Mask assistive device

Abstract

To provide a mask supporting tool that has antibacterial and antivirus functions and is clean and safe.SOLUTION: The mask supporting tool is positioned inside a mask for use and includes: a cover 1 (4) that is in such a shape as to secure a space before the nose and mouth; an edge 2 (5) that is provided on an outer peripheral edge of the cover and retains the cover. The cover has gold and copper plating (gold 75%, copper 25%, plating thickness of 0.1 to 0.06 μm) provided on a shape-retaining mesh body of stainless filament of 50 mesh or less in a vertical or horizontal mesh clearance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a mask accessory that is attached to a mask when using an existing mask.

Background Art

[0002] A general mask is made of cloth or non-woven fabric, covers the nose and mouth, and is worn so as to cover the mouth. Therefore, breathing and conversation are not always smooth. In particular, there is also a mask having a structure that bulges the front of the mouth forward, but it is not common because of the complexity of manufacturing and the high cost, and commercially available masks do not have a structure for bulging and holding the space in front of the mouth and nose when worn.

[0003] Therefore, mask accessories that enable smooth breathing and conversation in commercially available masks have been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an accessory having a nose contact portion that contacts the nose when worn and mask attachment portions on the left and right of the nose contact portion at the upper outer edge of a main body that covers the entire mouth and nose, and an opening for breathing is provided in the main body.

[0004] In addition, it has also been proposed to utilize the antibacterial and antiviral functions of metals in masks. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a means of using a metal material (copper woven fabric) for a mask core material. Patent Document 3 also discloses a mask formed of a bactericidal metal mesh.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] Auxiliary tools for ensuring the space in front of the mouth and nose when wearing a mask have been known for a long time. However, the conventional tools are only for ensuring the space, and do not have antibacterial and antiviral functions. In addition, what has been used for masks with antibacterial functions is a net body of fine copper wires or fine copper alloy wires that requires a predetermined flexibility for mask adaptation. Even if it is adopted as an auxiliary tool as it is, there are problems in ensuring the shape retention for maintaining the space in front of the mouth and nose, durability, and wearability.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention proposes a novel mask auxiliary tool that utilizes the antibacterial and antiviral functions of metals.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] The mask auxiliary tool according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a covering portion having a shape for ensuring the space in front of the mouth and nose, and an edge portion provided on the outer peripheral edge of the covering portion for holding the covering portion, and is a mask auxiliary tool used by being positioned inside the mask, wherein the covering portion is It can be formed into a desired space-securing shape by press working, and is formed of stainless steel fine wires with a diameter of φ0.2 mm or less that can maintain the shape, and has a horizontal wire interval of 200 to 50 meshes in the net body of the tatami-woven wire mesh, characterized in that it is subjected to gold-copper plating.

[0009] The above mask auxiliary tool is used by being disposed inside an existing mask. In particular, since the covering portion is made of a net body of stainless steel fine wires subjected to gold-copper plating treatment, it is easy to ensure the space in front of the mouth (maintaining the shape), avoids the problem of copper oxidation, and exhibits antibacterial and antiviral functions.

[0010] That is, the covering portion ensures the space in front of the mouth and nose to facilitate breathing and conversation when wearing the mask. The breathing air passes through the covering portion, so that bacteria, viruses, and bad breath components contained in the breathing air adhere to the net body of the mask body and the covering portion of the auxiliary tool, thereby reducing the intake and release into the body. In addition, the bacteria and viruses adhering to the net body of the covering portion naturally disappear without growing on the plating surface (mainly due to the action of copper ions). In addition, since the edge portion is particularly coated with resin, the discomfort caused by the auxiliary tool when wearing the mask is reduced. In particular The net body is a tatami-woven wire mesh formed of fine wires with a diameter of φ0.2 mm or less, and has a horizontal wire interval of 200 to 50 meshes. By using a tatami-woven wire mesh, the net body formed of fine wires can be formed into a desired shape by pressing, and a shape-retaining function that can maintain a sufficient front space can be ensured.

[0011] Moreover, the mask accessory according to claim 2 of the present invention is particularly such that the gold-copper plating is 75% gold and 25% copper, and the plating thickness is 0.1 to 0.06 μm.

[0012] Fig. 7 shows the anti-viral function (virus infection titer measured by the plaque method) of the metal plating surface transcribed from the test report of KISTEC02-025A02. The plating treatment of 75% gold and 25% copper has the same performance as copper plating.

[0013] Fig. 8 is also a graph showing the results of using the net body of the embodiment described later, placing the control area (non-plated), the net body plated with 75% gold and 25% copper with a plating thickness of 0.1 μm (pink 0.1), the same plating thickness of 0.06 μm (pink 0.06), and the copper-plated net body in an enclosed pack of malodorous substances, and measuring the concentration of malodorous substances after a predetermined time. From this measurement result, it was confirmed that the gold-copper plated product obtained the same deodorizing effect as the copper-plated product. Therefore, without forming the covering part with a copper material (copper wire), the gold-copper plated product of the stainless steel wire net body can exhibit sufficient antibacterial and anti-viral functions and deodorizing effect.

[0014] Moreover, the mask accessory according to claim 3 of the present invention is particularly such that a part of the edge is formed of a deformable plate-shaped core material made of stainless steel welded to the outer periphery of the net body part of the covering part. The mask accessory according to claim 4 is such that an elastomer resin coating is applied to the surface of the edge where the plate-shaped core material is coated with polypropylene, and a mask locking part is integrally formed with the resin coating at an appropriate upper position.

[0015] The above-mentioned mask accessory is arranged inside an existing mask, and is attached to the mask by locking a mask locking portion to the upper edge of the mask. The mask accessory is used by deforming the edge portion according to the user's face (especially the uneven shape of the nose) and wearing it. Moreover, the edge portion is formed by further applying an elastomer resin coating on the surface of a plate-shaped core material with a polypropylene coating. The surface of the edge portion that contacts the skin becomes an elastomer resin, and the contact is soft, resulting in less discomfort during wearing. Furthermore, the mask locking portion is formed of a resin integral with the edge portion, simplifying the formation of the mask locking portion during manufacturing.

[0016] Also, the According to claim 4 mask accessory of the present invention is particularly formed with an edge portion made of an elastomer resin, has a frame shape capable of securing a space in front of the mouth and nose, and is provided with skin contact protrusions on the back surface of the outer peripheral edge. It is formed by either attaching a covering portion inside or arranging the covering portion inside and integrating it with the edge portion by insert molding. The mask accessory is arranged inside an existing mask and used by wearing the mask. The skin contact protrusions contact the face to prevent the displacement of the accessory. Moreover, since the edge portion is formed of an elastomer resin, the contact with the skin is soft, resulting in less discomfort during wearing.

Effects of the Invention

[0018] The configuration of the present invention is as described above, with a covering portion formed of a stainless steel fine wire mesh body with a gold and copper plating treatment member. Compared with the copper wire mesh body used in conventional sanitary masks, it has firmness (shape retention), corrosion resistance, and provides a sanitary mask accessory having an antibacterial and antiviral function similar to that of copper wire.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0020] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described. FIGS. 1 to 3 show the first embodiment. This mask aid is composed of a covering part 1, an edge part 2, and a mask locking part 3.

[0021] The covering part 1 is obtained by subjecting a net body 1a formed of stainless steel fine wire to gold-copper plating. When wearing the mask, it is necessary to maintain a state where a space in front of the mouth and nose is secured, and it is also necessary to process (press process) it into the shape of the space. Further, during use, it is necessary to facilitate the passage of breathing and to make the contact area during passage as large as possible.

[0022] Therefore, it is preferable to use a tatami-woven wire mesh in which the mesh of the vertical wires is enlarged with stainless steel fine wire (φ0.2 mm or less) and the horizontal wires are sequentially brought into close contact and woven, and the horizontal wire mesh (number of wires per inch) is set to about 200 to 50. The net body 1a of the embodiment used a member with a vertical wire of φ0.18 mm, a horizontal wire of φ0.14 to 0.12 mm, a vertical wire mesh of 24, and a horizontal wire mesh of 200 to 180. The net body 1a within the above range was also used for the deodorization test shown in FIG. 8.

[0023] In order to form the covering part 1 with the above-mentioned net body 1a, a plate-shaped core material 21a made of stainless steel with a width of about 5 mm, which can be bent manually, is overlapped on the outer peripheral edge portion of the net body 1a and welded by linear spot welding to form a single planar member A.

[0024] Next, the above-mentioned planar member A is subjected to a known pink gold plating (plating thickness: 0.1 to 0.06 μm) with a ratio of 75% gold and 25% copper using a predetermined electrolytic plating solution B to form a plated member C composed of a net body 1b having a plated surface and a plate-shaped core material 21b. Next, the plated member C is formed into a curved member D having a mouth front space by pressing to form a covering portion 1.

[0025] The edge portion 2 is formed by resin-coating the front and back surfaces of the plate-shaped core material 21 of the curved member D. The resin coating is formed by applying a polypropylene coating 22 to the plate-shaped core material 21 and further applying a coating of an elastomer resin (silicone resin) 23 on its surface.

[0026] The mask locking portion 3 protrudes forward in a hook shape from the upper edge of the edge portion 2 and is formed simultaneously during the above-mentioned elastomer resin coating process.

[0027] Thus, when the above-mentioned mask accessory is disposed inside an existing mask E as shown in FIG. 3 and the mask locking portion 3 is locked to the upper edge of the mask E and attached to the mask, the covering portion 1 can be used as a sanitary mask having antibacterial and antiviral functions.

[0028] Further, FIGS. 4 to 6 show a second embodiment, and the shown mask accessory is composed of a covering portion 4 and an edge portion 5.

[0029] The covering portion 4 is formed by plating a net body 4a made of stainless steel fine wire with gold and copper. When the mask is worn, it is necessary to maintain a state where a space in front of the mouth and nose is secured, and it is also necessary to process (press process) it into the above space shape. Further, during use, it is necessary to facilitate the passage of breathing and to make the contact area during passage as large as possible.

[0030] Therefore, a net body with a mesh of vertical and horizontal lines (number of lines per inch) of about 50 is formed using stainless steel fine wire (φ0.2 mm or less), and an outer edge portion (wire or plate material) 41 is formed so as to have a predetermined shape (plane member A). The plane member A is subjected to a predetermined plating treatment (pink gold plating with a plating thickness of 0.1 to 0.06 μm) using the electrolytic plating solution B shown in the first embodiment to form a plated member C. Next, the plated member C is formed into a curved member D having a mouth front space by pressing, and a covering portion 4 is formed.

[0031] The edge portion 5 is formed of an elastomer resin, has a frame shape capable of securing a mouth and nose front space, and is provided with skin contact protrusions 51 on the back surface of the outer peripheral edge. In particular, the skin contact protrusions 51 have a discontinuous shape so that the displacement resistance when contacting the skin is increased.

[0032] The incorporation of the covering portion 4 into the edge portion 5 may be achieved by insert molding the covering portion 4 during the resin molding of the edge portion 5 to integrate them, or by forming a mounting groove for the covering portion 4 on the inner peripheral surface of the edge portion 5 and mounting the covering portion 4. However, when fitting and mounting, it is necessary to use a member with sufficient strength for the outer edge portion 41 of the covering portion 4.

[0033] Thus, the mask auxiliary tool of the second embodiment is arranged inside an existing mask E and the mask E is worn as shown in FIG. 6, and the skin contact protrusions 51 contact the face to prevent displacement of the mask auxiliary tool. Therefore, the covering portion 4 functions as a sanitary mask having antibacterial and antiviral functions.

[0034] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described manufacturing procedure. The covering portion may be a net body of stainless steel fine wire plated with gold and copper, and the edge portion may be formed of resin. Furthermore, any shape and structure can be adopted as long as the mask locking portion can be mounted on the mask, and the mask locking portion may not be provided.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0035] 1 Covering portion 1a, 1b net body 2 edge part 21, 21a, 21b plate-like core material 22 polypropylene coating 23 elastomer resin coating 3 mask locking part 4 covering part 41 outer edge part 5 edge part 51 skin-contact protrusion

Claims

1. A mask assist device that is used by being positioned inside a mask, and includes a covering portion having a shape for securing a space in front of the mouth and nose, and an edge portion provided on the outer peripheral edge of the covering portion for holding the covering portion. The covering portion is formed of a woven wire mesh having a horizontal wire spacing of 200 to 50 meshes and made of stainless steel fine wire with a diameter of φ0.2 mm or less that can be formed into a desired space-securing shape by press working and can maintain the shape. The mask assist device is characterized in that the woven wire mesh is subjected to gold-copper plating.

2. The mask assist device according to Claim 1, wherein the gold-copper plating is 75% gold and 25% copper, and the plating thickness is 0.1 to 0.06 μm.

3. A part of the edge portion is formed of a deformable thickness plate-like core material made of stainless steel welded to the outer periphery of the mesh portion of the covering portion. The plate-like core material is further coated with an elastomer resin on a surface coated with polypropylene, and a mask locking portion is integrally formed with the elastomer resin coating at an appropriate upper position. The mask assist device according to Claim 1 or 2.

4. The edge portion is formed of an elastomer resin, has a frame shape capable of securing a space in front of the mouth and nose, and is provided with skin contact protrusions on the back surface of the outer peripheral edge. The mask assist device according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the covering portion is mounted inside and integrated with the edge portion, or the covering portion is arranged inside and integrally formed with the edge portion by insert molding.

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