ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 15 -- United States Patent no. 12,661,535, issued on June 23.
"Facemask having improved fit and construction" was invented by Erik Quist (Knoxville, Tenn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A facemask includes: a mask portion shaped to substantially cover a nose and mouth of a wearer of the facemask, the mask portion formed of a flexible material; a nose bridge extending substantially across a width of an upper edge of the mask portion and including a stiff deformable portion located on the nose bridge, wherein the stiff deformable portion is deformable to contour to a shape of a face of the wearer while substantially retaining the shape during use of the facemask; a first e...