FACE MASK

Abstract

A face mask comprising a front part (1) and a back part (4), wherein the back part (4) is beak-shaped and the front part (1) is installed to match the outline of the back part (4) and a bracket (3), that forms a pliable rigid arc starting at jaw level on one cheek in front of or over the nose, is installed to form an arc leading to the other side of the jaw, the front part (1) is applied slightly stretched over the outline of the bracket (3), and a filter is enclosed between the front part and the bracket.

Claims

1. A face mask comprising a front part, a back part, and a bracket at least partly in between the front part and back part, wherein: the back part is, when worn on a face, beak-shaped and comprises a cut-out part forming a face opening, and the front part is attached to the back part some distance in front of the face, the bracket comprises a pliable arc starting at jaw level on one cheek over the nose and extending in an arc to the other side of the jaw, and the front part is slightly stretched by the bracket.

2. The face mask of claim 1, wherein: one or more filters are located behind the front part, and the bracket is positioned behind the filter or filters within an envelope formed by front part and back part to enclose the filter or filters.

3. The face mask of claim 2, wherein the shape of the filter or filters along an upper contour is virtually identical in shape to that of the front part along the same outline.

4. The face mask of claim 1, wherein the front part is made of highly air permeable material.

5. The face mask of claim 1, wherein the back part is made of a single piece of non-air permeable material and has a cut-out shape that forms a closed fit with the face over the nose and mouth in a connection from the lower jaw over the cheeks along the upper nose and back over the other cheek to the connection with the lower side of the chin.

6. The face mask of claim 1, wherein the back part is made of a single piece.

7. The face mask of claim 1, wherein the bracket has been punched or cut out of a sheet of material.

8. The face mask of claim 1, wherein leakage of air past the substantially dimensionally stable filter is blocked by the bracket that moves along with the flexibility of the stretchable front part.

9. The face mask of claim 1, wherein: the back part comprises a nose bridge at an edge of the cut-out part, and the nose bridge is made of a malleable material.

10. The face mask of claim 1, wherein the front part and/or back part are held in position in a partially stretched form, in the upper half only, by the bracket.

11. The face mask of claim 10, wherein the bracket is given a certain arched convexity in front of the face due to tension caused by stretching the material of the front part and/or the back part.

12. The face mask of claim 1, wherein: the back part is beak-shaped by means of a cut-out in the material and the front part shows an outline that is virtually identical to that of the back part, the front part connects and is attached to the back part, thereby creating an envelope with a closed outline that extends along the upper edge and the bracket between the connection of the front part and the back part outside the envelope that is created, the front part extends above the mask as a splashguard for the eyes, and the bracket is situated between the front part and the back part with a pliable rigid arc starting at jaw level on one cheek and continuing in an almost vertical plane in front of the nose in an arc to the other side of the jaw which has thus been slightly stretched and applied along the upper edge of the bracket and attached.

13. The face mask of claim 1, wherein front part comprises a filtering material.

14. The face mask of claim 1, wherein the face mask comprises a lower bracket wherein the lower bracket follows the jawline along the outside of the lower jaw.

15. The face mask of claim 14 wherein bracket and lower bracket form a whole.

16. A face mask comprising: a front part and a back part, wherein the back part is, when worn on a face, is beak-shaped and comprises a cut-out part forming a face opening and the front part is attached to the back part at a distance in front of the face.

17. The face mask of claim 16 wherein the back part is made of a single piece of non-air permeable material and has a cut-out shape that forms a closed fit with the face over the nose and mouth in a connection from the lower jaw over the cheeks along the upper nose and back over the other cheek to the connection with the lower side of the chin.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] These and further aspects of the invention are described below and illustrated by means of the drawings:

In the drawings:

[0030] FIG. 1 shows a face mask tautly stretched over a face;

[0031] FIG. 2 shows the face mask of FIG. 1 in more detail in a layer-by-layer view.

[0032] FIG. 3 shows a detail of a face mask according to the invention;

[0033] FIG. 4 shows a front part, back part, bracket and filter in their unassembled state;

[0034] FIGS. 5a and 5b show a side view and a top view of a bracket;

[0035] FIG. 6 shows how to apply a face mask;

[0036] FIG. 7 shows a view through the front part with the mouth open;

[0037] FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the face mask according to the invention;

[0038] FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the face mask according to the invention;

[0039] FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of the face mask according to the invention.

[0040] The figures have not always been drawn to scale; as a rule, like numerals denote like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] The parts of the face mask shown in the figures are referred to with the following numerals: [0042] 1 Front part: [0043] 1a. Lower stitching [0044] 1b. Upper edge [0045] 1c. Buckle stitching [0046] 1d. Buckle attachment. [0047] 2 Filter: [0048] 2a. Lower edge [0049] 2b. Upper edge [0050] 2c. Edge with buckle. [0051] 3 Bracket: [0052] 3a. Lower protrusion [0053] 3b. Upper edge [0054] 3c. Buckle contact [0055] 3d. Nose impact [0056] 3e. Splashguard. [0057] 4 Back part: [0058] 4a. Lower inside seam [0059] 4b. Upper edge [0060] 4c. Edge with buckle [0061] 4d. Buckle attachment [0062] 4e. Nose bridge position [0063] 4f. Finger lug [0064] 4g. Corner of the mouth [0065] 4h. Opening [0066] 4i. Nose covering part. [0067] 5 Nose bridge: [0068] 5a. Nose bridge. [0069] 6 Buckle [0070] 6a. Hole in the buckle. [0071] 7 Straps [0072] 7a. Overhead strap [0073] 7b. Neck strap.

[0074] FIG. 1 shows a face mask applied over a face with straps (7) along the back of the skull. The face mask comprises a front part (1) that is attached to a back part (4). The back part (4) preferably, but not exclusively, comprises a nose bridge (5). The face mask preferably comprises a buckle (6) and preferably elastic straps (7) to secure the face mask to the head and allow it to be worn.

[0075] FIG. 2 shows a more detailed view of the face mask of FIG. 1. The back part (4) comprises an upper part and a lower part, that combine to display a beak shape. The beak shape opening of the back part (4) is attached to the front part (1) such that the outlines match. Furthermore, the face mask comprises a filter (2) and a bracket (3). Bracket (3) forms a pliable rigid arc that extends almost vertically in front of the face. One end of bracket (3) is located at jaw level on one cheek, the bracket (3) continues to the other side of the chin over, or in front of, the nose, forming an arc. The front part (1) is slightly stretched and tautly applied over the outline of the bracket (3). A filter (2) has been installed between the front part (1) and the bracket (3). In this embodiment, the shape of the filter (2) is virtually identical to the enclosed space created between the front part (1) and the back part (4) with the same outlines. Straps 7 may be made of elastic and are also referred to below as “elastic band(s)”.

[0076] FIG. 3 shows a mask from a view to the back part (4) installed along the lower edge (4a) with the lower edge (1a) of the front part (1) and the element covering the inner side of the nose (4i) of the back part (4), and it shows the position of the pliable nose bridge (5) on the inner side of the back part (4), with the bracket (3) and filter (2) being visible through the cut-out in the back part (4) and dotted lines showing how they continue to the two buckles. The figure also shows how the loop in the front part (1) is connected to the back part (4) by the buckle (6). The nose bridge (5) is malleable in order to enable it to be adjusted such that the convexity of the nose and the connection to the underside of the eye sockets under the eyes are sealed.

[0077] The nose bridge (5) is the malleable part made of malleable material, for example, and preferably of, malleable metal.

[0078] FIG. 4 shows the front part (1), back part (4), bracket (3) and filter (2) in their unassembled flat state.

[0079] There is a filter (2) between the bracket (3) and the front part (1). The shape of the filter (2) is approximately the same as that of the front part (1).

[0080] In an embodiment according to the invention, the front part (1) may itself consist of a filtering material such that an additional filter (2) is not necessary. The front part (1) and filter (2) then form one whole. Embodiments can comprise a combination of a filtering front part (1) and an additional filter (2), for example, a front part with a coarse filtering effect and an additional finer filter.

[0081] In this example, the front part (1) comprises the following elements: [0082] 1a. Lower stitching for attachment to the back part (4). [0083] 1b. Upper edge running from one side to the opposite side, passing over the nose in the center. [0084] 1c. Buckle stitching defining the ends of the envelope created with the back part on both sides. [0085] 1d. Buckle attachment loop created by including extra material beyond the buckle stitching, folding this into a loop and stitching it into a tube-shaped loop into which a buckle can be enclosed.

[0086] In this embodiment, the filter (2) comprises the following elements: [0087] 2a. Lower edge. This extends from the underside of the buckle stitching on one cheek to the connection with the underside of the buckle stitching on that overlying side of the face and passes in front of, or partly under, the tip of the jaw and along the line of the jaw to the other cheek. The dimensions along these lines are equal to, or preferably greater than, this line created with the front part in a non-stretched state, so that the filter is always equal to, or bigger than, the envelope space. [0088] 2b. Upper edge. This is the seam that follows the attachment of the front and back parts in the envelope line with the connection to the top of the buckle seam and that—due to the attachment of the front and back parts—extends forward over the cheek and in front of the nose to the opposite cheek where it connects to the top of the buckle seam on that side. If the front part is not tensioned, this seam is identical to the available space. [0089] 2c. Buckle connection side. This forms the outer edge of the filter connecting the end of the upper edge to the end of the lower edge on the same side.

[0090] In this example, bracket (3) comprises the following elements: [0091] 3a. Lower protruding part. This forms the connection of the bracket to the lower edge of the envelope that continues partly towards the front of the jaw and thus creates a firm and stable position when the bracket is enclosed in the partially stretched envelope and prevents the shape of the bracket from sagging downwards. [0092] 3b. Upper edge. This forms the edge that follows the bracket to seamlessly connect in the line that is created by the front and back parts having been connected together along their tops and forming a seam that follows the shape of the line in a flat plane and thus remains identical, even in a curved plane. [0093] 3c. Buckle contact side. This is the outer edge of the bracket that connects the end of the upper edge to the end of the lower edge on the same side and along which the bracket is pressed towards the buckle by stretch tension on the front and back parts and which pressure causes the bracket to become convex. [0094] 3d. Nose impact. This is the position in the centre of the flat plane of the bracket that, when installed, is directly in front of the nose and has a partly enlarged surface area so that the lower edge of this part under the nose falls outside the area that contacts the nose.

[0095] The bracket (3) can be provided with a splashguard (3e, see FIG. 8) to protect the eyes as a part of the bracket or as an element that can be installed separately.

[0096] In this embodiment, the back part (4) comprises the following elements: [0097] 4a. Lower inner seam for connection to the front part. [0098] 4b. Upper edge running from one side to the opposite side, passing over the nose in the center. [0099] 4c. Edge with buckle defining the ends of the envelope created with the front part on both sides. [0100] 4d. Buckle attachment loop created by including extra material beyond the buckle stitching, folding this into a loop and stitching it into a tube-shaped loop into which a buckle can be enclosed. [0101] 4e. Nose bridge position is a part that is folded-over and stitched or glued, and which, when it was a part of the flat cut-out of the back part, was part of the material opened up as a face opening and which houses a pliable element enabling the strap part to be more easily formed into a position that is not closed in forming the fit of the mask with the face. [0102] 4f. Finger lug is a part of the material that, when it was a part of the flat cut-out of the back part, was part of the material opened up as a face opening and enables the part of the panel that extends under the jaw to be grasped easily by fingers and to be positioned properly under the chin [0103] 4g. Corner of the mouth is a rounded element on the outside of the cut-out in the back part where the round shape of the cut-out eliminates the probability of the flat line of the opening tearing if it were cut straight and ended in a sharp angle [0104] 4h. Opening as an element and consequence of the cut-out in the back part that gives the mouth, jaw and nose access to the back part and which element has been shaped such that its shape, combined with the partial flexibility of the materials used, offers sufficient space to ensure a good fit around these facial elements. [0105] 4i. Nose covering part is the part of the back part that is visible in the face view and extends below the eye across the nose to below the other eye.

[0106] The back part (4) can be opened and the lower and upper part will then become beak-shaped, the opening (4h) forms the opening of the beak shape.

[0107] The front part (1) is attached to the back part (4) by gluing, for example, or, as is the case here, by stitching.

[0108] FIG. 5a shows a flat view in which the filter (2) has been placed behind the bracket (3) and the continuation of the shape of the filter (2) in bracket (3) is shown as a dotted line and it is visible that the filter (2) fits within the shape along the upper side and is virtually flush with the upper edge (3b) of the bracket (3).

[0109] FIG. 5b shows a similar composition as in FIG. 5a showing that the filter (2) seamlessly connects to the bracket (3) when the bracket (3) becomes cylindrically convex due to tension caused by stretching in the panel sections (1 and 4) and a second filter connects along the same line.

[0110] FIG. 6 shows an embodiment according to the invention in which it is visible that the bracket (3) and the elastic band (7b) form a circle around the head with the buckle (6) acting as the connecting element and where the tensile forces on the back part (4) caused by tensioning the elastic band (7b and 7a) are evenly distributed along and over the bracket (3) which, due to the convexity in its shape, offers room for the back part (4h) that covers the space between the bracket (3) and the face and is largely free from tensile stress due to the tensioning of the elastic band (7b) along the underside of the head.

[0111] FIG. 7 shows the position of the filter (2) as a dotted line in front of the bracket (3) wherein upward and downward movement of the back part causes part (4h) under the jaw along the filter (2) to move along, creating an opening above the edge of the filter (2b) that is sealed because the bracket (3) with the upper edge (3b) of the bracket remains sealed and enclosed due to the tension caused by stretching the material of the front part (1) and the back part (4) and prevents air from entering or escaping past the filter (2) through space k when the mouth is stretched open. This prevents any unfiltered air from entering or being emitted through this opening.

[0112] FIG. 8 shows an embodiment according to the invention wherein the bracket (3) is mounted as a fixed part preferably, but not exclusively, along the upper edge (3b) between the front part (1) and the back part (4) in such a way that the bracket (3) extends to at least the upper side with a splashguard (3e) that protects the eyes as a transparent screen.

[0113] It will be clear that the invention enables many variations and that the invention is not limited to the examples described above.

[0114] FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the face mask according to the invention. In this embodiment, the face mask comprises a lower bracket (31) in addition to the bracket (3). The lower bracket (31) follows the jaw line along the outside of the jaw. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 9, bracket (3) and lower bracket (31) form a whole and together form a closed shape. The material of the face mask is then kept away from the mouth. The lower bracket (31) follows the outside of the jaw line and there is preferably no material of the lower bracket (31) under the jaw that might block or hinder the jaw movement.

[0115] FIG. 10 shows a detail of another embodiment of the face mask according to the invention. The material of the front part has been compacted along edge R. The compacted part of the front part, which is not or hardly air-permeable, is attached to the back part. This improves sealing and reduces the probability of air leakage. The compacted edge R, which, as is clear by comparing FIGS. 9 and 10 has the same shape, and position as the bracket 3 in FIG. 9, and may form in the embodiment of FIG. 10 the bracket.

[0116] The assembly of front and back part may be manufactured separately. The invention is also embodied in a face mask comprising a front part and a back part, wherein the back part is, when worn on a face, beak-shaped and comprises a cut-out part forming a face opening and the front part is attached to the back part some distance in front of the face.