Classifications

• • 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
  • A41D13/1123—Protective face masks, e.g. for surgical use, or for use in foul atmospheres characterised by their shape with a duckbill configuration

Definitions

• disposable respirator contains four pleats secured away from the face of the wearer by two ultrasonic side welds. Both ends of an elastic headband are sewn into the upper facial contact region of the mask. Both ends of an elastic neckband are sewn into the lower facial contact region of the mask. Also sewn into the upper facial contact region is a deformable material, preferably a metal and/or plastic. This deformable material provides contouring of the upper facial contact region to the face of the wearer.
• a preferable configuration provides a five-piece construction. Sidewalls, pleats and side welds are preferably formed from one solid or one composite piece of filter material.
• a second piece of filter material is sewn or welded along upper and lower facial contact regions around deformable material (the third piece) and first filter material.
• Upper and lower elastic bands (fourth and fifth pieces) are sewn into or incident to upper and lower facial contact regions, respectively.
• FIGURE 1 is a rear aspect view (wearer's perspective) of a disposable respirator ready for fitting;
• FIGURE 5 is a top aspect view of the respirator of FIGURE 1 showing the respirator in a collapsed, or stored, state;
• FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view of side welds for the respirator of FIGURE
• FIGURE 1 a disposable respirator for filtering airborne contaminants is generally shown at 10.
• Upper facial contact region 12 is joined to lower facial contact region 14 along first and second side welds 16, 18.
• Headband 20 is shown joined to upper facial contact region 12 at first and second contact points 22, 24.
• Neckband 26 is shown in cutaway form attached to lower facial contact region 14 at third and fourth contact points 28, 30.
• filter material pleats 32 are contiguous with first and second filter material sidewalls 34, 36.
• Upper and lower facial contact regions 12, 14 (collectively 'the periphery') are shown to be a separate layer of filter material 39 sewn over sidewalls 34, 36 along stitch-line 38.
• FIGURE 2 a front view aspect is generally shown at 10. Headband 20 is shown stitched to upper facial contact region 12 at contact points 22, 24. As is preferred, first and second sidewalls 34, 36 are shown ulrrasonically welded at first and second side welds 16, 18. Pleats 32 are shown welded into first and second side welds 16, 18.
• FIGURE 4 the disposable respirator of FIGURE 1 is shown at 10 in a longitudinal aspect view further illustrating the collapsed, or stored, state.
• First and second sidewalls 34, 36 are joined at side weld 16.
• Upper and lower facial contact regions 12, 14 are shown to be a separate layer of filter material sewn over sidewalls 34, 36 along stitch-line 38.
• Ultrasonic weld is shown along side welds 16, 18. Ultrasonic weld further extends to include the edges of upper and lower facial contact region 12, 14 across stitch-line 38.
• Deformable material 40 is shown in phantom as stitched into the filtering fabric of upper facial contact region 12. Stitch- line 38 ensures that deformable material 40 is positioned under or within filter material of upper facial contact region 12.
• FIGURE 6 a cross-sectional view along A- A of FIGURE 5 is illustrated.
• Pleat 32 is shown folded within a cross-sectional portion of side weld 16.
• FIGURE 7 a cross-sectional view along B-B of FIGURE 5 is illustrated.
• Cross-sections of upper facial contact region 12 and lower facial contact region 14 are shown separately.
• Outer filter material 39 of upper and lower facial contact regions 12, 14 is shown secured over first and second sidewalls 34, 36 respectively.
• This increase in breathing resistance is minimal at 40 milligrams of sodium chloride for the mask having a surface area of 180 square centimeters, moderate for the respirator having a surface area of 100 square centimeters, and severe for the respirator having a surface area of 62 square centimeters. Because low breathing resistance is desired at high loadings, it is preferred that the present disposable respirator have a surface area above about 180 square centimeters.
• pressure drop across the filter material at an air flow rate of 85 liters per minute is shown as a function of surface area for three disposable masks having surface areas of 62 square centimeters, 100 square centimeters and 180 square centimeters, respectively.
• the 62 square centimeter respirator shows a pressure differential of more than 8 millimeters of H 2 O.
• the 100 square centimeter respirator shows a pressure differential of between 5 and 6 millimeters of H O.
• the 180 square centimeter respirator shows a pressure differential of less than 3 millimeters of H 2 O. Because a lower pressure differential/drop will prevent mask collapse and blow-by, it is preferred that the present mask have a surface area of above about 180 square centimeters.
• Pleats 32 are preferably provided as a plurality of folds, shown individually at 44 on FIGURES 1 and 2, which are held away from the wearer's face by ultrasonically stitched side welds 16, 18. Contrary to prior art teachings, the present respirator teaches that a plurality of pleats 32 (four or more) is particularly preferred, not to hold the respirator away from the wearer's face, but instead to provide a less constrained, thus more comfortable, respirator fit for the area of the wearer's face opposite the pleats, and more importantly, to provide a high filtering surface area for the respirator.
• Prior art masks suffered from uncomfortable designs emphasizing close fits, whereby pleats or other filter materials pressed against the wearer's face during use.
• the filter material incorporate carbon particles or fibers capable of absorbing non-toxic levels of organic vapors and/or acidic or basic gases. Regardless of the material used, it is preferred that the filter material have above about a 95 percent efficiency for filtering particles having a median diameter range of about 0.1 to about 0.3 microns.
• the filtering material of the pocket is pleated by folding the filtering material in alternating directions along parallel fold lines.
• Pleats 32 are secured by the formation of side welds 16, 18 at the ends of the parallel fold lines.
• the sides can be ultrasonically welded or heat sealed. In this preferred configuration, pleats 32, side welds 16, 18, and sidewalls 34, 36 fold down to a compact tetragonal shape for ease of storage and portability.
• the present respirator advantageously provides a compact, fully filtering, pleated respirator in that filtering loads are spread across the entire respirator and are shared with the peripheral material in contact with the wearer's face.
• High filtering material surface areas result in breathabilities more than twice that of prior art masks.
• Use of soft filtering material in contact with the wearer's face not only ensures that air passing between the face and the mask is filtered, but also provides a comfortable fit of the respirator to the wearer's face, which is important for wearer's that must use the respirator for prolonged periods of time.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Physical Education & Sports Medicine (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Respiratory Apparatuses And Protective Means (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=24311463

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

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Family Cites Families (4)

• 2001
  • 2001-05-14 CA CA002410260A patent/CA2410260A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-05-14 EP EP01935458A patent/EP1296575A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2001-05-14 AU AU2001261552A patent/AU2001261552A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-05-14 WO PCT/US2001/015492 patent/WO2001089330A2/en not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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