Patent Publication Number: US-11039654-B2

Title: Protective mask

Description:
FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to a mask, and more particularly to a protective mask for protecting face of a user. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Generally, athletes such as baseball catchers, softball catchers, kendo players and the like often wear protective masks around their heads to protect their heads and faces from injuries. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , a conventional protective mask  1  is usually worn in front of a user&#39;s face by use of a buffered protector (not shown). The conventional protective mask  1  is molded as one piece from plastic material, and includes a surrounding frame body  11  and a main frame body  12  that is molded as one piece with the surrounding frame body  11 . The main frame body  12  has a plurality of rod portions  120  that are curved and that cooperate with each other to fittingly match the user&#39;s face. Each of the rod portions  120  has a front surface  121 , a rear surface  122  opposite to the front surface  121 , and two opposite and spaced-apart connecting surfaces  123  interconnecting the front and rear surfaces  121 ,  122 . A thickness  125  between the front and rear surfaces  121 ,  122  is smaller than a thickness  124  between the connecting surfaces  123 . 
     The conventional protective mask  1  is made of plastic material for the sake of reducing weight. However, to ensure structural strength of the conventional protective mask  1 , each of the rod portions  120  and the surrounding frame body  11  are required to be sufficiently thick, especially at the rod portions  120 , where a ball (see  FIG. 3 ) directly strikes thereon. As a result, the overall weight of the conventional protective mask cannot be effectively reduced. Furthermore, due to the configuration of the rod portions  120 , a distance between two adjacent ones of the rod portions  120  is shortened, so that the user&#39;s visual sight may be adversely affected. 
     SUMMARY 
     Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a protective mask that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks associated with the abovementioned prior art. 
     Accordingly, the mask includes a main frame body that is made of magnesium alloy and that has an imaginary vertical central line. The main frame body has a plurality of spaced-apart first rods, a plurality of second rods, and at least one first protrusion. The first rods are arranged along the central line. Each of the first rods has a first front surface, a first rear surface that is spaced apart from the first front surface in a front-rear direction, and two opposite first connecting surfaces that interconnect the first front surface and the first rear surface. A thickness between the first front surface and the first rear surface is larger than a thickness between the first connecting surfaces. Each of the second rods is connected between two adjacent ones of the first rods. The first protrusion protrudes from the first front surface of one of the first rods. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a conventional protective mask; 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken along line  2 - 2  in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic top view of the conventional protective mask, illustrating a ball that hits a front surface thereof. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a protective mask according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is a fragmentary perspective view of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a sectional view taken along line  7 - 7  in  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is another sectional view taken along line  8 - 8  in  FIG. 6 ; and 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic top view of the embodiment, illustrating one of a plurality of first protrusions that is adapted to be hit by a ball. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 to 6 , an embodiment of a protective mask according to the present disclosure is adapted to be integrated with a buffered protector (not shown) which is worn around a user&#39;s head. The protective mask is molded as one piece via a semi-solid metal casting process, and is preferably made of magnesium alloy. The protective mask includes a main frame body  2  and a surrounding frame unit  3  that are molded as one piece with each other, and that have an imaginary vertical line  4 . The main frame body  2  has a plurality of spaced-apart first rods  21  that are arranged along the central line  4 , and a plurality of second rods  22 , each of which is connected between two adjacent ones of the first rods  21 . 
     Each of the first rods  21  is configured to be curved for corresponding in shape with the user&#39;s face, and has a flat cross-section. In this embodiment, the main frame body  21  has five first rods  21 , but the number of the first rod  21  may vary in other embodiments. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the uppermost first rod  21  and the lowermost first rod  21  is shorter in length than the remaining three first rods  21 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5, 7 and 8 , each of the first rods  21  has a first front surface  211 , a first rear surface  212  that is spaced apart from the first front surface  211  in a front-rear direction (D) (see also  FIG. 4 ), and two opposite first connecting surfaces  213  that interconnect the first front surface  211  and the first rear surface  212 . A thickness  214  between the first front surface  211  and the first rear surface  212  gradually reduces toward the surrounding frame unit  3  from the central line  4  (see  FIG. 6 ). The thickness  214  between the first front and rear surfaces  211 ,  212  is larger than a thickness  215  between the first connecting surfaces  213 . 
     In this embodiment, each of the second rods  22  of the main frame body  2  has a flat cross-section, and is arranged symmetrically with respect to the central line  4 . Each of the second rods  22  has a middle section  221  and two coupling sections  222  that respectively extend from opposite ends of the middle section  221 . The middle section  221  has a second front surface  223 , a second rear surface  224  that is spaced apart from the second front surface  223  in the front-rear direction (D), and two opposite second connecting surfaces  225  that interconnect the second front surface  223  and the second rear surface  225 . A thickness  226  between the second front surface  223  and the second rear surface  224  is larger than a thickness  227  between the second connecting surfaces  225 . Each of the coupling sections  222  has two opposite curved edges  228 , each of which has a size that is enlarged toward an adjacent one of the first rods  21 , and is connected to the adjacent one of the first rods  21 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the main frame body  2  further has at least one first protrusion  23  and a plurality of second protrusions  24 . It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the main frame body  2  has five first protrusions  23 , but the number of the first protrusion  23  may vary in other embodiments. Each of the first protrusions  23  is disposed on a respective one of the first rods  21 . Specifically, each the first protrusions  23  protrudes from the first front surface  211  of the respective one of the first rods  21 . Each of the first protrusions  23  has a first protruding portion  231  that is proximate to the central line  4  of the main frame body  2 , and two opposite first inclined surfaces  232  that are located respectively at two opposite sides of the first protruding portion  231 . Each of the first inclined surfaces  232  extends slantingly from the first protruding portion  231  toward the first front surface  211  of a corresponding one of the first rods  21 . Preferably, the first protruding portion  231  of each of the first protrusions  23  is substantially positioned on the central line  4  of the main frame body  2 . 
     In this embodiment, each of the first rods  21  is formed with two of the second protrusions  24  that are symmetrical with respect to the central line  4  of the main frame body  2 . Each of the second protrusions  24  is positioned at a junction between a corresponding one of the first rods and two corresponding ones of the second rods  22 . Each of the second protrusions  24  has a second protruding portion  241  protruding forwardly, and four second inclined surfaces  242  located respectively at opposite sides of the second protruding portion  241 . Each of the second inclined surfaces  242  extend to one of a corresponding one of the first rods  21  and a corresponding one of the second rods  22 . 
     In this embodiment, the surrounding frame unit  3  surrounds the main frame body  2 , and has two extension frames  31  opposite to each other with respect to the central line  4 , an outer surrounding frame  32  molded as one piece with the extension frames  31  and the main frame body  2 , and an inner surrounding frame  33  spaced apart from the outer surrounding frame  32  and having a lower frame portion  331  that is disposed at a lower end thereof and that is adapted for corresponding in position to the user&#39;s neck (or lower facial area). It should be noted that the configuration of the surrounding frame unit  3  may vary in other embodiments. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , in use, the embodiment of the protective mask of the present disclosure is worn on the user&#39;s face (not shown). In comparison with the aforesaid conventional protective mask  1 , when a ball  5  hits on one of the first and second rods  21 ,  22 , since each of the first rods  211  has the larger thickness  214  between the first front and rear surfaces  211 ,  212  and since each of the second rods  22  has the larger thickness  226  between the second front and rear surfaces  223 ,  224 , the main frame body  2  of the embodiment of the protective mask can withstand significant impact of the ball  5 . In addition, the embodiment of the protective mask of the present disclosure being molded as one piece from the magnesium alloy provides enhanced protection than the conventional protective mask made of plastic. Due to the configuration of the main frame body  2  of the present disclosure, the first and second rods  21 ,  22  are not required to be thick, so that the overall weight of the embodiment of the protective mask can be reduced, and a distance between two adjacent ones of the first rods  21  and a distance between two adjacent ones of the second rods  22  can be enlarged for better visual sight of the user. 
     Furthermore, when the ball  5  hits on one of the first and second protrusions  23 ,  24  at a rapid speed, by virtue of the structural design of the first protruding portion  231  of each of the first protrusions  23  and the second protruding portion  241  of each of the second protrusions  24 , a striking direction of the ball  5  may immediately swerve after being in contact with the first/second protrusions  23 ,  24 , so that stress of the ball  5  is prevented from being concentrated at areas around the first/second protrusions  23 ,  24 . 
     In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, t one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects. 
     While the di s closure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that his disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.