Molded respirator having outer cover web joined to mesh
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsSeyed A. Angadjivand, John M. Brandner, Nhat Ha T. Nguyen
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Abstract
A respirator 10 that has a mask body 12 and a harness 14 that is attached to the mask body 12. The mask body 12 includes a filtering structure 18 that has an inner cover web 40a, an outer cover web 40b that comprises melt-blown fibers and staple fibers, and a filtration layer 42 that is located between the inner and outer cover webs 40a, 40b. The mask body 12 also has a mesh 20 that is joined to the outer cover web 40b. A respirator having this construction is more resistant to inward collapse of the filter media during breathing and is more aesthetically pleasing.
Claims20
A method of making a filtering face-piece respirator, which method comprises:
- (a) providing filtering pre-form that comprises an inner cover web and a filtration layer;
- (b) providing a combined structure that has a molded plastic mesh joined to an outer cover web;
- and
- (c) inserting the filtering pre-form into the molded plastic mesh and welding the pre-form to the combined structure at least at the perimeter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.