Soft silicone edged cushion for face and oxygen masks with ultraviolet light source

Abstract

A soft medical silicone edged cushion may significantly reduce air leakage and provide comfort to a wearer of a face mask, for example, when the face mask is continually worn by a healthcare worker for a twelve-hour shift of medical duty. The cushion may preferably be U-shaped and comprise a cross-section for holding an extra soft silicone gel or air, yet be sufficiently hard and elastic and of predetermined circumference to be adaptable to self-installation to the lateral edges of a face mask and coatable to protect from the escape of air and fit comfortably on a face despite the use of elastic straps with the face mask or the presence of solid plastic lateral edges of an oxygen mask or a ventilator mask. The cushion may be used to cushion a solid plastic laterally edged oxygen or ventilator mask against the use of elastic ties to tie the face mask around a patient's head. The face mask may comprise a UVC source of ultraviolet light controlled by buttons / displays / battery / USB charging port on the cushion or on a UVC cartridge replacing a filter of an N95 mask.

Description

[0001]This application is a divisional patent application of U. S. patent application Ser. No. 17 / 154,874 filed Jan. 21, 2021, which is a continuation-in-part of U. S. patent application Ser. No. 16 / 880,496 filed May 21, 2020, now U. S. Pat. No. 10,966,471 issued Apr. 6, 2021, which application claims the benefit of priority to U. S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63 / 027,208 filed May 19, 2020, entitled “Soft Silicon Edged Cushion for Face Masks,” by the same inventor, and U. S. patent application Ser. No. 17 / 154,874 claims the right of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63 / 131,717 filed Dec. 29, 2020.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention generally relates to the technical field of personal protection equipment (PPE) apparatus and a method for protecting the face of a healthcare worker, a patient requiring use of a ventilator or an oxygen mask, a surgeon desirous of a safe and comfortable surgical mask, or emergency technical personnel requ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0023]Special provisions may be used in the nasal area to provide a protection of nasal exhalations from rising upward toward the eyes of the wearer, especially to prevent fogging of eyeglasses. While foam rubber is known used in N95 masks and a nose plate is known from the prior art oxygen and ventilator masks of FIGS. 1 and 2, these can be uncomfortable and replaced by deformable nose bridges coated with petroleum jelly or medical 0 hardness silicone gel. The coating also should also prevent the wearer from suffering any long-term adverse reactions to the coating and be medically safe.

Problems solved by technology

The general public who use their masks when in the bright sunshine and wear sun-glasses or are required to wear eyeglasses to drive or ride in a vehicle will exhale warm, moist air through a cloth / paper mask and quickly learn that their eyeglasses with fog up and cause them to lose sight.

On the other hand, the elastic used in forcing a pre-structured oxygen or ventilator mask of hardened rubber or plastic to cover the many different shapes of faces (everyone's face is differently shaped from one another) can cause facial damage and still be ineffective in covering gaps around lateral edges of the mask in an effort to cover one's mouth and nose.

If one's mask does not fit properly, one will be constantly adjusting the mask and may touch their face exposing them to a viral infection.

When one wears such a mask for a long period of time, the elastic strength may cause irritation, rashes, markings and general discomfort around its edges.

However, wearing face masks for long periods of time can cause skin issues and irritation.

Dermatologists studying the issue of lengthy use, for example, wearing the same mask all day, will irritate facial skin, clog pores, cause acne, rosacea and dermatitis.

Also, healthcare workers are under a lot of stress as they go about their daily duties of, for example, intubation, inserting oxygen tubes into a nose of a Covid-19 patient or the stress of an operating room or an intensive care unit.

Overly dry skin can lead to skin inflammation due to cracks and fissures while facial skin may sweat, masks may be used in humid conditions and so one's skin may be susceptible to irritation.

A moisturizing cream or petroleum jelly may help some with dry skin but a moisturizing cream is not designed to prevent air from leaking from edges of a face mask.

The lateral edge of the plastic covering100 is hard and may damage the face.

There is a plastic lateral edge 125 which, being held to the face by elastic, can cause discomfort.

After twelve hours, there may be considerable discomfort from wearing the mask.

The foam rubber nose bridge 410 may cause some discomfort from a wearer's moving their head especially over a twelve-hour shift period.

The use of deformable strips, resilient members and wires embedded in edges of cloth face masks, surgical masks or oxygen masks or ventilators may cause skin damage.

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