Core77
With traditional N95 face masks still in short supply, Ford has stepped up to create an alternative. Designed by D-Ford, the company's internal "human-centered design group," the new face mask has an advantage over the incumbent design in that it's primarily see-through.
"The transparent, low-cost, reusable respirators enable a full range of human expression, allowing people to better communicate with each other and aiding those with hearing impairments to help read lips that are today blocked by conventional cloth and filtered masks," the company writes.
"This clear respirator promises to improve interactions between neighbors, at the store and for those who have hearing impairments," adds Jim Baumbick, Ford vice president, enterprise product line management and leader of Ford's Project Apollo personal protective equipment manufacturing effort.
Will Brick, design prototype lead at D-Ford, told Plastics News that the goal was to design something "easy to manufacture and very low cost so that it could relieve some of the pressure of the demand for the disposable types." As for what the transparent material and production methods are:
[Using a] food- and medical-grade thermoformed PET sheet allows the company to "rapidly produce a complex geometry for a flexible respirator body that would fit to the face," Brick said.
The PET also "has good clarity, it's very formable, tough, very resistant to cracking or splitting," he said. "Once it's formed, it has good mechanical properties that allow it to, working with its gasket and special shape of it, allow it to reliably fit and seal to a number of different face types."
The skin-safe silicone gasket forms an airtight seal, Brick said, which is "paramount" to its efficacy for both the wearer and people in the wearer's vicinity.
The company hopes to bring the mask into production by this spring.
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
Webinar
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.
Ford Designs Reusable, Transparent N95 Face Masks Made from Thermoformed PET
Interesting to see Ford work on this. During the pandemic, but also already before, you can see many new transparent masks on Indiegogo and Kickstarter that do something similar but I always wonder if these thing ever reach the production fase. But now that Ford does something similar I can imagine this being manufactured.
The design does have a draw back that makes me think this will be more of a niche product in the hands of people working with deaf people. The 'cup-shaped' design makes it difficult to carry around in your pockets like you can do with other masks. Using PET (which I think is a good idea) will make it impossible to crush it into a smaller size.
Also, is that Filter area large enough for easy breathability and to avoid fogging up?