BREATHABLE MASK

Abstract

The present invention relates to a breathable mask having a body and a snorkel being in fluid communication with an interior of the body. The interior of the body is provided to divide the mask into an eye pocket and an orinasal pocket. The total inner volume of the eye pocket and the orinasal pocket is not more than 500 ml. In the circumstance a snorkeler wears the snorkeling mask, the total of the inner volume remaining in the eye pocket and the inner volume remaining in the orinasal pocket does not exceed 400 ml. By reducing the inner volume of the mask, the snorkeler can completely or nearly breath out all the dirty air under his/her normal tidal volume of every breath, forming a temporary vacuum in the mask, and allowing the external fresh air to be ready to enter the mask actively after the snorkeler takes a next inhalation, thereby the snorkeler can have an easy and safe breath.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention is a full-face mask covering a user's eyes, nose and mouth, especially a breathable snorkeling mask that is relatively compact, lightweight and has excellent breathing efficiency.

Descriptions of the Related Art

In the current water activities, the most common way to allow a user to breathe freely without holding their breath is nothing more than using a mask (covering the eyes and nose) with a breathing tube (secured to the user's mouth). Although this method has been used for many years, it relies on the user to breath exclusively through the mouth. This however is different from the habit of ordinary people who breath from the mouth and or the nose. The invention of the face snorkeling mask 1 (i.e., the so-called Full Face Snorkel Mask, FFSM) is mainly to allow the body 10 of the mask 1 to cover the entire face F (from the eyebrows to the chin, including the eyes, nose, and mouth). Then, a breathing tube 11 connects to the central top of the body 10, and is in fluid communication with the inside of the body 10 for the user to breathe freely through the orinasal. The whole breathing process is more casual, and there is no need to pay attention to breathing, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, making the water activities more enjoyable.

However due to the large lens 12 area, the full-face snorkeling mask 1 has a large inner volume, making the FFSM difficult to carry. In addition, another fatal disadvantage of the large inner volume of FFSM is that during use, the large inner volume decreases the efficiency of exhaled air from leaving the FFSM; thereby the concentration of carbon dioxide in the total inner space of the mask body 10 will gradually increase. Inadvertent loss of consciousness due to insufficient content of blood oxygen has been reported all over the world. To understand why, we must start with some basic theories:

• (1) The air we breathe contains about 21% oxygen (O₂) and up to about 0.04% carbon dioxide (CO₂). But many people don't know that it is carbon dioxide, not oxygen, that is primarily responsible for the rate and depth of our breathing; carbon dioxide is a very important component of the air in the human lungs, and increased levels of carbon dioxide can cause loss of consciousness. If this happens in water, the result is drowning.
• (2) During breathing, oxygen is consumed and metabolized, and carbon dioxide is produced by our body, resulting in an increase in carbon dioxide content (to about 4%) and a decrease in oxygen content (to about 16%) in the air we exhale. When we exhale, the airway is not completely emptied, and a small amount of air (rich in carbon dioxide) remains in the airway. This amount of breathing that does not participate in air exchange is medically called “dead space”. So, when we inhale again, we are breathing a mixture of air that includes “fresh air” as well as “air rich in carbon dioxide”, can become lethal; therefore, we must keep the dead space as small as possible to be safe.
• (3) To transplant such a theory to the FFSM, that is, to simulate the whole FFSM as the human respiratory system. When using the breathing tube 11 for breathing, the length of the airway is obviously increased, and conceptually, the volume of the so-called dead space is increased. If this total volume is too large, the air we rebreathe in will have increasingly higher concentrations of carbon dioxide, leading to the increased risks as described earlier. This is also the reason why the 1972 European Union Standard (i.e., EU standard EN 1972) strictly limits the length and diameter of breathing tubes; that is, the volume of breathing tubes for adults is required not to exceed 230 ml (and not to exceed 150 ml for children). And this is only the volume limit of the breathing tube 11. If we now add the internal volume of the mask body 10, the volume of the dead space will be doubled or tripled, or even higher, which will of course lead to the danger of increasing level of carbon dioxide concentration.

Based on the above theory, reducing carbon dioxide concentration has become a serious and active research and development for this industry, especially for well-known manufacturers, because they must produce safe and reliable products. Not only because of the need to pass the EU standard inspection, but also avoid being prosecuted and compensate people due to the safety concerns. These manufacturers usually go in two directions: 1) reduce the volume of dead space; 2) “shunt” the intake and exhaust air flows of the mask, so that the fresh air inhaled is independent of the carbon dioxide exhaled, reducing the chance of mixing.

• (1) In order to reduce the dead space, some FFSMs adopt the design concept of isolating the breathing portion (orinasal pocket) from other portions such as the cheeks and the eyes to form two areas, the upper portion is the upper volume (UV), that is, the eye pocket 14 (EP), as shown in the area surrounded by the hollow dotted line in FIG. 2; the lower portion is the lower volume (LV), which is the orinasal pocket 13 (OP), the area surrounded by the bold solid line in FIG. 2, allows the dead space to be strictly controlled only in the lower volume area, so as to reduce the carbon dioxide concentration.
• (2) In order to divide the intake and exhaust, some FFSMs have designed a one-way breathing loop, by using a check valve to control one-way intake and one-way exhaust to prevent exhaled air from mixing inhaled fresh air. Therefore, when inhaling, it is ideal to only inhale “fresh air” from the breathing tube 11, pass through the eye pocket 14, and then pass through the check valve 15 to enter the orinasal pocket 13 (the path shown by the hollow dotted line in FIG. 3); The air can only be guided from the two sides of the mask body 10 to the top of the mask through a single passage (that is, the passages on the two sides of the body 10 along the outline of the lens frame, not shown in the drawings), and then discharged through the breathing tube 11, as shown by the solid dotted line in FIG. 3.

Even if the above-mentioned direction of solving the problem is correct the air tightness between the upper volume area (eye pocket 14) and the lower volume area (orinasal pocket 13) of many products is inherently not good due to aging materials, or due to different users' facial shapes and dimensions causing the seal between the upper and lower volume areas cannot be kept well at all. Only a simple partition exists between the eye pocket 14 and the orinasal pocket 13. In addition, not shown in the drawings for details, the passage occupied by the solid dotted lines in FIG. 3 will undoubtedly increase the volume of the dead space. This result returns to the level where the carbon dioxide concentration is too high. Of course, adding a check valve to control one-way exhaust so that the exhalation space can be reduced after deducting the volume of the eye pocket 14 can make up some shortcomings of excessive dead space, but, because the exhaust flow usually circulates from the two sides of the orinasal pocket, goes up along the air passages around the mask to the top of the mask, and then runs along the length of the breathing tube to the top of the breathing tube to be discharged. Whether this “one-way” control of exhaust can be well done all the way to the end, or whether it needs to be set some other check valves in the midway such as at the connection between the mask and the breathing tube, etc., will increase the cost of materials and make the mechanism more complicated.

With the current design of the FFSM, the entire lens is used to cover the eyes, nose, and mouth of the entire human face, and then on the inner side of the lens, various isolation, and air intake and exhaust mechanisms are arranged, Therefore, the lens surface must protrude forward from the frame to strive for more internal space, so the entire product will leave a certain distance from the user's face after wearing (as shown in FIG. 1B), and the internal volume of such a design of mask cannot be minimized. If it is desired to control the dead space to a lower range of values, it is even more impossible. Therefore, it is particularly important to make structural changes to the full-face mask existing in the market.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a breathable mask, through structural changes, its volume can be minimized, therefore improving the above problems. To understand the technical thinking behind all of this, there are a few theories to focus on first.

The first is “negative ventilation pressure”. In a relatively sealed room, if there is a one-way exhaust fan on one side of the wall to force the indoor air out, a transient relative vacuum (the so-called “negative pressure”) will be formed. If the windows on the other side have many holes, the outdoor air will passively flow into the room with zero or negative pressure under the unbalanced internal and external atmospheric pressure. In this way, the indoor air is continuously circulated with the outdoor air. If the ventilation position is installed properly, or the temporary vacuum is more complete, the outdoor fresh air will flow toward the room through the holes “more naturally and actively”, and the indoor air will only leave in the direction of being taken away and will not pollute other rooms. Industrial plants use this theory to purify the air in the factory. Medical institutions also use the same principle to build negative pressure isolation wards to ensure that patients with high infectious sources will not contaminate other rooms. The above theoretical relation is shown in the block diagram in FIG. 4.

The second is “Tidal volume”. Tidal volume refers to the amount of air inhaled or expelled from the lungs during each breathing cycle and measures approximately 500 milliliters in a healthy adult male and approximately 400 milliliters in a healthy female. This is an important clinical parameter that allows for proper ventilation. When the lungs need adequate ventilation protection, the resting heart rhythm is used as the standard, and the tidal volume is set to 6-8 ml/kg ideal body weight (IBW). The safe tidal volume range is defined as 6-8 ml/kg IBW, where IBW (male)=50 kg+2.3×(height (in inch)−60). Using this algorithm, the calculated safe tidal volume for a man with a height of 185 cm is between 474 ml and 632 ml; while for a man with a height of 165 cm, the calculated safe tidal volume is between 368 and 490 ml. This is why the average safe tidal volume for a healthy adult male is set at about 500 ml in clinical practice.

Based on the knowledge of negative pressure ventilation technology, after wearing the FFSM, a negative pressure space is formed between the mask and the face, and the action of the user's exhalation can be compared to a one-way exhaust fan. When the air is activated (that is, exhaling), if all the air in the mask can be exhaled, it will be closer to the transient vacuum state. At this time, the air flow of the intake air will passively flow into the mask “naturally and actively”. Air bringing in from the outside is the fresh air, while air discharged from the mask is the dirty air of carbon dioxide that is not expected to remain in the mask. It does not require forced inhalation to form a natural and clean cycle with separation of intake and exhaust. Based on the knowledge of tidal volume, if the user can exhale all the air in the mask with every exhalation, a vacuum-like transient will be formed in the mask, and the above-mentioned clean cycle can be easily achieved. According to this important finding, if an adult male is taken as an example, as long as the total of the volume in the mask plus the volume in the breathing tube (that is, the dead space as understood above) can be as small as 500 ml or less, or even better to be lower than 300-400 ml, it can ensure that each resting exhalation volume of the user (no matter whether adult male, female or child) reaches a transient vacuum rate close to 100%, then the next inhalation will not be laborious, and the fresh air brought in can fill the entire dead space. With the effect of negative pressure exhaust, there will be rigidly any mix with dirty carbon dioxide air, so there is no safety concern.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a breakthrough structure to minimize the interior of the body of the existing diving/snorkel mask, so that the body boundary can be concentrated in the middle of the face, as long as the eyes, nose and mouth are covered, well positioned and waterproofed. In other words, the structure of the orinasal pocket for accommodating the user's nose and mouth is independent of the lens frame, instead of letting the entire transparent lens 12 protrude from the whole face frame 18 as in the traditional FFSM (in reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B) whose basic structure is to divide the eye pocket and the orinasal pocket inside the mask behind the entire lens 12. In this invention, because there is no wasted space, and the eye mask portion and the orinasal mask portion are independent of each other, the eye mask can be as close to the eyes as possible, and the orinasal mask can also be as close as possible to the user's orinasal. This way, the upper, lower, left, right, front, and rear dimensions are not overextended, and the overall internal volume is naturally and effectively reduced. This solves the fundamental problem of excessive dead space. Consequently, the overall weight is thus greatly reduced, making it more convenient to carry. Further, in such a design of the breathable mask, the nose portion, which can be made of soft material and exposes outward, makes it possible to allow the user to operate the function of equalization that only the conventional diving mask covering the user's eyes and nose can have.

Because the internal volume of the entire mask can be extremely effectively reduced, some additional designs, such as how small the lower volume is, how the orinasal pocket should be designed, whether the upper and lower volume areas are effectively isolated, whether to design check valve control to shunt the intake and exhaust, and whether the breathing tube must strictly control its internal volume, have become secondary issues. Dealing with these secondary issues will only further improve the effect of circulation. In addition, because the orinasal pockets have been significantly reduced in volume, the exhalation efficiency will be greatly improved; that is to say, it is not necessary to use too much force for exhalation, and at the same time, the accumulated water in the orinasal volume area can be drained easily. Furthermore, to fix the traditional FFSM on the user's head, on both sides of the entire mask frame, there must be a total of four points (16 and 17 in FIG. 2) provided to allow the head strap (not shown) to cross the back of the head. It is very troublesome and bulky to fix. On the contrary, in this invention, because the main weight will fall on the eye mask area, i.e., the weight shared by the orinasal mask is relatively low, so the two-ended head strap traditionally used for a diving mask suffices to fasten the mask onto the user's head from two opposing sides of the lens frame around the back of the head. The convenience of carrying and use is greatly improved, and the cost of manufacturing is also reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a schematic, perspective view of a traditional full-face snorkeling mask.

FIG. 1B is a schematic side view of a user wearing a traditional full-face snorkeling mask.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the upper and lower volume divisions of a traditional full-face snorkeling mask.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the inlet and outlet air paths of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a block conceptual diagram showing the negative pressure ventilation theory.

FIG. 5A is a schematic front view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of the rear view of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view of a sagittal plane taken along line 5C-5C of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5D is a cross-sectional view of a coronal plane taken along the line 5D-5D of FIG. 5B, showing a schematic view of the intake and exhaust paths of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a user wearing the breathable mask of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, a breathable mask 2 basically includes a body 3, a breathing tube 4, a purge valve 5, and a fastener 6. The breathing tube 4 is arranged above the body 3 and communicates with the interior of the body 3 so that the outside air can enter the interior of the body 3 through the breathing tube 4 for the user to inhale. The breathing tube 4 can also provide a path for the user to exhale air to the outside. Of course, the function of the breathing tube 4 may provide dual or three channels for intake and exhaust, or it may only provide a single channel for inhalation, and the exhaust air is handled by another mechanism. A typical inhalation arrangement is shown by the hollow dotted line in FIG. 5D. When the user inhales, the clean air can typically run from the air intake channel 41 of the breathing tube 4, through the eye pocket 31 (i.e., the upper volume), then the check valve 32, and finally into the orinasal pocket 33 (i.e., the lower volume) for the user to inhale from his/her nostrils and mouth (not shown). Of course, this is not the only way, other methods are also possible. A typical exhaust arrangement is shown by the solid bold dashed line in FIG. 5D. When the user exhales, the dirty air containing carbon dioxide in the body 3 can travel on a typical path from both sides of the orinasal pocket 33 into the exhaust passage 34 (wherein the exhaust passage 34 is arranged along the periphery of both sides of the eye pocket 31), along all the way up to the exhaust passage 42 inside the breathing tube 4, thereby being discharged to the outside. Of course, other exhaust methods are also possible. Any position between the exhaust passage 34 and the top of the breathing tube 4 can optionally be provided with an exhaust check valve (not shown in the figures) in order to enhance the effect of splitting the intake and exhaust. Under such a limited internal volume of the body 3, there is no need to install the check valve 32 to let natural air ventilation between the eye pocket 31 and the orinasal pocket 33 which are not strictly isolation of each other, if both are freely communicated with the breathing tube 4. This way, though the intake and exhaust air are mixed, it still has an effect because having a good transient vacuum negative pressure, allowing users to breathe safely and without burden.

The purge valve 5 is located below the orinasal pocket 33, so that the orinasal pocket 33 is in an outward one-way fluid communication with the outside. Forced discharge is carried out through the purge valve 5, which also provides part of the air exhaust capacity in the general technical understanding. The fastener 6 is used to fix the body 3 of the mask 2 to the user's head, which includes a head strap (not shown) and a chin strap 62, so that the body 3 and the user's head can be in a three-point way of fastening. Of course, the fastening method is not limited to be in this manner. Any other measures that can stabilize the body 3 of the mask 2 and ensure a sufficient water seal are acceptable.

Because the main point of the present invention is how to minimize the internal volume of the body 3 of the mask 2, only the basic structural arrangement of the mask body, and the internal volume that can be achieved by this arrangement, which is indeed significantly smaller than the existing available full-face mask are described by adding some actual simulation data. Others related to the position of the intake and exhaust flow, path, and passage, as well as the setting method and position of the intake valve and exhaust valve, are not critically important. So, only one or two examples are described herein as representatives, and no detailed descriptions will be given.

Referring again to FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, the structure of the body 3 further includes an eye mask 35 and a nose mask 36, in which the eye mask 35 only covers the eyes of the user, and the orinasal mask 36 covers the nose and mouth of the user. The eye mask 35 has a transparent lens portion 350, a lens frame 352, and a skirt portion 354. The lens frame 352 surrounds the periphery of the lens portion 350, and the eye skirt 354 extends backward from the lens frame 352. The lens portion 350, the lens frame 352, and the eye skirt 354 are waterproof joined together along a peripheral outline of the lens frame 352. The orinasal mask 36 extends downward from the lens frame 352 and the eye skirt 354, and is water sealed with the eye mask 35. The orinasal mask 36 has an upper portion forming a partition 361, which divides the internal structure of the body 3 into an eye pocket 31 and an orinasal pocket 33. Preferably, the lens frame 352 is continuously defined by an eye frame 356 and a nose frame 358, wherein the eye frame 356 substantially surrounds an upper edge and the two outer side edges of the lens portion 350, and the nose frame 358 substantially surrounds a lower edge of the lens portion 350. The eye skirt 354 extends backward from the eye frame 356. The orinasal mask 36 extends downward from the nose frame 358, and two sides thereof are merged with the eye skirt 354. When the user wears the breathable mask 2, the eyes can be accommodated in the eye pocket 31, the nose and mouth can be accommodated in the orinasal pocket 33, and a rear edge 355 of the eye skirt 354 and a rear edge 362 the orinasal mask 36 can be water-sealed fit onto the user's face, so that the user's eyes, nose, and mouth can be isolated from water. More preferably, the orinasal mask 36 has a soft nose mask 363, a soft mouth mask 364 and a rigid mouth frame 365. The rigid mouth frame 365 extends downward from the nose frame 358 to achieve the function of supporting the soft nose mask 363 and the mouth mask 364. In the best mode, the rigid mouth frame 365 does not cover the soft nose mask 363, while the rigid mouth frame 365 and the soft mouth mask 364 are in fluid communication, and the purge valve 5 is sandwiched therebetween, allowing the user to exhale and blow to drain the water in the orinasal mask.

The structure of the body 3 can be alternatively defined by another way that may help for understanding. Specifically, the body 3 becomes to include a transparent lens portion 350, a lens frame 352 and a water-sealing skirt 38. The lens frame 352 surrounds a periphery of the transparent lens portion 350. The water-sealing skirt 38 extends throughout the whole user's face and is equivalent to the abovementioned eye skirt 354, soft nose mask 363 and soft mouth mask 364 integrally formed. The water-sealing skirt 38 has a partition 361 which can be integrally or separately formed with the water-sealing skirt 38, in which a partition 361 divides the water-sealing skirt 38 into an eye pocket 31 to cover a user's eyes, and an orinasal pocket 33 to cover a user's nose and mouth. The transparent lens portion 350 does not extend further downward to an extent beyond the partition 361. The transparent lens portion 350, the lens frame 352 and the water-sealing skirt 38 are water-sealed along the periphery of the transparent lens portion 350.

With such a design, because the visor, that is, the transparent lens portion 350, does not completely cover the nose and mouth from the user's eyes, therefore, the orinasal mask 36 is not limited to share the outline of the body 3 with the eye mask 35. They are independent of each other instead. Therefore, the width and length of the entire body 3 can be smaller and shallower than the traditional full-face mask, that is, the breathable mask can be closer to the user's face (see FIG. 6 and FIG. 1B for comparison), the outer dimension of the entire body 3 can be reduced a lot, and the internal volume thereof can also be reduced a lot, which can naturally achieve the effect of the above-mentioned negative pressure cycle and reduce the burden of breathing. Specifically, if the user has not yet put on the mask 2, the total of the volume (EP) of the eye pocket 31 and the volume (OP) of the orinasal pocket 33 can be reduced to substantially no more than 500 ml, or even no more than 425 ml. The volume (EP) of the eye pocket 31 can be no more than 350 ml, or even no more than 300 ml, and the volume (OP) of the orinasal pocket 33 can be no more than 200 ml, or even no more than 175 ml. If the user has put on the mask 2, the total of the remaining volume (REP) of the eye pocket 31 and the remaining volume (ROP) of the orinasal pocket 33 is substantially not more than 400 ml, even not more than 350 ml. The remaining volume (REP) of the eye pocket 31 is substantially not more than 300 ml, even not more than 250 ml. The remaining volume (ROP) of the orinasal pocket 33 is substantially no more than 150 ml, and can even reach no more than 110 ml.

The following Table A having no users is a comparison list which are measured for the inner volume of the body 3 of the mask 2, i.e., the eye pocket (EP) volume and the orinasal pocket (OP) volume in one of the optimal products of the present invention, as opposed to that of the commercially available full-face snorkel masks, by using the computer-aided design of DASSAULT SYSTÈMES Software named “CATIA V5”, under the same environmental conditions; whereas Table B is another comparison list after a user (according to ISO standard adult male head) wear those masks and the remaining eye pocket volume (REP) and the remaining orinasal pocket volume (ROP) are measured. Among them, each of the volume units is “ml”.

TABLE A
		Eye	Orinasal
		pocket	pocket	Total
		(EP)	(OP)	volume
Brand	Model	volume	volume	(EP + OP)
WHQQDOC	S/M	509	272	781
DECATHLON	EASY BREATH	399	206	605
MARES	SEA VU DRY	426	317	743
BODY GLOVE	AIRE	435	279	714
CRESSI	BARON	840	328	1,168
Product of this invention	229	158	387

TABLE B
		Remaining	Remaining
		Eye	Orinasal	Total
		pocket	pocket	remaining
		(REP)	(ROP)	volume
Brand	Model	volume	volume	(REP + ROP)
WHQQDOC	S/M	462	169	631
DECATHLON	EASY	327	168	495
	BREATH
MARES	SEA	391	266	631
	VU DRY
BODY	AIRE	384	239	623
GLOVE
CRESSI	BARON	739	308	1,047
Product of this invention	206	83	289

The above experimental data says that the body 3 of the present invention reduces its internal volume by a lot. Even if the volume of breathing tube is included as internal volume, it is still a lot less than tidal volume of an ordinary person. Therefore, no matter how the interior of the body 3 is designed, the snorkeler can almost empty the dirty air in the mask 2 as long as he/she exhales moderately, forming a transient vacuum state. Physically, the clean air outside has been waiting to enter this negative pressure environment. As long as the user breathes naturally, the clean air from the outside can be brought into the mask body 3, thus forming an easy inhalation and exhalation cycle, keeps the users from being exhausted. And there is no danger resulting from excessive carbon dioxide content. In the design of the mask body 3, the height (H) from the topmost of the eye pocket 31 to the bottommost of the orinasal pocket 33 is measured between 115 mm and 155 mm, more preferably between 120 mm and 145 mm. The maximum width (W) of the eye pocket 31 is measured between 125 mm and 160 mm, and more preferably between 130 mm and 145 mm. The maximum depth (D) from the lens portion 350 to the rear edge 362 of the eye skirt 354 (i.e., the maximum depth of the eye pocket 31) is measured between 35 mm and 65 mm, more preferably between 40 mm and 60 mm. This mask design makes the entire lower half of the body 3, that is, the region from the lower portion of the lens frame 31 all the way downwards to the nose skirt 52 and the mouth skirt 53, obviously becomes thinner and sharpened in width, as shown in FIG. 5A. This causes the whole snorkeling mask 2 to become much smaller than the existing full-face mask 1, and it is more portable. The following Table C is the actual measurement data (unit: millimeter, mm) of the internal space of the body of various masks, which is sufficient to prove the excellent size down of the present invention.

TABLE C
		Max.	Max.	Max.
		inner	inner	inner
		width	height	depth
Brand	Model	(W)	(H)	(D)
WHQQDOC	S/M	155	204	77
DECATHLON	EASY BREATH	147	176	70
MARES	SEA VU DRY	155	203	88
BODY GLOVE	AIRE	144	178	76
CRESSI	BARON	155	210	89
Product of this invention	140	130	44

In addition to the above-mentioned preferred embodiment that describes the structure and operation mode of carrying out the technology of the present invention, the following mentioned some possible alternatives that are considered equivalent to the claimed invention set forth in the last paragraph of the claims:

1. The mentioned orinasal mask protruding outward from the nose frame is not limited to be made by soft material. Rigid material is possible if equalization operation is not required.

2. The orinasal mask and the eye skirt can be integrally formed into one piece and made of soft material like silicone.

3. The rear edge of the eye skirt and a rear edge of the lower portion of the orinasal mask are integrally formed into a water sealing ring that can be an interface being in close contact with the user's face.

Claims

1. A breathable mask, comprising a body and a breathing tube which has an interior capable of being in fluid communication with an interior of the body; the body including: an eye mask, covering only eyes of a user, the eye mask having: a transparent lens portion;a lens frame, surrounding a periphery of the transparent lens portion;an eye skirt extending rearwardly from the lens frame;

2. The breathable mask according to claim 1, wherein the lens frame is continuously defined by an eye frame and a nose frame, the eye skirt extends backward from the eye frame, and the orinasal mask extends downward from the nose frame and is merged with the eye skirt; when the user wears the breathable mask, a rear edge of the eye skirt and a rear edge of the orinasal mask fit on face of the user so that the user's eyes, nose, and mouth are isolated from water.

3. The breathable mask according to claim 1, wherein the eye pocket has a volume substantially not greater than 350 ml.

4. The breathable mask according to claim 1, wherein the orinasal pocket has a volume substantially not greater than 200 ml.

5. The breathable mask according to claim 1, wherein the total volume of the eye pocket and the orinasal pocket is substantially not greater than 425 ml.

6. The breathable mask according to claim 5, wherein the eye pocket has a volume substantially not greater than 300 ml.

7. The breathable mask according to claim 5, wherein the orinasal pocket has a volume substantially not greater than 175 ml.

8. A breathable mask, comprising a body and a breathing tube which has an interior capable of being in fluid communication with an interior of the body; the body including: an eye mask, covering only eyes of a user, the eye mask having: a transparent lens portion;a lens frame, surrounding a periphery of the transparent lens portion;an eye skirt extending rearwardly from the lens frame;

9. The breathable mask according to claim 8, wherein the eye pocket has a remaining volume substantially not greater than 300 ml.

10. The breathable mask according to claim 8, wherein the orinasal pocket has a remaining volume substantially not greater than 150 ml.

11. The breathable mask according to claim 8, wherein the remaining total volume of the eye pocket and the orinasal pocket is substantially not greater than 350 ml.

12. The breathable mask according to claim 8, wherein the eye pocket has a remaining volume substantially not greater than 250 ml.

13. The breathable mask according to claim 8, wherein the remaining volume of the orinasal pocket is substantially not greater than 110 ml.

14. A breathable mask, comprising a body and a breathing tube which has an interior capable of being in fluid communication with an interior of the body; the body including: an eye mask, covering only eyes of a user, the eye mask having: a transparent lens portion;a lens frame, surrounding a periphery of the transparent lens portion;an eye skirt extending rearwardly from the lens frame;

15. The breathable mask according to claim 14, wherein the eye pocket has a maximum width (W) measured between 125 mm and 160 mm.

16. The breathable mask according to claim 14, wherein the height (H) of the body is measured between 120 mm and 145 mm.

17. The breathable mask according to claim 15, wherein the maximum width (W) of the eye pocket is measured between 130 mm and 145 mm.

18. A breathable mask, comprising a body and a breathing tube which has an interior capable of in fluid communication with an interior of the body; the body including: an eye mask, covering only eyes of a user, the eye mask having: a transparent lens portion;a lens frame, surrounding a periphery of the transparent lens portion;an eye skirt extending rearwardly from the lens frame;

19. The breathable mask according to claim 18, wherein the maximum depth is measured between 40 mm and 60 mm.

20. The breathable mask according to claim 18, wherein the eye pocket has a maximum width (W) which is measured between 125 mm and 160 mm, and wherein the body has a height (H) defined from a topmost end of the eye pocket to a bottommost end of the orinasal pocket, which is measured between 115 mm and 155 mm.

21. The breathable mask according to claim 19, wherein the eye pocket has a maximum width (W) which is measured between 130 mm and 145 mm, and wherein the body has a height (H) defined from a topmost end of the eye pocket to a bottommost end of the orinasal pocket, which is measured between 120 mm and 145 mm.

22. A breathable mask, comprising a body and a breathing tube which has an interior capable of in fluid communication with an interior of the body; the body including: a transparent lens portion;a lens frame, surrounding a periphery of the transparent lens portion;a water-sealing skirt, which has a partition dividing the water-sealing skirt into an eye pocket to cover a user's eyes, and an orinasal pocket to cover a user's nose and mouth;characterized in that:the transparent lens portion does not extend further downward than the partition; andthe eye pocket and the orinasal pocket have a total volume which does not substantially exceed 500 ml.

23. The breathable mask according to claim 22, wherein the partition is integrally or separately formed with the water-sealing skirt.

24. The breathable mask according to claim 22, wherein the transparent lens portion, the lens frame and the water-sealing skirt are water-sealed along the periphery of the transparent lens portion.

25. The breathable mask according to claim 22, wherein the eye pocket has a volume substantially not greater than 350 ml.

26. The breathable mask according to claim 22, wherein the orinasal pocket has a volume substantially not greater than 200 ml.

27. The breathable mask according to claim 22, wherein the total volume of the eye pocket and the orinasal pocket is substantially not greater than 425 ml.

28. The breathable mask according to claim 25, wherein the eye pocket has a volume substantially not greater than 300 ml.

29. The breathable mask according to claim 25, wherein the orinasal pocket has a volume substantially not greater than 175 ml.