Patent Application
20190274381
The present invention relates to a head protection hood having:
said hood comprising a frame which is connected along the edge of said face opening, which receives a visor and which has a first lip resting on the head of the user at an area situated between the bridge and tip of the nose, at the front region, at the temples and at the infra-orbital regions of the face of the user, thus forming a visual compartment separated from said breathing area.
Such a head protection hood is known from document FR3016271 which discloses a hood having an outer surface intended to be in contact with a surrounding environment, an inner surface intended to be in contact with the head of a user, a head passage section and a face opening delimited by an edge at the eyes of the user. According to this prior art document, the hood is further provided with protective eyewear in a frame setting ensuring space between a visor and the support on the face of the user, the protective eyewear being fixed to the hood at the face opening so that the eyewear and the hood form a single article. More specifically, the setting is fixed to the edge of the face opening of the hood by the edge (lip) of the setting which rests on and is supported by the face of the user. For example, as shown in this prior art document, the edge (the lip) intended to abut the face of the user is stitched onto the periphery of the face opening (opening of the hood) so the hood and the protective eyewear form a single article. Furthermore, a section of the hood forms a breathing mask which can also be stitched/fixed onto the lower section of the eyewear at the support edge (lip). Note that, according to this prior art document, the visor is not intended to be removable, as a specific procedure for washing the hood/the overalls comprising a hood is proposed to protect the visor during a step of washing the garment.
This type of head protection hood is particularly used in aseptic or sterile environments where the user must be isolated from the surrounding environment. This is particularly shown in environments such as clean rooms and laboratories where vaccines and medicines are prepared. On the one hand, in this type of environment, the user needs to be as isolated as possible so they do not contaminate the environment in which they are working and, on the other hand, it is sometimes a question of isolating the user themselves from dangerous and/or harmful substances.
When an operator is brought to work in a sterile environment, they must particularly ensure that they do not contaminate the equipment they wear. In this way, the operator must respect the strict dressing procedures, which are only meaningful if the protective equipment that they are using is entirely sterile itself. To that end, the overalls and hoods are generally provided after sterilisation, in sealed packages whose easy openings allow the sterile equipment to be grasped. In addition, more specifically in relation to the hoods provided with a visor, it is necessary that the latter be not only sterile but also perfectly clean to ensure an accurate view and working comfort for the user.
Unfortunately, even if a hood according to document FR 3016271 has certain advantages including a reduction of the presence and formation of steam, it appears that it is not optimal and is prone to rapid wear. In fact, a first problem found with a hood according to this prior art document resides in the fact that the edge (lip) resting on the face of the user generally comprises stitches fixing the protective eyewear to the hood. These stitches are in direct contact with the skin of the face of the user, which is particularly irritating and may cause itching. Furthermore, the presence of stitches on the support edge encourages air to enter the visual compartment, as each stitch means that the support edge is perforated, which is contrary to the elimination of the problems of steam formation.
A second problem, this time irrespective of the means fixing the frame setting to the hood (stitching, gluing, etc.), is that in practice, during the procedures of cleaning the hood to which the protective eyewear is fixed, the support edge (lip) is quickly damaged, and more and more over the course of the wash cycles. In fact, during machine cleaning and/or during drying, the hood is subjected to different mechanical pressures, notably during spin cycles wherein it is pressed against the walls of the drum of the machine. Inevitably, in such a case, the material of the hood fixed over the support edge (lip) exerts traction thereupon, causing damage but also progressive separation of the eyewear from the hood. In the event wherein the eyewear-hood connection is implemented by stitching, the perforations resulting from the stitching grow bit by bit as a result of the mechanical pressures until the support edge (lip) ends up being torn by the stitching thread. As a result, the support edge can no longer definitely ensure the seal of the visual compartment with respect to the breathing compartment and/or as the material of the hood detaches from the protective eyewear. This is evidently problematical, as indicated above, as the aim is to isolate the operator from the environment and vice versa.
A third problem then is that the manufacturing of the hood where the eyewear is connected by stitching, or any other means, over the support edge (lip) is difficult to implement on a large scale: in fact, it is particularly complicated to automate the manufacturing of such hoods where precise stitching must be carried out on a support edge (lip) which, due to its nature, must be narrow in width. In fact, this support edge (lip) is intended to closely fit to the facial features and must not be irritating for the user, this implying that the width of the support edge (lip) be reduced while ensuring an appropriate seal between the visual compartment and the breathing compartment.
The object of the invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a head protection hood for which the cleaning and sterilisation steps are simple, this in parallel with:
To solve this problem, a head protection hood is provided according to the invention which, as indicated above, is characterised in that said frame further comprises a second peripheral lip situated between said first lip and said visor, said second peripheral lip extending from said frame in the direction of said surrounding environment.
According to the invention, any appropriate means may be used in order to connect the frame along the face opening. For example, the hood-protective eyewear (hood-frame) connection may be implemented by stitching, by gluing or by any other means allowing a link to be ensured between the two elements. According to a first example, the second peripheral lip of the frame may be stitched to the hood along the edge of the face opening. The frame may also, according to a second example, be definitively connected (fixed) to the hood by clamping the material forming the hood between two sections of the second peripheral lip, this along the face opening. In the latter case, the second peripheral lip may be, according to the invention, formed of two lip sections which are able to fit together (for example, through a male-female system), the material of the hood and, specifically, the periphery of the face opening of the hood then being clamped between these two lip sections of the second peripheral lip.
Such a hood according to the invention, if the frame is provided with a second peripheral lip situated between said first lip and said visor, said second peripheral lip extending from said frame towards said surrounding environment, is not only comfortable but also durable and easy to manufacture, particularly by automating certain manufacturing steps.
In fact, the presence of the second peripheral lip according to the invention allows, when the hood-protective eyewear (hood-frame) connection is implemented by stitching, the stitches pressing against the skin of the user to be avoided. Furthermore, the presence of the second peripheral lip according to the invention allows problems of distortion/damage to the support edge (lip) to be eliminated and easily facilitates the same implementation of the hood according to the invention. More specifically, the material of the hood is connected (for example, stitched or glued) to the second peripheral lip according to the invention and not to the first lip resting against the head of the user: the second lip being specifically adapted for stitching and/or gluing work during the preparation or manufacturing, no stitch touches the user in the face area where the first lip rests when the hood-protective eyewear connection is implemented by stitching; no mechanical pressure is exerted by the material forming the hood on the first lip of the frame during wash/dry cycles or during wearing if the first lip is not connected to the material; and the second peripheral lip forms an outer border of the frame wherein an automated fixing, for example by stitching or by gluing, may be implemented, this second peripheral lip not having to be narrow in width as is the case for the first support lip.
Furthermore, such a hood according to the invention is particularly advantageous as it has not only a visor which can be easily placed onto and removed (removable visor) from the frame, but it also has a visual compartment which is separated, preferably in a sealed manner, from a breathing area. This separation of the breathing area and the visual compartment is ensured through the first lip of the frame which is in contact with and rests on the face of the user at an area situated between the bridge and tip of the nose, preferably at the arch of the nose, at the front region, at the temples and at the infra-orbital regions of the face of the user, thus forming a visual compartment separated from said breathing area. Preferably, this contact and this resting of the first lip of the frame are implemented along the entire periphery of the visual compartment in order to truly isolate, preferably to isolate in a sealed manner, the visual compartment from a breathing area. Furthermore, the hood according to the invention ensures optimal vision while eliminating the presence of blind spots and ensuring peripheral vision on every side of the visor, particularly the lower part thereof.
The term “breathing area” means, in the scope of the present invention, an area which includes the nostrils and mouth of the operator, this area capable, for example, of being formed of material or, to the contrary, free of material. In the first case, the nostrils and the mouth of the operator are included in the hood. In the second case, the nostrils and the mouth of the operator may be protected by a mask separate from the hood, for example, by a disposable mask which does not, however, prevent the problem of steam and condensation in the visor.
The term “visual compartment” thus means, in the scope of the present invention, a compartment delimited by the upper, lower and lateral walls of the frame but also by a visor closing the frame in front of the eyes of the user, and by an area for the face of the user delimited by the first lip of the frame resting against an area situated between the bridge and the tip of the nose, preferably at the arch of the nose, at the front region, at the temples and at the infra-orbital regions. Preferably, according to the invention, the visual compartment thus delimited is provided so that users wearing corrective glasses may use the hood without being irritated by a visor which presses against the rim of the glasses.
With a hood according to the invention, the problem of steam and condensation forming is also significantly reduced or totally eliminated as the visual compartment, formed by the frame pressed onto the face of the operator by the first lip and by the visor closing the frame, is completely isolated, preferably isolated in a sealed manner, from the breathing area and thus from air breathed out by the operator.
A hood according to the invention further allows the steps of cleaning and sterilisation of the protective equipment to be greatly simplified. In fact, the ability to remove the visor (removable visor) easily and quickly from the frame of the hood ultimately allows, on the one hand, an element formed by the hood provided with its frame to be available and, on the other hand, an element made of plastic (or any other appropriate material) consisting of the visor to be available. The visor may be intended for one use and may be disposed of and replaced after each use. Furthermore, it is possible to direct the hood and its frame, without its visor, towards a classic cleaning and/or sterilising (decontaminating) treatment facility while the visor may be dispatched, with a view to its reuse, towards an appropriate cleaning system which will not damage it. This is important as the visors are generally formed of a transparent plastic material which cannot be subjected to classic sterilisation and even less a series of sterilisations such as those to which the hood must be nevertheless subjected: the visor could lose its transparency, for example, due to the heat or due to the specific rays used during sterilisation. The rays cause, as an example, rapid yellowing of a plastic visor after only a few sterilisation cycles. Naturally, an alternative is to simply replace the used visor with a new clean visor on the hoods once decontaminated.
Advantageously, according to the invention, the frame has a first frame section extending from an outer surface of said second peripheral lip towards the surrounding environment and a second frame section extending towards the head of the user from an inner surface of said second peripheral lip, said second frame section being provided with said first lip.
Preferably, according to the invention, said first frame section has air flow holes. Such air flow holes, preferably present at the upper and/or lower walls of the frame and recessed with respect to the visor, further allowing, but without being essential, the problem of steam and condensation forming in the visor to be eliminated. In fact, it is possible that the user may sweat slightly inside the visual compartment, which could also lead to the presence of steam and condensation in the visor. However, due to the air flow holes present on the frame according to the invention, a flow of air is ensured in the visual compartment in a way that further avoids any steam and condensation forming. This air flow is natural, as the hot air which is contained in the visual compartment has a tendency to exit via the holes present in the upper wall of the frame, this leading to a natural aspiration of fresh air from the surrounding environment (from the clean room) and via the holes present in the lower wall of the frame, the result being that the temperatures of the air in the visual compartment and in the surrounding environment are practically identical, which minimises or eliminates the presence of steam and condensation.
Advantageously, according to the invention, said first lip is a continuous and/or flexible lip. The fact that the first lip of the frame is continuous and/or flexible allows a better seal or complete seal of the visual compartment all around its periphery to be ensured, which allows its isolation to be further enforced with respect to the breathing area.
Preferably, according to the invention, said frame forms an integral part of the hood. As indicated above, the frame may be definitively connected along the edge of the face opening of the hood, this being, for example, by means of stitching or gluing or by any other appropriate means. Note that, according to the invention, only the visor may be removed before subjecting the hood to the cleaning and sterilisation steps not compatible with the visor. It is thus not appropriate to replace a frame on a sterilised hood each time but simply to removably fix a visor to the frame, which is quick and allows a posteriori handling to be reduced, for example, during the dressing procedures.
Preferably, according to the invention, said frame is formed of a material resistant to the means of sterilisation such as gamma or Beta rays, autoclaving or ethylene oxide treatments. For example, the frame according to the invention may be formed of silicon or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), even if any other type of appropriate material falls under the scope of the present invention.
Advantageously, the frame according to the invention is formed of a rubber material containing at least one nitrile group.
Advantageously, the head protection hood according to the invention comprises an auto-adjustment system for said frame to the face of the operator, said auto-adjustment system being placed at the back of or on at least one of the sides of the hood. Such an auto-adjustment system for the frame allows the frame to be positioned so it perfectly connects to the face of the operator, typically at an area situated between the bridge and tip of the nose (preferably at the arch of the nose), at the front region, at the temples and at the infra-orbital regions. To that end, at least one strap connected to the material on the side of the hood or connected to the frame itself is present so the operator can correctly position the frame with respect to their visual area. Furthermore, the presence of such an auto-adjustment system allows a uniformly distributed tightening pressure to be exerted, which ensures comfort for the user but also a seal or at least a practically complete seal of the visual compartment.
Preferably, according to the invention, said visor comprises a system for fixing to the frame. According to the invention, the visor may be placed and removed through either the inside or outside of the hood, or equally through the inside or outside. In order for the visor to be correctly kept on the frame according to the invention, it may be slid into a groove present on the frame or slotted together using a male-female system, the male and female parts finding one another either on the frame or on the visor. In the latter case, the visor may, for example, be provided with pins gliding into the notches present on the periphery of the frame.
Preferably, according to the invention, said visor is made of a transparent plastic material or any other appropriate material, for example, polycarbonate. This material may be, for example, rigid or flexible, tinted or not, scratch resistant or not, acid resistant or not, according to the fields of application. It is understood that the visor according to the invention may have other properties.
Advantageously, according to the invention, the frame is provided with an active breathing system, i.e. a system which removes external air in order to inject/introduce it into the breathing area (breathing compartment).
Preferably, the head protection hood according to the invention forms an integral part of a protective garment for clean room and similar. In fact, the hood according to the invention can just as well be an individual section or form an integral part of a protective garment, for example, as integral protective overalls. It is understood that the hood may be connected by any means of fixing to the protective garment, for example, by stitching or fixing by means of a zip, snap fasteners or by means of any other appropriate fixing.
Advantageously, the head protection hood according to the invention forms an integral part of a protective garment such as overalls, such as those described in document EP2303044 comprising an outer surface intended to be in contact with a surrounding environment and an inner surface intended to be in contact with a user, a first and second leg section connected together by an opening in the crotch area, a first and second sleeve and torso section to which the first and second sleeves are connected by a connected end and the first and second leg sections also by a connected end, said torso section comprising a head passage section, said overalls further comprising at least one grip area in contact with the inner surface in the torso section.
Preferably, the head protection hood according to the invention forms an integral part of a protective garment such as overalls whose opening is situated in the torso section, for example, at the spine.
Other embodiments of a head protection hood according to the invention are indicated in the attached claims.
Other features, details and advantages of the invention will be discussed in the description given below, in a non-limiting manner and with reference to the attached drawings.
In the figures, identical or similar elements bear the same references.
As show in
As shown, with this head protection hood 1 according to the prior art, the inner surface 3 of the hood 1 is connected along the lip L1. Thus, when the hood 1-frame C connection is implemented by stitching, the stitches (not shown) are in direct contact with the skin of the user and cause itching. Furthermore, the stitches dictate that the lip L1 is perforated, which forms entry points for air and does not allow a proper seal of the visual compartment 7 to be ensured. In addition, that the hood 1-frame C connection is implemented by stitching, by gluing or by any other method onto the lip L1 implies that the latter is subjected to mechanical pressures, the material T pulls on the lip L1, for example, during wash/dry cycles or even during the dressing procedure. The result is that the lip L1 is distorted (damaged) over time and the head protection hood 1 according to the prior art is not durable. It is also noted that it is not easy to connect the hood 1 to the lip L1 because the lip L1 resting against the head of the user must be relatively thin and narrow or else it will be irritating for the user.
According to a third embodiment shown in
Due to the air flow holes 9 present in the frame C according to the invention, a flow of air is ensured in the visual compartment 7 in a way that further avoids any steam and condensation forming. This air flow is natural, as the hot air which is contained in the visual compartment 7 has a tendency to exit via the holes 9 present in the upper wall of the frame C, this leading to a natural aspiration of fresh air from the surrounding environment (for example, from the clean room) and via the holes 9 present in the lower wall of the frame C: the result is that the temperatures of the air in the visual compartment 7 and in the outer environment are practically identical, which contributes, however without being essential, to eliminating the presence of steam and condensation in the visor 6.
It is understood that the present invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described above and that changes may be applied while remaining within the scope of the attached claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016/5820 | Nov 2016 | BE | national |
| 16197317.7 | Nov 2016 | EP | regional |
| 2017/5262 | Apr 2017 | BE | national |
| 17166558.1 | Apr 2017 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2017/077201 | 10/24/2017 | WO | 00 |
