Protective Mask Flap With Bellows And Pull Cord
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional protective face masks do not allow for safe access to the breathing orifices while consuming food and drink, as openings are typically central to the mask, increasing the risk of contamination from pathogens and requiring removal or significant adjustment, which compromises protection.
Innovation Solution
A protective face mask design featuring a flap portion connected to a pull cord that creates a temporary opening below the mask, allowing food and drink intake without direct contact with the mask, using a continuous sheet of flexible material with pleated bellows sections that return to a closed position when the cord is released, maintaining a sealed barrier around the nose and mouth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a central opening is provided in the mask for food and drink intake, then accessibility for consumption is improved, but the risk of contamination from pathogens increases and protection is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The mask is segmented into a main body and a separate movable flap portion. The flap can be independently opened to create an opening for food and drink intake, while the main mask body remains intact and sealed, maintaining protection against pathogens. This segmentation allows the opening function to be isolated from the protective barrier.
Solution Approach 2:
The flap portion is made dynamically movable between a closed position (providing protection) and an open position (providing access for consumption). The bellows structure enables dynamic deployment and retraction of the flap, allowing the mask to adapt its state based on whether the wearer is eating/drinking or not, thus balancing accessibility and protection.
2Ease of operation
If the mask is removed or significantly adjusted for consumption, then accessibility for food and drink intake is improved, but continuous protection against airborne pathogens is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The mask functionality is segmented into a permanent protective main body and a temporary access flap. The main body remains continuously in place maintaining the sealed protective barrier, while only the flap opens temporarily during consumption, ensuring continuous protection is not compromised.
Solution Approach 2:
The flap acts as an intermediary element between the wearer's mouth and the external environment. It provides a controlled access point that mediates between the need for consumption and the requirement for continuous protection, allowing food and drink intake without removing the main protective mask body.
3Ease of operation
If the outer surface of the mask is touched during consumption, then accessibility for food and drink intake is improved, but the risk of contamination from pathogens on the mask surface increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pull cord serves as an intermediary tool that allows the wearer to open the flap without directly touching the mask's outer surface. The cord transmits the opening action from a distance, eliminating the need for hand contact with potentially contaminated mask surfaces during the consumption process.
Solution Approach 2:
The opening mechanism is extracted from the mask body itself and implemented as a separate pull cord system. This extraction allows the opening action to be performed remotely without contact, separating the control mechanism from the potentially contaminated surface area.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables safe consumption of food and drink while maintaining protection against airborne pathogens, reducing the risk of contamination by keeping the mask's outer surface untouched and ensuring a continuous, unbroken filter layer around the nose and mouth.
Implementation Method 1
the left and right bellows portions are made from a material that the mask body is made from, and which may be the similar, thicker or thinner than the mask body. The left bellows section and the right bellows section fold in an accordion style manner and have just enough elastic in the elastic straps in it to be able to return the flap portion back to its closed mask position
Implementation Method 2
have just enough elastic in the elastic straps in it to be able to return the flap portion back to its closed mask position when the wearer releases the cord
Data Source
AI summary
A protective face mask for maintaining a protective covering over a wearer's nose and mouth that allows for safe intake of food and/or drink includes a mask body, and upper and lower straps connected to the mask body that allow the protective face mask to be secured to the wearer's head. The mask body includes a flap portion that is connected to the mask body by left and right bellows portions. A tether is connected to the flap portion that may be grasped and force applied to draw the flap portion away from the face of the wearer, expanding the left and right bellows portions and creating an opening under a bottom edge of the flap portion at the bottom of the mask body to allow access to the wearer's mouth until the force applied is removed.