Abstract:
A hood and respirator device including emergency lighting and locator features for aiding the wearer in escaping a dangerous circumstances and for enabling rescue personnel to more quickly locate the wearer, the lighting and locator features preferably being secured to the respirator device, and the respirator in addition forming the top of a sealed storage package for the device.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO PREVIOUS RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This invention claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/696,140, filed on Jul. 1, 2005, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/723,522 filed on Oct. 4, 2005, the complete disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates generally to respirator and head protection devices such as smoke, gas, and fire masks for preventing inhalation of dangerous gases and particles, and more particularly to a protective hood and respirator device having a light means for improving the wearer&#39;s ability to see in a smoke, gas, or other contaminant filled environment, as well as locator means to aid emergency personnel and the like in locating persons in such an environment.  
         [0004]     2. Preliminary Discussion  
         [0005]     The possibility of an individual encountering an urgent or emergency situation wherein there is a danger of being trapped in a closed area filled with air contaminated by smoke or other noxious fumes, due to an accidental fire or explosion, chemical spill, or even terrorist attack, is ever-increasing. Such an emergency could occur at home, in an apartment complex, hotel, or high-rise building, while traveling on a train, subway, bus, airplane, at work, as well as in many other ways, many of which are likely to be unexpected. There is thus a growing need for a protective hood or mask of a type which is secured over one&#39;s head that is light weight and compact so that it can be carried in a purse, backpack, duffle bag, or stored unobtrusively in a desk drawer, nightstand, or the like and thus is readily available for use, that is packaged in a simple to open, user-friendly manner so that the mask can be quickly utilized under stress, and that is inexpensive to manufacture while still providing adequate protection against inhalation of potentially deadly smoke particles or other fumes, as well as heat and fire resistant. In addition, the protective hood should include instruments to aid the user in attempting to escape the danger site, such as a light source to aid in orienting the user in a smoky environment and to light possible escape paths, and an auditory and visual emergency beacon or locator means to alert rescue personnel as to one&#39;s position, leading to quicker rescues and possible life savings. The present inventors have conceived of an improved emergency hood and respirator device incorporating these desired features, none of which features as far as the inventors are aware are known or suggesting in any combination in the prior art.  
       OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a combination emergency fire resistant hood and respirator device which includes emergency lighting and locator features to aid the wearer in escaping an emergency situation as well as to guide rescue personnel to the wearer&#39;s location.  
         [0007]     It is a further object of the invention to provide a combination emergency fire resistant hood and respirator device wherein the emergency lights and locator devices are mounted in the respirator filter ring on the front of the device.  
         [0008]     It is a still further object of the invention to provide a combination emergency fire resistant hood and respirator device including GPS locator technology.  
         [0009]     It is a still further object of the invention to provide a combination emergency fire resistant hood and respirator device that is provided in an easy to open storage package and is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to operate.  
         [0010]     Still other objects and advantages of the invention will become clear upon review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the appended drawings.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     A fire resistant combination hood and respirator device is provided, the device additionally including a light source for illuminating the immediate vicinity of the user, and audible and visual locator means such as a blinking light and sounding device to more quickly attract the attention of rescue personnel. The device includes a fire and heat resistant hood, a respirator device mounted to the hood, and a visor, as well as the light and locator means of the invention, which is preferably provided in the filter ring portion of the respirator. In one embodiment, the charcoal filter of the respirator is sealed in an air-tight package, with the front of the respirator forming the top of the package and including a handle which is grasped and then used to remove the device from the package for use. The light and locator means may also be provided in separate housing that is unobtrusively mounted either to the hood or respirator.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view from the side of the protective hood of the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is an isometric view of the housing for the light source and locator means of the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a partial view of the rip cord and tab member arrangement in the present invention used to activate the lights and enunciator.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view from the front of another embodiment of the protective hood and breathing mask device of the invention wherein the light and enunciator housing is secured to the breathing filter apparatus.  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  illustrates a possible package arrangement for the protective hook and mask device of the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of another embodiment of the filter ring portion of present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 7  is a front view of the filter ring shown in  FIG. 6 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 8  is a top view of the filter ring shown in  FIGS. 6-7 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 9  is a side view of the filter ring shown in  FIGS. 6-8 .  
         [0021]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of another embodiment of the emergency hood and mask device of the present invention utilizing the filter ring shown in  FIGS. 6-9 .  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0022]     The following detailed description is of the best mode or modes of the invention presently contemplated. Such description is not intended to be understood in a limiting sense, but to be an example of the invention presented solely for illustration thereof, and by reference to which in connection with the following description and the accompanying drawings one skilled in the art may be advised of the advantages and construction of the invention. The invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
         [0023]     It would be useful to have a hood and/or mask or combination thereof that could be quickly placed over the head and face in the case of an accident, terrorist attack, or other event resulting in fire smoke, toxic fumes and the like to prevent the wearer from inhaling smoke, toxic gases, or other contaminants, and which mask in addition preferably would be heat resistant and fire retardant and would protect the user from immediate injury from flames or burning and toxic substances spread in the surrounding atmosphere as a result thereof or through some other agency. Such a device would give the wearer at least some additional time to try to escape from the danger zone or to enable emergency rescue personnel to reach such person before serious or irreversible injury results. While the present inventors are aware of at least one version of this type of device, such device is not without its inadequacies and deficiencies. For example, once the hood has been placed over the user&#39;s head, it will presumably be more difficult than usual for the user to see, not only due to the mask itself, but also of course due to any smoke or gases in the air that caused the user to don or put the hood on in the first place. Such smoke and gases can quickly turn a bright or sunlit room or other area dark, and in addition often in an emergency situation any lighting or electrical power in a building is automatically shut off, and only dim emergency lighting is available. Therefore, the present inventors have conceived that it would be useful to provide a light source such as a small LED light on such mask that would be aimed forwardly to aid the wearer in trying to escape injury from smoke, gases, flames, or the like. In addition, emergency personnel who are trying to locate and assist victims in the immediate danger zone also frequently have a very difficult time seeing, and therefore the present inventors also have realized that it would be extremely useful and in many instances crucial to have a locator means connected to the emergency mask, which locator means may include an emergency light locator, an enunciator or sonic locator, or both.  
         [0024]      FIGS. 1-3  illustrate a first embodiment of the protective device  10  of the present invention. Protective device  10  is comprised of a flexible hood  12  which is placed over and covers the user&#39;s head, a heat-resistant transparent face shield  14  situated adjacent the eye area of hood  12 , a filtering-type respirator  16  connected to hood  12  by rivets or any other suitable means adjacent the nose and mouth area of the wearer, just below face shield  14 , and housing  22  secured to and along the top front area of hood  12 , the purpose of which is described in further detail below. Hood  12  is made from a heat reflective and fire retardant fabric or material, or a thin coating of such material, and preferably is sized to cover the entire head, neck and upper shoulder area of the wearer. Replaceable filter element  18  is connected to respirator  16 , while strap  20  is used to secure hood  12  over the user&#39;s head and the user&#39;s mouth tightly against respirator  16  to prevent noxious fumes from seeping into the breathing device through the neck opening.  
         [0025]     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , there is shown housing  22  in which housing the light source and locator means, both visual and auditory, of the invention are arranged. Light source  24  is preferably comprised of one or more battery-powered LED lights arranged in a row along front panel  23  of housing  22 , so that when breathing device  12  is in use, the beams of light eminating from light source  24  are directed forwardly. In addition, battery-powered signal light  26  is mounted along the top surface  25  of housing  22 . Signal light  26  may be colored and preferably is a blinking light so as to hopefully more quickly attract the attention of emergency personnel or the like of the vicinity of the person donning or wearing protective device  10 . Both lights  24  and  26  are preferably LED lights, although any other suitable bulbs or chemically generated light sources may also be used. Also in housing  22  is an enunciator  27  which may be comprised of a speaker  28  connected to a sounding device  30 , and which is also battery powered. Any known preferably intermittent sounding device may be used, with the purpose of the enunciator also of course being to hopefully inform emergency personnel of one&#39;s exact location more quickly, thereby improving the chance of a successful rescue. In addition, extending outwardly from slot  32  in housing  22  is a rip cord arrangement  34 , which is used to quickly activate lights  24  and  26  and enunciator  25 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the forward end of rip cord  34  is provided with a non-conductive tab member  36  that is wedged between electrical contact  37  of battery  38  and contact  40  which is electrically connected to LED lights  24 , signal light  26 , and sounding device  30 . Thus, upon deployment of mask  10 , which is preferably but not necessarily a single-use type mask, rip cord  34  will be hanging downwardly from housing  22 , preferably with the end of cord  34  secured by a small piece of tape or adhesive hanging over face shield  14  so that it is readily visible to the wearer of mask  10 . In practice, after protective device  10  is placed over the user&#39;s head and strap  20  tightened, when rip cord  34  is pulled, tab member  37  will be pulled out from between battery contact  37  and contact  40 , which contacts will then touch, completing an electrical circuit and activating LED lights  24 , signal light  26 , and the sounding device  30 . Housing  22  is preferably mounted on hood  12  by rivets or the like extending through the hood material, or by another suitable means. A frame member such as a plastic ring may be provided in the top of or attached to the top of hood  12  or otherwise in combination with housing  22  to assist in maintaining housing  22  oriented with the beam from LED lights  24  pointed generally forwardly and slightly downwardly so as to maximize their effectiveness in enhancing visual positioning of the wearer&#39;s light and therefore both the users visibility and the light visual field. Lights  24  may also swivel if desired. An on/off switch may also be provided in place of rip cord  34 ; however, it is believed that particularly in an emergency situation, which is likely to be stressful, use of rip cord  34  reduces the chances that the wearer, in a panic, forgets or is not able to activate the lights and enunciator, or that they may accidentally become deactivated prior to reaching safety.  
         [0026]     In another possible embodiment, instead of mounting housing  22  on the top front portion of hood  12  as shown and described above with reference to  FIGS. 1-3 , the housing could be mounted on filter device  18  extending outwardly from face mask  16  along the front of the mask. Such an arrangement is generally illustrated in  FIG. 4 . A fire resistant adhesive, band, strap, or other means may be used to secure housing  22  to the outer periphery of filtering device  18 . As in the previous embodiment, the free end of rip cord  34  may be secured by a piece of tape or the like so that it extends across face shield  14  and therefore will be evident to the wearer through such face shield and thus remind the wearer to pull the cord. In this embodiment, housing  22  may be alternatively arranged so that the blinking signal light  26  is situated on a side face or panel of housing  22 , or in some other manner so that it is not blinking directly in the wearer&#39;s eyes. In another embodiment, not shown, two separate housings may be provided, one mounted on the filtering device for lights  24 , and another mounted on the top of hood  12  as in  FIGS. 1-3  for holding the signal light and enunciator. This may be a particularly efficient arrangement from an efficiency standpoint as it places both units in a very effective location. However, the provision of a single housing for such lights and enunciator may be a more cost-effective and practical arrangement for use with the invention.  
         [0027]     Due to the nature of the charcoal filtering device, either the entire mask  10  or at least the filtering device should be enclosed in an airtight seal or package up until the time of actual use of the mask and hood. In another possible embodiment, shown in  FIG. 5 , the device  10  is arranged in a package  40  so that the front surface  42  of the filtering device  20  is facing upwardly, with hood  12  folded and compressed in the package underneath the filtering device. In addition, there is a handle  44  provided attached to front surface  42  for quickly grasping and pulling the device  10  out of the package  40 . An airtight peel-off seal member  46  may be provided over the mouth of package  40 , preferably having a tab portion  48  to facilitate easy removal of the seal member. After the emergency hood and mask device has been removed from package  40 , the user may continue to hold handle  44  as the hood is unfolded and then quickly place it over his or her head. In addition, the loose end of rip cord  34  may be secured on one end to the inner surface of package  40 , so that when the device is removed from package  40 , the rip cord is pulled and the tab member (shown in  FIG. 3 ) is removed from between the battery and light/sound contacts and the LED lights, signal light, and enunciator are all immediately activated. While it is generally preferred for the frame section  51  to be molded integral with the sleeve section  52 , the ring section containing the emergency communicators or attention attracting features could also be otherwise secured thereto such as having inner threads on the ring section screw engageable with matching outer threads on the sleeve section.  
         [0028]     In a variation of the foregoing canister sealing arrangement, the rear of the canister may also be sealed with a long lasting plastic film which is attached on one side to the end of a rip cord arrangement leading along the side of the canister through the hood such that when the rip cord is pulled the plastic film over the rear of the canister is pulled off and pulled into the passage, effectively sealing the passage, and exposing both ends of the canister to the atmosphere, since the rip cord will also be attached to a plastic film seal over the front of the canister as well. This effectively eliminates the necessity of maintaining the hood and canister in a sealed package until use and makes it much easier to don or put on and activate the emergency hood and respirator apparatus. It also enables a potential user to practice putting on the hood without actually activating the canister. Such preliminary practice is a substantial consideration in both effective use of the hood and in an emergency situation and in enabling potential customers or users to try the hood before purchase or use.  
         [0029]      FIGS. 6-9  are perspective, front, top and side views of another embodiment of the ring  50  used for holding the filter element of fire and smoke mask  10  to such mask. Ring  50  is preferably made of high temperature resistant plastic, although other materials could be used, and is comprised generally of a frame section  51  and a sleeve section  52  extending rearwardly from frame section  51 . Ring  50  may be permanently secured to hood  12  in several ways, such as by rivets, adhesive bonding, press fitting or clamping, or other suitable means. In the illustrated embodiment, the LED light and location aid devices of the invention are mounted in frame section  51 , rather than in a separate housing such as that already described which is then mounted to the hood or on the filtering device. More particularly, mounted on the lower periphery of the front surface  53  of frame section  51  are several LED lights  54  which when the mask  10  is in use will be turned on, preferably automatically, and, as indicated above, will illuminate an area immediately adjacent the wearer of mask  10 , which hopefully will aid the wearer to more quickly find an escape route, particularly in a smoke-filled room or interior area. While three LED lights mounted on front surface  53  of frame section  51  are shown in  FIGS. 6-9 , a greater or lesser number of lights may be utilized. In addition, while in  FIGS. 6-9  the LED lights are positioned so that the light beams are directed generally in the direction the wearer&#39;s face is looking, additional beams may be facing in other directions, such as downwardly, or alternatively the direction of the light beams may be adjustable or include both narrow and wide beams as is desired to best illuminate the surroundings of the wearer.  
         [0030]     In addition, located pointing outwardly generally from the sides of frame section  51  of ring  50  are blinking or flashing lights  56  and  57 . Rather than being designed to illuminate a portion of the immediate surroundings, as is the case with LED lights  54 , lights  56  and  57  will emit flashes of light designed to attract the attention of emergency personnel and the like as to the wearer&#39;s location in the event of an emergency situation. Also provided on frame section  51  above lights  56  and  57  are speakers  58  and  59 , which will be connected to a sounding device and will emit a loud sound when activated. As indicated above, the loud sound is also designed to aid emergency personnel and the like in finding or locating the wearer of the mask. Finally, provided on the top surface of frame section  51  is control button  60 . Button  60  in one embodiment is electronically connected in a manner evident to those skilled in the art to speakers  58  and  59  and their associated sounding device, and may be used to turn such sounding devices off or on as is desired by the wearer. Button  60  may also be a multifunction type button, wherein it may be electronically connected in parallel to LED lights  54 , flashing lights  56  and  67 , and speakers  58  and  59 , and, depending upon the number of times such button is pressed, may be used to control each of such devices individually or as a group. For example, the button may be arranged so that when it is pressed one time, the sounding device associated with speakers  58  and  59  is turned off, and when the button is pressed twice flashing lights  56  and  57  may be turned off. The button may also be similarly arranged to turn one or all of such devices on either altogether or individually. It is still preferred, however, as described with respect to the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5  above, that all of the devices associated with such mask be turned on immediately and automatically upon deployment of the mask, such as by use of a ripcord.  
         [0031]      FIG. 10  illustrates an emergency hook and mask of the present invention using the filter ring  50  shown and described with reference to  FIGS. 6-9  for holding the respirator or filtering device. In practice, after the emergency hood and mask device is removed from its packaging, and the hood pulled down over the user&#39;s head with the visor and breathing filter apparatus positioned in front of the eyes and mouth of the wearer, respectively. Then, control button  60  is pressed one or several times depending upon the desired mode of operation of the emergency lights and enunciator electrically connected to such control button in filter ring  50 . The protective device will then be worn until the wearer has escaped the emergency area.  
         [0032]     In addition to the devices shown and discussed above, the present inventors have also contemplated that the mask  10  be provided with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. GPS is, of course, a well known system wherein a plurality of satellites are use to triangulate, or take measurements, to determine the location of a receiver with surprisingly high precision or accuracy. In an emergency situation, such as, for example, an accident or fire in a subway or large building, the location of accident victims or persons trapped could be more precisely determined. In one embodiment, the GPS receiver will replace one of the speakers  58  or  59 , while in another embodiment a separate housing on the surface of frame section  51  will be provided. In still another embodiment, the GPS receiver may be positioned at a different location on mask  10 , such as on the head area of such mask. Preferably, however, regardless of its position, the GPS receiver should also be automatically activated as soon as the mask is deployed from its packaging or the like for use.  
         [0033]     While the present invention has been described at some length and with some particularity with respect to the several described embodiments, it is not intended that it should be limited to any such particulars or embodiments or any particular embodiment, but it is to be construed with references to the appended claims so as to provide the broadest possible interpretation of such claims in view of the prior art and, therefore, to effectively encompass the intended scope of the invention