Full-face hooded air purification respirator with beard pouch, dockable annular neck seal and interchangeable hood

Abstract

An inclusive full-face hooded respirator comprises a face frame with a lens, breathing ports, and an oronasal cup, and a fluid-impermeable hood with face and neck openings respectively hosting the face frame and a flexible neck seal for sealed closure of the hood around the user's neck. A novel beard pouch encapsulates the user's chin, bearded or otherwise, within a combined oronasal-chin space cooperatively denoted by the beard pouch and oronasal cup. A permanently annular embodiment of the neck seal is stretchable into a docked position engaged around a perimeter of the face frame to temporarily hold the hood in a collapsed position rolled or bunched around frame perimeter, enabling donning of the face frame and oronasal cup with one hand and donning and tightening of the head harness with the other, then slipping of the hood and neck seal over the user' head to complete the donning process.

Description

[0001] FULL-FACE HOODED AIR PURIFICATION RESPIRATOR WITH BEARD POUCH, DOCKABLE ANNULAR NECK SEAL AND INTERCHANGEABLE HOOD

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This application claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 474,374, filed June 18, 2024, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 804,618, filed May 12, 2025, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0004] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0005] This application relates generally to the field of full-face respirators for providing a breathable air supply to a wearer, and more particularly to full-face hooded respirators that each include a wearable hood enveloping an entirety of the wearer’s head, rather than the face alone.

[0006] BACKGROUND

[0007] Full face respirators are used to provide personnel with a safely breathable air supply in environments known or suspected to potentially have harmful contaminants, or anywhere a natural ambient supply of breathable air may be unavailable or potentially jeopardized. Users of such respirators include military, law enforcement, firefighters, and personnel in various other sectors including oil & gas, pharmaceuticals, petrochemical / chemical, mining, metal fabrication, or other various industrial applications that may involve working in hazardous environments, and / or possible risk possible of exposure to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) attacks. A conventional full-face respirator features a mask composed of a face shield embodying a transparent lens, a face seal spanning around a perimeter of the shield to form an outer seal around the eyes, nose and mouth of the wearer, and an oronasal cup on an inner surface of the shield within the bounds of the face seal to specifically fit over the nose and mouth of the wearer. Inhalation and exhalation ports and valves accompany the shield and oronasal cup to admit breathable air into the facial area bound by the face seal, and particularly into the oronasal cup to enable for inhalation of such breathable air, and to exhaust exhaled gases therefrom. Air supply conduits or filter cartridges are installed in co-operable relation to the inhalation ports to feed the breathable air from a connected positive pressure air supply, or filter the ambient air to derive the breathable air therefrom. In some cases, for example in CBRN applications where skin exposure is also a concern, the full-face respirator may be a hooded respirator in which the mask is combined with a hood for covering the full head of the wearer.

[0008] A known shortcoming in this field of art is that conventional full-face respirators cannot achieve a proper fluid-tight facial seal with those who have facial hair, thus excluding use by bearded personnel, which specifically prohibits use by those for whom a beard is not merely an aesthetic choice, but rather a part of their religious practice or beliefs, which may also require wearing of religious headwear that may further interfere with proper wearing of conventional full-face respirators. It will be understood that the term “fluid” is used herein its broadest sense that encompasses liquids, air and other gases, and that reference to a fluid-tight or fluid-impervious character refers to a tightness against, or imperviousness to, each individual one, and combinations of, air, other gases and liquids.

[0009] Applicant’s PCT Application No. PCT / CA2023 / 051102, published as WO2024 / 036413, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an inclusive full-face hooded respirator includes a novel openable / closable neck seal and novel head harness in a zippered hood enabling use of the respirator by the population at large, including bearded users and wearers of religious head coverings.

[0010] Further development and improvement of that design has since continued, motivated at least in part by a desire to address challenges associated with the zippered air-tight closure of an openable neck seal and hood, and to achieve better fluidic isolation of the oronasal area of a bearded user, which improvements are the subject of the present application.

[0011] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a full-face air purification respirator comprising: a mask assembly comprising: a face frame that, in a worn state of the respirator on a wearer, anteriorly frames a facial area of the wearer that includes a nose, mouth and eyes of said wearer; within a lower portion of the face frame, a set of inhalation and exhalation ports; an oronasal cup shaped for mating fit with the face frame at a rear side thereof in a position wearable over the nose and mouth of the wearer in fitting contact with the wearer’s facial area around at least a substantial part of a rear perimeter edge of the oronasal cup; and a beard pouch cooperatively associated with the oronasal cup and the face frame to encapsulate a bearded chin of the wearer within a combined oronasal-chin space cooperatively delimited by the oronasal cup and the beard pouch; and a fluid-impermeable hood having a face opening in which the face frame is received, and around which the wearable hood has a fluid-tight attachment to the mask assembly around a full perimeter of the face-opening, and a neck opening in which a neck of the wearer is accommodated in the worn state of the respirator, wherein the hood, in the worn state of the respirator, encapsulates an overall headspace of the wearer, inside of the which the oronasal- chin space cooperatively delimited by the oronasal-up and the beard pouch is substantially isolated from a remainder of said overall headspace.

[0013] In preferred embodiments, the hood further comprises a flexible neck seal that is composed of flexible impervious material and spans about the neck opening in sealed attachment to the neck margin for skin-abutting fluid-tight contact with the neck of the wearer in said worn state of the respirator for sealed closure of said overall headspace.

[0014] In some preferred embodiments, the flexible neck seal has a permanently annular shape, is composed of flexible impervious material and is attached to a neck margin of the hood in a position spanning fully around the neck opening for skin-abutting fluid-tight contact with the neck of the wearer in said worn state of the of the respirator for sealed closure of said overall headspace.

[0015] In such embodiments, the permanently annular neck seal is preferably configured for selective and temporary stretching thereof, in an unworn state of the respirator prior to donning thereof, into a docked position engaged around an outer margin of the face frame, in accompaniment by temporarily respositioning of the hood into a collapsed position rolled or bunched up around said outer margin of the face frame, whereby the neck seal and the hood are both temporarily held out of the way during donning of the face frame and the beard pouch, after which flexible neck seal and the hood are pullable over the head of the wearer into working positions achieving encapsulation and sealed closure of the overall headspace.

[0016] In other embodiments, the flexible neck seal instead forms an open-ring around the neck opening, said open ring having gap therein.

[0017] In such embodiments, preferably the open ring has matable closure securements adjacent opposing ends thereof for holding of said opposing ends of the open together, in at least partial closure of said gap, when mated.

[0018] Preferably said matable closure securements comprise a magnetic securement adjacent a first one of said opposing ends and magnetically attractable securement adjacent a second one of said opposing ends for magnetic coupling of securements when brought together.

[0019] These embodiments with an open-ring neck seal preferably include a fluid-tight closure mechanism operable between an open position in which the gap in the neck seal is open to enable donning of the respirator, and a closed position achieving fluid-tight closure of said gap of the neck seal to achieve fluid-tightness thereof around the wearer’s neck in the worn state of the respirator.

[0020] In such embodiments, said fluid-tight closure mechanism preferably comprises a fluid-tight zipper.

[0021] In such embodiments, the wearable hood preferably has an openable / closable side at which the gap in the neck seal also resides, and the fluid-tight closure mechanism is operable to open both the openable / closable side of the hood and the gap of the neck seal in the open position in preparation for donning of the respirator, and close both the openable / closable side of the hood and the gap of the neck seal in the closed position for fluid-tightness in the worn state of the respirator.

[0022] In such embodiments, said neck seal preferably comprises a docking channel recessed in an exterior of the neck seal for docked seating of an actuator of the fluid-tight closure mechanism in said seating channel in the closed position of said fluid-tight closure mechanism.

[0023] In such embodiment, said actuator of the fluid-tight closure mechanism is preferably a zipper head.

[0024] In some embodiments, the inhalation and exhalation ports comprise a pair of inhalation ports situated on opposing sides of the exhalation port, and the mask assembly further comprises a pair of removable inhalation pocket caps each shaped for mating fit with the face frame at a lateral interior of the lower portion of the face frame through which a respective one of the inhalation ports opens for guided routing of inhaled air therefrom. In such embodiments, said inhalation pocket caps are preferably two of said other components of the mask assembly to which the beard pouch is engaged.

[0025] In embodiments with the inhalation caps, and in which the mask assembly comprises a lens supported on the face frame and occupying at least an upper portion thereof above the lower portion, each inhalation pocket cap preferably is shaped and oriented to direct inhaled air, introduced to the pocket cap through the respective one of the of the inhalation ports, upwardly along an interior of said lens.

[0026] Each removable inhalation pocket cap is preferably concavely contoured at an interior side thereof that faces the facial rea of the wearer in the worn state of the respirator.

[0027] Each removable inhalation pocket cap preferably has an open top end through which inhaled air form the respective one of the inhalation ports is routed upward.

[0028] Each removable inhalation pocket cap is preferably composed of a flexible material.

[0029] In preferred embodiments, the face frame is composed of a flexible material and comprises integrally incorporated facial sealing regions for sealing contact with the wearer.

[0030] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a hooded fullface respirator with a permanently annular neck seal, said assembly comprising: a face frame that, in a worn state of the respirator on a wearer, anteriorly frames a facial area of the wearer that includes a nose, mouth and eyes of said wearer, said face frame, said face frame comprising: a set of inhalation and exhalation ports to enable breathing of the wearer in said worn state of the respirator; a viewing window for hosting a viewing lens through which the wearer retains visibility of their environment in said worn state of the respirator; and an outer margin spanning around a full perimeter of the face frame at a marginal region thereof situated outwardly from the inhalation and exhalation ports and the viewing window; a head harness coupled to the face frame for secured adornment thereof by the wearer, a fluid-impermeable hood having a face opening for hosting of the face frame therein, and a neck opening in which a neck of the wearer is accommodated in the worn state of the respirator, in which said hood encompasses an overall headspace of the wearer; and a flexible neck seal that has a permanently annular shape, is composed of flexible impervious material and is attached to a neck margin of the hood in a position spanning fully around the neck opening for skin-abutting fluid-tight contact with the neck of the wearer in said worn state of the of the respirator for sealed closure of said overall headspace; wherein the respirator is further characterized by at least one of the following:

[0031] (a) inclusion of a beard pouch to encapsulate a chin of the wearer; and / or

[0032] (b) configuration of the flexible neck seal for selective and temporary stretching thereof, in an unworn state of the respirator prior to donning thereof, into a docked position engaged around an outer margin of the face frame, in accompaniment by temporarily respositioning of the hood into a collapsed position rolled or bunched up around said outer margin of the face frame, whereby the neck seal and the hood are both temporarily held out of the way during donning of the face frame, the head harness, and, if included, the beard pouch, after which flexible neck seal and the hood are pullable over the head of the wearer into working positions achieving encapsulation and sealed closure of the overall headspace.

[0033] According to third aspect of the invention, there is provided a hooded full-face respirator with a removable hood, said assembly comprising: a face frame that, in a worn state of the respirator on a wearer, anteriorly frames a facial area of the wearer that includes a nose, mouth and eyes of said wearer, said face frame, said face frame comprising: a set of inhalation and exhalation ports to enable breathing of the wearer in said worn state of the respirator; a viewing window for hosting a viewing lens through which the wearer retains visibility of their environment in said worn state of the respirator; and an outer margin spanning around a full perimeter of the face frame at a marginal region thereof situated outwardly from the inhalation and exhalation ports and the viewing window; and a fluid-impermeable hood having a face opening for hosting of the face frame therein in an assembled state of the respirator, said face opening being neighboured and surrounded by a facial margin of the hood; wherein the facial margin of the hood is releasably coupled to the outer margin of the face frame to enable selective decoupling of the hood from the face frame in nondestructive relationship to at least the face frame to enable reuse of the face frame after subsequent replacement or reinstallation of the hood.

[0034] According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a hooded fullface respirator with a replaceable hood, said assembly comprising: a face frame that, in a worn state of the respirator on a wearer, anteriorly frames a facial area of the wearer that includes a nose, mouth and eyes of said wearer, said face frame, said face frame comprising: a set of inhalation and exhalation ports to enable breathing of the wearer in said worn state of the respirator; a viewing window for hosting a viewing lens through which the wearer retains visibility of their environment in said worn state of the respirator; and an outer margin spanning around a full perimeter of the face frame at a marginal region thereof situated outwardly from the inhalation and exhalation ports and the viewing window; a fluid-impermeable hood having a face opening for hosting of the face frame therein in an assembled state of the respirator, and a neck opening in which a neck of the wearer is accommodated in the worn state of the respirator, said face opening being neighboured and surrounded by a facial margin of the hood; and a pair of clamping rings comprising a front clamping ring shaped to fit over the outer margin of the face frame at a frontside thereof, and a rear clamping ring shaped to fit over the outer margin of the face from at an opposing backside thereof; wherein the outer margin of the face frame and the pair of clamping rings are all greater in external size than the face opening of the hood to accommodate clamped receipt of the facial margin of the hood and the outer margin of the face frame between said pair of clamping rings, and the clamping rings are selectively couplable and decouplable to and from one another to enable selective installation and removal of the hood to and from the face frame in non-destructive relationship to at least the face frame, thereby enabling reuse of the face frame after subsequent replacement or reinstallation of the hood.

[0035] According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a full-face air purification respirator comprising: a mask assembly comprising: a face frame that, in a worn state of the respirator on a wearer, anteriorly frames a facial area of the wearer that includes a nose, mouth and eyes of said wearer; within a lower portion of the face frame, a set of inhalation and exhalation ports comprising an exhalation port and a pair of inhalation ports on opposing sides thereof; an oronasal cup shaped for mating fit with the face frame at a rear side thereof in a position wearable over the nose and mouth of the wearer in fitting contact with the wearer’s facial area around at least a substantial part of a rear perimeter edge of the oronasal cup; and a pair of removable inhalation pocket caps each shaped for mating fit with the face frame at a lateral interior of the lower portion of the face frame through which a respective one of the inhalation ports opens for guided routing of inhaled air therefrom.

[0036] The inhalation pocket caps may be further configured in matching relationship to any of the dependent clauses recited in concern of those inhalation pocket caps under the first aspect of the invention.

[0037] According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a full-face air purification respirator comprising: a mask assembly comprising: a face frame that, in a worn state of the respirator on a wearer, anteriorly frames a facial area of the wearer that includes a nose, mouth and eyes of said wearer; within a lower portion of the face frame, a set of inhalation and exhalation ports; and an oronasal cup shaped for mating fit with the face frame at a rear side thereof in a position wearable over the nose and mouth of the wearer in fitting contact with the wearer’s facial area around at least a substantial part of a rear perimeter edge of the oronasal cup; a fluid-impermeable hood having a face opening in which the face frame is received, and around which the wearable hood has a fluid-tight attachment to the mask assembly around a full perimeter of the face-opening, and a neck opening in which a neck of the wearer is accommodated in the worn state of the respirator, wherein the hood, in the worn state of the respirator, encapsulates an overall headspace of the wearer; and a flexible neck seal that is composed of flexible impervious material and spans about the neck opening in sealed attachment to a neck margin of the hood for skin-abutting fluid- tight contact with the neck of the wearer in said worn state of the respirator for sealed closure of said overall headspace, wherein the flexible neck seal forms an open-ring around the neck opening, said open ring having gap therein; further characterized by at least one of the following features:

[0038] (a) said open ring has matable closure securements adjacent opposing ends thereof for holding of said opposing ends of the open ring together, in at least partial closure of said gap, when mated; and / or

[0039] (b) a fluid-tight closure mechanism operable between an open position in which the gap in the neck seal is open to enable donning of the respirator, and a closed position achieving fluid-tight closure of said gap of the neck seal to achieve fluid-tightness thereof around the wearer’s neck in the worn state of the respirator, and said neck seal comprises a docking channel recessed in an exterior of the neck seal for docked seating of an actuator of the fluid- tight closure mechanism in said seating channel in the closed position of said fluid-tight closure mechanism.

[0040] The open ring neck seal and the fluid-tight closure mechanism may be further configured in matching relationship to any of the dependent clauses recited in concern of those features under the first aspect of the invention.

[0041] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0043] Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of an inclusive full-face hooded respirator from Applicant’s aforementioned co-pending PCT application, as background prior art for the purpose of setting the context of the present invention.

[0044] Figure 2 is an exploded front perspective view of a mask assembly of the present invention for use in a full-face hooded respirator like that of Figure 1, in substitution of the mask assembly componentry of that prior design.

[0045] Figure 3 is an exploded perspective rear view of the mask assembly of Figure 2.

[0046] Figure 4 is an assembled rear elevational view of the mask assembly of Figure 2.

[0047] Figure 5 is an assembled rear perspective view of the mask assembly of Figure 5.

[0048] Figure 6 is an isolated rear elevational view of a face frame of the mask assembly of Figure 4.

[0049] Figure 7 is a top front perspective view of the face frame of Figure 6.

[0050] Figure 8 is a front side perspective view of the mask assembly of Figure 4 in a worn position thereof.

[0051] Figure 9 is a top front perspective view of the mask assembly of Figure 8.

[0052] Figure 10A is a top perspective view of an improved neck seal of the present invention, shown in an open state thereof, for use in a full-face hooded respirator like that of Figure 1, in substitution of the neck seal of that prior design.

[0053] Figure 10B is another top perspective view of the neck seal of Figure 10A from a different vantagepoint.

[0054] Figure 11 is an elevational view of the neck seal of Figure 10, but in a closed state thereof.

[0055] Figure 12 is a bottom rear perspective view of a fully assembled full-face hooded respirator of the present invention, with the zippered hood fully opened and drawn forwardly of the face frame to enable donning of the mask assembly on the user’s face.

[0056] Figure 13 is an isolated front view of a beard pouch of the novel mask assembly of the present invention.

[0057] Figure 14 is an isolated view of a flexible insert hemmed into a front margin of the beard pouch for used in attachment of the beard pouch to a rest of the mask assembly.

[0058] Figure 15 is an isolated view of a head harness by which the mask assembly is supported on the user’s head and tightened against the face thereof, and of which two lower jawline straps of the head harness may be coupled to the beard pouch in an assembled state of the hooded full-face respirator. Figure 16 shows rear elevational and perspective views of the full-face hooded respirator of the present invention, illustrating optional inclusion of one or more heating / cooling pack pockets / sleeves on a rear exterior of the hood.

[0059] Figures 17A through 17C are rear perspective views of another embodiment of the mask assembly and beard pouch shown in preceding figures, among which Figures 17A and 17C show an entirety of the beard pouch in assembled relationship to the mask assembly in worn (Fig. 17C) and unworn states (Fig. 17A), while Figure 17B omits a fabric majority of the beard pouch in order to reveal a fastening rail thereof that replaces that flexible insert of Figure 14 in this variant.

[0060] Figures 18A through 18D illustrate another embodiment of the hooded full-face respirator, which instead of bonded attachment between the hood and face frame thereof uses a mechanically clamped assembly that enables decoupling and replacement of the hood.

[0061] Figure 19A illustrates a permanently annular neck seal for use with a non-slitted non-zippered hood in another embodiment of the hooded full-face respirator, which is shown in Figures 19B in a worn state, and in Figures 19C to 19E in a mid-donning state, among which Figures 19D-19E show the respirator on a user and Figure 19C shows the respirator in isolation.

[0062] Figure 20 is a flowchart of a process for donning the hooded full-face respirator of Figures 19B through 19E.

[0063] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] Figure 1 shows an exploded view of an inclusive full-face hooded respirator 10 according to Applicant’s aforementioned PCT application, to set the context of an improved design thereof according to the present invention. The respirator 10 features a wearable hood 12 that is made of a flexible and fluid-impermeable material, and has a forward-facing face opening 14 at a front of the hood 12 and a downward facing neck opening 15 at a bottom of the hood. Installed in the face opening 14 of the hood 12 is a mask assembly that in the prior design included a rigid full-size face shield 16 for covering a facial area of a wearer’s face that includes the wearer’s nose, mouth and eyes, a face seal 18 for spanning fully around an outer perimeter of the shield 16 in a position projecting rearwardly therefrom for sealed placement against the wearer’s face around the aforementioned facial area, and a flexible oronasal cup 20 fitted against a rear / interior surface of the face shield 16 within the bounds of the face seal 18 to specifically fit over the nose and mouth of the aforementioned facial area of the wearer. If not an entirety of the face shield 16, then at least an upper portion thereof residing above the oronasal cup 20 was transparent to form a viewing lens of the mask assembly through which the wearer had an unobscured sight line.

[0065] The face seal of the prior design 18 was a closed ring of resiliently flexible material held in sealed relationship to the shield 16 at an outer perimeter thereof by a two-piece clamp 22, composed of an upper clamp member 22A and a lower clamp member 22B, each shaped to span a respective half of the shield’s outer perimeter and a respective half of the face seal’s closed-ring shape. The mask assembly included a ring-shaped rigid base frame 44 to which the hood 12 was bonded in fluid-tight fashion around the full perimeter of the base frame 44 at a facial margin of the hood that bordered and fully surrounded the face opening 14 of the hood. In an installed position of the clamp 22, each clamp member 22A, 22B embraced over a front side of a front lip 18A of the face seal 18 at an exterior / front side of the shield 16 (i.e. the side thereof facing away from the wearer’s face), and sandwiched this front lip 18A in a fluid tight fitting between the base frame 44 the clamp member. The two the U-shaped clamp members 22A, 22B were generally U-shaped to each overlie the front lip 18A of a respective half of the closed-ring face seal 18.

[0066] At a lower portion of the shield 16 where the oronasal cup 20 was received in abutting and sealed relationship against the shield’s interior / rear surface, the shield 16 featured two inhalation ports 26 at laterally and symmetrically offset positions from a vertically bisecting midplane of the shield. An exhalation port 28 and a speech port 30 were instead centered on the shield 16 at the bisecting midplane thereof, with the speech port 30 in spaced elevation above the exhalation port 28. Each inhalation port 26 had a respective inhalation valve assembly 32 installed therein. The oronasal cup 20 had inhalation apertures 33 on both sides thereof fitted with one-way valves, by which breathable air admitted into the larger overall facial area by the inhalation valve assemblies 32 was further admissible into the oronasal cup 20 via these inhalation apertures 33 and associated one-way valves. Exhalation port 28 and speech port 30 of the shield 16 respectively aligned and communicated with exhalation and speech apertures 34, 36 in the front end of the oronasal cup 20 that fit up against the interior / rear surface of the shield, and were respectively equipped with an exhalation valve assembly 38 and a speech diaphragm 40. A front cover 42 was fittable over the exhalation valve assembly 38 and speech diaphragm 40 and the associated ports of the face shield 16.

[0067] A head harness 80 attached to the base frame 44 at upper and lower segments thereof was wearble and tightenable to support the mask assembly in place in a position holding the face seal 18 in sealed relation to the wearer’s face. An open ring neck seal 56 was bonded to a neck margin of the hood around the neck opening thereof, in a position placing an openable / closeable gap of the neck seal in alignment with the bottom end of an openable / closeable slit in an openable / closeable side of the hood, where a fluid tight zipper 70 was openable and closeable to selectively open and close both the slitted side of the hood, and the gap of the neck seal 56, which when closed, achieved a fluid tight state of the hood interior via sealed fitting of the neck seal 56 with the user’s neck around a full circumference thereof, thus achieving a fully intact fluidic isolation of the wearer’s headspace from the surrounding environment, whereby any unsealed gap spaces between the face seal 18 and the face of a bearded user did not create fluidic exposure of the user’s face to the outside environment.

[0068] Figures 2 through 7 illustrate components of a mask assembly 200 according to one embodiment of the present invention as an improved replacement for the mask assembly components 16, 18, 20, 22, 44 of the prior art full-face hooded respirator 10 of Figure 1, once again in a design that enables safe use thereof by bearded and unbearded users alike. The primary components of the mask assembly 200 are a face frame 202, an oronasal cup 204, a pair of inhalation pocket caps 206A, 206B, a beard pouch 208 (shown in Figures 12 and 13) and a viewing lens 210 (shown in Figure 2 and omitted in other views for illustrative purpose). The face frame 202, oronasal cup 204 and inhalation pocket caps 206A, 206B are each formed of a flexible polymeric material to enable some degree of flexure, at least at face-contacting areas of these components, in the interest of achieving at least partially shape-conformable, fluid-tight sealing contact with areas of the user’s face in the worn state of the mask assembly. This embodiment of the present invention does away with the rigid base frame 44 and clamps 22 of the prior design shown in Figure 1, and combines elements of the formerly separate face seal 18 and full-face shield 16 into a single-piece face frame 202 instead.

[0069] The face frame 202, in a worn state thereof on a user, anteriorly frames a facial area of the user that includes the user’s nose, mouth and eyes. A front lower portion 212 of the face frame 202 is of convex character at a front / exterior side of the face frame 202 that faces away from the user’s face in the worn position, and of concave character at an opposing rear / interior side of the face frame 202 that faces toward the user’s face in the worn position. This front lower portion 212 is penetrated by a set of ports, including an exhalation port 214 situated centrally of a lateral width of the face frame at one elevation thereon, a communication port 216 likewise situated centrally of the face frame’s lateral width but at a different second elevation thereon, and two inhalation ports 218 situated laterally outward from the lateral center of the face frame on respectively opposing sides thereof. As shown in Figures 8 and 9, each inhalation port 218 is fitted with a respective one-way inhalation valve 220 that permits inhalation airflow through the respective inhalation port from the front / exterior / environmental side of the face frame 202 to the rear / interior / user side of the face frame, but prohibits exhalation airflow through the respective inhalation port in the reverse direction from the rear / interior / user side of the face frame to the front / exterior / environmental side thereof. The exhalation port 214 is fitted with a respective one-way exhalation valve 222 that permits exhalation airflow through the exhalation port from the rear / interior / user side of the face frame 202 to the front / exterior / environmental side of the face frame, but prohibits inhalation airflow through the exhalation port 214 in the reverse direction from the front / exterior / environmental side of the face frame to the rear / interior / user side thereof. The communication port 216 is fitted with a speech diaphragm 224 through which the wearer can verbally communicate to other personnel through the mask, without sacrificing the airflow control functions imparted by the inhalation and exhalation valves, as known in the art.

[0070] Above the ported lower portion 212, a remainder of the face frame 202 is embodied by a windowed upper portion 230 characterized by a large open viewing window 232 that resides at eye level of the user in the worn position of the mask assembly, and which viewing window 232 framed by this upper portion 230 of the face frame is occupied by a transparent viewing lens 210 that retains the fluid impermeability of the overall assembled face frame 202 and viewing lens 210, while permitting visibility through this windowed upper portion 230 of the face frame 202. A lower boundary of the viewing window 232 is embodied by an arcuately curved upper margin 234 of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202, which curved upper margin 234 is characterized by an uppermost apex at the lateral center of the face frame 202, closely beneath which the uppermost one of either the centered exhalation port 214 or centered communication port 216 (the latter, in the illustrated but non-limiting example) is embodied. The remainder of the viewing window 232 is bound by a front outer margin 236 of the windowed upper portion 230. This front outer margin 236 of the windowed upper portion 230 is of inverted U-shape, first standing upright from the top margin 234 of the ported lower portion 212 at both of its ends, and then turning inward to arch or span across the top end of the viewing window 232. A U-shaped front outer margin 237 of the ported lower portion 212 is a continuous extension of the front outer margin 236 of the windowed upper portion 230, whereby the two outer margins 236, 237 collectively define an overall outer margin of the face frame 202, which at a front / exterior surface thereof accepts fluid-tight bonding of the hood 12 thereto around a full perimeter of the face frame 202 at the facial margin of the hood 12 that spans around the face opening 14 therein.

[0071] Spanning rearward from a top half of the concave rear / interior / user side of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202 is an oronasal web 238 of the face frame 202, a front end of which arches around a top half of the uppermost one of either the inhalation or communication port 216 (which for brevity, is also referred to herein generically as the uppermost center port 216). Here, the oronasal web 238 j oins with the concave rear / interior / user side of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202. The oronasal web 238 sweeps rearward from its arched attachment to the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202 on either side of the uppermost center port 216. A top rear edge 240 of the oronasal web is of a concavely curved V-shape in its top view profile, curving laterally outward and rearward from a frontmost apex 240A thereof in symmetrical relation to a reference midplane PM that bisects a symmetrical shape of the overall face frame 202 and defines the lateral center of the face frame on which the two center ports 214, 2016 are centered. In top view, the oronasal web 238 is thus substantially open at the top, with this open top being of a smoothly curved V-shape in top view. Meanwhile, the oronasal web 238 is fully open at the bottom, and is therefore substantially composed of two sidewalls 244 A, 244B that reside, generally speaking, at opposing sides of the uppermost center port 216 and curve laterally inward toward one another at upper regions thereof that terminate in the concave top rear edge 240 that bounds the V-shaped open top of the oronasal web 238. A rear end of the oronasal web 238 is integrally joined to an upper facial seal 248 of the face frame 202, which in rear elevational view has an inverted U-shape designed to seal against the user’s face on an arch-shaped path running up both cheeks thereof and then arching across the forehead. In top plan view, this upper facial seal 248 is concave at its rear / inner side 248 A that faces the user’s face, and convex at its opposing front / outer side 248B that faces away therefrom toward the viewing window 232. The oronasal web 238 joins with the upper facial seal 248 at the bottom of its arch shape, and an ocular opening 250 is collectively bound by the arch-shaped upper facial seal 248 the concave top rear edge 240 of the oronasal web, which ocular opening 250 accommodates the ocular region of the user’s face in the worn position of the face frame 202 to achieve an unobscured sightline through the viewing window 232. To support the upper facial seal 248 in such position framing the ocular region of the user’s face in fluid-tight sealing contact across the forehead and down the cheeks, a support web 252 integrally joins a rear edge of the upper facial seal 248 to the front outer margin 236 of the windowed upper portion 230 of the head frame 202, to the latter of which the support web 252 integrally connects at a distance inwardly from an outermost peripheral edge 236 A of the front outer margin 236. This support web 252 spans the full arch of the facial seal’s inverted U-shape. Unlike the face seal 18 of the prior design shown in Figure 1, the integral upper facial seal 248 of the face frame 202 of the present embodiment does not form a full ring or closed loop sealing fully around the facial area of the user, and instead makes a sealing arch around only the top and side of the facial area. The inhalation ports 218 in the lower portion 212 of the face frame 202 reside at a matching elevation to one another below the bottom ends 248C of the arch-shaped facial seal 248, and below the elevationally matching bottom ends 252A of the likewise archshaped support web 252 that spans the full outer rear perimeter of the facial seal 248.

[0072] The oronasal cup 204 has an annular front end 254 shaped to conformingly mate with the rear / inner / user side of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202 around the uppermost center port thereof 216, and which annular front end 254 delimits a front opening 256 of the oronasal cup that accordingly aligns and fluidly communicates with this uppermost center port 216 of the face frame 202, whereby an interior of the oronasal cup 204 is open to that port 216 in communication with the valve or diaphragm installed therein. The oronasal cup 204 is sized and shaped for receipt thereof within the confines of the oronasal web 238, which thereby serves to properly position the oronasal cup 204 relative to the user’s face. The oronasal cup 204 increases in width and height moving rearwardly from the annular front end 254, which increase in width is at matching or similar flaring angle to a likewise rearwardly widening shape of the oronasal web 238. This enables easy forward insertion of the oronasal cup 204 into the oronasal web 238 at a wide rear end thereof, and provides self-guided alignment of the oronasal cup 204 as it is inserted further toward its fully seated position. Once the oronasal cup 204 is so fully inserted, the sidewalls 244A, 244B of the oronasal web 238 constrain the inserted oronasal cup 204 against any lateral side-to-side motion.

[0073] To constrain the fully seated oronasal cup 204 against upward and downwardly movement, the illustrated embodiment of the oronasal cup has a catch lip 258 thereon that arches across a topside thereof with a curving geometry matching that of the concave top rear edge 240 of the oronasal web 238. The catch lip 258 resides at an axial position between front and rear ends of oronasal cup 204 that corresponds to a matching axial distance from the front apex 240A of the oronasal web’s top rear edge 240 to the rim of the uppermost port 216 in the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202. This way, during insertion of the oronasal cup 204 into its fully seated position, the catch lip 258 of the oronasal cup 204 hooks forwardly over the top rear edge 240 of the oronasal web 238 of the face frame 202. Such engagement of this catch lip 258 over the top rear edge 240 of the oronasal web 238 constrains the seated oronasal cup 202 against upward and downward movement. This engagement may also impart a frictional hold that resists axially rearward extraction of the seated oronasal cup 204, helping hold it in place during donning of the mask assembly.

[0074] The inhalation ports 233 in the oronasal cup 204 reside rearwardly of the catch lip 258 at locations near, but in front of, a terminal rear perimeter edge 260 of the oronasal cup 204, so that when the oronasal cup is properly seated to the face frame 202, the inhalation ports 233 reside outside the oronasal web 238 behind and shortly above the top rear edge 240 thereof, each residing on an opposite side of the midplane PM occupied by the apex 240A of that top rear edge 240 of the oronasal web 238. The rear perimeter edge 260 of the oronasal cup 204 has a central peak 260 A that aligns with those of the catch lip 258 and the top rear edge 240 of the oronasal web 238, from which the rear perimeter edge 260 angles symmetrically downward and rearward to fit conformingly across the bridge of the user’s nose in a manner arching down and around the top lip of the user’s mouth, before turning more aggressively downward with lesser rearward angulation to then arch downwardly around both side of the mouth and across the chin to make sealed contact with the wearer’s face (as much as possible, in the case of a bearded user) around the oronasal region thereof.

[0075] As shown in the rear views, upper and lower regions of the rear perimeter edge 260 of the oronasal cup 204 may be folded inwardly over themselves, as seen at 260B and 260C, to increase the amount of available surface area for sealing contact with the user’s face. Bearded persons cannot use conventional respirators, owing to the inability of the oronasal cup to make properly sealed skin contact at the bearded chin area to comprehensively enclose the oronasal region of the face. Applicant’s aforementioned PCT application addressed this through use of the neck seal 56 to instead achieve fully sealed enclosure of an entire overall headspace of the user, and as outlined below, the present invention makes even further improvements by incorporation of a novel beard pouch to better encapsulate an entire bearded chin area of a bearded user. Meanwhile, the same full-face hooded respirator may also be used by non-bearded users, in which case the beard pouch may be substituted for a small chin pouch intended for more conforming fit to a non-bearded chin.

[0076] To prevent fogging of the of the viewing lens 210, the inhalation pocket caps 206A, 206B of the present embodiment are included for the functional purpose of guiding incoming inhalation air, that enters the interior of the face frame 202 through the inhalation ports 218, upwardly along a rear / interior surface of the viewing lens. The inhalation pocket caps 206A, 206B (or simply pocket caps, for short) are shaped to fit matingly against the rear / interior / user side of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202 at laterally outward positions on opposing sides of the two central ports 214, 216 so as to each align with a respective one of the two inhalation ports 218 on the front / exterior / environment side of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202. Each pocket cap 206A, 206B has an externally convex outside wall 262, an externally concave inside wall 264 and a rear wall 266 that joins the outside and inside walls 262, 264 together at rear ends thereof.

[0077] The outside and inside walls 262, 264 join together in a converging manner at a front end of each pocket cap 206A, 206B, at which the pocket cap is of narrower and more pointed geometry than the opposing rear end where the rear wall 266 instead spans between spaced apart rear ends of the inside and outside walls. Proximate the pointed front end where the inside and outside walls meet, the outside wall 262 of pocket cap 206A, 206B features an upright female positioning slot 268 therein that, in the installed position of the pocket cap, mates with an upright male positioning ridge 270 that resides on the rear / interior / user side of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202 at a location between the lowermost center port 214 and the respective one of the inhalation ports 218 with which this pocket cap aligns. This way, the mated positioning slot and ridge 268, 270 help properly position the pocket cap during installation, and help maintain such properly seated position once attained. Similar male / female mating of aligned positioning features may be used regardless of which one of the pocket cap and the face frame possesses the male positioning feature, and which possesses the mating female positioning feature.

[0078] The outside wall 262 of each pocket cap 206A, 206B has an intake hole 272 therein at a position that aligns with the respective inhalation port 218 of the face frame 202 when the pocket cap 206A, 206B is installed thereon. The top end 274 of each pocket cap 206A, 206B is open, and thereby serves as the airflow outlet from which the incoming inhalation air exits the pocket cap 206A, 206B in an upward direction travelling upwardly along the rear / interior surface of the viewing lens 210, thus preventing fogging thereof, and also thereby directing the incoming inhalation air into proximity of the inhalation ports 233 of the oronasal cup 204. An upper region 276 of each pocket cap 206A, 206B is shaped and dimensioned to fit within a receiving space bound between a respective one of the side walls 244A, 244B of the oronasal web 238, a laterally outer region of the upper margin 234 of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202 that is faced by an outer side of this side wall 244A, 244B of the oronasal web 238, a lower end region of the facial seal 248 that is joined with and thereby forms an extension of this side wall 244A, 244B of the oronasal web 238, and a lower rear region of the support web 252 that connects this lower end region of the facial seal 248 to the outer margin 236 of the windowed upper portion 230 of the face frame at a rear end of the upper margin 234 of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame. To define a physical stop that limits the insertion of the pocket cap’s upper region 276 into this bound space outside the oronasal web 238, oronasal cup 204 and facial seal 248, each pocket cap 206 A, 206B has an upward-facing stop shoulder 278 thereon that runs along the inside and rear walls 264, 266 thereof at an elevation spaced downwardly from the open top end 274 of the pocket cap 206A, 206B, which stop shoulder 278 denotes the boundary between the upper region 276 and a lower remainder of the pocket cap. Abutment of this stop shoulder 278 against bottom ends of the facial seal 248, support web 252 and oronasal web side wall 244 A, 244B thus blocks over-insertion of the pocket cap 206 A, 206B upwardly into its respective receiving space. Together with the mating positioning slot 268 and ridge 270 at the front end of the pocket cap, this defines a fully seated position of the pocket cap that properly aligns the pocket cap's intake hole 272 with the respective inhalation port 218.

[0079] The external concavity of the inside wall 264 of each pocket cap 206A, 206B helps provide a substantially conforming fit with a lower check and jaw of the user’s face. Interchangeable oronasal cups 204 and pocket caps 206A, 206B of varying size and shape, for each produced size of face frame 202, may be produced to better approximate different facial anatomies of different users, whereby differently sized face frames 202, oronasal cups 204 and pocket caps 206A, 206B can accommodate a wide breadth of facial anatomies. The rear wall 266 of each pocket cap has a retaining channel 280 therein that runs downwardly along the comer at which the rear wall 266 and the inside wall 264 meet one another, which corner and groove follow an inwardly curved path that curves downwardly toward the midplane PM of the face frame 202 owing to the external concavity of the inside wall 264. In the installed positions of the two pocket caps 206A, 206B, inner bottom ends of the respective retaining channels 280 of the two pocket caps 206A, 206B align with an additional retaining channel 282 provided in a retaining tab 284 on the rear / interior / user side of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202 below the lowermost center report 214 thereof a short distance inward from a rear outer edge of the outer margin 237 of the ported lower portion 212 of the face frame 202. An overall retaining slot collectively defined by the aligned combination of the three retaining channels 280, 282 is used to retain this embodiment’s beard pouch 208 in place relative to the assembled face frame 202 and pocket caps 206 A, 206B. Each retaining channel 280, 282 has a key slot or other profiled cross-sectional shape by which the open mouth of the channel 280,282 is narrower than an interior of the channel 280, 282.

[0080] The beard pouch 208, shown in Figures 12 and 13, is composed of an impermeable flexible fabric, and a front margin 208A of the beard pouch of this embodiment is equipped with an elongated flexible insert 284, shown in Figure 14, that that is forcibly squeezable into the three retaining channels 280, 282 collectively possessed by the face frame 202 and the two pocket caps 206A, 206B through the narrowed mouths thereof. In a default uncompressed state of the flexible insert 284, it is wider than each of the retaining channels 280, 282, and thus requires a forced squeezing of the insert 284 into the channels 280, 282, inside of which the attempted self-expansion the forcibly squeezed insert 284 exerts forced surface contact of flexible insert 284 against the channel walls to achieve secure mechanical coupling of the front margin 208A of the beard pouch 208 to the face frame 202 and the pocket caps 206A, 206B. In the illustrated example, the insert 284 resembles a bead of pearls or bobbles with small grooves between each neighbouring pair of comparably enlarged beads or bobbles, which beads or bobbles are compressible to enabling squeezing thereof into the retaining channels 280, 282, and the front margin 208A of the beard pouch 208 is hemmed to form an enclosed pocket in which the insert 284 is contained. For fitting of an opposing rear end of the beard pouch under the bearded chin of a bearded user, an opposing rear margin 208B of the beard pouch 208 has an elasticized hem to impart a self-tightening action thereof against the underside of the user’s bearded chin in the worn state of the hooded full-face respirator 100.

[0081] The face frame 202 has a plurality of integral securement tabs 286A-286C thereon at spaced positions around the collective outer margin 236, 237 thereof, each being integrally affixed in the non-limiting illustrated example to a backside of the support web 252, and among which an aligned lowest pair of securement tabs 286A in the illustrated example are integral rearwardly jutting extensions of the lower end regions of the facial seal 248, and are thereby also integral extensions of the sidewalls 244A, 244B of the oronasal web 238 given the integral attachment of these oronasal web sidewalls 244A, 244B to the lower end regions of the facial seal 248 at the front edge thereof. In the illustrated example, there are six securement tabs 286A-286C, among which an aligned uppermost pair of securement tabs 286B stand proud of the support web 252 at an upper segment thereof that arches across the user’s forehead above the ocular opening 250 of the face seal 248, and an aligned intermediate pair of securement tabs 286C that jut rearwardly from the support web 252 at an intermediate elevation somewhere between the upper and lower pairs 286A, 286B, for example within an elevational span of the ocular opening 250, and typically nearer to an upper end thereof than a lower end thereof. The securement tabs 286A-286C are included for the purpose of attaching multiple straps of a tightenable head harness 288, shown in Figure 15, by which the assembled mask assembly 200 is supportable on the wearer’s head in snug sealing of the face seal 248 and oronasal cup 204 against the wearer’s face. The head harness 288 features a wide rear band 290 for draping over a user’s head, whether directly or overtop of a religious headwear worn thereon, and multiple pairs of straps 292A-292C, among which the two straps of each pair emanate from opposing sides of the wide rear band 290. The lowermost pair of straps 292A are worn generally along the jawline of the user in positions running forwardly beneath the user’ s ears from a bottom end of the wide rear band 290 at the back of the user’s head toward the lowermost pair of securement tabs 286A on the face frame 202.

[0082] Upper lateral margins 208C of the beard pouch 208 of this embodiment, that in the worn position thereof run respectively rearwardly from top outer ends of the bear pouch’s front margin 208A that is retained in the retaining channels 280, 282 of the face frame 202 and pocket caps 206A, 206B to outer ends of the elasticized rear margin 208B, are removably fastened at their front end to the lowermost of securement tabs 286A of the face frame 202. Preferably these upper lateral margins of the beard pouch 208 are reinforced, in the illustrated example by polymeric reinforcement bands 294, front ends of which have fastening holes 296 through which the removable fastening of the beard pouch 208 to the securement tabs 286A is made. The opposing rear end of each reinforcement band 294 has a respective strap buckle 298 coupled thereto, for receiving the front end of the respective lower jawline strap 292 A of the head harness 288 to enable tightening of that lower jawline strap 292A. In view of the coupled relation of these lower jawline straps 292A to the lowermost securement tabs 286A of the face frame 202 via the reinforcement bands 294 of the reinforced upper lateral margins of the beard pouch 208, tightening of these lower jawline straps 292 A to achieve securement and sealing of the face frame 202 and attached oronasal cup 204 to and against the user’ s face at the facial seal 248 of the head frame and the rear perimeter edge 240 of the oronasal cup also acts to tension the upper lateral margins 208C of the beard pouch rearwardly. This pulls the elasticized rear margin 208B of the beard pouch 208 back toward the user’s neck beneath the user’s chin, and thereby enshrouds the user’s beard within the beard pouch 208.

[0083] This way, the elasticized and strap tightened fitting of the beard pouch 208 around the bearded chin of the bearded user provides another degree of closure to the oronasal region of the wearers face, in supplement to the oronasal cup 204. Incoming inhalation air is initially drawn into a first zone bound completely inside the face frame 202 but outside the oronasal cup 204 (which first zone includes the pocket cap interiors plus the space bound between the viewing lens 210 and the face seal 248 and support web 252), from which the incoming inhalation air then enters the oronasal cup 204 through inhalation ports 233 thereof, which together with the beard pouch 208 denotes a second zone that is substantially isolated from the first zone and contains the oronasal facial region and bearded chin of the user, and from which exhaled air is exhausted through the exhalation port 216. Both of these first two zones are substantially isolated from a third zone, which is the remaining interior space of the neck- sealed hood 12 outside the confines of the beard pouch 208, the face frame 202, the oronasal cup 204 and the pocket caps 206 A, 206B.

[0084] Figures 10 and 11 illustrate an open-ring neck seal 300 that improves upon the prior open-ring neck seal 56 from Applicant’s aforementioned PCT application. Once again the neck seal 300 is a singular unitary body made of flexible and impervious material of different composition that than the fluid impermeable composition of the hood 12, which may employ an at least partly fabric construction, whereas the neck seal will typically be of a polymeric composition. Though the purpose of the neck seal 300 during use of the full-face hooded respirator 10 is to form a fully closed seal spanning an entirety of the wearer’s neck circumference, the neck seal 300 itself, in this embodiment, does not form a permanently closed ring therearound, and instead is itself an open-ring having an openable and closable gap 302 therein, as seen in the open state of the neck seal 300 shown in Figure 10. The neck seal once again has a multi-walled structure comprising at least an inner wall 304 for making fluid-tight skin contact with the wearer’s neck, and an outer wall 306 that provides a separate interface for sealed attachment of the neck seal 300 to the fabric of the hood 12, whereby this interface does not coincide with the same inner wall 304 that makes the skin-abutting fluid-tight contact with the wearer’s neck. This way, movement of the wearer’s neck has less impact on the critically sealed attachment between the hood 12 and the neck seal 300 in order to best maintain the fluid- tight integrity of the hood interior, especially when the respirator is used by bearded personnel who cannot achieve a 100% sealed status of the oronasal facial region given their bearded status. In contradiction to the prior neck seal 56, the present neck seal 300 is characterized that the outer wall 306 is the shorter of the two walls over a majority of the neck seal’s overall circumference, and that the outer wall has a non-uniform height profile, characterized by this shorter stature than the inner wall 304 through a majority segment 308 of the outer wall’s circumference, but also having two taller end segments 310A, 310B at opposite ends of the majority segment 308, which taller end segments 310A, 310B reside at terminal ends of the open-ring shape of the neck seal 300 that border the gap 302 of the neck seal in the open state thereof. A cross-sectional profile of the neck seal 300 at the elevationally shorter majority segment 308 of the neck seal 300 is a J-shaped profile, of which the inner wall 304 denotes the taller side of this profile, with the outer wall 306, in the non-limiting example of the illustrated embodiment, having a height less than half that of the inner wall 304. At the circumferentially shorter and elevationally taller end segments 310A, 310B, the outer wall 306 is at least as elevationally tall as the inner wall 304, and in the non-limiting example of the illustrated embodiment, is actually taller than the inner wall, though preferably with a height no more than twice that of the inner wall 304.

[0085] In addition to this change in elevational profile from the prior neck seal 56, the outer wall 306 of the present neck seal 300 also differs in its inclusion of a holding channel 312 that is integrally affixed to the outer wall 306 and spans around a nearly full circumference thereof from the terminal end of end segment 310B to a position just short of the terminal end of end segment 310A. The holding channel 312 is of an upwardly open orientation, whereby an open top of this channel is suitably oriented to receive the bottom end of the neck margin of the hood 12, thereby accommodate fluid-tight bonding of the hood 12 to the neck seal 300 inside this holding channel 312 on the exterior of the neck seal’s outer wall 306. By way of this robust channel -bonded capture of the bottom end of the hood’s neck margin, the full-height stature of the outer wall of the prior neck seal 56 around the full circumference thereof is not required, hence the more material efficient design of the present neck seal, with a shorter outer wall stature around the majority of the neck seal’s circumference, but at the same time retaining a taller outer wall stature at the end segments 310A, 310B of the outer wall where such greater wall height is needed to achieve zippered closure of the neck seal 300 at the otherwise open gap 302 of its open-ring design. To best ensure fluid-tight closure of the gap 302, the inner and outer walls 304, 306, at the terminal end of the open-ring denoted by outer wall end segment 310A, each terminate with an offset end region 304A, 306A at which the wall 304, 306 is offset from a remainder of the wall in a direction toward the other wall. That is, the offset end region 304A of the inner wall 304 is offset outwardly from a remainder of the inner wall 304 in an outward direction toward the outer wall 306, while the end region 306A of the outer wall 306 is offset inwardly from a remainder of the outer wall 306 in an inward direction toward the inner wall 304.

[0086] Likewise, a matching end region 314A of the valley 314 that joins together the bottom ends of the interconnected inner and outer walls 304, 306 is offset upwardly from a remainder thereof by an equal offset to the offset end regions 304 A, 306 A of the inner and outer walls 304, 306 to provide a smooth, continuous profile throughout at this overall offset end region at one end of the open-ring neck seal. This offset end region on one side of the gap 302 is thus insertable into a non-offset end region of the neck seal on the other side of the gap 302 to fully close the gap via overlapping engagement between the two end regions of the neck seal, with mating contact of the outside surfaces of the offset end profile with the inside surfaces of the other non-offset profile. As illustrated, the valley 314 of neck seal 300 may include stiffening ribs 315 that periodically span between the inner and outer walls 304, 306 at circumferentially spaced intervals around the neck seal to impart a degree of shape retention thereto that resists full collapse between the inner and outer walls 304, 306 of the neck seal.

[0087] An exterior of each end segment 310A, 310B of the outer wall 306 has a raised bump-out 316A, 316B thereon to provide a localized increase of outer wall thickness at each end segment of the outer wall 306. The raised bump-out 316B on end segment 310B spans right up to the respective terminal end of the neck seal 300, while the raised bump-out 316A on end segment 310A instead stops short of the respective terminal end of the neck seal 300, specifically stopping at the border of the offset-end region 306A, where the holding channel 312 also terminates. Each bump-out 316A, 316B is accompanied by partial docking channel 318A, 318B recessed into the bump-out at the terminal border thereof nearest the respective terminal end of the open-ring neck seal. Each such partial docking channel 318A, 318B is termed “partial” because it is the combination of both such channels 318A, 318B that collectively defines a “full” docking channel 318 in the closed state of the neck seal, in which the terminal borders of the two bump-outs 316A, 316B abut one another, thereby communicating each partial docking channel 318A, 318B with the other. The purpose of this docking channel 318 is to receive the zipper head 70A of the zipper 70 on the hood 12 when pulled down into the closed position adjacent the bottom end of the openable / closeable slit in the hood 12, which closed position is also adjacent the bottom end of the neck margin that is bonded inside the holding channel 312 of the outside wall 306 of the neck seal 300. Each bump out 316A, 316B has a ramped surface 320A, 320B that leads downwardly into the respective partial docking channel 318A, 318B, by which the zipper head 70A rides into the docking channel 318 and forces the overlapping end regions of the neck seal into tighter engagement with one another to better ensure fluid-tight closure of the neck seal. It will be appreciated that the zipper head 70A rides along the exterior of the hood 12 at slit-neighbouring margins thereof, which overlie the end-segments 310A, 310B of outer wall 306 of the neck seal, and the bump-outs 316A, 316B and docking channels 318A, 318B thereof, and which run downwardly thereover into the holding channel 312 wherein the bottom end of the hood’s neck margin is bonded to the neck seal 300.

[0088] While comprehensive fluid-tight closure of the neck seal gap 302 is achieved through the zippered closure of the slit in the attached hood 12, the neck seal 300 itself preferably incorporates matable closure securements adjacent the opposing terminal ends of the open-ring neck seal 300 to provide an initial degree of closure hold before full zipper-effected tightening of the closure. One possible implementation of this is illustrated in Figures 11 A & 1 IB, in which a magnetic securement block 322A of V-shaped outer profile is seated within the collective V- shaped internal profile of the inner and outer walls 304, 306 and intervening bottom valley 314 of the neck seal 300 at the offset end-region 304 A, 306 A, 314A thereof at the first terminal end of the neck seal 300, and a corresponding magnetically attractable securement block 322B of likewise V-shaped outer profile is likewise seated within the same collective V-shaped internal profile of the inner and outer walls 304, 306 near the opposing second terminal end of the neck seal 300, at a circumferentially offset distance therefrom matching a circumferential measure of the offset end portions of the opposing end of the neck seal. The magnetic securement block 322A contains a magnet 324 oriented with one of its poles facing outward from this terminal end of the neck seal toward the opposing terminal end thereof across the gap 302, and the magnetically attractable securement block 322B contains a piece of magnetically attractable metal (e.g. iron). When the offset end region 304A, 306A, 314A with the magnetic securement block 322A is inserted into the non-offset end region to the close the gap 302, the two securement blocks 322A, 322B are thereby brought into magnetically coupled contact with one another. This provides a preliminary magnetic hold of the neck seal 300 in its closed state around the neck of the user before full tightening of such closed state through closure of the zipper 70 on the hood 12.

[0089] Use of tapered securement blocks 322A, 322B of V-shape profile fitted within the internal profile of the neck seal also serves to help maintain the two matable ends of the neck seal in predefined shapes of matable profile to ensure optimal fitting together thereof to attain fully sealed closure under closure of the zipper 70 on the hood 12. The illustrated embodiment denotes a prototyped example where each securement block 322A 322B comprises a hard plastic body that hosts the magnet and magnetically attractable metal, while in other embodiments, it is conceivable that each block may consist solely of the magnet or magnetically attractable metal. It will be appreciated that instead of a piece of magnetically attractable metal that is itself not magnetic, securement block 322B may also contain (or consist of) a magnet like that of securement block 322A, provided that the magnets are appropriately oriented to place opposing poles in facing relationship to one another to achieve magnet attraction, not magnetic repulsion, of one another. Proper positioning of each securement block 322A, 322B in its attachment to the neck seal is aided by abutment of a distal end thereof (the end furthest from the respective end of the neck seal) against a respective one of the reinforcement ribs 315A, 315B of the neck seal. Closure securements of non-magnetic mechanical types likewise capable of such intercoupling of the end regions may alternatively be employed in other embodiments.

[0090] Figure 16 shows rear elevational and perspective views the hood 12, which in preferred embodiments incorporates one or more heating / cooling pack pockets or sleeves 350 on the exterior of the hood, for example particularly at lower rear and side regions thereof of proximity to the user’s neck, in which pockets or sleeves one or more heating or cooling packs can be inserted to help with alleviate extremes in body temperature, particularly in extreme environments or contexts of use. Each pocket or sleeve preferably includes one or more drain ports 352 at its lower margin or boundary, for example to permit drainage of condensation from a frozen cooling pack, which drain ports may be permanently open, or may optionally incorporate a means of selective open and closure thereof.

[0091] Figures 17A through 17C illustrate an alternative embodiment of the beard pouch 208' that, in substitution for the bobble or pearl string shaped flexible insert 284 hemmed into the front margin 208A of the earlier embodiment of the beard pouch 208 for squeezed fitting into the retaining channel 282 of the face frame 202, instead features a flexible polymeric fastening rail 284' that is affixed to the front margin 208A of the beard pouch 208'. This fastening rail 284' is mechanically fastened to a singular fastening flange 282' of the face frame 202' of this embodiment that replaces all three retaining channels 280, 282 of the earlier embodiment, given the lack of inhalation pocket caps 206A, 206B in the present embodiment, in place of which more conventional air redirections means may instead be installed at the inhalation ports 218. The curved fastening flange 282' runs a U-shaped path along the U-shaped front outer margin 237 of the ported lower portion of the face frame 202' at a short distance inwardly from that front outer margin 237 to create a channel therebetween for receipt of the fastening rail 284'. A plurality of mechanical fasteners, for example plastic snap lock pins 285, are schematically illustrated in Figure 17B and penetrate through the fastening flange 282' at a series of fastening holes spaced discretely therelong, and through an aligned set of holes in the fastening rail 284' to achieve securement of the fastening rail 284' and the overall beard pouch 208' to the face frame 202'. In this embodiment, the fastening holes 296 through which the removable fastening of the beard pouch 208 to the securement tabs 286A is made are embodied in the U-shaped fastening rail 284' at enlarged ears 284A thereof that terminate the fastening rail at its upper free ends, which enlarged ears 284A replace the reinforcement bands 294 of the earlier embodiment’s beard pouch 208. The fastening rail, albeit flexible, is typically stiffer and thicker than the materially distinct fabric of the beard pouch itself, in order to form a robust means of mechanical attachment when fastened in place, while being shape conformable to the fastening flange to form an effective seal therewith.

[0092] Figures 18A and 18B illustrate another embodiment of the hooded full-face respirator 100’ that, rather than the earlier embodiment’s adhesive bonding of the facial margin of the hood 12 to the front outer margins 236, 237 of the face frame 202, instead employs a mechanical fastening arrangement 400 between the hood 12' of this embodiment and the face frame 202" thereof. The modified face frame 202" of this embodiment differs from the preceding embodiments in that the front outer margins 236, 237 of the face frame 202" feature a set of fastening apertures 402 provided therein at spaced intervals around the entirety of these margins 236, 237 of the face frame 202", and in that the face frame 202" is accompanied by a pair of front and rear clamping rings 404 A, 404B. These two clamping rings 404 A, 404B both exceed, in their outside dimensions, the size of the facial opening 14 in the hood 12, and are each sized and shaped to fit over the front outer margins 236, 237 of the face frame 202". The front and rear clamping rings 404 A, 404B fit over the front outer margins 236, 237 of the face frame 202" at a frontside and backside thereof, respectively, and each have a respective additional set of fastening apertures 402A, 402B therein of matching and aligned relationship to the fastening apertures 402 in the outer margins 236, 237 of the face frame 202". In this embodiment, the facial margin 14A of the hood that adjacently neighours the hood’s face opening 14 around the entirety of thereof is sandwiched between the two clamping rings 404A, 404B, along with the outer margins 236, 237 of the face frame 202". Mechanical clamping of the two clamping rings 404A, 404B together by engagement of mechanical fasteners (not shown) through the aligned sets of fastening apertures 402, 402 A, 402B clamps the facial margin 14A of the hood 12 against the polymeric outer margins 236 A, 236B of the face frame in fluid tight fashion between the two rigid clamping rings 404 A, 404B.

[0093] The two clamping rings 404A, 404B are removably fastened to one another, whereby selectively decoupling thereof by removal of the mechanical fasteners is operable to release the facial margin 14A of the hood 12 from between the clamping rings 404 A, 404B, thereby enabling separation of the hood 14 from the face frame 202", all in a manner that is of non-destructive relationship to the face frame 202" and leaves behind no adhesive residue. This way, should the hood 12 become damaged and need replacement, the same face frame 202 can be reused by simply swapping out the damaged hood 12 for a new replacement hood. In addition to enabling interchange of a damaged hood for a new replacement, decoupling of the non-bonded hood 12 from the face frame 202 by disassembly of the mechanical fastening arrangement 400 also permits disassembly of the hooded full-face respirator 100’ for other purposes, such as for an optimally thorough cleaning of the hood 12, the face frame 202" and / or any other componentry of the full-face hooded respirator that may otherwise have limited access in the installed presence of the hood on the face frame.

[0094] In one implementation of this embodiment, no adhesive is used at all, with mechanical clamping as the sole means of achieving and maintaining the hood’s attachment to the face frame 202" and the clamping rings 404 A, 404B. In an alternative implementation, the facial margin 14A of the hood may be adhesively bonded to one of the clamping rings 404 A, 404B, but preferably still not to the face frame 202. The completely adhesiveless option may be the more challenging to assemble, but both options lack any adhesive bonding to the face frame 202 itself, and thus maintain the surface integrity of the outer margins 236, 237 thereof as a clean reusable interface to host a replacement hood, or reinstallation of the same hood after cleaning, repair or other surface. In the embodiment with adhesive bonding of the hood to one of the clamping rings, a replacement hood product may be a packaged combination of a new hood and a new clamping ring, optionally or typically pre-bonded to one another, or a new hood and new set of both lamping rings, to one of which the hood may optionally or typically be prebonded.

[0095] Figure 18C illustrates an implementation of the mechanical fastening arrangement 400 in which the face frame 202" is a single-piece face frame, while Figure 18D illustrates an alternative implementation 400' where the face frame 202"' is instead a split two- piece face frame composed of a front frame component 202A and a rear frame components 202B. These two frame components 202 A, 202B are sandwiched together between the clamping rings 404A, 404B (together with the facial margin 14A of the hood 12, though the hood itself is not shown in these schematic cross-sectional views of Figures 18C-18D). In the split frame example, the mechanical fastening arrangement 400' serves multiple purposes, both for holding together the multi-piece face frame 202'", and detachably coupling together the face frame 202'" and the hood 12. In the split frame implementation, the front frame component 202 A embodies the viewing window 232 of the face frame and the inhalation, exhalation and communication ports 218, 214, 216, while the rear frame component 202B instead embodies the facial seal 248' of the face frame 202'". The front and rear frame components 202 A, 202B in the split frame example both embody respective marginal flanges 236 A, 236B that cooperatively denote the margin 236 of the assembled face frame that is clamped between the two clamping rings 404A, 404B. While only the upper margin 236 is shown in the partial view of Figure 19C, it will be understood that lower margin 237 is likewise cooperatively formed by the mated together lower marginal flanges of the two frame components.

[0096] Figures 19A through 19C illustrate another alternative embodiment of the hooded full-face respirator 100" that, rather than the openable / closable neck seal 300 of the earlier embodiment that is selectively closeable into an annular form by a cooperating zipper on a slitted hood 12, instead uses a permanently annular neck seal 300' on a zipperless non-slitted hood 12'. The embodiments shown in preceding Figures 17 and 18 may employ either of these alternatively contemplated hood and neck seal combinations. The permanently annular neck seal 300' is shown in isolation in Figure 19A, and can be seen to have a continuous and uninterrupted (gapless) 360-degree annular span defining a permanently closed ring. As with the non-continuous split neck seal 300 of the earlier embodiment, the unsplit permanently annular neck seal 300’ of the present embodiment again has an inner wall 304 for making airtight skin contact with the neck of the wearer, and an outer wall 306 for affixation to the hood 12' at the neck margin thereof that surrounds the hood’s neck opening 15. The purpose of the neck seal, when the hooded respirator is worn, is the same as described of the earlier embodiments, and need not be explicitly repeated for the present embodiment.

[0097] Figure 19B schematically shows the hood 12' in transparency or outline only, instead shows the neck seal 300' in cross-section, and instead shows the face frame 202' (which may, though not necessary, be that of Figure 17), the head harness 288 and the beard pouch 208' fully intact. In Figure 19B, all of these components are shown in working positions thereof in which they are worn during use of the respirator 100". Figures 19C-19E instead show the respirator 100" in a mid-donning state in which it would appear party way through the donning process. In this state, the hood 12' has been manually rolled or bunched up into a collapsed ring spanning around the front outer margins 236, 237 of the face frame 202', bringing with it the permanently annular neck seal 300', whose composition is a resiliently stretchable one, for example made of silicon or other resiliently stretchable polymeric composition.

[0098] The sizing and stretchability of the annular neck seal 300' and the shape and dimensions of the overall outer margin 236, 237 of the face frame 202' are cooperatively selected so that the annular neck seal 300' is non-destructively stretchable to a size in which it is stretchable over the outer margin 236, 237 of the face frame 202', whereupon the neck seal’s resilient character will tighten around this outer perimeter margin of the face frame 202'. Through such self-tightening action, the manually stretched and subsequently released neck seal 300' will securely engage itself to the face frame 202' in a docked position engaged around the outer margin of the face frame, which docked position is also effective to hold the rolled / bunched-up fabric of the hood 12' in its collapsed position likewise spanning around the outside margin of the face frame 202'.

[0099] These collapsed and docked positions of the hood 12' and the neck seal 300' are schematically shown in Figure 19C, in absence of a wearer, and from which it can be seen that these temporary but self-holding positions of the hood 12' and the neck seal 300' avail the user full and complete access to the head harness 288 and the beard pouch 208'. The collapsed and docked positions of the hood 12' and the neck seal 300' thus enable to the user to appropriately manipulate the head harness 288 and the beard pouch 208' during donning of the hooded fullface respirator 100" of this embodiment, while avoiding the complexity of the zipper-opened hood and neck seal of the earlier embodiment. Figures 19D and 19E show a prototyped implementation of this embodiment being modeled in the same mid-donning state as Figure 19C by a bearded wearer with a religious head covering. Figures 19D and 19E show this prototyped implementation from side-elevation and front-perspective vantagepoints, respectively. With reference to the side elevational view of Figure 19D, visible seamline 300A on the exterior of the non-slitted zipperless hood 12’ indicates the part of the hood at which the outer wall 306 of the neck seal 300’ is seamed to the fabric of the hood, for example via sewn attachment to the hood of an annular stiffening rim that is bonded to the outer wall 306 of the neck seal 300’ to provide sufficient material strength for such sewn attachment. The externally visible seamline 300A of this sewn attachment of the neck seal to the hood reveals the docked position of the neck seal around the outer perimeter of the face frame 202’.

[0100] With this dockable functionality of the neck seal 300’ in mind, Figure 20 schematically illustrates the process of preparing and donning the hooded full-face respirator 100" of the present embodiment. After obtaining or retrieving the respirator 100" at step 500A, whether from a static location or mobile carrier, the respirator 100" is prepared for donning at step 500B by manually rolling or bunching the hood 12' forwardly toward the face frame 202', taking with it the neck seal 300', and typically also rolling the head harness 288 upward and forward with an upper section of the hood in order to optimally reveal the face seal 248. Optionally, the respirator 100" can be stored in such prepared state so that it is instantly ready to use when deployment is necessary. Once the hood 12' and the neck seal 300' have been collapsed and docked into self-retaining engagement with the outer margin 236, 237 of the face frame 202’, at step 500C the user manually places the face frame into appropriate registration with their face, moving either one or both relative to the other, so as to bring the oronasal cup 204 into facial contact around the user’s mouth and nose, thereby attaining appropriate alignment of the respirator 100" on the face. In the illustrated embodiment, characterized by inclusion of a beard pouch 208’, any necessary adjacent thereof to properly engage and secure the beard pouch around the chin (and any beard thereon, if so bearded) can then be made at step 500D with one hand of the user, while continuing to use the other hand to hold the face frame 202’ and oronasal cup 204 in registration against the face.

[0101] Next at step 500E, the head harness 288 is pulled rearwardly over the user’s head (and thus over any religious head covering worn atop the user’s head), followed by tightening of the adjustably tightenable lower straps 292A of the head hardness 288 at step 500F, whereafter the respirator 100" is now self-supported on the user’s head, owing to the tightened working position of the head harness. Next, at step 500G, the hood 12' and its attached neck seal 300' are manually drawn out of engagement from the outer margin 236, 237 of the face frame 202’, and pulled rearward and downward over the user’s head into their respective working positions encapsulating the user’s head space and spanning around the user’s neck. Finally, any necessary checking and adjustment of the neck’s seal’s position and relative state of seal around the user’s neck can be performed at final step 500H, whether such adjustment be via external manipulation of the neck seal 300’ by adjustment of the hood position, or by direct internal access to the neck seal 300’from inside the hood through the neck opening 15 thereof. This step completes the donning of the hooded full-face respirator 100", which is now ready for use given the encapsulation of the head space by the unrolled and lowered hood, and sealed closure of this head space by the properly seated neck seal.

[0102] Since various modifications can be made in the invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A full-face air purification respirator comprising: a mask assembly comprising: a face frame that, in a worn state of the respirator on a wearer, anteriorly frames a facial area of the wearer that includes a nose, mouth and eyes of said wearer; within a lower portion of the face frame, a set of inhalation and exhalation ports; an oronasal cup shaped for mating fit with the face frame at a rear side thereof in a position wearable over the nose and mouth of the wearer in fitting contact with the wearer’s facial area around at least a substantial part of a rear perimeter edge of the oronasal cup; and a beard pouch cooperatively associated with the oronasal cup and face frame to encapsulate a chin of the wearer, bearded or otherwise, within a combined oronasal- chin space cooperatively delimited by the oronasal cup and the beard pouch; and a fluid-impermeable hood having a face opening in which the face frame is received, and around which the wearable hood has a fluid-tight attachment to the mask assembly around a full perimeter of the face-opening, and a neck opening in which a neck of the wearer is accommodated in the worn state of the respirator, wherein the hood, in the worn state of the respirator, encapsulates an overall headspace of the wearer, inside of the which the oronasal- chin space cooperatively delimited by the oronasal-cup and the beard pouch is substantially isolated from a remainder of said overall headspace.

2. The respirator of claim 1 the hood further comprises a flexible neck seal that is composed of flexible impervious material and spans about the neck opening in sealed attachment to the neck margin for skin-abutting fluid-tight contact with the neck of the wearer in said worn state of the respirator for sealed closure of said overall headspace.

3. The respirator of claim 2 wherein the flexible neck seal has a permanently annular shape, is composed of flexible impervious material and is attached to a neck margin of the hood in a position spanning fully around the neck opening for skin-abutting fluid-tight contact with the neck of the wearer in said worn state of the respirator for sealed closure of said overall headspace.

4. The respirator of claim 3 wherein the flexible neck seal is configured for selective and temporary stretching thereof, in an unworn state of the respirator prior to donning thereof, into a docked position engaged around an outer margin of the face frame, in accompaniment by temporarily respositioning of the hood into a collapsed position rolled or bunched up around said outer margin of the face frame, whereby the neck seal and the hood are both temporarily holdable out of the way during donning of the face frame and the beard pouch, after which flexible neck seal and the hood are pullable over the head of the wearer into working positions achieving encapsulation and sealed closure of the overall headspace.

5. The respirator of any preceding claim wherein at least one marginal region of the beard pouch is engaged with at least one other component of the mask assembly to hold the beard pouch in cooperatively positioned relationship to the oronasal cup.

6. The respirator of claim 5 wherein said at least one other component comprises at least the face frame.

7. The respirator of claim 5 or 6 wherein said at least one other component of the face frame comprises at least one retaining channel in which said at least one marginal region of the beard pouch is retainable.

8. The respirator of claim 7 wherein said at least one marginal region of the beard pouch is equipped with at least one flexible coupling insert that is forcibly squeezable into said at least one retaining channel to secure the beard pouch thereto, and once squeezed into said at least one retaining channel, resists withdrawal therefrom.

9. The respirator of claim 5 or 6 wherein said at least one other component of the face frame comprises at least one fastening flange at which the beard pouch is fastened to said at least one other component.

10. The respirator of claim 9 wherein said marginal region of the beard pouch comprises a flexible fastening rail that is attached to the beard pouch and is fastened to a fastening flange of the face frame against which the flexible fastening rail is conformingly abutted.

11. The respirator of claim 5 or 6 wherein said marginal region of the beard pouch comprises a flexible fastening rail that is attached to the beard pouch and is fastened to said at least one other component.

12. The respirator of claim 10 or 11 wherein said flexible fastening rail is materially distinct from a fabric composition of the beard pouch.

13. The respirator of claim any one of claims 10 to 12 wherein said flexible fastening rail comprises a polymeric composition.

14. The respirator of claim any one of claims 10 to 13 wherein said flexible fastening rail is thicker than a fabric majority of the beard pouch.

15. The respirator of claim any one of claims 10 to 14 wherein said flexible fastening rail is stiffer than a fabric majority of the beard pouch.

16. The respirator of any one of claims 1 to 15 further comprising a head harness coupled to the mask assembly for secured adornment thereof by the wearer, wherein the beard pouch is coupled to lower straps of said head harness.

17. The respirator of claim 16 wherein the face frame comprises securement tabs thereon at which both the beard pouch and straps of the head harness are coupled to the face frame at locations internally of the hood.

18. The respirator of any one of claims 1 to 15 wherein the face frame comprises securement tabs thereon at which the beard pouch is coupled to the face frame at locations internally of the hood.

19. The respirator of claim 18 further comprising a head harness coupled to the mask assembly for secured adornment thereof by the wearer, wherein straps of the head harness are coupled to at least one of the face frame and the beard pouch at said securement tabs.

20. The respirator of any one of claims 16, 17 and 19 wherein the head harness comprises adjustably tightenable straps.

21. The respirator of any one of claims 1 to 15 further comprising a head harness with adjustably tightenable straps.

22. The respirator of any one of claims 1 to 21 wherein a rear margin of the beard pouch is tightenable or elasticized for at least a partial degree of conforming fit with an underside of the chin of the wearer to contribute to substantial fluidic isolation between the combined oronasal and chin zone and the remainder of the headspace.

23. A hooded full-face respirator with a permanently annular neck seal, said assembly comprising:a face frame that, in a worn state of the respirator on a wearer, anteriorly frames a facial area of the wearer that includes a nose, mouth and eyes of said wearer, said face frame, said face frame comprising: a set of inhalation and exhalation ports to enable breathing of the wearer in said worn state of the respirator; a viewing window for hosting a viewing lens through which the wearer retains visibility of their environment in said worn state of the respirator; and an outer margin spanning around a full perimeter of the face frame at a marginal region thereof situated outwardly from the inhalation and exhalation ports and the viewing window; a head harness coupled to the face frame for secured adornment thereof by the wearer, a fluid-impermeable hood having a face opening for hosting of the face frame therein, and a neck opening in which a neck of the wearer is accommodated in the worn state of the respirator, in which said hood encompasses an overall headspace of the wearer; and a flexible neck seal that has a permanently annular shape, is composed of flexible impervious material and is attached to a neck margin of the hood in a position spanning fully around the neck opening for skin-abutting fluid-tight contact with the neck of the wearer in said worn state of the of the respirator for sealed closure of said overall headspace; wherein the respirator is further characterized by at least one of the following:(a) inclusion of a beard pouch to encapsulate a chin of the wearer; and / or(b) configuration of the flexible neck seal for selective and temporary stretching thereof, in an unworn state of the respirator prior to donning thereof, into a docked position engaged around an outer margin of the face frame, in accompaniment by temporarily respositioning of the hood into a collapsed position rolled or bunched up around said outer margin of the face frame, whereby the neck seal and the hood are both temporarily holdable out of the way during donning of the face frame, the head harness, and, if included, the beard pouch, after which flexible neck seal and the hood are pullable over the head of the wearer into working positions achieving encapsulation and sealed closure of the overall headspace.

24. The respirator claim 23 wherein the head harness comprises adjustablytightenable straps.

25. The respirator of claim 23 or 24 characterized by at least (a).

26. The respirator of any one of claims 23 to 25 characterized by at least (b).

27. The respirator of claim 23 or 24 characterized by both (a) and (b).

28. A method of using the respirator of claim 26 or 27 comprising:(i) in said unworn state of the respirator, and in preparation for donning thereof, manipulating the hood and the neck seal into said collapsed and docked positions engaged around the outer margin of the face frame;(ii) with the hood and the neck seal collapsed and docked around said outer margin of the face frame, placing the face frame over the wearer’s face;(iii) with the hood and the neck seal still collapsed and docked around said outer margin of the face frame, and while manually holding the face frame over the wearer’s face, donning and tightening the head harness; and(iv) with the head harness donned and tightened, thereby securing the face frame in place over the wearer’s face, pulling the hood and the neck seal out the collapsed and docked positions and over the head of the user, thereby respositioning the hood and the neck seal into the working positions achieving said encapsulation and sealed closure of the overall headspace.

29. The method of claim 28, when dependent on claim 27, wherein step (iii) also comprises encapsulating a chin of the wearer within the beard pouch prior to pulling of the hood and the neck place over the wearer’s head in step (iv).

30. The method of claim 29 wherein said chin is a bearded chin.

31. The method of any one of claims 28 to 30 wherein the respirator further comprises an oronasal cup for mating fit with the face frame at a rear side thereof in a position wearable over the nose and mouth of the wearer in fitting contact with a wearer’s facial area around at least a substantial part of a rear perimeter edge of the oronasal cup, and placing the face frame over the wearer’s face in step (ii) comprises mating said substantial part of the rear perimeter edge of the oronasal cup with the wearer’s facial area.

32. The method of any one of claims 28 to 31 wherein step (iii) comprises donning and tightening the head harness over a religious headwear of the wearer, and step (iv) comprises pulling the head and neck seal over said religious headwear into said workingpositions.

33. A hooded full-face respirator with a removable hood, said assembly comprising: a face frame that, in a worn state of the respirator on a wearer, anteriorly frames a facial area of the wearer that includes a nose, mouth and eyes of said wearer, said face frame, said face frame comprising: a set of inhalation and exhalation ports to enable breathing of the wearer in said worn state of the respirator; a viewing window for hosting a viewing lens through which the wearer retains visibility of their environment in said worn state of the respirator; and an outer margin spanning around a full perimeter of the face frame at a marginal region thereof situated outwardly from the inhalation and exhalation ports and the viewing window; and a fluid-impermeable hood having a face opening for hosting of the face frame therein in an assembled state of the respirator, said face opening being neighboured and surrounded by a facial margin of the hood; wherein the facial margin of the hood is releasably coupled to the outer margin of the face frame to enable selective decoupling of the hood from the face frame in nondestructive relationship to at least the face frame to enable reuse of the face frame after subsequent replacement or reinstallation of the hood.

34. The respirator of claim 33 wherein the facial margin of the hood is mechanically coupled to the outer margin of the face frame.

35. The respirator of claim 33 or 34 wherein the facial margin of the hood is non- adhesively coupled to the outer margin of the face frame.

36. The respirator of any one of claims 33 to 35 further comprising a pair of clamping rings comprising a front clamping ring fitted over the outer margin of the face frame at a frontside thereof, and a rear clamping ring fitted over the outer margin of the face from at an opposing backside thereof, wherein the clamping rings are detachably coupled to one another in positions clamping the facial margin of the hood and the outer margin of the face frame between said clamping rings.

37. The respirator of claim 36 wherein said clamping rings have aligned set of apertures therein at spaced intervals therearound, through which said clamping rings are releasably fastened together.

38. The respirator of claim 37 wherein the outer margin the face frame has another set of apertures therein at spaced intervals therearound, which align with the sets of apertures in the clamping rings, and through which said clamping rings are releasably fastened together.

39. A hooded full-face respirator with a replaceable hood, said assembly comprising: a face frame that, in a worn state of the respirator on a wearer, anteriorly frames a facial area of the wearer that includes a nose, mouth and eyes of said wearer, said face frame, said face frame comprising: a set of inhalation and exhalation ports to enable breathing of the wearer in said worn state of the respirator; a viewing window for hosting a viewing lens through which the wearer retains visibility of their environment in said worn state of the respirator; and an outer margin spanning around a full perimeter of the face frame at a marginal region thereof situated outwardly from the inhalation and exhalation ports and the viewing window; a fluid-impermeable hood having a face opening for hosting of the face frame therein in an assembled state of the respirator, and a neck opening in which a neck of the wearer is accommodated in the worn state of the respirator, said face opening being neighboured and surrounded by a facial margin of the hood; and a pair of clamping rings comprising a front clamping ring shaped to fit over the outer margin of the face frame at a frontside thereof, and a rear clamping ring shaped to fit over the outer margin of the face from at an opposing backside thereof; wherein the outer margin of the face frame and the pair of clamping rings are all greater in external size than the face opening of the hood to accommodate clamped receipt of the facial margin of the hood and the outer margin of the face frame between said pair of clamping rings, and the clamping rings are selectively couplable and decouplable to and fromone another to enable selective installation and removal of the hood to and from the face frame in non-destructive relationship to at least the face frame, thereby enabling reuse of the face frame after subsequent replacement or reinstallation of the hood.

40. The respirator of claim 39 wherein said clamping rings have aligned set of apertures therein at spaced intervals therearound, through which said clamping rings are releasably fastenable together.

41. The respirator of claim 40 wherein the outer margin the face frame has another set of apertures therein at spaced intervals therearound, which align with the sets of apertures in the clamping rings, and through which said clamping rings are releasably fasteneable together.

Images