KR20200039282A - Smart Mask - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a smart mask, to reduce discomfort in a state in which the user wears the mask, and to provide clean air. The smart mask according to the present invention includes a pair of earplug parts, earplug connection parts and a mask part. The pair of earplugs includes an air purification unit and a control unit for controlling driving of the air purification unit. The earplug connection unit connects a pair of earplugs and is worn on the user's head. In addition, both ends of the mask portion are connected to the pair of earplugs, maintain a certain distance from the user's face, and purified air is supplied to the inside through the air purification unit, and the purified air supplied to the inside is formed with the user's face. It is discharged to the outside through the gap.

Description

Smart Mask

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

The mask is a device for protecting the user's respiratory system from external factors by covering the nose and mouth of the user's face. The mask is mostly composed of a body and an earring, and is classified into a cold protection mask, a dust protection mask, and a medical mask according to external factors. On the other hand, with the recent development of problems related to the development of lung and respiratory diseases caused by fine dust and yellow dust generated in China and elsewhere in Korea, dust masks have become a necessity of life.

Most of the dust masks on the market today are made of a mask body made of a fabric including filter paper that can be used once or several times repeatedly. In recent years, a functional mask with an air purifier has also appeared, and in this case, the mask body is often made of fabric. Dust-proof masks made of fabric are often in close contact with the wearer's face, and thus, when used for a long time, the mask body may become wet and odor may cause inconvenience to the user's breathing.

Korean Registered Patent 10-1848674 (Announcement of April 16, 2018)

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

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an air purification unit and a pair of earplugs with a control unit for controlling the operation of the air purification unit; A pair of earplugs connected to the pair of earplugs and worn on a user's head; And a mask part having both ends connected to the pair of earplugs, maintaining a certain distance from the user's face, and supplying purified air to the inside through the air purification part. do.

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

Transparency or color may be changed under the control of the controller.

The pair of earplugs further includes a communication unit capable of receiving a communication signal from a user terminal under the control of the control unit. 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 further includes a communication unit capable of receiving a communication signal from a user terminal under the control of the control unit. When the communication unit receives a communication signal from the user terminal, the control unit drives the air purification unit. Can be controlled.

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

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

The air purification unit includes a first air purification unit built into one earplug of the pair of earplugs; And a second air purifying unit embedded in the other earplug of the pair of earplugs, wherein the first air purifying unit comprises: an intake fan that sucks air from the outside under the control of the control unit; And a filter for purifying air sucked through the intake fan and providing the inside of the mask part; and the second air purifying part discharges the air provided inside the mask part to the outside under the control of the controller It may include a; exhaust fan.

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

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

The pair of earplugs may include 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 part connected to the second earplug; And a hinge member formed between the first earplug connection portion and the second earplug connection portion to allow the first earplug connection portion and the second earplug connection portion to be folded.

The present invention also, the air purification unit and a pair of earplugs having a control unit for controlling the operation of the air purification unit; A pair of earplugs connected to the pair of earplugs and worn on a user's head; And Both ends are connected to the pair of earplugs and maintains a certain distance from the user's face, the purified air is supplied to the inside through the air purification unit, the transparency or color mask unit under the control of the control unit; It provides a smart mask characterized in that it comprises a.

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

1 is a state diagram of wearing a smart mask according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view of the wearing state of FIG. 1 as viewed from above.
3 is a view showing a folding and disassembly 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 are described, and descriptions of other parts will be omitted so as not to distract the subject matter of the present invention.

 The terms or words used in the present specification and claims described below should not be construed as being limited to ordinary or dictionary meanings. The inventor should be interpreted as meanings and concepts that conform to the technical spirit of the present invention according to the principle that he can properly define his own invention as a concept of terms for explaining in the best way. Therefore, the embodiments shown in the embodiments and the drawings described in this specification are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not represent all of the technical spirit of the present invention, and various equivalents that can replace them at the time of this application 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 drawings below.

Embodiment 1

1 is a state diagram of a smart mask according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view of the wear state of FIG. 1 as viewed from above.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the smart mask 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a pair of earplugs 10, earplug connecting portions 20 and a mask portion 70. The pair of earplugs 10 includes an air purifying unit and a control unit for controlling the air purifying unit. The earplug connection part 20 connects a pair of earplug parts 10 and is worn on the user's head. The mask portion 70 is connected to a pair of earplugs 10 at both ends and maintains a certain distance from the user's face, and purified air is supplied to the inside through the air purification unit, and the purified air supplied to the inside is supplied. It is discharged to the outside through the gap formed with the user's face.

Here, the pair of earplugs 10 is equipped with a battery (not shown) for supplying power to each part of the smart mask 100 and a control unit for controlling each component of the air purification unit and driving of the air purification unit. In addition, the pair of earplugs 10 may include a first earplug 11 and a second earplug 13. If necessary, a button portion (not shown) may be further formed on the surface of the pair of earplug portions 10 to allow the control unit to control the driving of each portion of the smart mask 100 when the user directly touches or presses it.

The mask portion 70 is configured to cover a part of the face including the nose and mouth of the user when viewed from the outside, while maintaining a certain distance without being in close contact with the face. Most conventional masks are made of fabric, but the mask part 70 according to the first embodiment 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 (Photochromic method), and an electrochromic method (Electrochromic method) under the control of the controller.

In addition, the earplug connection unit 20 is in a band shape connecting a pair of earplugs 10, and is worn on the user's head. The earplug connection portion 20 is worn on the upper side of the user's head like the earplug connection portion of a typical headset, but the pair of earplug portions 10 are connected to evenly distribute the load of the pair of earplug portions 10 when worn by the user. If possible, the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the earplug connection unit 20 may be worn toward the back of the user. In addition, the earplug connection portion 20 may be made of a bendable material 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 in detail with reference to FIG. 3 in this regard. Here, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a folding and disassembly process of the smart mask 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the earplug connection part 20 includes a first earplug connection part 21 connected to the first earplug 11, a second earplug connection part 23 connected to the second earplug 13, and a hinge member 25. It may be configured. The hinge member 25 is formed between the first earplug connection portion 21 and the second earplug connection portion 23, and consists of several joint members (not shown), such that the first earplug connection portion 21 and the second earplug connection portion 23 are formed. ) Can be folded. Through this, the volume of the smart mask 100 is small, so that the user can conveniently store the smart mask 100 when the user is not wearing it.

With regard to separation and combination (assembly) of the smart mask 100, in FIG. 3, both ends of the mask portion 70 are separated from both the first earplug 11 and the second earplug 13, but the technical idea of the present invention Is not limited to this. For example, the mask portion 70 may be separated from only one of the first earplug 11 and the second earplug 13 so that the user can keep the mask portion 70 without fear of losing the mask portion 70.

Alternatively, the earplug connecting portion 20 may be embodied as an integral band shape.

The air flow process through the smart mask 100 according to the first embodiment and the control aspect of the control unit will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4. Here, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the smart mask 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The pair of earplugs 10 may include a first earplug 11 and a second earplug 13. An air purification unit 30 may be built in the first earplug 11 and the second earplug 13, respectively.

The air purification unit 30 includes a first air purification unit 31 embedded in the first earplug 11 and a second air purification unit 32 embedded in the first earplug 13. The first and second air purification units 31 and 32 respectively suck air from the outside and filter it, and then supply it to the inside of the mask unit 70.

The first air purification unit 31 includes a first intake unit fan 33 and a first filter 35.

The second air purification unit 32 includes a second intake unit fan 37 and a first filter 39.

The first and second intake fans 33 and 37 are controlled by the controller 50 to suck air from the outside and supply them to the first and second filters 35 and 39. The first and second filters 35 and 39 filter the inhaled air to supply purified air to the inside of the mask unit 70. The purified air supplied to the inside of the mask portion 70 is naturally discharged to the outside of the mask portion 70.

In this way, the first and second air purification units 31 and 32 supply purified air inwards from both sides of the mask unit 70 and allow the supplied purified air to be discharged outside the mask unit 70. , It is possible to suppress the flow of air flowing directly into the mask portion 70 from the outside.

Since the first and second intake fans 33 and 37 are inserted into the pair of earplugs 10, the size is determined according to the size of the pair of earplugs 10. For example, the first and second intake fans 33 and 37 may be formed of small fans having a diameter of 7 cm or less.

The first and second filters 35 and 39 filter the air sucked through the first and second intake fan 33 and 37 to provide the inside of the mask portion 70. As the material of the first and second filters 35 and 39, those known in the art may be used. For example, any of a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter, an Ultra Low Penetration Air (ULPA) filter, and nanofibers One can be used.

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

Nanofiber refers to fibers made of microfibers having a nanometer scale in thickness, and there are polymer nanofibers, carbon nanofibers, and the like. Since nanofibers have a very large surface area per unit volume like a general nanomaterial, it is known that when used as a filter material, the filtration efficiency is high and the porosity is high, so that the pressure drop generated in the filtering process is small. For example, a spinning solution is prepared by adding an organic solvent to a polymer material such as polyester sulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), or polystyrene (PS), and the spinning solution is electrospinned to perform web spinning. (web) nanofiber filter can be formed.

In addition, a pair of earplugs 10 may further include a voice output unit 80 including a speaker. The voice output unit 80 may be controlled under the control of the controller 50 to control whether the voice is output or not, and the intensity 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 invention is not limited thereto. For example, the audio 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 control unit 50 controls the driving of the smart mask 100 by controlling each part and the mask part 70 built in the pair of earplug parts 10. At this time, the control unit 50 includes a processor, controllers, microcontrollers, micro-processors, or a central processing unit (CPU) for performing other functions, a microprocessing unit (MPU), and the like. Can be used. 4, the control unit 50 is built in the second earplug 13, but the technical idea of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the control unit 50 may be built in the first earplug 11.

The control unit 50 may control the air purification unit 30 to adjust rotation speeds of the first and second intake unit fans 33 and 37. When the voice output unit 80 is further built into the pair of earplugs 10, the control unit 50 may control the voice output unit 80 to control whether or not voice output is performed. In addition, the control unit 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 the transparency or color of the mask unit 70 under the control of the control unit 50 will be described in detail below.

The mask unit 70 may be driven through any one of a PDLC method in which transmittance is controlled by electricity or a light source, a photochromism method, and a photochromism method to change transparency or color. At this time, a button portion (not shown) that the user can touch or press may be formed on the surface of the mask portion 70 or the pair of earplugs 10, and the control portion 50 may cause the mask portion ( By controlling the driving of 70), the transparency or color of the mask unit 70 may be changed.

In the case of using the PDLC method, the mask unit 70 includes liquid crystal particles (not shown) and a polymer (not shown) solution. When no voltage is applied, the liquid crystal particles and the polymer are irregularly arranged to scatter light, resulting in an opaque state. However, when a voltage is applied, the liquid crystal particles are polarized and arranged in a direction parallel to the electric field, so that they have a refractive index similar to that of the polymer. In this way, when the liquid crystal particles and the polymer have a regular arrangement, light incident on the mask portion 70 is transmitted and becomes transparent. The user can adjust the voltage applied according to the preference to adjust the transparency of the mask unit 70 between the transparent color and the opaque white.

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

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

The photochromic method uses a phenomenon in which one chemical species reversibly changes to two or more colors as the irradiated wavelength changes. The PDLC method and the electrochromic method can adjust the transparency or color by controlling the voltage applied by the user, while the photochromic method depends on an external light source. Through the photochromic method, the mask unit 70 may have a black color in addition to the original color depending on the illuminance. In the case of using the photochromic method, the mask unit 70 is manufactured by including a photochromic dye (not shown), and those known in the art may be used as the photochromic dye. For example, photochromic dyes include spiropyran series, pulgide series, azo-benzene series, spiro-oxazine series, and naphtopyran series. Alternatively, a quinone-based organic compound or the like can be used.

As described above, the smart mask 100 according to the first embodiment maintains a certain distance from the user's face in a worn state, unlike the conventional mask, and supplies purified air to the inside of the mask unit 70 to reduce user discomfort. You can.

That is, the smart mask 100 according to the first embodiment is based on the mask portion 70, after the air purified through a pair of earplugs is supplied to the inside of the mask portion 70, the user's face and mask portion It has a flow structure of air discharged through the gaps between the (70). Due to this, when the user acts on the smart mask 100 according to the first embodiment, the inhaled purified air flowing into the inside of the mask part 70 through breathing, and the gas containing carbon dioxide discharged through breathing It is naturally discharged along the flow of air generated outward inside the mask portion 70.

Example 2

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 spirit 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 200 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, in the smart mask 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, a pair of earplugs includes an air purification unit 30, a control unit 50, a communication unit 90, and a smart mask 200. A battery (not shown) for supplying power to each unit is built-in, and the configuration except for the communication unit 90 is the same as that of the first embodiment, so the description will focus on the communication unit 90.

The communication unit 90 may transmit and receive communication signals to and from the user terminal 300 under the control of the control unit 50. When the communication unit 90 receives a communication signal to control the driving of the air purification unit 30 or the mask unit 70 from the user terminal 300, the control unit 50 may perform an air purification unit 30 or a mask unit 70 ) Can be controlled. Through this, the user can easily control the driving of the air purification unit 30 or the mask unit 70 through the user terminal 300. For example, the rotation speed of the first and second intake fan may be adjusted or the transparency or color of the mask part 70 may be adjusted through the control of the control unit 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. A 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 operation of the voice output unit 80 from the user terminal 300, the control unit ( 50) can control the driving of the audio output unit 80. For example, whether the voice is output or not, the strength of the voice, etc. can be controlled, and music stored in the user terminal 300 can 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, the embodiments disclosed in the present specification are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present invention, but to explain, and it is obvious that the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. Within the scope of the technical spirit included in the specification and drawings of the present invention, all modifications and specific examples that can be easily inferred by those skilled in the art are interpreted to be included in the scope of the present invention. It should be.

10: pair of earplugs
11: First earplugs
13: second earplugs
20: earplug connection
21: first earplug connection
23: second earplug connection
25: no hinge
30: air purification unit
31: first air purification unit
32: second air purification unit
33: first intake fan
35: first filter
37: second intake fan
39: second filter
50: control
70: mask section
80: audio output
90: communication department
100,200: smart mask
300: user terminal

Claims (12)

A pair of earplugs having an air purifying unit and a control unit for controlling driving of the air purifying unit;
A pair of earplugs connected to the pair of earplugs and worn on a user's head; And
Both ends are connected to the pair of earplugs and maintain a certain distance from the user's face, and purified air is supplied to the inside through the air purification unit, and the purified air supplied to the inside is formed with the user's face A mask portion that is discharged to the outside through the gap;
Smart mask comprising a. According to claim 1,
The mask unit is controlled by the control unit, a smart mask characterized in that it is driven by any one of PDLC, photochromic (Photochromic) and electrochromic (Electrochromic). According to claim 2,
The mask unit is a smart mask, characterized in that the transparency or color changes under the control of the control unit. According to claim 2,
The pair of earplugs further includes a communication unit capable of receiving a communication signal from a 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 controlled by the control unit, a smart mask characterized in that the transparency or color changes. According to claim 1,
The pair of earplugs further includes a communication unit capable of receiving a communication signal from a user terminal under the control of the control unit.
When the communication unit receives a communication signal from the user terminal, the smart mask, characterized in that the control unit controls the operation of the air purification unit. According to claim 1,
The pair of earplugs further includes a voice output unit,
The control unit is a smart mask, characterized in that for controlling the driving of the audio output unit. The method of claim 6,
The pair of earplugs further includes a communication unit capable of receiving a communication signal from a user terminal under the control of the control unit.
When the communication unit receives a communication signal from the user terminal, the smart mask, characterized in that the control unit controls the driving of the audio output unit. According to claim 1,
The air purification unit
A first air purification unit built into one earplug of the pair of earplugs; And a second air purifying unit embedded in the other earplug of the pair of earplugs.
The first and second air purification units, respectively,
An intake fan that sucks air from the outside under the control of the control unit; And
A filter that purifies air sucked through the intake fan and provides the inside of the mask;
Smart mask comprising a. The method of claim 8,
The first and second air purification units supply purified air inwards from both sides of the mask unit, and allow supplied purified air to be discharged outside the mask unit, so that the air that flows directly from the outside into the mask unit A smart mask characterized by suppressing flow. The method of claim 8,
The filter is a smart mask, characterized in that made of any one of HEPA, ULPA and nanofibers. According to claim 1,
The pair of earplugs may include a first earplug; And a second earplug;
The earplug connection portion,
A first earplug connection part connected to the first earplug;
A second earplug connection part connected to the second earplug; And
A hinge member formed between the first earplug connection portion and the second earplug connection portion to allow the first earplug connection portion and the second earplug connection portion to be folded;
Smart mask comprising a. A pair of earplugs having an air purifying unit and a control unit for controlling driving of the air purifying unit;
A pair of earplugs connected to the pair of earplugs and worn on a user's head; And
Both ends are connected to the pair of earplugs and maintain a certain distance from the user's face, and purified air is supplied to the inside through the air purification unit, and the purified air supplied to the inside is formed with the user's face A mask part that is discharged to the outside through a gap, and the transparency or color of which is controlled by the controller;
Smart mask comprising a.

Images