Patent Application
20240157178
This disclosure concerns a wearable protective gear with a hood and various filtration functionalities.
References considered to be relevant as background to the presently disclosed subject matter are listed below:
Acknowledgement of the above references herein is not to be inferred as meaning that these are in any way relevant to the patentability of the presently disclosed subject matter.
Pandemics present a unique challenge to healthcare staff that need to be heavily protected to ensure that they do not come into contact with the disease-causing microorganism. The Covid-19 pandemic is a specific case in point. One of the challenges is to protect the caregiver from inhaling infectious microorganisms, airborne viruses in the case of the Covid-19 pandemic, typically carried within aerosol particles. Facial filters have been widely used for such protection but are often insufficient for full-proof protection against highly contagious viruses and other microorganisms.
Personal hoods that fit over the head of a user provide a good protective solution and have also been widely used. However, such personal hoods aim at protecting the caregiver wearing the hood, while the air that is exhaled by the wearer is typically expelled out of the hood without any further treatment. As the caregiver can also be infected, expelled air can carry infectious microorganisms, posing a risk to adjacent persons not utilizing protective gear.
The present disclosure provides a wearable personal protective gear of a unique design and functionality.
It has been realized that while hoods, particularly such that have a forced filtered air intake (namely filtered air that is pumped into the confined space within the hood), provide a high level of protection to the healthcare staff, such hoods do not protect the environment from infectious agents that may be exhaled by a healthcare staff member utilizing the hood, should he or she be infected. While filters for the exhaled air may be a solution, these cause a flow resistance and may hinder free outflow of exhaled air and, hence, discomfort and, at times, even breathing impairment.
Hence, it would be beneficial to provide wearable protective gear that protect the caregiver utilizing the gear, while also minimizing exposure of adjacent personnel from being exposed to untreated exhausted, possibly contaminated, air.
In accordance with the present disclosure at least part of the protective sheet of the protective gear, e.g. portions of the hood or portions of the gear's region overlaying the chest area, is made of a filtering sheet material that allows air to flow therethrough while filtering-out airborne material, including bacteria, viruses and exhaled aerosol particles. In such a configuration, the gear serves a dual purpose of defining a protected confined space, as well as providing a relatively large filtering surface for egress of exhaled air and excess breathing gas (typically air) that is propelled into the confined space through the air intake.
By one of its aspects, the present disclosure provides a personal protective gear that comprises a hood for fitting over an individual's head with a visor portion at its front, a confined space defined by the hood for accommodating the individual's head, a forced filtered air intake configured to supply filtered inflowing breathing gas into the confined space, and one or more filtering portions defined in the hood, the one or more filtering portions being made of a filtering sheet material configured to filtering out contaminants from exhaust gas outflowing therethrough.
In other words, the personal protective gear of this disclosure includes a hood into which breathing gas, e.g. filtered air, is introduced in a forced manner, thereby supplying the wearer with treated air for breathing from which hazardous contaminants have been removed. The hood comprises one or more filtering portions that function to filter out hazardous contaminants, e.g. biological contaminants, that may be exhaled by the wearer, to permit exhaust of filtered, non-contaminated air to the surroundings. Such a gear protects both the wearer from external contaminants and the personnel surrounding the wearer from any infectious microorganisms that may be exhaled by the wearer.
The term inflowing breathing gas is used herein to denote breathing gas that is forced into the confined space through the intake. The breathing gas is typically air, although it may also be a breathable gas mixture, such as air enriched with oxygen, or, at times, pure oxygen.
The inflowing gas is typically treated before introduction into the confined space, e.g. filtered to remove contaminants and hazardous biological agents therefrom. Thus, in some embodiments, the forced filtered air intake is couplable to or is integral with a gas filter.
The forced filtered air intake, by some embodiments, comprises an air propelling assembly for propelling the inflowing breathing gas into the confined space. By an embodiment, the air propelling assembly comprises an electrically operated pump, and the air propelling assembly is in gas communication with the and the confined space through a flexible pipe.
By other embodiments, the inflowing gas is provided from an external source, e.g. a wearable pressurized air tank, a central pressurize air supply unit, etc.
The term exhaust gas will be used to denote gas that is exhausted from the hood through the one or more filtering portions of filtering sheet material, for example exhaled air or a mixture of the exhaled air with excess inflowing gas. Hence, the exhaust gas is filtered by the filtering portions while it is exhausted from the confined space.
The filtering portion(s) is(are) configured to filter out harmful agents, e.g. disease-causing agents such as viruses, bacteria or aerosol particles carrying such disease-causing agents.
The filtering portions may constitute sufficiently large area to enable low resistance to egress of the exhaust gas. Where the filtering portion is configured as a portion of the hood, such portion may constitute at least 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% or even at least 50% out of the surface area of the hood. At times, the hood, other than the visor, may be made entirely of such filtering sheet material.
By some embodiments, the hood is made of a protective sheet (e.g. a contaminants-insulating material) and said filtering portion is integral with said protective sheet.
The filtering portions can be of any suitable shape and number, can be randomly distributed on the surface of the hood or form an ordered pattern.
The filtering sheet material is typically pliable. The gear, including the hood in its entirety may also be pliable.
The filtering sheet material may comprise at least one layer configured for filtering-out hazardous biological matter. The hazardous biological matter may be at least one of microorganisms, viruses, viruses-containing aerosol, or hazardous matter derived from microorganisms or viruses.
The forced filtering air intake, once operated, can generate a positive pressure within the confined space and, while supplying inflowing gas, also ensures that the flow of gas through the filtering sheet material is unidirectional, namely in the outflow direction only from the confined space to the exterior. However, the filtering sheet material can provide full protection to the hooded individual even in the event of flow in the opposite direction.
The filtering sheet material can comprise one or more layers. Typically, at least one of the layers can be made of a non-woven fabric, for example non-woven fabric that is capable of filtering particles larger than 0.1 μm (micrometers) carried by the exhaust gas. By some embodiments, the filtering sheet material or at least one layer thereof may also comprise one or more substances for capturing of hazardous biological materials (i.e. active filtering components) or a substance with a disinfecting activity.
The filtering sheet material may be of a single layer; or may be multi-layered, with each layer serving the same functionality (and intensifying it) or having different filtering functionality (e.g. one layer with a coarser mesh, another with finer one, etc.; or one passive filtering layer and another that comprises an absorbent or disinfecting material; etc.).
By some embodiments, the protective gear comprises a neck collar for fitting around a wearer's neck (or over his/her torso), and the hood is configured for integrating with the collar, such that the hood and the collar define together the confined space once the hood is fitted over the individual's head. According to other embodiments, the hood may comprise an integral neck collar.
According to some embodiments, the neck collar is integral with a protective clothing.
By some other embodiments, the hood is integratable or integrated with a whole-body protective suit.
When the protective gear is in the form of a garment, the filtering portions can be located on the hood and/or other parts of the garment. Thus, by another aspect, the disclosure provides a wearable personal protective gear that comprises a wearable protective garment configured for wearing over at least an upper body portion of an individual, a hood for fitting over an individual's head with a visor portion at its front that is integratable with the protective garment and defines a confined space for accommodating the individual's head, a forced filtered air intake configured to supply filtered inflowing breathing gas into said confined space, and one or more filtering portions defined in at least one of the hood and the protective garment, said one or more filtering portions being made of a filtering sheet material configured to filtering out contaminants from exhaust gas outflowing therethrough.
The wearable protective garment may be configured to cover at least the torso of the individual, at times the entire upper body portion (i.e. from the waist-line upwards), or even a whole-body protective suit.
By some embodiments, the hood is integral with the wearable protective garment.
By other embodiments, the wearable protective garment comprises a neck collar, and the hood is integratable with the neck collar.
The forced filtered air intake, by some embodiments, is formed at the hood. Alternatively, by some embodiments, the forced filtered air intake is formed at the wearable protective garment. According to other embodiments, the forced filter air intake is formed both at the hood and at the garment.
In order to provide effective filtering area, the filtering portion(s), by some embodiments, constitute at least 10% of the area of the hood and/or the protective garment, at times at least 20%, 30%, 40%, or ever at least 50% of the surface are of the hood and/or the protective garment.
By some embodiments, the filtering portion(s) are located on a section of the garment located over the chest of the individual.
The personal protective gear of this disclosure is intended and configured, by one embodiment, for use by medical staff or other caregivers; particularly for use at times of a disease or pandemic outbreak. By another embodiment, the protective gear is intended and configured for use by patients infected or suspected of being infected by a contagious disease. By a further embodiment, the protective gear of this disclosure is configured for use by cleanroom workers, e.g. in the chip-making or pharmaceutical industry or in a clean laboratory, to avoid exhalation of agents harmful to the manufacture or testing process within such a clean room.
The gear may have different sizes and may be differently configured for different individuals.
By some embodiments, the gear is liquid impermeable. By some other embodiments, the gear is disposable. By yet other embodiments, the gear is made of a sterilizable material, permitting its reuse.
In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Reference is first made to
The gear 100 has a skirt 112, extending downward from the hood 102, that fits over the shoulder of the user 108 and is fitted with collar 114 made of an elastic material such as silicone, polyurethane, latex rubber, etc., allowing easy donning and requiring no latches, straps, ties, or the like. The collar 114 is not limited to such made of an elastic material and may be made of a non-elastic or an elastic material configured for tightening over the neck or another body portion. Once collar element 114 is attached to the hood, a confined space 116 is defined, into which filtered air inflow can be introduced.
Comprised in the hood 102 and integral therewith is a filtering portion 118 made of a filtering sheet material of the kind described herein, capable of filtering-out particulate matter from gas exhausted therethrough from the confined space 116. The filtering sheet material 118, as noted above, provides protection to the wearer from harmful agents, particularly viruses or bacteria, and at the same time permits the outflowing gas to egress without carrying harmful agents that may be exhaled by the hooded individual. The filtering sheet material may be made of a non-woven fabric capable of filtering particles larger than 0.1 μm carried by the outflowing gas, thus filtering out bacteria, pathogen-carrying aerosol, and others, by the exhaust gas. The filtering sheet material may also comprise one or more substances for capturing of hazardous biological material or a substance with a disinfecting activity. The filtering sheet material may be of a single layer material or may be multi-layered. In the case of multi-layered material, all layers may have the same functionality, thus intensifying the activity; or each layer may have a different filtering functionality (e.g. one layer with a coarser mesh, another with finer one, etc.; or one passive filtering layer and another that comprises an absorbent or disinfecting material; etc.).
As represented schematically by arrow 120 in
In another embodiment, illustrated schematically in
Another exemplary embodiment is shown in
Breathable gas that is forced through pipe 154, as represented by arrow 160 in
The gear of this disclosure may at times also be made integral with the other wearable gear, e.g. integral with a whole-body protective suit.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 281493 | Mar 2021 | IL | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IL2022/050259 | 3/8/2022 | WO |
