ADJUSTABLE FACE MASK ASSEMBLY
A face mask assembly including a clear face shield that is adjustably disposed over the user's face for increased safety and comfort. The face shield is adjusted using an assembly with a body element and a slider element that can be engaged or disengaged by the use to adjust the face shield position.
The present invention relates generally to face masks worn over the nose and mouth areas, generally, to prevent the spread of disease, and more particularly, to a face mask having a clear adjustable protective shield.
BACKGROUNDFace masks, including surgical face masks are generally designed to reduce droplet contaminates from the gases which are inhaled and exhaled by the wearer from passing from the wearer to others, such as a patient. Droplet contaminates possibly include biological hazards such as bacteria, viruses, fungal spores, dust, and skin squames. Personnel in a clinical setting, such as a hospital, outpatient care facility, nursing home, or similar setting, need to protect patients from droplets they may be exhausting during normal breathing and talking. Conventional face masks generally filter air born contaminates using a filter medium covering the wearer's nose and mouth with structures to form a substantially gas-tight fit about the nose and mouth of the wearer. Additionally, face mask manufactures have also been concerned with minimizing condensation of moisture within the mask, and providing a comfortable and easily donable product.
Traditional filter medium face masks prevent the patient from seeing the portions of the wearer's face, including the mouth and cheeks, making visual communications using facial expressions or lip reading difficult. This is so because the wearer's lip movements and facial expression defined by the mouth area adjacent are covered when wearing such a traditional face mask. Traditional face mask also muffle normal speech. The combination of muffled speech and obstructed visual communication is very problematic when treating a hearing impaired individual.
Traditional face mask are constructed to be secured to the user's head using surgical ties that are knotted behind the head and neck, or using elastic bands bonded to the edge of the filter media that pass around the ears or back of the head. These attachment mechanisms either offer limited to no adjustablility, or are cumbersome. Therefore, there exists a need to provide a surgical face mask that effectively protects patients from air born contaminates while also providing for improved communication between surgical personnel and the patient, and allowing surgical personnel to easily adjust the face mask for improved safety and comfort. Such an improved face mask is provided by the present invention as further described in the following specification and claims.
BRIEF SUMMARYA face mask assembly that includes a face shield of a solid translucent material, and a plurality of adjustment assemblies. Each adjustment assembly includes a body element and a slider element where the slider element is configured to be removably engaged with the body element and to be removably attached to the face shield. The face mask further includes a plurality of straps removably attached to at least one adjustment assembly. The face mask assembly allows the face shield position to be adjusted by a user by disengaging the slider element from a first position, moving the slider element within the body element, and reengaging the slider element at a second position.
The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference numerals may indicate similar or identical items. Various embodiments may utilize elements and/or components other than those illustrated in the drawings, and some elements and/or components may not be present in various embodiments. Elements and/or components in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Throughout this disclosure, depending on the context, singular and plural terminology may be used interchangeably.
This disclosure relates to a face mask assembly configured to allow the user to quickly adjust the face shield vertically to obtain a comfortable fit across the user's nose and cheeks. The face mask assembly includes a first and second adjustment assemblies and a face shield, where the first adjustment assembly is attached to one side of the face shield and the second adjustment assembly is attached to the other side of the face shield such that the face shield extends across the bridge of the user's nose and the soft tissue of the cheeks back to approximately the ears. From that top boundary, the face shield extends in an arc to below the user's chin, terminating with a backward curve. The face mask makes substantially continuous contact at the top, i.e., across the nose and cheeks, while encouraging gas exchange out the bottom near the chin. Exhausted gases from breathing and talking are directed back into the user and away from others by the curvature in the chin area of the face shield. The adjustment assemblies allow a user to adjust the face shield higher or lower on their face relative to their ears, to provide a better fit and more comfortable user experience.
For example, a better fit can be achieved on a wide range of users by allowing them to adjust the vertical position of the face shield and accordingly, where the top edge of the shield contacts the user's face. The ability to adjust the face shield also allows the user to achieve a more comfortable fit by moving the face shield contact points away from bony structures, such as the cheek bones, or simply periodically to relieve pressure soreness.
The face mask assembly includes a clear face shield to allow for better communications with patients through non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions and lip reading. The face mask assembly includes an anti-fog treatment to substantially reduce visual obstruction of the face shield by the user's breath.
The adjustment assembly includes one or more through holes configured to receive an elastic retaining element that passes through a hole on the top of the assembly, around the user's ear, and then through another hole on the bottom of the assembly, or alternatively, through a labyrinth locking section initially secured using a clam shell snap fit section. Adjustment of the elastic retaining element, i.e., to increase or reduce tension or provide slack, is achieved by manually stretching the elastic element, thereby reducing its diameter, to allow it to move through one of the holes. When the manually tension on the elastic element is removed, the element constrict to its former length and larger diameter, thereby securing the elastic retaining element within the hole at the new tension or slack state.
This brief introduction, including section titles and corresponding summaries, is provided for the reader's convenience and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, nor the proceeding sections. Furthermore, the techniques described above and below may be implemented in a number of ways and in a number of contexts. Several example implementations and contexts are provided with reference to the following figures, as described below in more detail. However, the following implementations and contexts are but a few of many.
Illustrative ArchitectureTurning now to the drawings,
The embodiment depicted in
The labyrinth anchor point 130a includes a gate 132 and a labyrinth channel 134. In this embodiment, the strap 106 is pushed into the labyrinth channel 134 and then secured by closing the gate 132 to entrap the strap within the labyrinth channel 134. The labyrinth channel 134 is configured to increase the friction on the strap 106 by including “S” or “U” shape turns, by including pointed protrusions, or both.
While various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. The foregoing description has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. Further, it should be noted that any or all of the aforementioned alternate implementations may be used in any combination desired to form additional hybrid implementations of the present disclosure. For example, any of the functionality described with respect to a particular device or component may be performed by another device or component. Further, while specific device characteristics have been described, embodiments of the disclosure may relate to numerous other device characteristics. Further, although embodiments have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as illustrative forms of implementing the embodiments. Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments could include, while other embodiments may not include, certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments.
Claims
1. A face mask assembly comprising:
- a face shield comprising a solid translucent material;
- a plurality of adjustment assemblies, each including a body element and a slider element;
- the slider element configured to be removably engaged with the body element and to be removably attached to the face shield; and
- a plurality of straps removably attached to at least one adjustment assembly; wherein the face shield position is adjustable by a user by disengaging the slider element from a first position, moving the slider element within the body element, and reengaging the slider element at a second position.
2. The face mask assembly of claim 1 wherein the face shield includes an anti-fog treatment.
3. The face mask assembly of claim 1 wherein the slider element of the adjustment assemblies further comprises a tab and a retaining assembly; the tab configured to allow the user to disengage the slider element from the first position and reengage the slider element at a second position.
4. The face mask assembly of claim 1 wherein the slider element of the adjustment assemblies further comprises a pinch tab and retaining assembly; the pinch tab configured to allow the user to disengage the slider element from the first position by actuating the pinch tab closed and to reengage the slider element at the second position by releasing the pinch tab.
5. The face mask assembly of claim 1, the body element further comprising a first piece and a second piece configured to snap together and retain the slider element.
6. The face mask assembly of claim 1, the body element further comprising a labyrinth anchor point.
7. The face mask assembly of claim 1, the body element further comprising a friction anchor point.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 20, 2020
Publication Date: Feb 24, 2022
Inventor: Margaret Emilia Vaughan (Golden, CO)
Application Number: 16/997,932