US-12616855-B2 - Device for personal protection and insulation against pollutants and microorganisms and filtering group for devices for protection and insulation

US12616855B2US 12616855 B2US12616855 B2US 12616855B2US-12616855-B2

Abstract

A device for individual protection and isolation against pollutants and microorganisms comprises a protection element ( 1 ) of the face and a filtering group ( 2 ) of the air inhaled and/or exhaled by the user. The protection element ( 1 ) has at least one mouth for the passage of air provided with a one-way check valve ( 7 ) suitable to selectively allow the entry and the exit of air from said protection element ( 1 ), said filtering group ( 2 ) comprising a filter body ( 4 ) housing a filter ( 15 ) for purifying the air and in fluidic connection with the inside of said protection element ( 1 ), said filter body ( 4 ) having a first opening for drawing air from the outside and/or the expulsion of air towards the outside and a second opening for the delivery of the air into and/or the withdrawal of air from said protection element ( 1 ).

Inventors

Santi TEDESCO

Assignees

AUTOMACUBE S.R.L.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20210326
Priority Date: 20200327

Claims (15)

1 . A device for individual protection and isolation against pollutants and microorganisms, comprising: a protection element ( 1 ) of the face designed to be worn by the user; a filtering group ( 2 ) of the air inhaled and/or exhaled by the user; wherein said protection element ( 1 ) is adapted to cover at least the whole face of the user and has at least one mouth for the passage of air provided with a one-way check valve ( 7 ), said filtering group ( 2 ) comprising a filter body ( 4 ) housing a filter ( 15 ) for purifying the entering or leaving air and in fluidic connection with the inside of said protection element ( 1 ) by means of an access ( 25 ) made in said protection element ( 1 ) distinct from said mouth, said filter body ( 4 ) having a first opening for drawing air from the outside and/or the expulsion of air towards the outside and a second opening for the delivery of the air into and/or the withdrawal of air from said protection element ( 1 ); wherein said one-way check valve ( 7 ) is of the reversible type to vary the direction of air outlet with respect to said passage mouth and to selectively allow the entry or the exit of air from said protection element ( 1 ) and said filter body ( 4 ) is adapted to be connected to said protection element ( 1 ) according to two connection directions wherein the positions of said first and second opening are inverted to each other to be selectively connected to said access ( 25 ) of said protection element ( 1 ).
2 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that said one-way check valve ( 7 ) is provided with a ring nut ( 21 ) for connection to means for forced ventilation and/or oxygenation means.
3 . The device as claimed in claim 2 , characterized in that said filtering group ( 2 ) houses means for forced ventilation suitable for promoting the flow of air in said filter body ( 4 ) according to two opposite directions which can be selected in an alternative manner therebetween.
4 . The device as claimed in claim 3 , characterized in that said means for forced ventilation comprise an electric motor ( 18 ) powered by batteries ( 19 ) or other power means, also of the rechargeable and/or renewable type.
5 . The device as claimed in claim 4 , characterized in that said filtering group ( 2 ) houses a control board ( 31 ) connected to sensor means ( 30 ) suitable for detecting the pressure inside said filter body ( 4 ) and/or of said protection element ( 1 ) and to detect any anomalies during operation.
6 . The device as claimed in claim 5 , characterized in that said filtering group ( 2 ) comprises a connecting pipe ( 6 ) of said filter body ( 4 ) with said access ( 25 ) of said protection element ( 1 ).
7 . The device as claimed in claim 6 , characterized in that said filter ( 15 ) is selected from the group comprising HEPA and ULPA filters and is sterilizable and/or washable in order to be reused.
8 . The device as claimed in claim 7 , characterized in that said filtering group ( 2 ) houses an ultraviolet-C (UVC) or infrared (IR) sterilizer ( 24 ) for said filter ( 15 ).
9 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that said protection element ( 1 ) is designed to contain the entire head of the user and is provided with an elastic band ( 9 ) with hermetic closure adapted to be arranged and tightened around the user's neck and a cannula ( 8 ) equipped with a check valve for feeding the user.
10 . The device as claimed in claim 9 , characterized in that said access ( 25 ) of said protection element ( 1 ) is arranged on the opposite side with respect to said air passage mouth.
11 . The device as claimed in claim 10 , characterized in that said protection element ( 1 ) comprises a front opening ( 26 ) sufficiently wide to allow the introduction of solid and/or liquid objects and provided with a removable closing cap ( 27 ) possibly provided with at least one filter ( 28 ).
12 . The device as claimed in claim 11 , characterized by comprising air treatment means designed to keep the air inside said protective element always in overpressure.
13 . The device as claimed in claim 12 , characterized in that said protection element ( 1 ) is provided at its lower opening for the insertion of the head, with a deformable sealing membrane ( 32 ) suitable for allowing the insertion of a hand inside said protection element ( 1 ).
14 . The device as claimed in claim 13 , characterized in that said deformable membrane ( 32 ) is designed to be turned up on the external part of said protective element ( 1 ), when removed from the user, in such a way as to expose its internal part to the outside.
15 . The device as claimed in claim 14 , characterized in that said protection element ( 1 ) has a support base ( 33 ) ergonomically shaped to conform to the physiognomy of the user.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention is generally applicable to the field of personal protective equipment and particularly relates to a device for personal protection and isolation suitable for being worn by a user to protect himself from pollutants and microorganisms, in particular pathogens such as bacteria and viruses, or to isolate an infected person from diseases that could be spread through the airways, protecting the environment and surrounding people. The invention also relates to a filtering group designed to be applied to masks or similar accessories that can be worn by a user and designed to cover the whole face to obtain the above protection and isolation device. STATE OF THE ART As known, current medical devices for personal protection of wearable type, such as masks and the like, for protection against dust, pollutants or pathogenic microorganisms (in particular viruses and bacteria), supplied to health workers, personnel operating in the industrial sector or even ordinary citizens, in particular sick or otherwise infected subjects, are designed to cover only a limited part of the face, usually the mouth and nose, i.e. the airways, but do not allow full face protection. As a consequence, these devices could not be entirely effective, both because it is not uncommon for the person wearing one of these devices to not always correctly cover all parts of the face and also due to the fact that it is proven that other parts of the face, in particular the eyes, may be a way for pathogens to enter the body. Moreover, known masks worn by the person who wants to protect themselves, currently do not guarantee total and effective protection of the entire head or face area through airtight filters. Another known problem, connected with existing devices, is the position of the filter near the most sensitive areas. This circumstance, during the manipulation of the mask, both in the dressing and undressing steps, may lead to contamination of the user. Furthermore, the type of filters of current filtering devices do not allow them to be reused, after any sterilization. DE102018100473 tries to overcome at least partially these drawbacks by providing a personal protection device that associates with a common mask also a transparent protective helmet that covers the whole head and wherein the face mask is connected to a separate filtering element designed to be worn by the user in a position other than the head. The connection between the mask and the filtering element is provided by a pipe for delivering the filtered air towards the mask and then towards the user's mouth and a tube for taking the air out of the user's mouth. However, this solution is suitable for carrying out only a protective function for the user of the protection device and is not adequate for protecting the surrounding people if it is the user himself who is the infected person. Where such masks are worn by infected people, to prevent propagation to the outside, since the hermetic seal is not guaranteed, there may even be contamination of the environment surrounding the person wearing it, with considerable health risks. The current alternative is the confinement of the subject in hospital environments in a negative pressure atmosphere, slightly lower than that of the surrounding environment, whose realization however requires enormous space, time and resources. A further drawback of known personal protective equipment lies in the impossibility of keeping such devices worn and at the same time allowing the consuming of drinks or food. Some solutions, such as US2018280758, have tried to overcome this limit by providing a connection for a straw on the front of the device that allows the user to take liquids from a glass without undressing the device. However, it seems clear that this solution does not allow the intake of food and therefore is not suitable for allowing proper hydration and nutrition in safe conditions. US2016332008 discloses a face mask provided with a completely removable front portion placed directly in front of the mouth. In this way, the user wishing to take food or drink would have the possibility to remove only the front part without having to undress the entire protective device. However, the configuration of the face mask is such that once the front is removed, the device ceases to have any protective function. Still another limitation of the well-known personal protective equipment lies in their poor ergonomics and their inconvenience, not allowing the execution of normal gestures and activities when they are worn. In particular, none of the known devices allows the possibility of carrying out manipulations on the inside of the casings, acting from the outside, so as to allow to carry out basic physiological functions, such as scratching, cleaning the face or repositioning any glasses worn by the user, without first having to remove the device. For example, GB2247175 and KR101136999 disclose personal protective device