JP7603982B2 - Mask holder - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mask holder that allows a mask, worn by hanging strings around the ears, to be held in the hand and moved around during meals or other occasions, allowing the mask to be covered or removed as needed.

As a measure to prevent infection with the novel coronavirus, people are being urged to wear masks whenever possible, even when dining with multiple people. A mask consists of a rectangular filter sheet (a laminated sheet of nonwoven fabric or the like) that covers the nose and mouth when viewed from the front, with straps on either side, and is worn by hanging the straps on the left and right ears. For this reason, if you try to wear a mask whenever possible while dining, you will be required to take off the mask completely or untie one of the straps every time you bring a meal to your mouth, and then put the mask back on immediately after eating, which is a cumbersome task.

Because repeatedly putting on and taking off a mask during such a meal is troublesome, consideration has been given to the idea of holding a mask in the hand, placing it over the nose and mouth, and then removing it. Patent Document 1 proposes a mask (table manners mask) that is intended to be held in the hand, with a filter sheet (paper or nonwoven mask) fixed to a paper frame that is Y-shaped when viewed from the front (Patent Document 1, [Claim 1]). The mask disclosed in Patent Document 1 is to be placed on the table when bringing food to the mouth. As it is not clear how the mask should be placed, it is assumed that it is laid down with the outer surface touching the table.

Publication No. 3231542

The mask disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used separately from the mask worn by the customer, and there is a problem that the mask worn by the customer must be removed and stored when entering the restaurant. Furthermore, even though it is on the outside, placing the mask so that it directly touches the table is unhygienic and is an insufficient infection control measure. From this, we have investigated an auxiliary device that allows the mask to be used as it is by the customer, but can be easily removed and put on during meals, and allows the mask to be placed on the table when not being worn without touching the table.

As a result of the investigation, we developed a mask holder that is used with a mask that is closed with the filter sheet of the mask, and is made of an elastic sheet frame with a generally rectangular opening that is slightly narrower in width than the filter sheet of the mask and slightly shorter in height than twice the filter sheet of the mask, with a pair of hooking and hooked parts at positions that sandwich the opening in the vertical direction, and the frame is folded in half vertically so that the hooking and hooked parts hook together to form an outer frame and an inner frame, and with the upper edge of the opening open, the mask is sandwiched between the outer frame and the inner frame so that the strings protrude to the left and right, and the opening is closed with the filter sheet of the mask. The inner frame refers to the frame that faces the user's face, and the outer frame refers to the frame that faces outward, but this is a distinction made for convenience of explanation, and there is no problem if they are used in reverse.

The mask holder of the present invention is used by clamping the mask worn by the user between the outer and inner frames formed by folding the frame body in half. The hooking portion and the hooked portion are portions that, when hooked, maintain the state in which the mask is clamped between the outer and inner frames formed by folding the frame body in half, and are exemplified by a combination of an insertion piece (hooking portion) and a slit (hooked portion). The opening in the state in which the mask is clamped between the outer and inner frames formed by folding the frame body in half has an area slightly smaller than the filter sheet of the mask. Therefore, the filter sheet can keep its upper edge free while its left and right edges and lower edge are clamped and restrained between the outer and inner frames. The user can use the mask holder by holding a part of the outer and inner frames formed by folding the frame body in half in his or her hands without touching the filter sheet.

The mask holder is used by cutting out an elastic sheet and folding it in half to form an outer frame and an inner frame. The elastic sheet can be a paper sheet or a resin sheet that has enough elasticity to allow the outer frame and inner frame formed by folding the frame in half to be curved to fit the user's face. The opening is formed by cutting away the elastic sheet on the inside of the frame. In this case, if the elastic sheet corresponding to the opening is not cut away as a single scrap piece but is made to be able to be cut away in stages around the periphery, the size of the opening can be adjusted to match the size of the filter sheet of the mask. One or both of the outer and inner frames may be partially protruded outward to form a holding piece that the user can grasp with their hand.

The mask holder of the present invention is formed by cutting out the mask holder from an elastic sheet, so the elastic sheet at the opening becomes the scrap material. Therefore, it is preferable to cut out the mask holder and the stand from a mask holder template, which is an elastic sheet that is provided with a mask holder frame and a stand with a receiving opening into which a part of one or both of the outer frame and the inner frame, which are formed by folding the frame in half and have the mask holder opening as the outer edge, can be inserted, and which can be separated by a separation line. The receiving opening of the stand can be, for example, an opening of left-right length that can hold a part of one or both of the outer frame and the inner frame (including the retaining piece protruding outward) or a slit into which it can be inserted. When the receiving opening is an opening, the scrap material of the receiving opening or a part of the scrap material can be used as an auxiliary leg.

The mask holder of the present invention allows the user to put on and take off the mask freely during a meal while still using the mask they were wearing. The left and right edges and bottom edge of the filter sheet of the mask are stably held between the outer and inner frames of the mask holder, and the nose clip on the upper edge of the filter sheet that appears at the upper edge of the open opening can be deformed to fit the filter sheet tightly to the user's face. Thus, even when using the mask holder of the present invention, the mask's filtering effect is fully exerted.

By using the remnants of the elastic sheet that forms the opening as a stand, the mask can be placed on the table when not being worn without the filter sheet touching the table. The mask holder supported by the stand always maintains a specific posture, making it easy for the user to pick up the mask holder. Another advantage is that the stand uses remnants, eliminating waste of the elastic sheet. The auxiliary legs used in the stand increase the stability of the stand and eliminate the risk of the mask's filter sheet touching the table if the stand tips over.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a mask holder that holds a mask. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a typical mask. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the mask holder is used to hold a mask. FIG. 2 is a front view of the mask backing. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state in which the mask holder and the stand are separated. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state in which a mask is being clamped in the mask holder folded in half. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the assembled stand placed on a table. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a mask holder holding a mask is placed on a stand.

The following describes the embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the mask holder 1 of the present invention is configured to hold a mask 2 (see FIG. 2) having a rectangular filter sheet 21 in front view that covers the nose and mouth and has hanging strings 22 on both sides, by folding a paper sheet frame 11 in half to form an outer frame 115 and an inner frame 116, with the filter sheet 21 visible through an opening 12 surrounded by the outer frame 115 and the inner frame 116. As shown in FIG. 3, the mask holder 1 of this example is used by a user 5 holding the approximately triangular holding piece 112 protruding downwards in the hand 51 while holding the mask 2.

As shown in Figure 4, the mask holder 1 in this example is provided as a mask holder template 4, which is a paper sheet in which the stand 3 and frame 11, with the opening 12 as the outer edge, are integrated. The frame 11 and the stand 3 can be freely separated along a separation line 41 that forms the opening 12. The separation line 41 is of a structure that is easily cut but connected so that the frame 11 and the stand 3 maintain their unity until the mask holder 1 is used, and for example various perforations or a separation line that leaves a partial connection is used.

The frame body 11 has a generally elliptical structure that is elongated in the vertical direction, with the upper end cut out to form a flat, generally pentagonal insertion piece 111 (hooking portion), and the lower end remaining the same shape to form a holding piece 112, with a slit 113 (hooked portion) for the insertion piece being provided midway between the opening 12. The insertion piece slit 113 is a curved cut that convex upward. The insertion piece 111 and the insertion piece slit 113, as a pair of hooking portion and hooked portion, hook together when the frame body 11 is folded in half, maintaining the folded state of the frame body 11.

The frame body 11 in this example is folded in half in the vertical direction, so that a straight frame body fold line 114 extending in the left-right direction is provided at the vertical middle position of the opening 12, sandwiching the opening 12. This allows the outer frame 115 and inner frame 116 to always have the same shape when the frame body 11 is folded in half. In this example, the mask holder 1 is folded in half by folding the frame body 11 in half, with the lower end of the outer frame 115 protruding to form the holding piece 112 and folding the inner frame 116 forward. The mask 2 is sandwiched between the outer frame 115 and the inner frame 116, for example, by placing the inner surface against the outer frame 115 and overlapping the folded inner frame 116.

In this example, the outer frame 115 and inner frame 116 are bent in the left-right direction, so that a straight frame body fold line 114 extending in the up-down direction is provided at the left-right middle position of the opening 12, sandwiching the opening 12. This allows the outer frame 115 and inner frame 116 sandwiching the mask 2 to be bent in the left-right direction together with the mask 2, further reducing the gap between the filter sheet 21 peeking through the opening 12 and the user's face. In addition, the upper edges of the openings 12 of the outer frame 115 and inner frame 116 of the mask 2 are both open, making it easy to deform the nose clip to fit the user's nose.

The opening 12 is an approximately rectangular shape with a left-right length slightly narrower than the left-right length of the filter sheet 21 of the mask 2 and a top-bottom length slightly shorter than twice the top-bottom length of the filter sheet 21 in the frame 11 before folding in half (pattern state). When the frame 11 is folded in half, the opening 12 formed in the outer frame 115 and the inner frame 116 opens the upper edge and becomes an approximately rectangular shape of the same size with a left-right length slightly narrower than the left-right length of the filter sheet 21 of the mask 2 and a top-bottom length slightly shorter than the top-bottom length of the filter sheet 21. Therefore, when the mask 2 is sandwiched between the outer frame 115 and the inner frame 116, the left-right edges and the bottom edge of the filter sheet 21 are sandwiched between the outer frame 115 and the inner frame 116, and most of the filter sheet 21 is visible through the opening 12.

As shown in Figure 5, the mask holder 1 is made by cutting the stand 3 from the mask holder template 4 and forming an opening 12 in the frame 11. As shown in Figure 6, the frame 11 is folded in half along the fold line 114 for the frame, and the mask 2 is sandwiched at a position where the upper edge of the filter sheet 21 is aligned with the fold line 114 for the frame, and the insertion piece 111 is inserted into the insertion piece slit 113 to complete the mask holder (see Figures 1 and 3). The mask 2 can be easily positioned in the mask holder 1 by aligning the upper edge of the filter sheet 21 with the fold line 114 for the frame and making the protruding amounts of the hanging string 22 from the outer frame 115 and inner frame 116 equal.

The stand 3 is a roughly rectangular paper sheet with the opening 12 of the mask holder 1 as its outer edge. The stand 3 of this example has cut and raised auxiliary legs 31 inside, stand fold lines 34 on both sides of the auxiliary legs 31, and is folded in half at the stand fold line 34 to form the front legs 32 and rear legs 33. The lower end of the auxiliary legs 31 is inserted into the arc-shaped front leg slit 311 provided near the lower end. In this way, the stand 3 of this example is able to stand independently stably by maintaining a mountain shape in a side view as the front legs 32 and rear legs 33 are restrained via the auxiliary legs 31 while the auxiliary legs 31 and rear legs 33 are on the ground, as shown in FIG. 7.

When not in use, the mask holder 1 holding the mask 2 can be placed on the stand 3 in an upright position by inserting the holding piece 112 into the receiving opening 312 as shown in FIG. 8, without touching the table. The upright mask holder 1 is easy to pick up. The stand 3 of this example stably maintains the upright position of the mask holder 1 by inserting the holding piece 112 into the intersection formed by inserting the front leg 32 into the front leg slit 311 of the auxiliary leg 31. Since the mask holder 1 and stand 3 of this example are made of paper sheets, the mask 2 is removed after use and disposed of as combustible waste.

1 Mask holder
11 Frame
111 Insert
112 Retaining piece
113 Insertion piece slit
114 Frame fold line
115 Inner Frame
116 Outer Frame
12 Opening 2 Mask
21 Filter Sheet
22 Hanging cord 3 Stand
31 Support legs
311 Front leg slit
312 Underbite
32 Front legs
33 Hind legs
34 Folding line for stand 4 Mask holder pattern
41 Separation line 5 User
51 Hands

Claims (2)

The mask has a substantially rectangular opening whose left-right length is slightly narrower than the left-right length of the filter sheet of the mask and whose top-to-bottom length is slightly shorter than twice the top-to-bottom length of the filter sheet of the mask, and a pair of engaging and engaged portions are provided at positions vertically sandwiching the opening,
The mask holder is used by folding the frame body in half vertically so that the hooking part and the hooked part hook together to form an outer frame and an inner frame, and with the upper edge of the opening open, the mask is clamped between the outer frame and the inner frame so that the hanging strings protrude to the left and right, and the opening is covered with the filter sheet of the mask. A pattern for a mask holder, which is an elastic sheet comprising a frame body of the mask holder according to claim 1, and a stand having a receiving opening into which a part of one or both of an outer frame and an inner frame formed by folding the frame body in half can be inserted, the stand being arranged to be freely separable across a separation line.