Personal Protective Face Shield for Preventing Biohazardous, Infectious or Pathological Aerosol Exposure (COVID-19)
20210001157 ยท 2021-01-07
Inventors
Cpc classification
A62B17/006
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A41D13/1184
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A42B3/225
HUMAN NECESSITIES
International classification
A62B17/00
HUMAN NECESSITIES
Abstract
This novel face shield/window is designed to provide all the protective qualities of traditional OSHA approved PPE face shields. Most critically, however, it also facilitates the creation of a protective Dynamic Ingress Barrier to prevent fine particles and bioaerosols from crossing the face shield plane and transport them away from the often breached and problematic periphery of mask/respirator protective zones. Integral to this process, the novel design enhances a particle's flocculant properties by disrupting the structural integrity of the corona virus electrostatic double layer, and reducing its electrokinetic potential before accelerating it into the airspace. Increasing its ability to flocculate with active viral aerosols, and subsequently settle out of the airspace for cleaning, or captive via a filter.
Claims
1. A personal protective face shield operable to protect the users entire face or portions thereof, or mucus membranes from exposure to or impacts from flying fragments, objects, large chips, liquids, fluids, particulates; inhalation of infectious, biohazardous, or pathological aerosols, bioaerosols, or airborne viral contagions by creating a dynamic ingress barrier of tangentially flowing air; A previously described personal protective face shield which also deactivates viral air particles and alters their chemical and morphological characteristics to enhance their ability to flocculate with colloids and agglomerates in the surrounding environment to induce their settlement out of the air; A previously described personal protective face shield which also transports aerosols and/or line air particles away from the face, mucus membrane and head area into room ventilation airstreams; and A previously described personal protective face shield which increases the efficacy of N95 respirators, surgical masks, and other personal filtration devices by reducing the concentration of fine aerosol particles at their filter face and periphery.
2. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, comprising: a transparent, molded, shaped or 3D-printed protective screen; a modestly pliable headpiece adapter coupled to said protective screen; one or more air manifold; one or more air inlet port or orifice; one or more air exit orifice or port; a plurality of air channels; one or more air exit nozzle; one or more UV light-emitting device; one or more Flocculency Enhancement Chamber.
3. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said protective screen is of multi layer polycarbonate material.
4. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said headpiece adapter supports a plurality of power sources, control boards, integrated circuits and an assortment of connective wiring.
5. The personal protective free shield of claim 1, wherein said air manifold(s) is integral or attached to the protective screen.
6. The personal protective free shield of claim 1 wherein the inner cavity of said manifold(s) is lined with multiple layers of photocatalytic material for the purpose of producing a photocatalytic reaction.
7. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said photocatalytic layers of the air manifold(s) contains photocatalytic materials such as TiO2 and TiO2-SiO2 due to its photocatalytic reactivity and self-wetting properties.
8. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said air manifolds house one or more Ultra Light emitting (U V) source for the purpose of emitting and/or irradiating Ultraviolet tight onto said photocatalytic materials to induce a photocatalytic reaction.
9. The personal protective lace shield of claim 1, wherein said UV source emits at wavelengths in the 250 nm to 300 nm UV-C range.
10. The personal protective lace shield of claim 1, wherein said air manifold(s) contains one or more permanently fixed or removable Flocculency Enhancement Chamber (FEC) downstream of the air manifold inlet ports.
11. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said FEC contains at least one or more material or process capable of lowering the zeta-potential of particles within effluent air.
12. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein one of the said material or processes chemically capable of lowering the zeta-potential of effluent air is an electroceutical fiber.
13. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said electroceutical fiber within the FEC generates electricity to biomimic the human skin's physiologic electrical energy used to reduce the risk of infection.
14. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said electroceutical fiber is sold under the commercial name of REDOX or others, and is comprised of a matrix of moisture-activated silver (AG) and Zinc (Zn) composed microcell batteries embedded in its substrate and undergoes a chemical REDOX reaction when its surface is exposed to moisture.
15. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said FEC contains one or more activated carbon filter to filter any residual ozone created during the photocatalytic reaction.
16. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said electroceutical fibers are removable to facilitate viral analysis by EHS, CDC, OSHA, NIOSH or others.
17. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said air manifold (s) have one or more inlet port located on its surface to accept, direct and distribute motive air along the surface of said protective screen.
18. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said air manifold(s) has a plurality of exit orifices to direct air through air channels.
19. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said air channels are integral or affixed, and direct air from said air manifold(s) to air exit orifices located on the periphery of face shield to create a dynamic ingress barrier of tangentially flowing air as it exits.
20. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said protective screen contains one or more nozzle or nozzle assembly on or near its periphery so designed as to alter the effluent airs fluid dynamics and aerodynamic particle properties.
21. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said exiting effluent air flows tangentially out of the periphery of the face shield to create a dynamic ingress barrier of air.
22. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, further comprising: a least one Temperature Sensing Adaptive Padding (T-SAP), one or more global positioning system device (GPS), an on/off switch, one or more digital temperature display device, one or more voice amplification system, a plurality of power sources including a solar cell, and a plurality of optional air moving devices.
23. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said T-SAP is so designed as to attach to the said headpiece adapter.
24. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said T-SAP has one or more tactile sensing thermocouple secured adhesively to its surface for sensing the users body temperature at the forehead interfaces.
25. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said T-SAP is in electrical communication with a temperature display device via a plurality of electrical wires and integrated circuits in order to visibly display the users body temperature for screening prior to entering workplaces and places of business.
26. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said GPS is used in conjunction with viral analysis of FEC electroceutical fibers to facilitate contact tracing and viral activity tracking.
27. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said GPS and FEC viral analysis are coupled to provide actionable data to national contact tracing networks and systems.
28. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said voice amplification system has a microphone adhesively attached to the inner face of the face shield, and a speaker device attached to the adaptive headpiece
29. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said power supplies provide the necessary energy to operate the apparatus.
30. The personal protective face shield of claim 1, wherein said solar cell is electrically connected via wiring to a rechargeable power source through an Arduino integrated circuit and controller.
Description
BRIER DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0039] The primary facets of the PPE device can be grasped and understood better with the aid of the following reference drawings and illustrations. Even though the components may not be to granular scale, the novel device, its features, and functions are clearly illustrated.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0074] Embodiments of the present invention will henceforth be described in detail with numerical annotations to associated drawings.
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[0076] Face shield 88 has a plurality of integrally designed air channels 93 which interlace with a plurality of air discharge orifices 89b-1 within the bottom-most edge of air manifold 89b. A digital temperature display device 1120 is located near the uppermost edge of face shield 88 and horizontally centered on outer surface 88a.
[0077] The face shield 88 also includes a detachable, relatively lightweight yet durable headpiece adapter 1911. Headpiece adapter 1911 is designed to facilitate attachment to head-gear or a Temperature Sensing Adaptive Headgear foam Padding (T-SAP) for a personal fitting. As exemplified in
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[0111] In operation, virally active air is supplied to face shield 88 via a remote portable or stationary air moving device to the Anterior Air Manifolds 89a and 89b. Pressurized air enters manifolds 89a and 89b via air inlet ports 90a and 90b.
[0112] To effectively disinfect and deactivate viral air particles after entry into the anterior air manifold inlet ports 89a and 89b, this design utilizes UV-C light and a Titania-Silica filmTiO2-SiO2 91 of
[0113] Once virally deactivated in the anterior air manifolds 89a and 89b, the air is directed transversely from the anterior face of 88 in both lateral directions until redirecting posteriorly toward the posterolateral regions 97. As the airflow traverses the width of 97, it enters the flocculation enhancement chamber (FEC) 77 which further destabilizes particle structures. The present design accommodates various in-line FEC 77 options based upon the desired energy consumption, pressure drop, and industrial work conditions. Option 1 (not shown)An ionizing electrode may be affixed within the air plenums of posterolateral region 97 to ionize flowing air particles prior to their entry into PLN 99 via the dorsal nozzle air supply port 98. This would provide cations or anions which can enhance or diminish particle affinity for agglomeration via Vander Waal Forces and Hamaker forces, it should be noted that the net surface charge of the coronavirus envelope is positive. Option (not shown)Alternatively, to conserve energy, an in-line bed of compressed beeswax (propolis extract via ethanol or deacetylated Chitosan) impregnated with a high salt composition could be used to dose and destabilize the air particle flow to increase particle flocculency. A chitosan eco-friendly biopolymer with a salt is preferred due to its deacetylation degree variance, dynamic viscosity, hydrophobicity, and Van der Waals interactions, as well as Zeta-potential reduction/particle destabilization properties (Meraz et al, 2016). Option 3) Hie preferred design utilized in this embodiment, and the more sustainable option, incorporates the use of a screen mesh of electroceutical fibers (Polyester+Zn+Ag composition), commercially known as V.Dox and Procellera, as shown in 77a of
[0114] The lowered particle zeta-potential subsequently enhances its chemical flocculence. In complement to the antiviral photocatalytic processes within the anterior air manifolds 89a and 89b, for antiviral design redundancy, the electroceutical fibers further disrupt the cytopathic effects of the virus of coronavirus particles upon contact as illustrated in graph of
[0115] It is worth noting the medical utilization of the electroceutical fiber materials described herein have previously been approved by the FDA in the clinical trial (NCT04079998). This described Flocculation Enhancement Chamber (FEC) 77 can be removed for mesh fibers to be analyzed for viral evidence. This enables Air Quality Engineers and EHS personnel to pinpoint specific work areas where dead air spaces of viral aerosols clouds are more present, and equip them to make data-driven engineering modifications to zone-specific work facility ventilation systems. Also, the results of such viral analysis, when coupled with the integral GPS 1028, provide actionable data for Contact Tracing systems (Apple, Google, Kinsa, and others) to identify specific geographic areas of viral presence. It should also be noted that UV-C has been used commercially in HVAC systems and ductwork for many years due to its highly efficient viral and germicidal effectiveness and relatively low risk of ozone. Still, this novel design incorporates a honeycomb design, low pressure-drop, activated charcoal filter 77b within the flocculation enhancement chamber 77c, downstream of the electroceutical fiber mesh 77a for added personnel safety as shown in
[0116] Having been virally deactivated, and flocculaut enhanced, the manifold then directs airflow to a plurality of nozzles about its periphery to create a Dynamic Ingress Barriers (DIB) of disinfected and filtered air 100 of
[0117] A Anal novel design aspect detailed in the embodiments herein, is the optional nozzles/vanes are so designed that particle size and bulk flow velocity is considered to ensure particle transport via adequate capture velocity for the mass, size, and aerosol physics of the targeted aerosols within the work environment. This will be achieved by applying aerodynamic nozzle design factors as illustrated in
Manufacturing Guidance
[0118] The following are examples of general manufacturing methods for the key components identified in the embodiments. All major components of the face shield 88 may be manufactured via 3D printing technology, while complementing functional devices may be procured commercially. Various 3D Printing methods can be employed such as Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), Stereolithography (SLA), and others. A multitude of commercial CAD options is readily available to facilitate design modelings such as SolidWorks, Catia, Creo, Autodesk and Dremel, Fusion 360, Rhino, TinkerCad, and others.
Photocatalytic Reactive Film 91 (Option 1): The Adachi Method
[0119] WASH: The polycarbonate (PC) substrate material for 88 should be thoroughly washed with deionized water and ultrasonicated for 10 min to remove contaminants.
[0120] PRETREAT: Pretreat regions 89a and 89b of PC substrates by exposing them to oxygen plasma for 1 min to render anchoring hydroxyl groups onto the surface. The oxygen plasma may be created at a pressure=20 Pa, gas flow=10 sccm, and RF power=100 W.
[0121] BARRIER LAYER (Pre-Coat): Pre-Coat the pretreated regions 89a and 89b with a SiO2 barrier layer by the dip-coating method, and allow to dry at ambient temperature for 1 hr.
[0122] REACTIVE LAYER: The SiO2 precoated PC substrate should then be dip-coated with a TiO2-SiO2 mixture. The preferred TiO2-SiO2 mixture for this embodied design is a 7:3 composition (v/v).
[0123] However, depending on case-specific applications, the mixture may be varied to render more advantageous results. The recommended dipping speed should be in the range of ca. 2 mm's, deposition rime of ca. 60 s, and withdrawal speed of ca. 1 mm/s.
[0124] DRY: Air dryer at 100 C. for 1 hr while raising the temperature at a rate of 2 C./min.
[0125] COATING STABILIZATION: Coat the TiO2/SiO2 coating with a low friction layer of fluoroalkyl silane (FAS) via a simple chemical vapor deposition method. (Adachie et al, 2018).
Photocatalytic Reactive Film 91 (Option 2): The Sangiorgi 3-D Print Method.
[0126] Set-up: 3D scaffolds with an engineered microstructure containing immobilized TiO2 nanoparticles in PLA. Process: Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) or Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
[0127] Hardware: Commercial 3D Printer.
[0128] Methodology: The Sangiorgi Method (Sangiogi et al, 2019)
[0129] Face Shield 88: The figures provided m the embodiments of this document can easily facilitate 3-D print manufacture of the face shield 88 by those versed in the art. For optimal quality, the process should start with high-quality polycarbonate filament, a high-performance desktop 3D printer capable of printing and managing high-temperature materials, and an effective method of bed adhesion to prevent warpage.
[0130] Material: engineering-grade high-quality polycarbonate filament.
[0131] 3D printer: Various models are available with high temp capabilitiespreferable printers with a high temp end and bed with an enclosed build chamber (ie Airwolf-3D Axiom Series or similar).
[0132] Enclosed Build Chamber: An enclosed print chamber could be utilized to help manage heat and prevent cracking and deformation.
[0133] Bed Adhesion: To prevent shrinkage or warp deformations, a heat-activated film can be utilized on the glass work plate which will strongly bond the polycarbonate to the workplace during the print procedure.
[0134] Once the print is complete and cooled, most commercial bed adhesion solutions automatically deactivate to facilitate ease of part release from the bed.
Possible Commercial Models:
[0135] Base Model S25A53: Protective Dynamic Ingress Barrier+T-SAP and Digital Body Temperature Display to visibly indicate the users body temperature for screening prior to entering workplaces and places of business+directional nozzle design (upward) (
Sourcing of Auxiliary Components:
[0142] 335Micro-Blower: PTL Pelonis Technologies (https://www.pelonistechnologies.com/) [0143] 1206Deep UV LED: Stanley Electric Co, Ltd. (https://www.stanley-components.com) or LX [0144] 91UV Tube: Hunter Pure Air, Inc. [0145] 70Acrylic: AC Plastics Inc. Optix-UVF Product [0146] 77aElectroceutical Fiber: Vomaris Inc. [0147] 1126Surface Thermocouple with Self-Adhesive Backing: Spectris Inc. (OMEGA.com) [0148] 1120Digital Temperature Display: Circuit specialist Inc. (CircuitSpecialist.com) [0149] 1028GPS: Leak S. L., CIF (Powerplanet.com) [0150] 1117Power Supply & Controllers: Arduino Inc.
[0151] It is apparent that innumerable variations of the embodiments described herein before may be utilized. However, these as well as other variations are believed to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as covered by the claims attached herein.
REFERENCES
[0152] 1. Bourouiba, L. (2020). Turbulent Gas Clouds and Respiratory Pathogen Emissions. Jama. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.4756 [0153] 2. Pandis, S. N., & Seinfeld, J. H. (2006). Atmospheric chemistry and physics: From air pollution to climate change. New York: Wiley. Chapter 9Dynamics of Single Aerosol Particles [0154] 3. Tellier, R., Li, Y., Cowling, B. J., & Tang, J. W. (2019). Recognition of aerosol transmission of infectious agents: A commentary. BMC Infectious Diseases. 19(1). doi: 10.1186/s12879-019-3707-y [0155] 4. Johnson et al., 2011, J. Aerosol Sci., https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021850211001200 (via Marr, Va. Tech 2020) [0156] 5. Yan, J., Grantham, M., Pantelic, J., Mesqoita, P. J., Albert, B., Liu, F., . . . Milton, D. K. (2017). Infectious virus in exhaled breath of symptomatic seasonal influenza cases from a college community. doi:10.1101/194985 [0157] 6. Total Inward Leakage Measurement of Particulates for N95 Filtering Facepiece RespiratorsA Comparison Study. (2013). The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, doi.10.1093/armbyg/mct054 [0158] 7. Liu, Y., Ning. Z., Chen, Y., Guo, M., Liu. Y., Gab, N. K., . . . Lan, K. (2020). Aerodynamic Characteristics and RNA Concentration of SARS-CoV-2 Aerosol in Wuhan Hospitals during COVID-19 Outbreak. doi:10.1101/2020.03.08.982637 [0159] 8. Coronavirus might spread much farther than 6 feet in the . . . (n.d.). Retrieved Jun. 11, 2020, from https://www.rnsn.com/en-us/health/medical/coronavirus-might-spread-much-farther-than-6-feet-in-the-air-cdc-says-wear-a-mask-in-public/ar-BB 1297Jm [0160] 9. Roberge, R. J. (2016). Face shields for infection control: A review. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. 13(4), 235-242. doi:10.1080/15459624.2015.1095302 [0161] 10. Abhiteja Konda, Abhinav Prakash, Gregory A. Moss, Michael Schmoldt, Gregory D. Grant, and Supratik Guha ACS Nano 2020 14 (5), 6339-6347 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c03252 [0162] 11. Carty G, O'Leary G. Crowe M (2002). Water Treatment Manuals: Coagulation, Flocculation and Clarification. Washington D. C.: Environmental Protection Agency [0163] 12. Mohd Omar, Fateh ah & Aziz, Hamidi Abdul & Stoll, Serge. (2014). Nanoparticle Properties, Behavior. Hate in Aquatic Systems, and Characterization Methods. Journal of Colloid Science and Biotechnology. 3.1-30.10.1166/jcsb.2014.1090. [0164] 13. Burhan K. SaifAddin, Abdullah S. Almogbel, Christian J. Zollner, Feng Wu, Bastien Bonef, Michael Iza, Shuji Nakamura, Steven F. DenBaars, and James S. Speck. AlGaN Deep-Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes Grown on SiC Substrates. ACS Photonics 2020 7 (3)554-561 DOI:10.1021/acsphotonics.9b00600 [0165] 14. Meraz, K. A., Vargas, S. M., Maldonado, J. T., Bravo, J. M., Guzman, M. T., & Maldonado, E. A. (2016). Eco-friendly innovation for nejayote coagulation-flocculation process using chitosan: Evaluation through zeta potential measurements. Chemical Engineering Journal. 284, 536-542. doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2015.09.026 [0166] 15. Sen A, Khona D, Ghatak S, et al. Electroceutical Fabric Lowers Zeta Potential and Eradicates Coronavirus Infectivity upon Contact. ChemRxiv; 2020. DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv. 12307214.v1. [0167] 16. Adachi, T., Latthc, S. S., Gosavi, S. W., Roy, N., Suzuki, N., Ikari, H., . . . Terashima, C. (2018). Photocatalytic, super hydrophilic, self-cleaning TiO2 coating on cheap, light-weight, flexible polycarbonate substrates. Applied Surface Science, 458.917-923. doi: 10.1016/j.apsuse.2018.07.172 [0168] 17. Sangiorgi. A., Gonzalez, Z., Ferrandez-Montero, A., Yus, J., Sanchez-Herencia, A. J., Galassi, C., Ferrari, B. (2019). 3D Printing of Photocatalytic Filters Using a Biopolymer to Immobilize TiO2Nanoparticles. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 166(5). doi: 10.1149/2.0341905jes [0169] 18. Miranda, R., Nicu, R., Bobu. E., & Blanco. A. (2016). Efficiency of Chitosan and their Combination with Bentonite as Retention Aids in Papermaking. BioResources, 11(4). doi: 10.15376/biores. 11.4.10448-10468 [0170] 19. Tim Sandle November 22, By, Sandle, T., & Tim Sandle Dr. Tim Sandle Ph D. (2017, Nov. 17). Distribution of Particles Within the Cleanroom: A Review of Contamination Control Considerations. Retrieved Jun. 30, 2020, from https://www.ivtnetwork.com/article/distribution-particles-within-cleanroom-revicw-coataininati on-control-considerations
[0171] The research teams contribution to the described invention is as follows: Turique Jibril Rashaud, BS Mechanical Engineering, Inventor anti Owner of all embodiments and claims herein: Lead research investigations, product concept dr design, engineering analysis, applied biomimetic science, colloidal flocculant design, nano-particle aerodynamics; Xavier Jibril Goudeaux, Undergraduate Neuroscience Pre-Med (Co-Inventor): Longitudinal research of COVID-19 literature on virulence, incident rate, prevalence, molecular structure & zeta-potential, S-protein RNA de-activation. Curating OSHA, NIOSH, and CDC PPE criteria; Design Review for the feasibility of 30-Print Manufacture via Auto-Desk A Dremel software or other FFF/FDM technologies. Ashanti Goudeaux Williams MBA, BS Biology: Advisement on Biofuel Technology knowledge-transfer; De'Rius Rashad Goudeaux MS Occupational Safety & Health Environmental Mgmt.: Advisement on OSHA/NIOSH standards, 6-Sigma and Bradford Hill's Causation Criteria.