EP0164946A2 — Improvements in and relating to respirators

Claim 1

Independent Claim 76 words

A pump module (14) for releasable mounting on a respirator facepiece to be supported thereby, comprising a housing (15) having an inlet (16) for air and an outlet (17) adapted for communication with the inlet of the facepiece, and, within the housing, a motor (24), and a fan (22) connected to be driven by the motor and arranged with its inlet connected to the housing inlet (16) and its outlet connected to the housing outlet (17).

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 76 words

A pump module (14) for releasable mounting on a respirator facepiece to be supported thereby, comprising a housing (15) having an inlet (16) for air and an outlet (17) adapted for communication with the inlet of the facepiece, and, within the housing, a motor (24), and a fan (22) connected to be driven by the motor and arranged with its inlet connected to the housing inlet (16) and its outlet connected to the housing outlet (17).

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 82 words

A pump module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing outlet (17) is adapted for releasable engagement with the inlet of the facepiece, and the housing inlet (16) is adapted for releasable engagement with the outlet of a filter canister, the configerations of the housing outlet (17) and inlet (16) corresponding with each other such that the pump unit may be interposed between the inlet of the facepiece and the outlet of the filter canister which would otherwise be engageable together.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 45 words

A pump module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outlet (17) of the housing is adapted for releasable engagement with the housing of a filter canister for engagement with the inlet of the facepiece, so as to surround the inlet of the filter canister.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 83 words

A pump .module as claimed in claim 1 adapted for association with a filter canister having a generally cylindrical housing with an axial inlet and a coaxial .outlet, the outlet being adapted for engagement with the inlet of the facepiece, wherein the outlet (17) of the pump module housing is provided with a shroud (40) for surrounding the housing of the filter canister adjacent the inlet thereof, and means (41) for releasably engaging the pump module with the housing of the filter canister.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 32 words

A pump module as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the fan (22) is an axial fan and the inlet (16) and outlet (17) of the housing are coaxial.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 26 words

A pump module as claimed in claim 5, wherein the housing (15) is generally cylindrical and the inlet (16) and the outlet (17) are coaxial therewith.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 62 words

A pump module as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the fan (22) is a centrifugal fan, the housing (15) provides the volute casing of the fan, the fan (22) is connected directly to the motor (24) to be driven thereby, and the motor (24) is provided on that side of the fan (22) opposite the fan inlet.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 54 words

A pump module as claimed in claim 7, wherein the motor (24) and housing inlet (16) lie to either side of the axis of the housing outlet (17) so that the weight of the motor will, in use, at least in part counterbalance the weight of any means connected to the housing inlet (16).

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 106 words

A pump module as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the fan is a centrifugal fan, the inlet (16) of the housing is generally coaxial with the inlet of the fan, and the outlet (17) of the housing extends from but perpendicular to the outlet of the fan and is parallel to but spaced from the axis of the inlet (16) of the housing, the motor (24) being arranged below the outlet (17) of the housing and projecting from the plane of the outlet (17) of the housing so as in use to extend below means connected to the housing outlet (17).

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 224 words

A powered air purifying respirator assembly comprising a facepiece (1) for mounting on the head to cover the nose and mouth of the wearer and provided with an air inlet (5), an air outlet (6), and a one-way valve means (8) in the outlet permitting air to flow out of the facepiece, a filter canister (32) for filtering air flowing into the air inlet of the facepiece and comprising a housing (33) having an inlet (36) and an outlet (34) and, within the housing (33), filter material (37, 38), and a pump module (14) for pumping atmospheric air to the facepiece and comprising a housing (15) having an air inlet (16) and an air outlet (17) and, within the housing, a motor (24) and a fan (22) connected to be driven by the motor and arranged with the fan inlet connected to the housing inlet (16) and the fan outlet connected to the housing outlet (17J, the filter canister (32) and pump module (14) being adapted to be releasably mounted on the facepiece with the inlet (16 or 36) of one of the housings (15 or 33) connected directly to the outlet (34 or 17) of the other housing (33 or 15) and the outlet (17 or 34) of the one housing (15 or 33) connected to and engaged with the facepiece inlet (5).

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 224 words

A powered air purifying respirator assembly comprising a facepiece (1) for mounting on the head to cover the nose and mouth of the wearer and provided with an air inlet (5), an air outlet (6), and a one-way valve means (8) in the outlet permitting air to flow out of the facepiece, a filter canister (32) for filtering air flowing into the air inlet of the facepiece and comprising a housing (33) having an inlet (36) and an outlet (34) and, within the housing (33), filter material (37, 38), and a pump module (14) for pumping atmospheric air to the facepiece and comprising a housing (15) having an air inlet (16) and an air outlet (17) and, within the housing, a motor (24) and a fan (22) connected to be driven by the motor and arranged with the fan inlet connected to the housing inlet (16) and the fan outlet connected to the housing outlet (17J, the filter canister (32) and pump module (14) being adapted to be releasably mounted on the facepiece with the inlet (16 or 36) of one of the housings (15 or 33) connected directly to the outlet (34 or 17) of the other housing (33 or 15) and the outlet (17 or 34) of the one housing (15 or 33) connected to and engaged with the facepiece inlet (5).

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 27 words

A respirator assembly as claimed in claim 10, wherein the outlet (17) of the pump module housing is connected to and engaged with the facepiece inlet (5).

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 58 words

A respirator assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein the configurations of the outlet (17) and inlet (16) of the pump module housing correspond with each other such that the pump module (14) can be interposed between the inlet (5) of the facepiece and the outlet (34) of the filter canister (32) which are otherwise directly engageable together.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 32 words

A respirator assembly as claimed in claim 10, wherein the outlet (34) of the housing (33) of the filter canister (32) is connected directly to and engaged with the facepiece inlet (5).

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 40 words

A respirator assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the outlet (17) of the housing (15) of the pump module (14) is adapted for releasable engagement with the housing (33) of the filter canister (32) surrounding the inlet (36) thereof.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 72 words

A respirator assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the housing (33) of the filter canister (32) is generally cylindrical and the inlet (36) is coaxial therewith, and the outlet (17) of the pump module housing (15) is provided with a shroud (4U) for surrounding the filter canister housing (33) adjacent the inlet thereof, and means (41) for releasably engaging the pump module housing outlet (17) with the filter canister housing (33).

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 36 words

A respirator assembly as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein the fan (22) is an axial fan and the inlet (16) and outlet (17) of the pump module housing (15) are coaxial.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 28 words

A respirator assembly as claimed in claim 16, wherein the pump module housing (15) is generally cylindrical and the inlet (16) and outlet (17) thereof are coaxial therewith.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 61 words

A respirator assembly as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein the fan (22) is a centrifugal fan, the inlet (16) and outlet (17) of the pump module housing are coaxial with the inlet and outlet of the fan, and the motor (24) for the fan is arranged on one side of the fan opposite the fan inlet.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 70 words

A respirator assembly as claimed in claim 18, wherein the outlet (17) of the pump module housing is connected directly to and engaged with the facepiece inlet (5), the filter canister (32) is connected to the inlet (16) of the pump module housing, and the weight of the motor at least in part counterbalances the weight of the filter canister (32) about the axis of the pump module outlet (17).

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 104 words

2U. A respirator assembly as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein the fan (22) is a centrifugal fan, the inlet (16) of the pump module housing being coaxial with the inlet of the fan, the outlet (17) of the pump module housing extending from the outlet of the fan perpendicularly thereto so as to be parallel to but spaced from the axis of the inlet (16), and the motor (24) is arranged to one side of the fan (22) opposite the side provided with the fan inlet so as to extend below the outlet (17) of the pump module housing.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 43 words

A respirator assembly as claimed in claim 20, wherein the outlet (17) of the pump module housing is connected to the inlet (36) of the filter canister housing (33) and the motor (24) of the pump module extends below the filter canister (32).

Improvements in and relating to respirators

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