Ford is changing face of progress
Clear N95 masks could be huge for hearing impaired, teachers
DETROIT—Ford Motor Co. has designed and created clear N95 masks so that hearing-impaired people can read lips while protecting themselves from COVID-19, the company announced Tuesday.
A patent is pending for the new design, which is awaiting federal approval to qualify for N95 status from the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
The low-cost, reusable respirators may supplement or replace the use of cloth masks that block facial expression and lips from view as mask wearers seek protection from the increased threat of new coronavirus variants. In addition to the hearing impaired, these masks could be used by people who depend on facial expressions to better do their jobs, like teachers.
Masks many people wear today are often not tight. Respirators are airtight on the face and protect both the wearer and the people nearby. This new design by Ford filters exhalation, protecting the people around the wearer.
Ford has also made and distributed cloth surgical masks.
“One of the things that’s missing during the pandemic is the power of a smile,” said Jim Baumbick, Ford vice-president, Enterprise Product Line Management and leader of the company’s PPE (personal protective equipment) manufacturing effort, in a news release.
“This clear respirator promises to improve interactions between neighbours, at the store and for those who have hearing impairments.”
Will Brick, design prototype lead at D-Ford, the company’s human-centred design studio, designed the clear mask.
“I was interested in making something that was reusable, that didn’t fog somebody’s glasses,” he told the Free Press. “I was looking in the mirror at the shop to see how it would fit on the face and realized I could see myself smiling.”
The goal, initially, was to design a transparent reusable N95 respirator for health providers — an idea inspired by discussions with doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists, Brick said.
“So you could share facial expressions and bring some humanity back to our conversations and encounters with people. A simple human thing like a smile has been absent so many months now.”
Brick is from a family that has worked in the auto industry for more than a century.
His great-grandfather, Fred Manhire, moved from working the tin mines in Cornwall, England, to working mines in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, known for its copper.
Then he headed down to Detroit to work at the Rouge plant when it opened. He did a number of jobs, like putting steering wheels on the Model A.
Now Brick, 41, of Berkley is part of a team doing final advanced prototyping. Not only would these be helpful to hearing impaired people but Ford also learned that children with autism have a harder time communicating when they can’t see facial expressions.
Reusable N95 respirators could provide medical protection as well as ease demand for disposable masks and reduce waste, he said.
Ford plans to do continued testing this winter in hopes of making the masks available in the spring. It is unclear at this time whether they will be sold or donated.
Bill Ford, executive chair of the company, has committed to donating 100 million masks by mid-2021. The company recently increased its commitment to 120 million. These are medical-grade masks primarily for at-risk communities, in addition to supplies being made available at Ford dealerships around the country.
The Ford Fund has played a key role in distribution.
Ford cleared approximately $50 million (U.S.) in profit from its government contract to make ventilators this year to replenish the national stockpile, in addition to small sales of PPE, including isolation gowns, Mark Truby, chief communications officer at Ford, said in November.