U.S. patent number RE31,424 [Application Number 06/437,766] was granted by the patent office on 1983-10-25 for respirators.
This patent grant is currently assigned to The Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britannic Majesty's Government, The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force. Invention is credited to John Ernsting, Thomas R. Morgan, Leonard F. W. Palmer, Alfred J. Rivers, Stephen M. Robson.
United States Patent |
RE31,424 |
Ernsting , et al. |
October 25, 1983 |
Respirators
Abstract
The invention provides a nose occlusion facility on respirators
of the type in which a hood and visor combination envelops the head
of a wearer and carries an oronasal mask for supplying respiratory
gas to the wearer. The nose occlusion facility is manually operable
and comprises a lever device mounted on the exterior of the visor
and associated with arms operative to pinch the wearer's nose in
the region of the lobes thereof.
Inventors: |
Ernsting; John (Fleet,
GB2), Morgan; Thomas R. (Graniteville, SC),
Palmer; Leonard F. W. (Seaton, GB2), Rivers; Alfred
J. (Church Crookham, GB2), Robson; Stephen M.
(High Wycombe, GB2) |
Assignee: |
The Secretary of State for Defence
in Her Britannic Majesty's Government (Washington, DC)
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of
the Air Force (Washington, DC)
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Family
ID: |
10459775 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/437,766 |
Filed: |
October 27, 1982 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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Reissue of: |
967122 |
Dec 8, 1978 |
04294243 |
Oct 13, 1981 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Dec 9, 1977 [GB] |
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51378/77 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
128/201.18;
128/206.21; 128/201.23 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A62B
9/06 (20130101); A62B 18/08 (20130101); B63C
2011/125 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A62B
9/00 (20060101); A62B 9/06 (20060101); A62B
18/00 (20060101); A62B 18/08 (20060101); A62B
007/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/201.18,201.23,201.27,205.25,207.11,206.12,206.17,201.24,201.25 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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891655 |
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Oct 1953 |
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DE |
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754529 |
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Apr 1954 |
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DE |
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1222570 |
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Oct 1968 |
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GB |
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Primary Examiner: Recla; Henry J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Singer; Donald J. Kundert; Thomas
L.
Claims
We claim:
1. An oro-nasal respirator, comprising:
a. a visor;
b. a mask carried by said visor, said mask having a shape adapted
to cover the nose and mouth of the wearer;
c. means for providing respiratory gas to the wearer through said
mask;
d. means attached to said mask for selectively occluding the
wearer's nose; said last mentioned means including a pair of spaced
apart pivots penetrating through said mask in the nasal region
thereof; yoke arms extending radially from said pivots on the
inside of said mask; a handle secured to said pivots on the outside
of said mask; said handle operable to rotate said pivots and cause
said yoke arms to turn into the sides of the wearer's nose.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein said yoke arms have cylindrical
bead members rotatably mounted thereon.
3. The device of claim 1 wherein said visor includes a transparent
portion adapted to cover the eyes of the wearer.
4. The device of claim 1 wherein said yoke arms are made of a
manually pliable metal.
5. The device of claim 1 wherein said mask includes adjustable
means for urging the mask in sealing engagement with the face of
the wearer around the nose and mouth.
6. The device of claim 1 wherein said pivots are sealed to the
mask.
7. The device of claim 1 wherein said mask is made of flexible
rubber material.
8. The device of claim 1 wherein said spaced apart pivots lie on a
common lateral axis and said yoke arms rotate in a direction
generally perpendicular to said axis.
Description
The present invention relates to headgear to be worn by personnel
for protection against unpleasant or toxic substances in their
local atmosphere, such as radioactive, chemical and/or bacterial
substances. As it is fundamental to such headgear that safe
breathing supplies are maintained, headgear in accordance with the
invention are hereinafter called respirators.
Co-pending UK patent application No. 20135/76 describes a
respirator for protection against undesirable substances in a local
atmosphere and which comprises a hood and a visor both made of
material impervious to the undesirable substance, attached one to
another in a manner impervious to the undesirable substance and
adapted to fit and envelop closely the head of a wearer, means for
permitting a wearer to breathe acceptable air and/or oxygen, means
for maintaining a gas pressure within the respirator greater than
local environmental pressure, and seal means for preventing
atmosphere outside thereof from reaching the interior of the
respirator via the neck aperture thereof.
The primary utility of such respirators is in the protection of
aircrew, particularly military aircrew, and it is a feature of that
invention, and indeed of the invention the subject of the
co-pending UK Patent Specification 47129/77, that such respirators
may be used at all altitudes. Now a significant proportion of
aircrew find it necessary to unblock their ears during change of
altitude by occluding their noses. The present invention provides
on a respirator of the type described in co-pending patent
application No. 20135/76 means whereby a user may occlude his
nose.
According to the present invention, a respirator of the type
comprising a hood and visor combination for closely enveloping the
head of a user and an oronasal mask contained or formed within the
hood for delivering breathable gas to the user's nose and mouth,
has manually operable nose occluding means including force
transmission means penetrating the hood/visor combination,
manipulable handle means associated with the transmission means
outside the hood/visor combination and nose impingement means
associated with the transmission means and within the hood/visor
combination, the arrangement being such that in use manual
operation of the handle means can bring about the impingement on
the user's nose and occlusion thereof by the impingement means.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the handle means is
located on a nasal region of the visor, the transmission means
comprises a pair of pivots, and the impingement means comprises a
yoke arranged to swing down onto the sides of the oronasal mask and
to pinch it onto the nose. The arms of the yoke may carry rollers
rotatable thereon to facilitate a swinging and pinching
operation.
In another embodiment of the invention the handle means is located
on the respirator in the region of a hood cavity gas supply inlet,
and the nose impingement means comprises a pair of cranks fitted
within the mask and the arms whereof are operable in use to swivel
one toward the other and pinch the user's nose. The transmission
means may comprise an arm/pin linkage or cable, cord, or chain
means perhaps with an associated spring for urging the impingement
means into a non-impingement configuration.
In yet another embodiment of the invention the transmission means
comprise a Bowden cable and the handle means a caliper device.
The impingement means are preferably readily adjustable so that a
user can arrange them to occlude his own nose in optimum fashion.
For this purpose the impingement yoke or arms may be readily
detachable, bendable, and/or carry adjustable pads.
Where the transmission means, or any other part of the impingement
apparatus, penetrates the respirator, seals may be included to
prevent entry thereby of undesirable substances.
The occlusion means are particularly readily mountable on
respirators the visors whereof are constituted by a member forming
an exoskeleton for covering substantially the whole of a user's
face.
A respirator nose occlusion facility in accordance with the
invention will now be described by way of example with reference to
the accompanying drawings, of which:
FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a respirator visor carrying a nose
occluder, and
FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the respirator shown in FIG. 1.
Illustrated in the drawings is a visor 10 to a respirator of the
type described in co-pending UK patent application No. 20135/76. As
can be seen the visor is a substantially rigid member formed to
cover substantially the whole face of a wearer. It is transparent
at least in the region ahead of the eyes and forms an exoskeleton
to the respirator as a whole. It carried, attached at a face plate
11, an oro-nasal mask 12 formed to cover the nose and mouth of a
wearer. The mask 12 is made of a flexible rubber material. Clamping
means 13, also attached at the face plate 11 serve, in consort with
an anchorage on say an aircrewman's helmet, to urge the mask 12,
via the visor 10, to seal against the face of the wearer around the
nose and mouth.
The nose occlusion facility is mounted on the visor 10 in a nasal
region thereof. It comprises a pair of pivots 14 penetrating the
visor nasal region on a common lateral axis, a pair of yoke arms 15
mounted on and projecting radially from the pivots 14 inside the
visor 10, and a substantially V-shaped handle 16 attached to both
pivots 14 outside the visor. The arms 15 carry right cylindrical
beads 17 rotatable thereon. The pivots 14 are sealed to the
visor.
In a non-engaged configuration the arms 15 project toward the top
edge of the visor 10 and the handle 16 rests against the top of the
face plate 11. This configuration is as illustrated in FIG. 1.
To operate the occluder the handle 16 is lifted, rotating the pivot
and bringing the arms 15 to bear on the sides of the nose portion
of the mask 12, so that they pinch the lobes of the wearer's nose.
This operative configuration is as illustrated in FIG. 2.
The arms 15 are made of a manually pliable metal so that an
individual wearer may bend them to maximise the efficiency of their
operation with respect to his own nose.
* * * * *