ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,616,258, issued on May 5, was assigned to 3M Innovative Properties Co. (St. Paul, Minn.).
"Respirator tab" was invented by Christopher P. Henderson (High Shincliffe, Great Britain), Reyad A. Abdulqader (Stockton-On-Tees, Great Britain), James J. May (Kenilworth, Great Britain), Mark A. J. Fernandes (Leamington Spa, Great Britain) and David N. Boyce (West Bridgford, Great Britain).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A personal respiratory protection device comprising an upper panel (18), a central panel (16), and a lower panel (20), the central panel (16) being separated from each of the upper and lower panels (18) by a first and second fold (36)...