Medical facemask and a mold for manufacturing the medical facemask

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a medical facemask, and more particularly to a medical facemask and the mold for manufacturing the medical facemask.

[0004] 2. Description of Related Art

[0005] With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, a conventional medical facemask in accordance with the prior art comprises a shell (50) and an air cushion (60) securely attached to the shell (50). The air cushion (60) covers a patient's mouth and nose. The air cushion (60) has a first end (62) in contact with a patient's chin and a second end (61) covering the bridge of the patient's nose. A gas such as oxygen or anaesthetic flows into the shell (50) for the patient to breathe.

[0006] The air cushion (60) is a bladder-like structure with a thickness of about 0.3 mm, and the surface of the air cushion (60) is slick. A thick air cushion (60) may initiate a claustrophobic response in the patient due to the weight of the mask, and the slick surface of the air cushion (60) will stick to the patient's face due to the perspiration. The conventional mask is very uncomfortable.

[0007] The disadvantages preciously mentioned are caused by the mold used to manufacture the conventional medical facemask. With reference to FIGS. 5, 7 and 8, the mold for manufacturing the conventional medical facemask is a blowing mold (70) and includes two mold blocks (71) abutting each other. Each of the mold blocks (71) has a cavity (72) defined to correspond to the other cavity (72). An inlet (73) is defined between the two mold blocks (71) and communicates with the cavity (72) where the mold (70) forms the first end (62) of the conventional medical facemask. The two mold blocks (71) respectively include multiple outlets (74) defined to communicate with the cavity (72).

[0008] To form the conventional facemask, a piece of hollow material is put into the inlet (73). High-pressure air is blown into the mold, and the original air in the cavity (72) is forced out of the mold through the outlets (74). Then the hollow material stretches to abut the periphery of the cavity (72) to form the air cushion (60), and a joint line (601) is formed on the air cushion (60) at the joint between the two blocks (71).

[0009] The joint line (601) of the conventional medical facemask is formed on the middle portion of the air cushion (60) so that the thickness of the air cushion (60) is equal everywhere and about 0.3 mm. The thick air cushion (60) may make the patient feel heavy and uncomfortable.

[0010] The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantages of the conventional medical facemask and the mold for manufacturing the conventional medical facemask.

[0011] The main objective of the present invention is to provide an improved a medical facemask and a mold for manufacturing the medical facemask. To achieve the objective, the medical facemask in accordance with the present invention includes an air cushion to fit around a patient's mouth and nose. The air cushion has a facing side to contact the patient's face. The facing side of the air cushion is soft and thin. The facing side has a thickness between 0.15-0.2 mm and forms a textured surface to abut the patient's face to prevent the medical facemask from sticking to the patient's face due to perspiration.

[0012] The mold for manufacturing the medical facemask in accordance with the present invention includes two mold blocks abutting each other. Each mold block has a mold face, a top, a bottom, a cavity, an inlet and multiple outlets. The cavity is defined perpendicular to the mold face such that the cavity in one mold block corresponds to the cavity in the other mold block. An inlet is defined in the top of the mold and communicates with one end of the cavity corresponding to portion of the medical facemask that covers a patient's nose. Each mold blocks has multiple outlets defined to communicate with the cavity. To form a thinner facing side, the outlets in the mold block forming the facing side have diameters two to five times larger than the diameters of the outlets in the other mold block. A recess is defined in the face of the first cavity to receive a fine mesh net to form a contact surface and prevent the material from flowing into the first outlet during the formation of the medical facemask.

[0013] Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a medical facemask in accordance with the present invention;

[0015] FIG. 2 is a front plan view of a mold in accordance with the present invention for manufacturing the medical facemask in FIG. 1;

[0016] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side plan view of the mold in FIG. 2 for manufacturing the medical facemask in FIG. 1;

[0017] FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional side plan view of the mold along line 4—4 in FIG. 2;

[0018] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional medical facemask in accordance with the prior art;

[0019] FIG. 6 is a perspective view in partial section of the conventional medical facemask in FIG. 5;

[0020] FIG. 7 is a front plan view of the mold for manufacturing the conventional medical facemask in FIG. 5; and

[0021] FIG. 8 is a side plan view of the mold for manufacturing the conventional medical facemask in FIG. 5.

[0022] With reference to the drawings and initially to FIG. 1, a medical facemask in accordance with the present invention comprises a shell (40) and an air cushion (10). The shell (40) has a concave facing side (not numbered) and an exterior side (not numbered). The exterior side of the shell (40) is adapted to connect to an air source, and the air cushion (10) is a flexible, non-permeable material (not numbered) and is attached to the facing side of the shell (40) with an airtight fit. The air cushion (10) includes a nose portion (11) to fit around a user's nose, a mouth portion (12) to fit around the user's mouth and a nipple (121) to inflate or deflate the air cushion (10). The air cushion (10) comprises a hollow inside and an outside surface comprising a facing side (13) to press against the user's face and a connecting side (14) securely joined with the facing side (13) and connected to the shell (40). The nipple (121) is integrally formed with and extends outward from the mouth portion (12) of the air cushion (10) and communicates with the inside of the air cushion (10). A check valve (120) is securely received in the nipple (121) of the air cushion (10) so that air can be pumped into the air cushion (10). The connecting side (14) is formed parallel with the facing side (13), and a joint line (15) is formed at the joint between the facing side (13) and the connecting side (14). The facing side (13) has a textured surface (131) formed to press against a user's face to prevent the medical facemask from sticking to or slipping off the user's face. The facing side (13) is half as thick as the connecting side (14) so that the facing side (13) is soft and comfortable on the user's face.

[0023] With reference to the FIGS. 2 and 3, the mold (20) for manufacturing the medical facemask in accordance with the present invention comprises a first mold block (21) and a second mold block (22) with a front face, an exterior face, a top, a bottom and two sides. The front faces of the mold blocks (21, 22) abut each other. A first cavity (23) is defined in the front face of the first mold block (21) to form the facing side (13) of the air cushion (10). A second cavity (24) is defined in the front face of the second mold (22) to form the connecting side (14) of the air cushion (10). The first cavity (23) is deeper than the second cavity (24), and the first cavity (23) has a volume greater than that of the second cavity (24). Each of the first cavity (23) and the second cavity (24) has a face (not numbered) and an opening (not numbered) on the front face that correspond to each other. An inlet (28) is defined between the two mold blocks (21, 22) and communicates with the first cavity (23) and the second cavity (24) where the mold forms the nose portion (11) of the air cushion (10). A bore (29) is defined between the two mold blocks (21, 22) opposite the inlet (28) and communicating with the first cavity (23) and the second cavity (24) where the mold forms the mouth portion (12). Multiple first outlets (25) are defined in the first mold block (21) and communicate with the first cavity (23). Multiple second outlets (26) are defined in the second mold block (22) and communicate with the second cavity (24). The diameter of each of the first outlets (25) is two to five times larger than the diameter of each of the second outlets (26).

[0024] With reference to FIG. 4, a recess (27) is defined in the face of the first cavity (23) to receive a fine mesh net (30) to prevent the material from flowing into the first outlet (25) during the formation of the medical facemask. Consequently, the textured surface (131) is formed on the face of the facing side (13). Because the volume of the first cavity (23) is greater than that of the second cavity (24) and the diameter of the first outlet (25) is greater than that of the second outlet (26), the material flow more rapidly on the periphery of the first cavity (23) than the second cavity (24). Consequently, the thickness of the facing side (13) is thinner than that of the connecting side (14). The thinner facing side (13) makes the user feel more comfortable. The thickness of the facing side is between 0.15 to 0.2 mm.

[0025] Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.