Respirator.

(Application filed July 2, 1898.1 (No Model.)

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON, D. C.

United States Patent Office.

CORYDON B. LAKIN, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

RESPIRATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 630,242, dated August 1, 1899.'

Application filed July 2j 1898.

Serial No&lt; 685,066. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Corydon B. Lakin, a citizen of the United States, resid ing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have in5 vented certain new and useful Improvements in Respirators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to to make and use the same.

The object is, without inconvenience to the user and in a ready, simple, and thoroughly efficient manner, to preclude entrance of dust, germs, or like deleterious substances into the 15 nose, throat, and lungs and at once to present a means of disinfecting and medicating the air passing to the lungs. Heretofore many devices have been constructed for this purpose; but an inherent objection to all has 20 been that in use they are troublesome of adjustment and highly inconvenient by reason of weight or size.

In mills, foundries, and machine-shops, more particularly in the latter, where a work25 man is stationed at a grinding or polishing machine, the air is always charged with floating particles of mineral and metallic substances, which, entering the nose and throat, are productive of great inconvenience at the 30 time and frequently in the end are injurious to such an extent as to cause death. To present an efficient respirator, it is essential that the same shall be of such construction that it may be worn without its presence being a 35 constant source of irritation and annoyance to the wearer, as where such defects attend its use a prospective user would prefer running the risks of injury rather than submit himself to the inconvenience and discomfort 40 by being burdened by a device no matter how efficient it may be. The necessary concomitants of such a device are therefore that it should be light in weight, readily adjustable to position, and without in any way interfer45 ing with the breathing, to preclude any entrance of dust or germs of disease, and which shall be self-adjusting to the parts designed to be protected.

. To these ends, therefore, the invention con50 sists in a respirator comprising a suitable frame or support adapted to occupy aposition beneath the nose of the wearer and to be held in place by ordinary bows, such as are employed in connection with spectacles, the sup port carrying the material to constitute the 55 shield or dust-arrester. The frame is by preference bent to such shape as closely to hug the upper lip of the wearer, and the dust-arrester comprises rows of outward-projecting, flexible, and readily-yieldable fibers, prefer- 60 ably of hair or bristles, which in use will lie snugly against the walls of the nostrils, and thus prevent the entrance of dust or germs at these points and also from beneath. The fibers may be of hair or bristles, as stated, or 65 of fine non-corrosive metal, or of any other substance suited to the purpose. The outer ends of the fibers are unconfined and are thus free to yield in any direction to cause them in use to conform to the contour of the nose 70 of the wearer. In addition to the fibers of the shield for protecting the nose additional fibers of the same or different materials may project downwardly to cover the mouth of the wearer, and thus preclude entrance of delete- 75 rious substances through the mouth.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification and in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, I have illustrated a form of embodi- 80 ment of my invention with a modification, it being understood that other forms of embodiment thereof may be employed without departing from the spirit of the same, and in the drawings— 85

Figure 1 is a view in elevation, showing a human head with my respirator positioned thereon. Fig. 2 is a detached view in perspective, showing the manner in which the fibers or hairs are held in place within the 90 frame. Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation, partly in section, displaying the frame before it is bent to shape to fit the wearer. Fig. 4' is also a view in perspective detail, showing a combined nose and mouthguard. Fig. 5 95 is a view in elevation, partly in section, showing a slightly-modified form of the manner in which the bows are assembled with relation to the frame; and Fig. 6 is a perspective detail view showing a modified form of bow, 100 wherein a hinge is employed to permit the two members of the bow to be folded to reduce the' space occupied by the respirator when carried on the person.

Referring to the drawings and to Figs. 1, 2, 105 and 3 thereof, A designates the frame or support of the respirator, the same being constructed, by preference, of any metal which in '3

630,242 use will be non-corrosive, preferably of silver or aluminium. This frame is struck up from a single piece of metal and is bent to form a cylindrical body portion a and side flanges a², as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The tufts or bunches of fibers—in. this instance of hairs or bristles—composing the shield B are secured within the frame by being bent upon themselves, with the bends housed within its 13 cylindrical portion a and with the center portion of the bow A² passing through the bends, afterwhich the flanges a² are crimped or otherwise brought together in such manner as firmly to hold the tufts in place. In addi15 tion to the flanges for holding the tufts in place within the frame a suitable cement or adhesive may be included around the bends, thus further to give security to the assemblage of the tufts. The ends of the frame 20 are reduced to form tubular projections a³, at which points the bows are firmly attached, as by being soldered or otherwise secured therein. These bows may be formed of a single piece of wire passing through the 25 frame and bent at each end in such manner as to lie along the cheek of the wearer, with the ends hooked to pass over the ears of the wearer, the metal of which the bows are made to be of resilient character in order to 30 cause the shield always to press beneath the nose of the wearer, as shown in Fig. 1. The unconfined extremities of the fibers or hairs are fashioned as a whole, by preference, into a semicircle, as shown in Fig. 3, so that in 35 use the longest hairs will be at the center of the nose and the shorter at the nostrils, and by reason of the yielding character of the hairs these will closely hug against the nostrils with sufficient pressure to exclude thor40 oughly and effectively the entrance of dust or the like to the nostrils, the exclusion being rendered more effective by the moisture of the breath upon the filaments of the shield; but the assemblage of the hairs is not of such 45 character as to interfeie in the least with the free breathing of the wearer, so that in use any discomfort will be entirely obviated.

In addition to the shield B for precluding the entrance of dust to the nostrils I may in 50 some instances employ an additional shield B² to fit over the mouth of the wearer, thus to prevent entrance of dust or the like to the lungs through the mouth,this shield to be constructed of hair or other fibrous material,and 55 held in place by the bows .in the same manner as that described in connection with the shield B, the frame to be provided with openings a⁴ on its lower side, through which the tufts of the shield B² project, the construc60 tion of the whole rendering it easily detachable from the face to be washed and resupplied with disinfectants or medicaments and returned to position for use.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, the bows 65 are formed from a continuous piece of wire passing through the frame; but, if preferred, these bows may each comprise a separate piece of wire secured in place in the tubular projections a³, as shown in Fig. 5, the fibers or tufts to be secured in place by a separate 70 piece of wire a⁵. Instead of having the bows continuous from end to end I may, if preferred, employ hinges, as a³, at any point or points in the bows whereby to permit of their being folded up, as in the manner of an ordi- 75 nary pair of spectacles, thus to shorten the length of the device and to permit of its being readily carried in the pocket. In addition to this the end of each bow may be provided with a knob or may be bent upon itself, as 80 at a⁷, to prevent any inconvenience to the wearer.

I am aware that knitted fabrics and fabrics made of horsehair woven to present a reticulated surface have been employed as a shield 85 in a respirator and also that sponge and other materials have been employed for the same purpose, but in all of these the shield has been confined throughout its entire area by a frame, whereas in my device only the 90 rear portion, or that which will lie against the face of the wearer, is confined, the outer end or portion of the shield being free to yield, and thus readily to adjust itself to the nostrils and mouth of the wearer and to admit 95 of a free passage of air to and from the lungs.