Filtering face-piece respirator having welded indicia hidden in pleat

Abstract

A filtering face-piece respirator 10 that comprises a harness 14 and a mask body 12 that has a pleats 21. The mask body 12 has an indicia 19 located within the pleat 21 in at least a partially non-visible location when the pleat 21 is folded. The indicia 19 is made from a weld pattern and is fully visible when the pleat 21 is unfolded. The fully visible indicia 19 provides an indication to the wearer that the mask body is in its proper unfolded condition. The indicia 19 also includes welded lines that extend normally across the pleat to improve collapse resistance.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A filtering face-piece respirator that comprises:
 (a) a harness; and   (b) a mask body that has a filtering structure that contains one or more pleats, a welded indicia is located within the pleat(s) in at least a partially non-visible location when the pleat is folded, the indicia being fully visible when the pleat is unfolded.   
     
     
         2 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 1 , wherein the indicia includes at least one line that extends across the fold line of the pleat. 
     
     
         3 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one line that extends across the fold line of the pleat is normal to the fold line. 
     
     
         4 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one line that extends normally across the fold line of the pleat is at least one centimeter long. 
     
     
         5 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one line that extends normally across the fold line of the pleat is at least two cm long. 
     
     
         6 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 5 , wherein the at least one line that extends normally across the fold line of the pleat includes at least two closely-spaced parallel weld lines. 
     
     
         7 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 6 , wherein the indicia comprises a trademark of the respirator manufacturer. 
     
     
         8 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 5 , wherein the indicia includes a numeral, a letter, or a combination thereof 
     
     
         9 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 2 , wherein the filtering structure comprises a plurality of layers which includes a filtering layer and first and second cover webs, and wherein the indicia is a weld pattern that is made by welding the plurality of layers that comprise the filtering structure together. 
     
     
         10 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 2 , wherein the indicia comprises closely-spaced parallel lines that are spaced apart by a distance of about 0.5 to 5 millimeters (mm), the spaced parallel weld lines are at least 1 cm in length, and wherein the indicia is 0.5 to 2 centimeters (cm) high by up to about 0.5 to 4 centimeters (cm) wide. 
     
     
         11 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 2 , wherein the total width of single or a parallel set of weld lines is 1.5 mm to 7.0 mm. 
     
     
         12 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 5 , wherein the indicia is ultrasonically welded into the filtering structure, and wherein the indicia is 1 to 2 cm high by 2 to 3 cm wide. 
     
     
         13 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 6 , wherein the region between each of the weld lines may be densified such that the thickness of the plurality of layers of the nonwoven material between the parallel weld lines is less than the thickness of those layers outside the weld lines. 
     
     
         14 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 2 , wherein the mask body comprises a plurality of transversely extending pleats, and wherein there is a indicia in the plurality of pleats. 
     
     
         15 . The filtering face-piece respirator of  claim 2 , wherein the indicia is located in a pleat that extends transversely across the mask body from a first side to a second side. 
     
     
         16 . A filtering face-piece respirator that comprises:
 (a) a harness; and   (b) a mask body that has a filtering structure that comprises a plurality of layers, which plurality of layers includes a filtering layer and first and second cover webs, the filtering structure also containing one or more transversely-extending pleats, a welded indicia is located within the pleat(s) in at least a partially non-visible location when the pleat is folded, the indicia being fully visible when the pleat is unfolded, wherein the welded indicia is made by welding the plurality of layers that comprise the filtering structure together, and wherein the indicia comprises at least line that is at least one centimeter long and extends across the pleat normally thereto.