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MarysiaSerafin,AdrienBernard,ErinGunduz,AnthonyQuach
STS1500(11:00AM)
Associate:Mr.Westin
Due4/29/16
PreliminaryPatentAssignment

ToWhomItMayConcern:
We,ErinGunduz,MarysiaSerafin,AdrienBernardandAnthonyQuach,studentsat
theUniversityofVirginiaEngineeringdepartmenthaveinventedaportable,covered
respiratoryaidingsystemthatallowsforfacilitatedbreathingonashorttermbasisina
discreetmanner.
Theobjecttobepatentedisadeviceconsistingofholdingandstoringanoxygen
maskand/ormedicationpouchintheinnerseamofawinterscarf.Theoxygenmaskor
medicationpouchwillbecompartmentalizedinsidealargewinterscarf,whichcanvaryin
shape,sizeandcolor,andwouldbeabletobeconnectedtotheusersfaceinadiscreetand
fashionablemanner.Theoxygenmaskormedicationpouchcanbeinserted,removedand
replacedbyasimplebuttoningmethod.Thisinventionisextremelyusefulforindividuals
ofanyagewhoaresufferingfromlungorrespiratoryillnesses,ascarryingaroundlarge
andconspicuousoxygenmasksorotherapparatuscanbeadiscomfort,drawunwanted
attentiontotheseindividualsandcanbeaburdentocarryaround.Therefore,our
inventionisaimedtoaidtheseindividualsbyprovidingadiscreetandmorefashionable
meanstostorethesemedicaldevices.

Theobjecttobepatentedhascomponentsofseveralformerpatents.However,it
buildsuponthemandisinnovativeinsuchawaythatitcanbeviewedasamuchmore
viableidea.PatentCN202005877UbyChenZiyanandDuanmuLuJian(published
10122011)describesabreathingassistorwhichcomeswithaneckandarmsupportasto
conveniencetheuser,especiallyiftheusermightbeincapacitated.Saidbreathingassistor
howeverfallsshorttoourscarfincorporatedbreathingdeviceassaidbreathingassistoris
overtlyabreathingapparatus,whileourapproachofembeddingthebreathingdevice
withinthescarfallowstheusertomaintaintheirsenseofstylebydisguisingthebreathing
apparatuswithascarf.Consequently,thebreathingapparatusisessentiallyinvisiblewhen
notinuse.PatentUS20110079225A1(RobertVole,PersonalRespiratoryFiltration
Apparatus,2011)describesascarf,similartosaidscarfapparatus,howeversaidapparatus
isascarfcombinedwithanairfilter,notabreathingapparatus.Saidfilterfiltersparticles
outoftheairandisattachedtothescarf,butwillnotprovideoxygenforthoselacking,asit
doesnotcomewithitsownsupplyofoxygen.Thisiswhysaidscarfbreathingapparatus
hasanadvantagebecausenotonlyistheairfiltered,saidapparatusalsocomeswithits
ownsupplyoffreshoxygen,unlikesaidpatentsscarfairfilterapparatus.
PatentUS20100101584A1byHannahandAdrienBledstein(Reusableporous
filtrationmaskwithconcealedrespiratoryfilterandexhalationvalves,published
10292008)issimilartopreviouslysaidpatentsinthatitisaconcealedbreathingdevice,
howeveritdiffersbecausethebreathingdeviceisnothiddeninanarticleofclothing,
insteaditishiddeninsideofamask.Saidpatentthuslosestheadvantageofbeing

concealedasanarticleofclothingthatpreviouslystatedpatentspossessed,thiscausesitto
notbeasadvantageousasthescarfbreathingapparatusstatedinthispatentapplication.
Similarly,patentCN2335662Y(FushuXiaandChenZhen,ConcealedNoseFilter,1998)
hasaconcealedbreathingapparatus,butinsteadofbeingconcealedwithinamask,itis
mostlyconcealedwithintheusersnose.Thistakesawaytheissueofbeingveryvisibleto
otherpeople,butitcanbeuncomfortabletowearanditismoreusefulasafilterinsteadof
anactualrespirator.Thismakesitmuchlessusefulthanthescarfbreathingapparatusas
thebreathingapparatuscanbehelpfulforeveryonewhohasneedofarespiratorwhilethe
saidpatentismoreusefulforfilteringairandforthosewhoareverysensitiveandneeda
filtertosafelybreaththeair.
UnlikepatentUS
20110079225A1
(RobertVole,PersonalRespiratoryFiltration
Apparatus,2011)
,whichdescribesarespiratoryfilterdisguisedasascarf,thispatentis
moreofarespiratorybreathingaiddisguisedasafilter.Thatgivesthispatentanadvantage
oversaidfilterpatentsbecause,asstatedabovewithotherpatents,itcanprovideaidfor
thosewithrespiratoryissueswhoarenotabletofunctionalbreathewithoutarespirator,
whilesaidpatentisnotenoughtohelpthesepeople,asallitcandoisfiltertheairtheyare
breathingandmakeitsaferforthemtobreathe,butitwouldnotbeenoughforsomeone
withseriousrespiratoryissues.

Figure1:Thecoveredmouthpiece,withtheflapshownasbeinghelddownbyabuttonand
astrap.

Figure2:Theshownmouthpiece,withtheflappulledup,usingthecannulaasthe
mouthpiece.

Figure3:Theshownmouthpiece,withtheflappulledup,uncovered,usingtheoxygen
maskvariationofmouthpiece.

Figure4:Theoxygenormedicationpouchandconnectingtube,whichisactuallycovered
andnotseentotheuser.
Theobjecttobepatentedhasanopaquefabriccoveringthatconcealsaportable
systemtoaidrespiratoryproblemsthatiswornabouttheneck.Thesizevariesbyuser,but

mustbewideenoughtofitaroundtheneck,andtallenoughtocoverarespiratorydevice.
Therearetwoproposeddesignsforthethepatentedobject,asseeninFigures1,2,3,and4.
Figure1showsthewearabledevicewhentheflapisclosed,therebycompletelyconcealing
therespiratorysystem.Whenthesystemisinuse,theflapispulledupwardand
backwards,becomingobstructedfromview,asseeninFigures2and3.Theflapisheld
downwhennotinusebyabuttonandastrap.Iftheuserrequirescannulastobreathe,the
proposedpatentedobjectwillresembleFigure2wheninuse.Iftheuserrequiresan
oxygenmasktobreathe,theobjectwillresembleFigure3wheninuse.Thecannulaandthe
oxygenmaskarebothattachedbytubestoaportablebagconcealedintheoppositeendof
thescarf.Thebagcaneitherbefilledwithoxygenormedicationandthereforecaneasethe
respiratoryissuesoftheuser.Thedeviceprovidingoxygenormedicationtotheuser,the
cannulaortheoxygenmask,thetubes,andthebagarealleasilyreplaced.Thecovering
thatconcealsthesystemishollow,andallpiecescanberemovedthroughtheflapinorder
tobereplaced.Thewearablesystemisdesignedtobelargebutnotsolargeastodraw
attentiontotheuser.Thereforeitisidealforsmallerrespiratorysystems,whichoftenmust
beshorttermsolutions.

Figure5:Thedesignforthesystemtobepatentedfromanoutsideview.
Thedesignofthisoxygenmaskconcealingscarfhasvariousfunctionsandcanalter
slightlyinuse.Thescarf,asseeninFigure5,appearsasanormal,fashionablewinterscarf
thatcanvaryincolorandsize.Withintheinnerliningofthescarf,(thehollowpartofthe
backofthescarf)theoxygenormedicationpouchcanbeinserted,seeninFigure4.This
willallowtheoxygenmaskorcannulatobelinkedtothepouchviathetube.Itwillalso
allowforeasytransportationfortheuser.
Inthefrontpartofthescarf,themainmouthornosepiecethatwilldeliveroxygento
theindividualwillbeplaced.Itwillbelinkedtotheoxygenormedicationpouchviaplastic
tubes.Theusercanthereforeusethismouthmaskornosepieceinconspicuouslywhile
coveringthelowerpartoftheirface(thenoseandunder)withthescarf.Thisway,theywill
beusingthisrespiratorydeviceinadiscreetmanner.Theoxygenmaskandnosepiecewill
bepositionedwithintheseamatthefrontsectionofthescarf,asseeninFigure3and

Figure2respectively.Whentheuserisnotusingtherespirationdevices,itcanbecovered
byaflap,alsofoundinthefrontsectionofthescarfandsecurelyfastenedwiththebutton
andstrapmechanism.ThiscanbeseeninFigure1.
Essentially,theoxygenormedicationwillbepumpedfromthepouchintothe
mouthmaskornosepiecefortheindividualviatheplastictubes.Thepouchwilltakeup
roughly75%ofthescarfandtheother25%wouldbethemouthmaskornosepieceandthe
connectingtubes.Thepouchisheldinplacewithintheseamsofthescarf,againusingthe
buttonandstrapmechanism,whichallowsforthepouchtobeeasilyinsertedandremoved
if,needbe.Whilethepurposeofthisscarfistocreateamorediscreetatmospherefor
breathingapparatus,itisalsoafashionableandwarmmethodtousethesebreathing
deviceswhenincoldweather.Theentirescarfisalsodesignedsothecertainsectionscan
beremoved,replacedoradded.Figure6showsindividualsusingthedevicewithboththe
mouthmaskandnosepiece.TheimagesaredrawnusinganXraymethodshowingwhat
thedevicewouldlooklikeunderthescarf;however,inreality,thiswouldnotbevisibleto
otherindividuals.

Figure6:Auserandthedeviceandvisualrepresentationofhowthedeviceworks.
Therearemanyalternativewaysthatourintegratedscarfbreathingdevicecanbe
implemented:
Thescarfcanalternativelybemadeofdifferentmaterials.
Themeansoffasteningthebreathingapparatustothescarfcanbedifferent(e.g.
glue,Velcro,zipper)
Differenttypesofbreathingdevicescanbesubstitutedinthebreathingdeviceslot
(e.g.respirators,oxygenconcentrator,asthmanebulizer,etc.)
Thetermscarfsimplyreferstoanyflatandwidelyshapedmaterialworn
anywherefromthelowernecktothelowerface.
Themeansoffasteningthescarfaroundthewearercanalsobeachievedbyusinga
hook,zipper,Velcro,orotheradhesivemeans.Thescarfcanalsobewornina


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necklacelikefashionwherebythescarfisnottiedaroundtheneckbutinsteadis
permanentlyfastenedinaloopandsimplyplacedoverthewearershead.
Thebreathingdevicecanalternativelyworkbyoperatingthroughthewearers
nose.

Weclaimtothattheobjecttobepatentediscomprisedof:
aportablerespiratorysystem;
adevicethatdeliversrespiratoryaidtotheuser;
astorageofoxygenormedication;
afabriccoveringofatleast0.5inchesthickthatcoversthesystemandholdsitina
roundedshape;
aremovableflapthatconcealsthefacepiece.
References
1. https://patents.google.com/patent/CN202005877U/en?q=scarf&q=breathing+app
aratus
2. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20110079225A1/en?q=scarf&q=breathing+a
pparatus
3. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20100101584A1/en?q=concealed&q=respir
atory
4. https://patents.google.com/patent/CN2335662Y/en?q=concealed&q=respiratory


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5. http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nphParser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&
p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%22201100
79225%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20110079225&RS=DN/20110079225