Surgical mask, mask production method, and mask production apparatus

Abstract

By using the fact that a sheet of a natural material having water absorbency such as cotton can be directly attached to a nonwoven fabric by ultrasonic welding, a sanitary mask or the like that maximally utilizes the advantages of the natural material sheet is provided. 【Solution means】A sanitary mask having a mask part that covers the mouth area during wearing, the mask part being composed of a nonwoven fabric 31, and a nose clip A being attached to the upper end side of the mask part so as to be able to follow the shape of the nose during wearing, is provided with a sheet 39 made of a natural material that is softer than the nonwoven fabric and has water absorbency, and the sheet 39 is at least disposed at a position covering the nose clip on the side that contacts the face during wearing and is ultrasonically welded directly to the nonwoven fabric. The sheet 39 is characterized in that it is impregnated with components that exhibit a moisturizing and / or beauty effect.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a sanitary mask, a method for manufacturing a mask, and a mask production apparatus, and particularly to a sanitary mask having a mask portion that covers the mouth area when worn.

Background Art

[0002] The applicant is a well-known company in the production and sale of masks using antibodies derived from ostrich eggs. And the applicant has been continuously developing the maintenance of the three-dimensional shape in sanitary masks, and has been continuously devising to ensure the space at the mouth area so that lipstick and the like do not get on, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

[0003] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the manufacturing process of a conventional disposable sanitary mask of Patent Document 1 shown by the applicant. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the manufacturing process of a conventional disposable sanitary mask of Patent Document 2 shown by the applicant, which is improved from FIG. 5. Hereinafter, in a disposable sanitary mask, the portion that covers the mouth area when worn is referred to as the "mask body", and the portion that is hung on the ears is referred to as the "ear hook portion".

[0004] Referring to FIG. 5, the mask production apparatus 51 includes nonwoven fabrics 53, 55, and 57, a nose clip 61, a first welding portion 63, a second welding portion 65, a folding portion 67, a third welding portion 69, a cutting portion 71, and an earloop attachment portion 73. The nonwoven fabrics 53, 55, and 57 constitute the mask body in three layers. The first welding portion 63, the second welding portion 65, and the third welding portion 69 perform ultrasonic welding treatment. The first welding portion 63 performs a welding treatment for a three-dimensional shape maintaining function for maintaining a three-dimensional shape with respect to two layers of the nonwoven fabrics 53 and 55. The second welding portion 65 embeds the nose clip 61 in the nonwoven fabrics 53, 55, and 57 by welding and performs welding on both opposite sides in the vertical direction of the mask body. The folding portion 67 folds the mask body and performs pleating. The third welding portion 69 performs welding on both sides where the mask body should be connected to the ear-hanging portions in a state where the mask body is folded. The cutting portion 71 cuts individual mask bodies from a continuous state. The earloop attachment portion 73 attaches earloops to both sides of the mask body. Thereby, a disposable sanitary mask having a mask body and ear-hanging portions can be produced.

[0005] Referring to FIG. 6, in addition to the configuration of the mask production apparatus 51, the mask production apparatus 81 further includes a resin member 59. The resin member 59 has the property that even if it is bent once, it can be unfolded again and maintain the unfolded shape. Due to the inclusion of the resin member 59, adjustments such as the thickness for processing the mask body are required. However, the mask production apparatus 81 performs the same welding process as the mask production apparatus 51 in FIG. 5 with the resin member 59 being between the non-woven fabrics. Specifically, the non-woven fabrics 53, 55, and 57 and the resin member 59 form a four-layer structure that constitutes a mask body for covering the mouth area during wearing. The first welding portion 63 performs a welding process for a three-layer structure with the resin member 59 between the non-woven fabrics 53 and 55 to maintain a three-dimensional shape for the three-dimensional shape maintenance function. The second welding portion 65 welds the nose clip 61 into the non-woven fabrics 53, 55, 57, and the resin member 59 and performs welding on both opposite sides of the upper and lower parts of the mask body. The folding portion 67 folds the mask body and performs pleat processing. The third welding portion 69 performs welding on both sides where the mask body should be connected to the ear-hanging portions in the folded state of the mask body. The cutting portion 71 cuts the individual mask bodies from the continuous state. The earstring attachment portion 73 attaches earstrings to both sides of the mask body. Thereby, a disposable sanitary mask having a mask body and ear-hanging portions can be produced.

[0006] Incidentally, problems in masks tend to occur in the nose part. In addition to using a nose clip as described above, the breath tends to rise upward, and glasses and the like tend to fog up easily. As disclosed in Patent Document 3, a technique has been developed in which a water-absorbing sheet containing a water-absorbing resin is wrapped in a fabric and a water-absorbing member such as a strip is provided along the left and right directions at the upper end inside the mask body.

[0007] Furthermore, techniques such as providing a cushion member at the upper part of the mask shown in Patent Document 4 and providing a blocking portion for blocking exhalation as shown in Patent Document 5 have been developed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0008]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Patent Document 4

Patent Document 5

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0009] However, from the user's perspective, the applicant feels that simply developing the maintenance of the three-dimensional shape cannot address the user's issues. The applicant has continued to make improvements, recognizing that it is important to minimize the contact area between the hygiene mask and the face while balancing the way the force is applied to the contact area. However, regarding the nose part, the applicant has recognized that there are still unsolved problems. Specifically, when using a nose clip, the upper side of the hygiene mask follows the shape of the nose, improving the airtightness. However, it has been found that the overall load of the mask tends to be applied to the upper side, such as the position of the nose, increasing the discomfort when wearing the mask. In this regard, the technologies of Patent Documents 3 to 5 have the problem of being large-scale, not only greatly changing the shape of the mask from the current state but also inevitably requiring major changes to the manufacturing process.

[0010] Specifically, for example, in Patent Document 3, in addition to the need for a water-absorbing sheet, a fabric is also required. As a result, the shape of the mask changes significantly due to these additional components. Moreover, as described in paragraph number 0043 of Patent Document 3, there is a problem in the manufacturing process that the water-absorbing sheet needs to be attached with an adhesive. As far as can be understood from Patent Document 3 (see paragraph numbers 0028, 0029, and 0031), any of knitted fabric, woven fabric, and non-woven fabric is assumed to be used as the fabric. "When the fabric is a hydrophilic fabric, moisture in exhaled breath is likely to be absorbed by the fabric, and the absorbed exhaled breath is further absorbed by the absorption member. As a result, the glasses are less likely to fog up, which is more preferable. Examples of such hydrophilic fabrics include, but are not limited to, fabrics made of fibers such as cotton, hemp, rayon, superabsorbent fibers, microfibers, and fibers with irregular cross-sections and different finenesses." And "The method of making it into a bag is not particularly limited, and examples include sewing, using an adhesive, ultrasonic welding, and using "Magic Tape (registered trademark)".

[0011] By the way, it is known that cotton does not stick to cotton by ultrasonic welding, and it has been common knowledge in the mask industry that cotton and non-woven fabric also do not stick by ultrasonic welding. However, the applicant was able to notice through experiments that it is possible for cotton and non-woven fabric to directly stick by ultrasonic welding without using an adhesive or the like.

[0012] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a sanitary mask, a mask manufacturing method, and a mask production apparatus that can largely maintain the basic shape and manufacturing process of the current sanitary mask without changing them significantly, while making the most of the advantages of the natural material sheet, by using the fact that a sheet of a natural material with water-absorbing properties such as cotton can be directly attached to a non-woven fabric by ultrasonic welding.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0013] A first aspect of the present invention is a sanitary mask having a mask portion that covers the mouth area during wearing, the mask portion being composed of a non-woven fabric, and a nose clip being attached to the upper end side of the mask portion to enable it to follow the shape of the nose during wearing. The mask further includes a sheet made of a natural material that is softer than the non-woven fabric and has water absorbency, the sheet being disposed at least at a position covering the nose clip on the side that contacts the face during wearing and being directly ultrasonically welded to the non-woven fabric. The sheet is impregnated with a component that exhibits a moisturizing and / or beautifying effect. The component that exhibits a moisturizing and / or beautifying effect only needs to be impregnated, regardless of whether the sheet is dry or not. Further, even if the sheet is dry, it does not matter whether it is dried at the completion stage, before the roll, at the roll stage, or during conveyance from the roll to the completion stage. However, in view of ensuring welding, it is preferable that the sheet is dry before ultrasonic welding.

[0014] A second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, is characterized in that the sheet is in a state where the component that exhibits a moisturizing and / or beautifying effect, which has been impregnated by absorbing moisture contained in the breath during wearing from the dry state before wearing, oozes out.

[0015] A third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, is characterized in that the sheet is a cotton sheet.

[0016] A fourth aspect of the present invention is a mask production method for producing a sanitary mask having a mask portion that covers the mouth area during wearing, the mask portion being made of a non-woven fabric, and a nose clip being attached to the upper end side of the mask portion to enable it to follow the shape of the nose during wearing. In this method, the non-woven fabric is wound in a roll, and a sheet of natural material that is softer than the non-woven fabric is also wound in a roll. The method includes a step of conveying while positioning the sheet of natural material so that it is at least disposed at a position covering the nose clip on the side that contacts the face during wearing, and a step of directly ultrasonically welding the sheet of natural material to the non-woven fabric. The step of ultrasonically welding is characterized in that, during welding, the tensile tension applied to the sheet of natural material is made smaller than the tensile tension applied to the non-woven fabric. The step of conveying is characterized in that displacement of the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction is prevented by a guide.

[0017] A fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect, the sheet is a sheet having water absorption properties, and the method further includes a step of impregnating the sheet with components that exhibit a moisturizing and / or beauty effect, a step of drying the sheet impregnated with the components that exhibit a moisturizing and / or beauty effect, and a step of winding the dried sheet in a roll. The sheet is characterized in that, from a dry state before wearing, when worn, components that exhibit a moisturizing and / or beauty effect that have been impregnated by absorbing moisture contained in the breath ooze out.

[0018] In a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth or fifth aspect, there are a plurality of non-woven fabrics, and the mask portion of the sanitary mask forms a plurality of layers with the plurality of non-woven fabrics. The sheet of natural material is folded back at the upper end side of the mask portion and disposed on both the side that contacts the face and the side that does not contact the face during wearing. The sheet of natural material located outside the plurality of layers formed by the non-woven fabrics and the plurality of layers formed by the non-woven fabrics are directly welded together all at once.

[0019] A seventh aspect of the present invention relates to a mask production apparatus for producing a sanitary mask having a mask portion that covers the mouth area during wearing, the mask portion being made of a non-woven fabric, and a nose clip being attached to the upper end side of the mask portion so as to be able to conform to the shape of the nose during wearing. The mask production apparatus includes a non-woven fabric roll in which the non-woven fabric is wound in a roll shape, a sheet roll in which a sheet of natural material softer than the non-woven fabric is wound in a roll shape, a non-woven fabric conveying means for conveying the non-woven fabric drawn from the non-woven fabric roll while applying a first tensile tension thereto, a sheet conveying means for conveying the sheet of natural material drawn from the sheet roll while applying a second tensile tension thereto, a positioning means for positioning the sheet of natural material conveyed by the sheet conveying means at least at a position covering the nose clip on the side that contacts the face during wearing, and a welding means for directly welding the conveyed and positioned sheet and the conveyed non-woven fabric using ultrasonic waves. The second tensile tension applied to the sheet of natural material is smaller than the first tensile tension applied to the non-woven fabric, and the deviation of the sheet in the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction is prevented by the guide of the positioning means.

Advantages of the Invention

[0020] According to the first to third aspects of the present invention, there is provided a sheet having water absorption of a natural material softer than non-woven fabric, which is disposed at least at a position covering a nose clip on the side that contacts the face during wearing and is directly ultrasonically welded to the non-woven fabric. As a result, first, it can be made to have no significant change in shape compared to the conventional one. Next, a sheet softer than the non-woven fabric comes into contact with the skin such as the nose. In particular, the nose clip is hard so that it can maintain its shape, and since the load of the mask is likely to be applied to the nose portion, it becomes prominent with long-term use, etc., but it becomes comfortable for the user to wear. In particular, the sheet is a natural material such as cotton, and it can be made less likely to cause skin roughness. And, since the water-absorbent sheet is impregnated with components that exhibit a moisturizing and / or beauty effect, the sheet exhibits the moisturizing and / or beauty effect for a long time while absorbing the moisture of the breath. In particular, for those who are concerned about the area around the eyes, if worn for a long time during the day or while sleeping, etc., in addition to the original effect of the mask, improvement of wrinkles, sagging, etc. can be expected.

[0021] Also, according to the fourth to seventh aspects of the present invention, since a sheet having water absorption of a natural material softer than non-woven fabric is not subjected to the tension of pulling like non-woven fabric, the softness of the natural material can be maintained and the water absorption can also be maintained. As a result, like the first to third aspects, a mask capable of exhibiting a moisturizing and / or beauty effect for a long time can be produced. Moreover, the sheet and the non-woven fabric can be directly adhered by ultrasonic welding, and the manufacturing process does not have to be significantly changed compared to the past.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0022]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0023] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

Examples

[0024] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a mask production apparatus for producing a sanitary mask which is an example of an embodiment of the present invention. The mask production apparatus 1 includes nonwoven fabrics 3, 5, and 7, a sheet 6 made of a natural material such as cotton having water absorbency, a nose clip 11, a positioning (guide) portion 12, a first welding portion 13, a second welding portion 15, a folding portion 17, a third welding portion 19, a cutting portion 21, and an earloop attachment portion 23. The nonwoven fabrics 3, 5, and 7, the nose clip 11, the first welding portion 13, the second welding portion 15, the folding portion 17, the third welding portion 19, the cutting portion 21, and the earloop attachment portion 23 correspond to the nonwoven fabrics 53, 55, and 57, the nose clip 61, the first welding portion 63, the second welding portion 65, the folding portion 67, the third welding portion 69, the cutting portion 71, and the earloop attachment portion 73 of FIG. 5, and the description thereof will be basically omitted. Hereinafter, the sheet 6 made of a natural material such as cotton having water absorbency and the positioning (guide) portion 12 will be described.

[0025] The sheet 6 made of natural materials such as cotton (cotton) and having water absorption is a sheet softer than the non-woven fabrics 3, 5, and 7, and is at least disposed at a position covering the nose clip 11 on the side that contacts the face when worn, and is directly ultrasonically welded to the non-woven fabrics 3, 5, and 7 by the second welding portion 15. The sheet 6 is impregnated with components that exert a moisturizing and / or beauty effect, dried, and rolled up after drying.

[0026] Tensions F1, F2, and F3 are respectively applied to the non-woven fabrics 3, 5, and 7 during conveyance, but the tension f applied to the sheet 6 during conveyance is a value smaller than the above F1, F2, and F3. This gives priority to the fact that the sheet is made of natural materials and is soft, and prevents the tension from becoming as large as possible. Due to such a device, the water absorption and softness are maintained at a high level, and when the user uses it, it is comfortable to wear. In particular, because of the high water absorption, the moisture contained in the breath can be firmly absorbed, and the moisture and the components that exert a moisturizing and / or beauty effect impregnated therein are combined to obtain a mask that can exert a moisturizing effect and / or a beauty effect on the skin.

[0027] Here, since the tension f of the sheet 6 is loose compared to F1, F2, and F3, there is a possibility that it may shift in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction. Therefore, the positioning (guide) portion 12 is positioned so as to be at least disposed at a position covering the nose clip 11 on the side that contacts the face when the sheet 6 is worn. Specifically, it has a structure that prevents displacement in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction by a guide. Here, the sheet 6 may be disposed only on the side that contacts the face when worn, or may be folded from the upper side of the mask portion and disposed so as to cover the nose clip 11 from both the side that contacts the face and the side that does not contact the face when worn.

[0028] The second welding part 15 attaches the sheet 6 to the non-woven fabrics 3, 5, and 7 by direct ultrasonic welding without using an adhesive or the like. Here, it has been confirmed that cotton and cotton do not adhere by direct ultrasonic welding without using an adhesive or the like, and it was common knowledge that cotton and non-woven fabric also do not adhere by direct ultrasonic welding. However, as a result of experiments, it was found that they can adhere (see Fig. 3). This discovery leads to the fact that the shape change does not have to be significantly changed from before, and the manufacturing process also does not have to be significantly changed from before.

[0029] Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a mask production apparatus for producing a sanitary mask, which is another example of the embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] The differences from Fig. 1 will be described. In addition to the configuration of the mask production apparatus 1 in Fig. 1, the mask production apparatus 2 includes a resin member 9. This resin member 9 is the same as the resin member 59 shown in Fig. 6. Even in the case of using such a resin member 9, a mask using a sheet 6 made of a natural material such as cotton and having water absorbency can be obtained.

[0031] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing (a) the front (the outer side not in contact with the face) and (b) the back (the inner side in contact with the face) of a sanitary mask prototype produced by the mask production apparatus 2 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a specific state of a multilayer structure including a natural material sheet of a nose clip portion positioned from above and below by ultrasonic welding of the prototype sanitary mask in Fig. 3. Specifically, Fig. 4 shows a laminated structure of a D-D line cross-section between an ultrasonic weld B for positioning the nose clip portion of the circled A portion in Fig. 3 from above and an ultrasonic weld C for positioning it from below.

[0032] With reference to Figs. 3 and 4, as an example of the sanitary mask of the present invention, a sanitary mask prototype produced using the mask production apparatus 2 in Fig. 2 will be specifically described.

[0033] The outermost layer is a cotton layer 39, which is folded back at the upper end and arranged to cover the nose clip 36 on both the outer and inner sides. Between the nose clip 36 and the cotton layer 39, a non-woven fabric layer 37, which is the surface layer of the inner mask part (main body), is folded back at the upper end and arranged to cover the nose clip 36 and is interposed. The cotton layer 39 and the non-woven fabric layer 37 are not folded back until they extend to the mask part (main body), and basically stay at the position covering the nose clip 36. Therefore, in the mask part (main body) of Fig. 3(a), the surface layer is the non-woven fabric layer 31. The mask part (main body) has a four-layer structure of the non-woven fabric layer 37, the resin member 35, the non-woven fabric layer 33, and the non-woven fabric layer 31 from the bottom.

[0034] In the above embodiment, the mask part (main body) shows the three-layer mask in Fig. 1 and the four-layer mask in Fig. 2, but it may also be one layer to two layers or five layers or more.

[0035] Also, in the above embodiment, in Figs. 1 and 2, the first welding part 13 is provided, but it is not necessarily essential, and a manufacturing process omitting this may also be acceptable.

[0036] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, it is shown that the natural material sheet 6 is impregnated with components that exhibit a moisturizing and / or beauty effect, dried, and then rolled up, but it may be in a semi-dry state or a wet state.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0037] 1, 2 ··· mask production device, 3, 5, 7 ··· non-woven fabric, 6 ··· sheet, 11 ··· nose clip, 12 ··· positioning part (guide), 15 ··· second welding part

Claims

1. A sanitary mask having a mask portion that covers the mouth area during wearing, wherein the mask portion is composed of a non-woven fabric made of a plurality of layers that can be ultrasonically welded to each other, and a nose clip that enables the mask portion to conform to the shape of the nose during wearing is attached between the plurality of layers. In the sanitary mask, A sheet made of a natural material that is softer than the non-woven fabric and has water absorbency, and is provided with a sheet that is disposed at least at the outermost layer position covering the nose clip on the side that contacts the face during wearing and is ultrasonically welded directly to the non-woven fabric. The sanitary mask is characterized by this.

2. The sheet is folded back at the upper end side of the mask portion and is disposed on both the outermost layers on the side that contacts the face and the side that does not contact the face during wearing, and the sheet that is located outside any of the plurality of layers of the non-woven fabric and the plurality of layers of the non-woven fabric are welded directly together at the same time. The sanitary mask according to Claim 1.

3. The sheet of the sanitary mask according to Claim 1, wherein a component that exhibits a moisturizing and / or beauty effect is impregnated into the sheet.

4. The sheet of the sanitary mask according to Claim 3, characterized in that a component that exhibits a moisturizing and / or beauty effect, which has been impregnated by absorbing moisture contained in the breath during wearing from the dry state before wearing, oozes out.

5. The sheet of the sanitary mask according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the sheet is a cotton sheet.

6. In a mask production apparatus for producing a sanitary mask having a mask portion that covers the mouth area during wearing, wherein the mask portion is composed of a non-woven fabric, and a nose clip that enables the mask portion to conform to the shape of the nose during wearing is attached to the upper end side of the mask portion. A non-woven fabric roll in which the non-woven fabric is wound in a roll shape; A sheet roll in which a sheet made of a natural material that is softer than the non-woven fabric is wound in a roll shape; Non-woven fabric conveying means for conveying the non-woven fabric drawn out from the non-woven fabric roll while applying a first pulling tension thereto; Sheet conveying means for conveying the sheet made of a natural material drawn out from the sheet roll while applying a second pulling tension thereto; Positioning means for positioning the sheet made of a natural material conveyed by the sheet conveying means so as to be disposed at least at a position covering the nose clip on the side that contacts the face during wearing. It is provided with a welding means for directly welding the conveyed and positioned sheet and the conveyed non-woven fabric using ultrasonic waves. The second tensile tension applied to the sheet of the natural material is characterized by being smaller than the first tensile tension applied to the non-woven fabric. A mask production apparatus, characterized in that displacement of the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction is prevented by a guide of the positioning means.

7. The mask production apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the sheet is a cotton sheet.

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