WO2019240361A1 - Smart mask - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a smart mask for reducing discomfort and supplying clean air in a state where a user wears the mask. The smart mask according to the present invention comprises: a pair of earplug units having embedded therein an air purification unit and a controller for controlling operation of the air purification unit; an earplug connection unit for connecting the pair of earplug units; and a mask unit connected to the pair of earplug units, maintaining a certain space from the face of a user and supplying purified air into the mask unit.

Description

Smart mask

The present invention relates to a mask, and more particularly, to a smart mask that purifies the outside air and supplies it to the inside of the mask.

The mask is a device for protecting the user's respiratory organs from external factors by covering the nose and mouth of the user's face. Masks are often composed of a main body and an earring, and are classified into a cold mask, a dust mask, and a medical mask according to external factors. On the other hand, dust masks have recently emerged as a necessity for the development of lung and respiratory diseases caused by fine dust and yellow dust in China and other dust and fine dust in Korea.

Most dust masks on the market today comprise a mask body made of woven paper including filter paper that can be used once or several times. Recently, a functional mask with an air purifier has also appeared, and in this case, the mask body is often made of woven paper. Since the dust mask made of fabric paper is in close contact with the face of the wearer, it may cause discomfort to the user's breathing, such as the mask body is wet and odor occurs when used for a long time.

[Preceding technical literature]

[Patent Documents]

Korea Patent Registration 10-1848674 (Announcement on April 16, 2018)

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a smart mask that does not cause inconvenience to breathing by supplying clean air while maintaining a certain distance from the user's face.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pair of earplugs with a built-in control unit for controlling the air purification unit and the driving of the air purification unit; Connecting the pair of earplugs, the earplug connecting portion worn on the user's head; And a mask unit having both ends connected to the pair of earplugs and maintaining a predetermined distance from the face of the user and supplied with purified air through the air purifying unit. do.

The mask unit may be driven by any one of a PDLC method, a photochromic method, and an electrochromic method under the control of the controller.

The mask part may change transparency or color under the control of the controller.

The pair of earplugs may further include a communication unit configured to receive a communication signal from a user terminal under the control of the controller. When the communication unit receives a communication signal from the user terminal, the mask unit controls the control unit. The transparency or color may change.

The pair of earplugs may further include a communication unit configured to receive a communication signal from a user terminal under the control of the controller. When the communication unit receives a communication signal from the user terminal, the controller drives the air purifier. Can be controlled.

The pair of earplugs may further include a voice output unit, and the controller may control driving of the voice output unit.

The pair of earplugs may further include a communication unit configured to receive a communication signal from a user terminal under control of the controller. When the communication unit receives a communication signal from the user terminal, the controller drives the voice output unit. Can be controlled.

The air purifying unit includes a first air purifying unit embedded in one ear plug of the pair of ear plugs; And a second air purifying unit embedded in the other ear plug of the pair of ear plugs, wherein the first air purifying unit comprises: an intake fan for sucking air from the outside under the control of the controller; And a filter configured to purify the air sucked through the intake fan and to provide the inside of the mask unit, wherein the second air purifier discharges the air provided inside the mask unit to the outside under the control of the controller. It may include; an exhaust fan.

The air purifying unit may form a flow of air from the first air purifying unit to the second air purifying unit inside the mask unit, and suppress the flow of air immediately flowing into the mask unit from the outside.

The filter may be made of any one of HEPA, ULPA, and nanofibers.

The pair of earplugs includes a first earplug; And a second earplug; wherein the earplug connecting portion comprises: a first earplug connecting portion connected to the first earplug; A second earplug connection unit connected to the second earplug; And a hinge member formed between the first earplug connection part and the second earplug connection part to allow the first earplug connection part and the second earplug connection part to be folded.

The present invention also includes a pair of earplugs with a built-in control unit for controlling the operation of the air purifier and the air purifier; Connecting the pair of earplugs, the earplug connecting portion worn on the user's head; And a mask unit having both ends connected to the pair of earplugs and maintaining a predetermined distance from the face of the user, and supplied with purified air through the air purifier, and whose transparency or color is changed under the control of the controller. It provides a smart mask comprising a.

Unlike the conventional mask, the smart mask according to the present invention maintains a predetermined distance from the user's face in a worn state, and is supplied with purified air to the inside of the mask to reduce user's discomfort.

1 is a wearing state diagram of a smart mask according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view from above of the wearing state of FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a view showing a folding and disassembling process of the smart mask according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a smart mask according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a smart mask according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

It should be noted that in the following description, only parts necessary for understanding the embodiments of the present invention will be described, and descriptions of other parts will be omitted so as not to distract from the gist of the present invention.

 The terms or words used in the specification and claims described below should not be construed as limiting in common or dictionary meanings. The inventors should be interpreted as meanings and concepts corresponding to the technical idea of the present invention according to the principle that the inventors can appropriately define the concept of terms for explaining their own invention in the best way. Therefore, the embodiments described in the specification and the configuration shown in the drawings are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not represent all of the technical idea of the present invention, and various equivalents that may be substituted for them at the time of the present application and It should be understood that there may be variations.

The smart mask according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First embodiment

1 is a wearing state diagram of a smart mask according to a first embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a view from above of the wearing state of FIG.

1 and 2, the smart mask 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a pair of earplugs 10, an earplug connecting unit 20, and a mask unit 70. The pair of earplugs 10 includes a control unit for controlling the driving of the air purifying unit and the air purifying unit. Earplug connection portion 20 connects a pair of earplugs 10 and is worn on the user's head. Both ends of the mask part 70 are connected to the pair of ear plugs 10 and maintain a predetermined distance from the face of the user, and the purified air is supplied to the inside through the air purifying part.

The pair of earplugs 10 includes a control unit for controlling each configuration of the air purifier and driving of the air purifier, and a battery (not shown) for supplying power to each part of the smart mask 100. In addition, the pair of earplugs 10 may be composed of a first earplug 11 and a second earplug 13. If necessary, a button unit (not shown) may be further formed on the surface of the pair of ear plugs 10 to allow the controller to control driving of each unit of the smart mask 100.

The mask part 70 is configured to cover a part of the face including the user's nose and mouth when viewed from the outside while maintaining a constant interval without being in close contact with the face. Conventional masks are mostly made of fabric, but the mask portion 70 of the present invention is made of a bandable material such as plastic. In addition, the mask unit 70 may be driven by any one of a PDLC method, a photochromic method, and an electrochromic method under the control of the controller.

Earplug connection portion 20 is a belt shape for connecting a pair of earplugs 10, is worn on the user's head. 1 and 2, the earplug connection portion 20 is worn on the user's head like the earplug connection portion of a typical headset, but a pair of earplugs 10 when the user wears by connecting a pair of earplugs 10 If the load of) can be evenly distributed, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the earplug connection unit 20 may be worn to the user's back head side. In addition, the earplug connector 20 may be made of a material that can be bent, such as plastic.

When the hinge member 25 is formed on the earplug connection portion 20, the smart mask 100 may be folded, which will be described below in detail with reference to FIG. 3.

3 is a view showing a folding and disassembling process of the smart mask according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The earplug connector 20 may be formed in an integral band shape, but as shown in FIG. 3, the first earplug connector 21 connected to the first earplug 11 and the second earplug connector 13 connected to the second earplug 13 ( 23) and hinge member 25. The hinge member 25 is formed between the first earplug connecting portion 21 and the second earplug connecting portion 23, and is composed of several joint members (not shown) to form the first earplug connecting portion 21 and the second earplug connecting portion 23. ) Can be folded to abut. Through this, the volume of the smart mask 100 is reduced, so that the user can easily store the smart mask 100 when not wearing it.

In connection with the separation and assembly (assembly) of the smart mask 100, in Figure 3 both ends of the mask portion 70 is separated from both the first ear plug 11 and the second ear plug 13, but the technical concept of the present invention Is not limited to this. For example, the mask part 70 may be separated from only one of the first earplug 11 and the second earplug 13 so that the user may store the mask part 70 without fear of losing the mask part 70.

Referring to FIG. 4, the air flow process through the smart mask 100 and the control aspect of the controller will be described in detail.

4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a smart mask according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The pair of earplugs 10 may be composed of a first earplug 11 and a second earplug 13. The first earplug 11 may include a first air purifying unit 31 including an intake fan 33 and a filter 35. The second earplug 13 may include a second air purifier 37 including an exhaust fan 39.

The intake fan 33 receives air from the outside under the control of the controller 50, and the exhaust fan 39 discharges the air to the outside under the control of the controller 50 so that the inside of the mask unit 70 can be Flow the air. As a result, a flow of air from the first air purifier 31 to the second air purifier 37 is generated, which is caused by the external air purifying the air purifier 30 even though the mask part 70 is spaced apart from the face of the user. It can be suppressed to flow into the mask portion 70 immediately without passing through). In this case, since the intake fan 33 and the exhaust fan 39 are inserted into the pair of earplugs 10, the size thereof is determined according to the size of the pair of earplugs 10. For example, the intake fan 33 and the exhaust fan 39 may be a small fan having a diameter of 7 cm or less.

The filter 35 filters the air sucked through the intake fan 33 and provides the inside of the mask unit 70. As the material of the filter 35, those known in the art may be used. For example, any one of a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter, an Ultra Low Penetration Air (ULPA) filter, and a nanofiber may be used.

The HEPA filter is a filter which collects and filters the fine nonwoven fabric, and according to the DOE standard, it can be classified as a HEPA filter when 99.97% of particles having a size of 0.3 μm or more in the passing air is removed. The ULPA filter is a finer filter than the HEPA filter, and it is known to filter 99.999% of particles having a size of 0.10 μm or more in the passing air.

Nanofiber refers to a fiber made of ultra-fine fibers having a nanometer scale, and examples thereof include polymer nanofibers and carbon nanofibers. Nanofibers are known to have a high surface area per unit volume, like general nanomaterials, and thus have high filtration efficiency and high porosity when used as a filter material. For example, a spinning solution is prepared by adding an organic solvent to a polymer material such as polyester sulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polystyrene (PS), and the spinning solution by electrospinning the web. It is possible to form a nanofiber filter of (web).

In addition, the pair of earplugs 10 may further include a voice output unit 80 including a speaker. The voice output unit 80 may be controlled by the controller 50 to control whether or not the voice is output and the strength of the voice. In FIG. 4, the voice output unit 80 is embedded only in the second earplug 13, but the technical spirit of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the voice output unit 80 may be embedded only in the first earplug 11 or in both the first earplug 11 and the second earplug 13.

The controller 50 controls the driving of the smart mask 100 by controlling each part and the mask unit 70 embedded in the pair of earplugs 10. In this case, the controller 50 may include a processor, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, a central processing unit (CPU) for performing other functions, or a microprocessing unit (MPU). Can be used. In FIG. 4, the controller 50 is embedded in the second earplug 13, but the technical spirit of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the controller 50 may be embedded in the first earplug 11.

The controller 50 may control the air purification unit 30 to adjust the rotational speed of the intake fan 33 or the exhaust fan 39. When the voice output unit 80 is further embedded in the pair of ear plugs 10, the controller 50 may control the voice output unit 80 to adjust whether or not the voice is output. In addition, the controller 50 may control the mask unit 70 to adjust the transparency or color of the mask unit 70.

In this regard, a method of changing transparency or color of the mask unit 70 under the control of the controller 50 will be described in detail as follows.

The mask unit 70 may be driven through any one of a PDLC method, a photochromism method, and an electrochromism method in which transmittance is controlled by electricity or a light source, thereby changing transparency or color. In this case, a button part (not shown) that the user can touch or press may be formed on the surface of the mask part 70 or the pair of earplugs 10. The driving of the 70 may be controlled to change the transparency or the color of the mask unit 70.

When using the PDLC method, the mask unit 70 includes liquid crystal particles (not shown) and a polymer (not shown) solution. In the state in which no voltage is applied, the liquid crystal particles and the polymer are irregularly arranged to scatter light, thereby making it opaque. However, when voltage is applied, the liquid crystal particles are polarized and arranged in a direction parallel to the electric field, and thus have a refractive index similar to that of a polymer. As such, when the liquid crystal particles and the polymer have a regular arrangement, the light incident on the mask part 70 is transmitted to be in a transparent state. The user can adjust the transparency of the mask unit 70 between the transparent color and the opaque white by adjusting the voltage applied according to the preference.

In the case of using the PDLC method, the liquid crystal particles and the polymer used in the mask unit 70 may be those known in the art. For example, liquid crystal particles include a mixed liquid crystal in which cyano-Biphenyl-based single liquid crystals are mixed, a mixed liquid crystal in which fluorine is substituted in biphenyl mesogen, and tertiary phenyl (Ter). -Phenyl) and biphenyl series mixed liquid crystals of a single liquid crystal may be used, and the polymer may be a polyvinyl alcohol-based, epoxy-based or urethane acrylate-based polymer.

The electrochromic method uses a material that changes color reversibly due to a redox reaction (hereinafter referred to as an 'electrochromic material'), and controls the amount of light or heat passing through the mask part 70 by adjusting the energy supplied. . Through the electrochromic method, the user may adjust the voltage applied according to the preference to adjust the color of the mask part 70 with blue or the like in addition to the original color of the mask part 70. As the electrochromic material (not shown), those known in the art may be used. For example, tungsten oxide (WO ₃ ), titanium dioxide (TiO 2), zinc oxide (ZnO), or the like may be used.

Photochromic methods use the phenomenon that one species reversibly changes to two or more colors as the wavelength to be irradiated changes. The PDLC method and the electrochromic method can adjust the transparency or the color by the user applied voltage, while the photochromic method is dependent on the external light source. Through the photochromic method, the mask unit 70 may have a black color in addition to the original color according to the illuminance. When the photochromic method is used, the mask unit 70 is manufactured to include a photochromic dye (not shown). As the photochromic dye, those known in the art may be used. For example, as a photochromic dye, a spiropyran series, a pulgide series, an azo-benzene series, a spiro-oxazine series, a naphtopyran series Or a quinone-based organic compound may be used.

Second embodiment

The smart mask 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention does not include a separate configuration capable of communicating with the outside, but the technical idea of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, referring to FIG. 5, in the smart mask 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the communication unit 90 may be further embedded in a pair of earplugs.

5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a smart mask according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In the smart mask 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, a pair of earplugs supplies power to each of the air purifying unit 30, the control unit 50, the communication unit 90, and the smart mask 200. A battery (not shown) is built in, and the configuration except for the communication unit 90 is the same as that of the first embodiment, which will be described with reference to the communication unit 90.

The communication unit 90 may transmit and receive a communication signal with the user terminal 300 under the control of the control unit 50. When the communicator 90 receives a communication signal from the user terminal 300 to control the driving of the air cleaner 30 or the mask 70, the controller 50 controls the air cleaner 30 or the mask 70. ) Can be controlled. As a result, the user may control the driving of the air purifier 30 or the mask unit 70 through the user terminal 300. For example, the rotation speed of the intake fan 33 or the exhaust fan 39 may be adjusted or the transparency or the color of the mask part 70 may be adjusted through the control of the controller 50. In addition, when it is necessary to replace each component of the air purification unit 30 such as a filter, the communication unit 90 may transmit a communication signal to the user terminal 300 under the control of the control unit 50. Short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth may be used as the communication unit 90.

In addition, when the voice output unit 80 is further included in the pair of earplugs, when the communication unit 90 receives a communication signal to control the driving of the voice output unit 80 from the user terminal 300, the controller ( 50 may control the driving of the voice output unit 80. For example, whether or not the voice is output, the strength of the voice, etc. may be controlled, and the music stored in the user terminal 300 may be received and output through short range communication.

The embodiments and the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative of some of the technical ideas included in the present invention. Therefore, since the embodiments disclosed in the present specification are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present invention but to explain, it is obvious that the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. Modifications and specific embodiments that can be easily inferred by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technical idea included in the specification and drawings of the present invention are interpreted to be included in the scope of the present invention. Should be.

[Description of the code]

10: pair of earplugs

11: first earplugs

13: second earplugs

20: Earplug connection

21: first earplug connection

23: second earplug connection

25: hinge member

30: air purification unit

31: first air purification unit

33: intake fan

35: filter

37: second air purification unit

39: exhaust fan

50: control unit

70: mask part

80: audio output unit

90: communication unit

100,200: smart mask

300: user terminal

Claims (12)

A pair of earplugs including an air purifying unit and a control unit controlling driving of the air purifying unit; Connecting the pair of earplugs, the earplug connecting portion worn on the user's head; And A mask unit having both ends connected to the pair of earplugs and maintaining a predetermined distance from the face of the user, and the purified air supplied through the air purifier to the inside; Smart mask comprising a. The method of claim 1, The mask unit may be driven by any one of a PDLC method, a photochromic method, and an electrochromic method under the control of the controller. The method of claim 2, The mask unit is a smart mask, characterized in that the transparency or color changes under the control of the controller. The method of claim 2, The pair of earplugs further includes a communication unit for receiving a communication signal from the user terminal under the control of the control unit; When the communication unit receives a communication signal from the user terminal, the mask unit is a smart mask, characterized in that the transparency or color changes under the control of the controller. The method of claim 1, The pair of earplugs further includes a communication unit for receiving a communication signal from the user terminal under the control of the control unit; And when the communication unit receives a communication signal from the user terminal, the control unit controls driving of the air purifier. The method of claim 1, The pair of earplugs further includes a voice output unit, The controller may control driving of the voice output unit. The method of claim 6, The pair of earplugs further includes a communication unit for receiving a communication signal from the user terminal under the control of the control unit; And when the communication unit receives a communication signal from the user terminal, the control unit controls driving of the voice output unit. The method of claim 1, The air purifying unit A first air purifying unit embedded in one ear plug of the pair of ear plugs; And a second air purifying unit embedded in the other ear plug of the pair of ear plugs. The first air purifying unit, An air intake fan that inhales air from the outside under the control of the controller; And a filter configured to purify the air sucked through the intake fan and to provide the inside of the mask unit. The second air purifying unit, An exhaust fan for discharging air provided inside the mask unit to the outside under the control of the controller; Smart mask comprising a. The method of claim 8, The air purifying unit forms a flow of air from the first air purifying unit to the second air purifying unit inside the mask unit, and suppresses the flow of air immediately flowing into the mask unit from the outside. Smart mask. The method of claim 8, The filter is a smart mask, characterized in that made of any one of HEPA, ULPA and nanofibers. The method of claim 1, The pair of earplugs includes a first earplug; And a second earplug; The earplug connection portion, A first earplug connecting portion connected to the first earplug; A second earplug connection unit connected to the second earplug; And A hinge member formed between the first earplug connection part and the second earplug connection part to allow the first earplug connection part and the second earplug connection part to be folded; Smart mask comprising a. A pair of earplugs including an air purifying unit and a control unit controlling driving of the air purifying unit; Connecting the pair of earplugs, the earplug connecting portion worn on the user's head; And A mask unit having both ends connected to the pair of earplugs and maintaining a predetermined distance from the face of the user, and supplied with purified air through the air purifier, and whose transparency or color is changed under the control of the controller; Smart mask comprising a.

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