Patent Application
20210235789
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Non-Provisional Design patent application Ser. No. 29/777,272, filed on Apr. 7, 2021, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
The invention relates generally to a disease-prevention device which is practical, decorative, and conveniently protects persons who cannot wear a facemask because of they are engaged in physical activity such as eating and drinking. More particularly, the invention relates to a mask-on-a-stick providing practical, simple, and attractive prevention of disease transmission in facilities such as restaurants, schools, or places of worship.
In today's society restaurants are very popular for socializing and business communications. People visit these establishments to eat and drink, activities that a facemask physically impedes. Beside eating and drinking, people in these establishments engage in talking, sometimes loudly, and laugh. If a person is infected with a microbe that has respiratory transmission, engaging in these activities risks emitting microbial particles that remain airborne, the reason people are supposed to wear facemasks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, and in other similar pandemics, restaurants are vectors of disease transmission, especially during periods when disease prevalence has reduced. Also, people who have been vaccinated against viral diseases may have the illusion that they cannot be infected and transmit, but no viral vaccine generates sterilizing immunity. Because restaurants can be crowded, people speak at louder volumes, and emitted microbes concentrate, compounding the problem of preventing disease transmission.
Those who manage restaurant-type establishments need them to remain open, but do not want them to be vectors of transmission.
Although eating and drinking provide common reasons for people to remove facemasks, there are other activities in which participants tend to not wear facemasks but may engage in talking and singing that may transmit disease. Some people do not wear facemasks when they are in church services. Many microbial diseases do not have high rates of respiratory transmission from ordinary breathing, but talking and singing can emit ten times or more the amount of microbial particles. These are the activities implicated in many public transmissions of SARS CoV-2.
School children in elementary, middle, and high schools have different transmission patterns than adults, for many diseases. In the case of SARS Cov-2, they may transmit less, but transmit asymptotically. In the case of influenza disease, children transmit more, and others may not be aware of it. If children do not wear masks when sitting in classrooms, they may primarily transmit when speaking.
The present invention provides an aesthetically pleasing, convenient, and practical means of preventing disease transmission by people engaged in activities in which they do not wear facemasks. Prior art describes means to prevent respiratory disease transmission by attaching a facemask to the head or body of the wearer. There is no prior art that addresses respiratory disease transmission prevention by people who do not have a device attached to their head or body.
Accordingly, it is a principle object of the present invention to provide a mask-on-a-stick for use by a person for preventing respiratory disease transmission when they engage in transmission-likely activities while not wearing a facemask.
In view of these and other objects which will become more readily apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed with reference being made to the appended drawings in which:
The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. For purposes of description herein, the term “facemask” is defined as respirator, surgical mask, cloth face covering, or other protective mask covering the nose and mouth that is attached to a user with ear loops, extensions that go around the head, attachments to an article of clothing, or other means of support. Specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.
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In conclusion, herein is presented a mask-on-a-stick device that covers a user's nose and mouth when they hold it, for use in a restaurant or other context where users cannot wear a regular facemask. The invention is illustrated by example in the drawing figures, and throughout the written description. It should be understood that numerous variations are possible, while adhering to the inventive concept. Such variations are contemplated as being a part of the present invention.
