of fresh air oxygen and exhaust of his expiration in stability without need for any particular operations. Also, the improved mask of the invention does not disturb the wearer's activity, at all, whereby it is employable not only in an emergency escape but also for more positive purposes, for example, for operating an extinction activity, relief work and so forth in the presence of smoke and/or poisonous gaseous matters. Further, the mask of the invention is devised to therein house a lighting means, so that it can accommodate its weareer with a sight even in a night darkness or in fogginess due to thick smoke occurrence.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a front view of the safety mask of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing the oxygen admission valve of the mask; and

FIG. 4 is a view taken for an explanation of the operation of the valve shown in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to the accompanying drawings, the invention will now be described in greater detail in connection with the illustrated preferred embodiment of the invention, which comprises broadly a mask body member 1 and an oxygen (or air) container 7 fixed at a lower portion of the mask body.

The mask member 1 has a suspension band 2 secured at its upper portions and a lighting lamp 3 immovably housed at its forehead portion. A power switch 4 (FIG. 2), which connects with the lamp 3, is protruded inside of the mask body 1, and upon its contact with the forehead of a mask wearer, it will be pushed to close the electric circuit to the lamp 3. The mask member 1 also includes transversely within its inside a protrusion 5 which sealably covers the facial portion from cheekbones to the nose septum of the mask wearer, dividing the whole facial area into an upper and lower halves. About its portions corresponding to the eye locations of its wearer, the mask body 1 is provided with transparent windows 6 and 6, and at its lower end portion, it is formed in a configuration capable of tightly abut-' ting on substantially the whole of the lower jaw portion of its wearer, except its front lower end portion at which it is provided with an appreciable space housing an automatic suction valve 8 provided at its lower portion, the suction valve being for intermittently connecting the interior of the mask body 1 and that of the oxygen (or air) container 7, which is secured to a lower portion of the member 1 as set forth before.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the suction valve 8 therein illustrated in enlarged views comprises a reverse cup member 8a made of a resilient film material or the like and having a (perpendicular) protuberance 8b at its inner central portion, and an oxygen (or air) jet 9 perforated corresponding to the protuberance.

At its each cheek portion, the mask member 1 has an exhaust slit l1 operative to open in response to a difference between the internal and external pressures. The reference character 12 in FIGS. 1 and 2 denotes an auxiliary valve, which is manually operable when the automatic valve 8 should get out of order.

In operation, when the safety mask of the invention is worn with its suspension band 2 put around the head of wearer and as soon as the mask body I is made touching his face, the switch 4 is pushed at his forehead to light the lamp 3. Then, with the cover protrusion 5 closely attached substantially about his cheekbones and nose septum, and with the lower end portion of the mask member I contacted closely about his lower jaw portion, the wearer may breathe in, whereupon the automatic valve 8 is made pulled and swollen as shown in FIG. 4, causing the jet 9 to open. As oxygen is sent out of the container 7, gaps l0, and 10 become formed about bottom portions of the reverse cup member 8a, by way of which gaps the oxygen is fed into the mask and inhaled by the wearer. Upon wearers exhalation, the valve 8 is pushed to shut as shown in FIG. 3 and at the same time the interior of the mask member 1 becomes showing a high pressure, whereby the exhaust slits 11 are opened to thereby flow out the exhalation of the wearer. Thus, in accordance with the wearers inhalation and exhalation, the automatic valve 8 is opened and closed, while the exhaust slits ll alternating a closing and opening activities, so that the wearer of the mask of the invention can without fail be prevented from inhaling an external poisonous gas or the like. In case when the inhalation valve 8 should fail to be in order, then the emergency valve 12 may be pushed, when the oxygen within the container 7 will be flown inside the mask body 1, so that the wearer can be escaped fro certainty from falling into a difficulty in breathing. I

Further, even if the oxygen container 7 should be emptied of its contents, providing that the outer air do not contain a poisonous gaseous matter but simply be nonpoisonous smoke, the mask wearer can escape suffocation by breathing vigorously. That is to say, an exhalation vigorously breathed out will be discharged through slits 11, while a strong inhallation functions to put the interior pressure of the mask boty 1 lower than the normal level, whereby the slits 11 become strongly pulled toward the inside of the mask body to forcibly open itself and the outer air will be imbibed. Even in this event, the wearers eyes are protected against the smoke or the like by the transverse cover protrusion 5 so that the wearer may never be disturbed from finding his way for a rapid refuge.

The mask body member 1, suspension belt 2, transparent windows 6 and 6 and oxygen container 7 of the device of the invention should preferably be made of a flameand fire-resistant material, and the inhalation a pair of transparent window members in the upper I body portion spaced from each other at distances like the eye separation of a human being,

an oxygen container connected to the lower section of the body member,

means to connect the container to the interior of the mask including a jet opening member and an automatic suction valve of elastic character serially connected between the container and the mask interior in a region to provide an oxygen supply into the breathing region of the wearer,

a pair of slits located in the body member in the region of the cheeks of the wearer which open outwardly for removal of exhaust in the mask when the interior mask pressure exceeds the outer pressure and opens inwardly for the inhalation of air when the interior mask pressure is substantially less than that of the outer pressure.

2. The mask claimed in claim 1 comprising, in addition,

a lighting means supported interiorly of the mask generally centrally and in the upper section generally above the window areas for the wearers eyes, and

switch means inside the forehead upper section to control the connection and disconnection of the light with operation.

Claims (2)

1. A safety mask comprising a main body member, a protrusion on the inside of said main member to segregate upper and lower sections thereof, a pair of transparent window members in the upper body portion spaced from each other at distances like the eye separation of a human being, an oxygen container connected to the lower section of the body member, means to connect the container to the interior of the mask including a jet opening member and an automatic suction valve of elastic character serially connected between the container and the mask interior in a region to provide an oxygen supply into the breathing region of the wearer, a pair of slits located in the body member in the region of the cheeks of the wearer which open outwardly for removal of exhaust in the mask when the interior mask pressure exceeds the outer pressure and opens inwardly for the inhalation of air when the interior mask pressure is substantially less than that of the outer pressure.

2. The mask claimed in claim 1 comprising, in addition, a lighting means supported interiorly of the mask generally centrally and in the upper section generally above the window areas for the wearer''s eyes, and switch means inside the forehead upper section to control the connection and disconnection of the light with operation.

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