US2740400A - Combined respirator and face shield - Google Patents

Description

April 3, 1956 w. B. WKNES COMBINED RESPIRATOR AND FACE SHIELD Filed April 30, 1954 /NVENTOR W8. W/NES ATTORNEV COMBINED RESPIRATOR AND FACE SHIELD William B. Wines, Towson, Md., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 30, 1954, Serial No. 426,767

2 Claims. (Cl. 128-146) This invention relates to a combined respirator and face shield, and more particularly to a combined respirator'and face shield, the principal elements of which are readily detachable and interchangeable.

In certain industrial processes, such as metal plating processes, wherein baths of corrosive chemicals are employed, it is essential that operators working in the vicinity of such baths be protected from the harmful effects of the noxious fumes in the atmosphere. It is also essential that the faces of the Workers be protected from accidental splashing of the chemicals which might cause serious injuries to the eyes-and the skin of the workers.

Respirators provided with face shields heretofore known have been found to be not entirely satisfactory. Some of the grounds for dissatisfaction with previous equipment include the failure to provide adequate protection for exposed facial areas, excessive bulkiness resulting in extreme discomfort to the wearer, serious limitations in the angle of vision giving rise to acute safety problems, a lack of adequate ventilation, the necessity for a bespectacled wearer to remove his prescription glasses in order to wear the respirator and face shield, and the difficulty in replacing face shields which become permanently fogged or otherwise damaged.

A combined respirator and face shield illustrating certain features of the invention, may include a face piece adapted to be positioned over the mouth and nose of a wearer, a filter receptacle secured to the face piece, a face shield formed from a stiff, transparent plastic material and designed to extend over the face and about the checks of a wearer. The face shield may have a aperture formed therein, and a filter cartridge may be inserted through the aperture in the face shield and connected to the filter receptacle so that the filter cartridge secures the face shield fixedly to the face piece.

A complete understanding of the invention may be had from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a combined respirator and face shield forming a preferred embodiment of the invention, shown in position on the face of a wearer;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the combined respirator and face shield with the head straps broken away for convenience of illustration;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the combined respirator and face shield with the head straps broken away for the convenience of illustration, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary section taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2, with parts thereof broken away for clarity.

Referring now to the drawing, the illustrative embodiment of the invention includes a respirator of more or less conventional design, similar to one disclosed in Patent 2,578,621, granted December 11, 1951, to W. P. Yant. The respirator 10 is provided with a face piece 11 made of rubber or other suitable impervious, flexible material, which is generally triangular in shape. The wide lower 2,740,400 Patented Apr 2 I p l portion of the face piece 11 is designed, to cover the mouth and" chin of the wearer, while the upwardly tapered upperportion thereof is shaped to receive the wearer's nose.

Projecting angularly from opposite sides of the lowerpon tion of the face piece are internally threaded, metal filter receptacles 13-13 which are secured fixedly at their bases 15-15 to the face piece 11 around each of two inlet openings (not shown) formed in the face piece. The threaded filter receptacles 13-13 have openings provided in their bases 15-15 communicating with the inlet openings formed in the face piece. As shown in Fig. 4, each of the filter receptacles 13-13 is adapted to threadedly receive an externally threaded, reduced shank portion 1.7 extending from a cylindrical casing 19 forming a part of a removable filter cartridge '20. The filter cartridge 20 is provided with a conventional filter material (not shown) designed to prevent the passage therethrough of deleterious fumes or particles.

All of the air which is inhaled by the wearer is drawn through the filter cartridges 20-20. Suitable inhalation flutter valves (not shown) are provided in the inlet openings in the face piece 11 to prevent the air exhaled by the wearer from exiting through the filter cartridges 20- 20. At the bottom of the face piece 11 is an outlet 22- provided with a suitable exhalation flutter valve (not shown) through which the air exhaled by the wearer is exhausted to the atmosphere. The respirator 10 is held in place on the head of the wearer by means of head straps 24-24 and 25-25 which are riveted to the bases 15-15 of the filter receptacles 13-13.

A face shield 21, molded in one piece of a transparent plastic material, such as methyl rnethacrylate, cellulose acetate, or the like, is adapted to be detachably mounted on the respirator 10. For the purpose of this description, the face shield 21 may be divided into three integrally molded sections, namely a main shield 26, a chin protector 27 and a crown portion 28. The main sh-ield 26 is generally semicircular in cross section to extend over the face and about the checks of the wearer. The chin protector 27 is formed integrally with the lower portion of the main shield 26 and extends obliquely in a down ward and inward direction from its intersection with the main shield. The crown portion 28, which is generally semicircular in cross section, is formed integrally with the upper portion of the main shield 26 and extends-obliquely in an upward and inward direction from its intersection with the main shield. Y

The surfaces of the main shield 26 are curved except for two vertically extending flat portions 30-30. The flat portions 30-30 are space equal distan e on either side of an im inary c n r l n dr n v rtica ly throu e enter of the face hield, as viewe in Fig- 1,. and extend about halfway up the main shield from their intersections with the chin protector 27. Each of the fiat portions 30-30 has a width slightly greater than the diameter of the externally threaded shank portions 17-17 of the filter cartridges 20-20.

Each of the fiat portions 30-30 is provided with a circular aperture 33. The circular apertures 33-33 are designed to receive closely the cylindrical shank portions 17-17 when the latter are threadedly received within their associated filter receptacles 13-13 on the respirator 10. In assembling the combined respirator and face shield, the threaded shank portions 17-17 of the filter cartridges 20-20 are inserted through the respective apertures 33-33 in the face shield 11 and then are threaded into their associated filter receptacles 13-13 on the respirator 10. As a filter cartridge 20 is threaded into its filter receptacle 13 its casing 19 is drawn up against the edges of the aperture 33 in the face shield 21 and urges them tightly against a flanged lip 35 (Fig. 4) formed on the filter receptacle. With the filter cartridges 20-20 3 threaded tightly within the filter receptacles Iii-13, the face shield 21 is supported rigidly on the shank portions 17-17. The flat portions 3030 of the main shield 26 are disposed in planes perpendicular to the respective longitudinal axes of the receptacles 13-43, thereby permitting a fiush fit between the flanged lips 35-435 and the inner surfaces of the fiat portions 30-30.

Thus, the face shield 21 is supported entirely by the respirator in a position such that the surfaces of the main shield 26 extend generally vertically from a level slightly above the eyebrows of the wearer to a level some what below the chin. The crown portion 28, extending upwardly and inwardly, follows generally the sloping contour of the wearers forehead. .The chin protector 27,

extending downwardly and inwardly, shields the outlet 22 and provides substantial protection to the chin and adjacent neck portions of the wearer.

. Because of the novel manner in which the face shield 21 is mounted, it is spaced from the face of the wearer by an amount sufficient to afford adequate ventilation and to permit the concurrent use of prescription glasses without interference. Substantially all of the normally exposed facial areas of the wearer are protected against splashing. The chin protector 27 serves the function of protecting the chin and neck and is especially important since this is a very vulnerable area when an operator is working over the tanks of corrosive solutions.

One of the most important features of the invention is the facility with which the face shield 21 may be rapidly detached from the respirator and interchanged with another face shield should it become fogged, scratched or otherwise damaged. Likewise, a new respirator may be substituted for the one on a shield with equal facility. Bymerely removing the threaded filter cartridges 20 from the filter receptacles 13-13 on the respirator 10, theface shield 21 and the respirator may be separated, and the needed element may then be replaced.

It will be understood that various modifications of the above-described, illustrative embodiment of the invention may be made within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A combined respirator and face shield, which comprises a face piece designed to be positioned over the mouth and nose of a wearer, a pair of filter receptacles secured symmetrically one to each side of the face piece, each of said receptacles projecting substantially horizontally outwardly from the face piece and having a threaded cylindrical opening, the mouth of which is surrounded by a lip, a face shield formed from a stifi, transparent, plastic material and designed to extend over the face and about the cheeks of the wearer, said face shield being provided with a pair of spaced circular apertures arranged symmetrically one on each side of the face shield in alignment with the openings in the filter receptacles and designed to match said openings closely, a pair of filter cartridges having reduced threaded portions which extend through the respective apertures in the face shield and are threaded into the corresponding openings in filter receptacles so as to urge the portions of the face shield immediately adjacent to the apertures tightly against the lips provided on the lter receptacles whereby the face shield is attached removably to the face piece and is supported thereby substantially vertically in spaced relation to the faceof the wearer.

2. A combined respirator and face shield, which comprises a res irator face piece designed to be positioned over the mouth and nose of a wearer, straps attached to the face piece for detachably securing the facepiece to the head of the wearer, a pair of filter receptacles mounted symmetrically one to each side of the face piece, each of said receptacles projecting substantially horizontally outwardly from the face piece and having a threaded cylindrical opening formed therein, the mouth of the opening being surrounded by a flanged lip, a face shield formed from a stiff transparent plastic material and comprising a relatively large intermediate portion which is configurated so as to extend over the face and about the cheeks of the wearer, a chin protector portion formed integrally with the intermediate portion and designed to extend obliquely from the lower part of the intermediate portion in a downward and inward direction to protect the chin and adjacent portions of the neck of the wearer and a crown portion formed integrally with the intermediate portion and designed to extend from the upper part of the intermediate portion in an upward and inward direction to protect the forehead of the wearer, said intermediate portion of the face shield having a pair of spaced circular apertures arranged symmetrically one on each side thereof in alignment with the openings in the filter receptacles, a pair of filter cartridges provided with re-' duced threaded portions which extend closely through the respective apertures in the face shield and are received threadedly within corresponding openings in the filter receptacles so as to urge the edges of the openings tightly against the lips on the filter receptacles whereby the face shield is attached removably to the face piece and is supported firmly thereby with the intermediate portion of the face piece positioned substantially vertically and spaced from the face of the wearer.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,056,027 Tracey Sept. 29, 1936 2,320,770 Cover June 6, 1943 2,462,005 Schauwerker Feb. 15, 1949 2,578,621 Yant Dec. 11, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 759,584 France Nov. 23, 1933 835,209 France Sept. 19, 1938

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