Modular Powered Air-Purifying Respirator for Low-Profile Wear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing PAPR systems are bulky, heavy, and difficult to use in confined spaces, and do not easily accommodate varying mission-specific equipment needs.
Innovation Solution
A modular, low-profile PAPR system with a blower, filter rail chassis, and hose assembly that allows for customizable configurations, including removable filter and power sources, and a hose system with circular air conduits within an oval outer tube for flexibility and resistance to kinking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional PAPR systems use bulky components to ensure adequate air delivery and filtration, then air purification effectiveness is improved, but the system becomes heavy and difficult to wear in confined spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The PAPR system is divided into separate modular components including a blower module, filter cartridges, battery pack, and hose assembly. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and enables flexible configuration to reduce overall bulk while maintaining air delivery effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The hose system employs nested construction with an inner tube containing air conduits surrounded by an outer protective tube. This nesting approach maximizes the air delivery capacity within a compact hose diameter, reducing the space required while maintaining reliable air flow to the mask.
2Ease of manufacture
If PAPR systems use fixed configurations to simplify design, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but adaptability to different mission requirements and operator needs is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic, reconfigurable connections between components. The filter rail chassis allows selective attachment of one, two, or three filter cartridges based on mission requirements. The hose system features detachable connectors that allow rapid reconfiguration. This dynamic design enables the same base system to adapt to varying air quality requirements and operational scenarios without requiring multiple fixed-configuration systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The blower module and hose assembly serve as universal components that can work with different filter cartridge configurations. The system can accommodate various filter types and arrangements while using the same core air delivery infrastructure, providing multi-functionality across different mission scenarios from light filtration to heavy CBRN protection.
3Strength
If hose systems use circular cross-section for strength, then resistance to collapsing is improved, but the profile becomes bulky and difficult to route in confined spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The hose system nests an inner tube containing circular air conduits within an outer protective tube. The circular cross-section of the inner conduits provides structural strength and hoop stress resistance to prevent collapsing, while the nested construction within the outer tube maintains a compact overall profile that is flexible and easy to route through confined spaces and around operator equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The hose employs composite construction with multiple layers including an inner tube material optimized for air flow and structural integrity, and an outer protective tube material providing durability and flexibility. This composite approach allows the hose to maintain strength against collapsing while achieving a flexible, low-profile design suitable for confined space operation.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 3
AI summary
Disclosed is a modular, low profile PAPR system allowing customized configuration to meet an operator's weight and space requirements. The system includes a blower, a filter rail chassis that is removably attachable to an inlet of the blower, and a hose system that is removably attachable to the outlet of the blower. A battery pack is attachable to the blower in a close, nested configuration abutting both the blower and the filter chassis to maintain the small profile of the system, and may alternatively be carried remote from the blower with a power cord interconnecting the blower with the battery pack. The hose system comprises an ovular outer tube, which maintains a generally flat profile for the hose as it extends across or along the operator's body. Two circular air carrying conduits are sealed within such ovular outer tube against outside contamination, thus providing a flat, small profile tube system that resists hoop stress applied to the outside of the hose.