Design based research to develop a safety half mask respirator for users with facial hair
- Submitting institution
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Nottingham Trent University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 18 - 970295
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
-
-
- Location
- -
- Brief description of type
- N/A
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month
- May
- Year
- 2019
- URL
-
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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B - Design Research Centre
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This design-based research, commissioned by New Vis Ltd addressed the problem that half mask respirators to protect against airborne dust can sometimes be only 10% efficient if the wearer has facial hair. Meadwell developed a novel test method for alternative mask/face seal surfaces that did not require expensive wearable prototypes to be made to test the ‘fit factor’ – the relative quantities of particulate inside and outside the mask.
The test rig contained a professionally manufactured facial hair surface to allow each proposed seal configuration to be incorporated into a flat standardised test piece. Further developments saw the incorporation of a pump and industry standard filters, allowing the rig to be used with the HSE’s standard equipment to measure fit factor.
The research concluded that to achieve a satisfactory seal against facial hair, an unacceptable force is required to push the mask on to the face. A journal paper for the Journal of Safety and Health at Work reports on this finding from the research.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2019.05.001
Using these insights, the research then investigated alternative methods of creating a face mask for users with facial hair. This produced the ‘Kiss Seal’, a design using a very soft contoured elastomer that softly pushes against the lips to create a seal, excluding facial hair from the seal surface.
Incorporated into a wearable mask, the ‘Kiss Seal’ was tested under controlled conditions at the HSE and achieved a satisfactory fit factor. The rigor of this development process gave New Vis Ltd confidence to apply for a patent for the kiss seal and Design Matter Research Group are now developing the principle towards a commercial product.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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