Objective

  • The customer came to MME with a product idea he envisioned while traveling overseas in 2018. He noticed that a significant amount of people wore N-95 filter masks while out in public due to the amount of air pollution in major urban areas. However, these masks don’t last long, and are less effective than medical respirator masks.
  • As a medical device engineer, the customer set out to design a mask that was on par with medical respirator effectiveness, yet had the comfort of a lightweight mask that could be comfortably worn throughout the day.

Solution

  • As a Public Benefit Corporation, Breathe99 was formed, and the B2 Mask was the first major launch for the company. The B2 Mask filters down to 0.1 microns, and is tested as >99% efficient for bacterial and viral filtration (ASTM F2101), yet is 40% more breathable than common NIOSH non-powered respirators.
  • MME aided in DFMA, and designed and built the tooling and fixturing for the B2 Mask assembly.
  • The B2 Mask includes an overmolded TPE face seal, which secures a left and right plastic substrate that accepts the ultrasonic welding of a plastic filter cup that houses the removeable filters. The user then secures the filters within the mask via filter caps which can be twisted on and off for easy filter swapping.

Results

  • The B2 Mask is among the most popular consumer masks since July of 2020, and was chosen by Time Magazine as a “Top 100 Invention of 2020”.
  • MME is proud to be the full-service contract manufacturer for Breathe99. On top of manufacturing the B2 Mask, MME also manages packaging and direct-to-customer distribution.