Horizontally Flat-Foldable Mask with Five Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing masks, particularly the cup-shaped and foldable types, fail to accommodate diverse face contours effectively, struggle with maintaining a sealed structure during movement, and are cumbersome due to their volume, limiting their adaptability and comfort.
Innovation Solution
A horizontally flat-foldable mask with five surfaces, featuring a middle lobe, upper and lower lobes with reinforced rims, and fold sections that allow for a three-dimensional structure when worn and neat folding when stored, incorporating a shell for improved comfort and sanitation grips.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a cup-shaped mask structure is used, then a sealed air chamber can be formed, but it is difficult to fit most people with different face contours and maintain a sealed structure during movement
Solution Approach 1:
The mask is divided into multiple flat surfaces (front surface, right lateral surface, left lateral surface, top surface, bottom surface) that can be folded together to form a three-dimensional structure. This segmentation allows the mask to adapt to different face contours while maintaining seal quality through precise folding and bonding of individual surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The mask transitions from a two-dimensional flat folded state to a three-dimensional worn state through horizontal folding along specific fold lines. This dimensional change enables the mask to form a sealed structure that conforms to the face while remaining compact for storage.
2Volume of moving object
If a horizontally foldable mask structure is used, then the mask can be compactly stored, but the three-dimensional structure formation is limited compared to multi-surface designs
Solution Approach 1:
Five separate surfaces (front, right lateral, left lateral, top, and bottom surfaces) are merged through horizontal folding along fold lines to form a unified three-dimensional mask structure. This combination achieves both compact storability and adequate three-dimensional form factor for effective sealing.
3Volume of moving object
If a five-surface structure with horizontal folding is used, then the mask can be compactly stored and maintains three-dimensional structure, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The mask body is segmented into five distinct surfaces connected by fold lines, allowing each surface to be manufactured separately and then assembled through folding. This segmentation simplifies the manufacturing process compared to forming complex three-dimensional structures in a single piece, while achieving compact storability.
Data Source
AI summary
A horizontally flat-foldable mask includes a main body having, in a folded state, a middle lobe, an upper lobe, a lower lobe, a first fold section extending upward from the middle lobe, horizontally folded from the upper lobe and having a first mid seam line curved or inclined downward from center toward both sides, and a second fold section extending downward from the middle lobe, horizontally folded from the lower lobe and having a second mid seam line curved or inclined upward from center toward both sides, and harnesses fixed to both sides of the main body.