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
• • 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
  • A41D13/1161—Means for fastening to the user's head
• • 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
  • A41D13/1192—Protective face masks, e.g. for surgical use, or for use in foul atmospheres with antimicrobial agent

Definitions

• the present invention pertains to a filtering face-piece respirator that has a curved perimeter where top and bottom portion of the mask body meet.
• Respirators are commonly worn over a person's breathing passages for at least one of two common purposes: (1) to prevent impurities or contaminants from entering the wearer's respiratory system; and (2) to protect other persons or things from being exposed to pathogens and other contaminants exhaled by the wearer.
• the respirator In the first situation, the respirator is worn in an environment where the air contains particles that are harmful to the wearer, for example, in an auto body shop.
• the respirator is worn in an environment where there is risk of contamination to other persons or things, for example, in an operating room or clean room.
• respirators have been designed to meet either (or both) of these purposes. Some respirators have been categorized as being "filtering face-pieces" because the mask body itself functions as the filtering mechanism. Unlike respirators that use rubber or elastomeric mask bodies in conjunction with attachable filter cartridges (see, e.g., U.S. Patent RE39,493 to Yuschak et al.) or insert-molded filter elements (see, e.g., U.S. Patent 4,790,306 to Braun), filtering face-piece respirators are designed to have the filter media cover much of the whole mask body so that there is no need for installing or replacing a filter cartridge. These filtering face-piece respirators commonly come in one of two configurations: molded respirators and flat- fold respirators.
• Molded filtering face piece respirators have regularly comprised non-woven webs of thermally -bonding fibers or open-work plastic meshes to furnish the mask body with its cup-shaped configuration. Molded respirators tend to maintain the same shape during both use and storage. These respirators therefore cannot be folded flat for storage and shipping. Examples of patents that disclose molded, filtering, face-piece respirators include U.S. Patents 7,131,442 to Kronzer et al, 6,923, 182, 6,041,782 to Angadjivand et al., 4,807,619 to Dyrud et al., and 4,536,440 to Berg.
• Flat-fold respirators as their name implies— can be folded flat for shipping and storage. They also can be opened into a cup-shaped configuration for use. Examples of flat- fold respirators are shown in U.S. Patents 6,568,392 and 6,484,722 to Bostock et al., and 6,394,090 to Chen.
• the present invention pertains to a filtering face-piece respirator that comprises a harness and a mask body.
• the mask body comprises a filtering structure that has a top portion, a bottom portion, an upper perimeter segment, a lower perimeter segment, a frontal line of demarcation, and first and second bond lines.
• the first and second bond lines are located on opposing sides of the mask body and join the top portion of the mask body to the bottom portion.
• the first and second bond lines extend from the frontal line of demarcation to the upper and lower perimeter segments.
• the upper and lower perimeter segments when the mask body is laid flat, comprise an upper linear segment and a lower linear segment, respectively, located between first and second curved portions located at opposing ends of the upper and lower linear segments.
• the first and second curved portions in each of the upper and lower perimeter segments each extend from the respective upper or lower linear segment to the first and second bond lines.
• first and second curved portions provide a more rounded finish to the mask body perimeter when in the in-use configuration, which enables the mask body to exhibit a more comfortable fit. From an aesthetics standpoint, the mask body also has a more appealing look from view from the side in that the perimeter has a more continuous look.
• clean air means a volume of atmospheric ambient air that has been filtered to remove contaminants
• contaminants means particles (including dusts, mists, and fumes) and/or other substances that generally may not be considered to be particles (e.g., organic vapors, et cetera) but which may be suspended in air;
• crosswise dimension is the dimension that extends laterally across the respirator, from side- to-side when the respirator is viewed from the front;
• cup-shaped configuration means any vessel-type shape that is capable of adequately covering the nose and mouth of a person
• curved means not extending in a straight line
• exit gas space means the ambient atmospheric gas space into which exhaled gas enters after passing through and beyond the mask body and/or exhalation valve;
• filtering face-piece means that the mask body itself is designed to filter air that passes through it; there are no separately identifiable filter cartridges or insert-molded filter elements attached to or molded into the mask body to achieve this purpose;
• filter or "filtration layer” means one or more layers of air-permeable material, which layer(s) is adapted for the primary purpose of removing contaminants (such as particles) from an air stream that passes through it;
• filter media means an air-permeable structure that is designed to remove contaminants from air that passes through it;
• filtering structure means a generally air-permeable construction that filters air
• first side means an area of the mask body that is located on one side of a plane that bisects the mask body normal to the cross-wise dimension
• flange means a protruding part that imparts structural integrity or strength to the body from which it protrudes;
• folded inwardly means being bent back towards the part from which extends
• frontally or “frontal” means located in a direction extending away from a person's face when the respirator is being worn;
• “harness” means a structure or combination of parts that assists in supporting the mask body on a wearer's face
• integral means being manufactured together at the same time; that is, being made together as one part and not two separately manufactured parts that are subsequently joined together;
• interior gas space means the space between a mask body and a person's face
• line of demarcation means a fold, seam, weld line, bond line, stitch line, hinge line, and/or any combination thereof;
• linear means extending in a generally straight line
• major portion means the filtering portion of the mask body
• mask body means an air-permeable structure that is designed to fit over the nose and mouth of a person and that helps define an interior gas space separated from an exterior gas space (including the seams and bonds that join layers and parts thereof together);
• nose clip means a mechanical device (other than a nose foam), which device is adapted for use on a mask body to improve the seal at least around a wearer's nose;
• peripheral means the outer edge of the mask body, which outer edge would be disposed generally proximate to a wearer's face when the respirator is being donned by a person;
• pleat means a portion that is designed to be or is folded back upon itself
• polymeric and plastic each mean a material that mainly includes one or more polymers and that may contain other ingredients as well;
• respirator means an air filtration device that is worn by a person to provide the wearer with clean air to breathe;
• second side means an area of the mask body that is located on one side of a plane that bisects the mask body normal to the cross-wise dimension (the second side being opposite the first side);
• “snug fit” or “fit snugly” means that an essentially air-tight (or substantially leak- free) fit is provided (between the mask body and the wearer's face);
• transversely extending means extending generally in the crosswise dimension.
• FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a flat- fold filtering face-piece respirator 10, in accordance with the present invention, being worn on a person's face;
• FIG. 2 is a top view of the respirator 10 shown in FIG. 1 in a non-opened configuration
• FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the respirator 10 shown in FIG. 1 in a non-opened configuration
• FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the mask body 12 taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2;
• FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the filtering structure 16 taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;
• FIG. 6 is a front view of the mask body 12, which may be used in connection with the present invention.
• a filtering face-piece respirator that has first and second curved segments on opposing ends of the mask body perimeter segments. These curved segments enable a rounded perimeter to be achieved in the region where the upper portion of the mask body meets the lower portion. The rounded perimeter allows a more comfortable fit to be achieved.
• FIG. 1 shows an example of a filtering face-piece respirator 10 that may be used in connection with the present invention to provide clean air for the wearer to breathe.
• the filtering face- piece respirator 10 includes a mask body 12 and a harness 14.
• the mask body 12 has a filtering structure 16 through which inhaled air must pass before entering the wearer's respiratory system.
• the filtering structure 16 removes contaminants from the ambient environment so that the wearer breathes clean air.
• the mask body 12 includes a top portion 18 and a bottom portion 20. The top portion 18 and the bottom portion 20 are separated by a line of demarcation 22.
• the line of demarcation 22 is a frontal fold at a bond line that extends transversely across the central portion of the mask body from side-to-side.
• the mask body 12 also includes a perimeter 24 that includes an upper segment 24a and a lower segment 24b.
• the harness 14 has a first, upper strap 26 that is secured to the top portion 18 of mask body 12 by a staple 29 adjacent to the perimeter 24a.
• the harness 14 also has a second, lower strap 27 that is secured by a staple 29 to a flange 30a.
• FIG. 2 shows the respirator 10 in a horizontal flat-folded configuration.
• the top portion 18 of the respirator mask body 12 has an upper perimeter segment 24a, a frontal line of demarcation 22, and first and second bond lines 30a, 30b.
• the first and second bond lines 30a, 30b are located on opposing sides 31a, 31b of the mask body 12 and join the top portion 18 of the mask body 12 to the bottom portion 20 (FIG. 1).
• the first and second bond lines 30a, 30b extend from the frontal fold 22 to the upper perimeter segment 24a.
• the upper perimeter segment 24a when the mask body 12 is laid flat, has an upper linear segment 32a located between first and second curved portions 34a and 34b located at opposing ends of the upper linear segment 32a.
• the first and second curved portions 34a, 34b in the upper perimeter segment 24a extend from the respective upper linear segment 32a to the first and second bond lines 30a, 30b.
• the mask body 12 also may have flanges 36a and 36b located on opposing sides 31a and 31b, respectively, of the mask body 12.
• a plane 38 bisects the mask body 12 to define the first and second sides 31a, 31b.
• the flanges 36a and 36b can be folded inwardly towards the filtering structure 16 in contact therewith.
• Each flange typically occupies a surface area of about 1 to 15 square centimeters, more typically about 2 to 12 square centimeters, and still more typically about 5 to 10 square centimeters.
• the filtration layer is typically chosen to achieve a desired filtering effect.
• the filtration layer generally will remove a high percentage of particles and/or or other contaminants from the gaseous stream that passes through it.
• the fibers selected depend upon the kind of substance to be filtered and, typically, are chosen so that they do not become bonded together during the molding operation.
• the filtration layer may come in a variety of shapes and forms and typically has a thickness of about 0.2 millimeters (mm) to 1 centimeter (cm), more typically about 0.3 mm to 0.5 cm, and it could be a generally planar web or it could be corrugated to provide an expanded surface area— see, for example, U.S.

Landscapes

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

Priority Applications (9)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=51015733

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (11)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (6)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (10)

• 2012
  • 2012-12-27 US US13/728,008 patent/US20140182601A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2013
  • 2013-12-11 PL PL13869234T patent/PL2938407T3/pl unknown
  • 2013-12-11 ES ES13869234.8T patent/ES2675793T3/es active Active
  • 2013-12-11 KR KR1020157020225A patent/KR20150097805A/ko not_active Withdrawn
  • 2013-12-11 AU AU2013368273A patent/AU2013368273B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2013-12-11 EP EP13869234.8A patent/EP2938407B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2013-12-11 RU RU2015126460A patent/RU2608809C1/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2013-12-11 WO PCT/US2013/074243 patent/WO2014105421A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2013-12-11 CN CN201380066093.1A patent/CN104870057B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2013-12-11 BR BR112015015164A patent/BR112015015164A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2013-12-11 JP JP2015550436A patent/JP6309024B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related

Patent Citations (5)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events