Operationally adaptable chemical-biological mask
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorsCorey M. Grove, Stephen E. Chase
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A chemical-biological protective mask having a weight distribution that imparts a balanced center-of-gravity to the wearer of the mask, and is adaptable for different operational requirements by adjusting or altering the air flow through the mask. The protective mask includes a head covering to fully cover the wearer's head including a hood, a face piece having a visor contoured to the wearer's face, ducting within the mask connected to a filtering system mounted at the rear of the head covering and a purge airflow through the hood. Additional side or front mounted filters can be added to provide either parallel or series filtration with the rear mounted filters. A blower system may also be used to impart an airflow into the mask and improve breathing resistance.
Claims18
An operationally adaptable chemical-biological protective mask, comprising:
- a head covering effective for fully covering the wearer's head, wherein the rear and top sections of said head covering comprises a hood and the front of said head covering comprises a face piece;
- wherein said face piece has at least one visor effective for providing a visual field of view to the wearer, said face piece is securely attached to said hood, and wherein said face piece includes a face seal for sealing the face piece to the wearer's face;
- a nose cup positioned within said face piece to fit over the mouth and nose of the wearer, said nose cup having an inlet valve, an exhalation outlet valve comprising a valve which can be closed by the wearer, and a purge valve for directing air into said hood when said outlet valve is closed by the wearer;
- an air supply port positioned at the rear of said hood for permitting outside air to be supplied to the inside of said head covering;
- one or more rear filters mounted in combination with said rear mounted air supply port, wherein said one or more rear mounted filters cleanse air flowing into said head covering;
- and,
- ducting adjacent to said head covering and connecting said rear-mounted air supply port to said face piece, said ducting providing a conduit for filtered air from said rear mounted supply port into said face piece.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.