28. Jul 2020

Pollen filter: filter insert for training mask

According to the Robert Koch Institute, 15.6 percent of all adults suffer from hayfever. The German Sport University Cologne even determined that pollen allergies are considerably more likely to affect sportspeople than the average population. The training mask from Phantom Athletics, a manufacturer of niche sports articles from Austria, now offers amateur and endurance athletes long-awaited, reliable protection against pollen thanks to an additional module made of stainless steel mesh from GKD – GEBR. KUFFERATH AG.

It is worn as a training mask over the nose and mouth to improve the respiratory muscles and sporting performance via a four-stage resistance controller. Phantom Athletics has already sold over 80,000 of these training masks. The new filter insert from GKD against pollen consists of die-cut rounds of various stainless steel meshes. Five mesh layers centrally fixed with a weld spot are inserted into a two-part plastic housing. Four specially arranged layers of Volumetric Mesh with a geometric pore size of 75 µm thus provide virtually resistance-free air flow. The fifth mesh layer consists of square mesh with a pore size of 25 µm. The clever interaction of mesh types, arrangement, and layers provides the separation rates necessary for efficient particle retention. Birch pollen and grass pollen have a size of 19 to 22 µm or 20 to 40 µm. They agglomerate and are distributed by the wind in dimensions between 20 and 60 µm. The filter insert provides athletes with long-awaited effective protection as a pollen filter. The filter insert is easy to clean and disinfect: After sport, it is boiled in hot water for a few minutes and then dried at room temperature. To ensure that the user can neither insert the filter module the wrong way round, nor close the housing incorrectly, the housing design from GKD is based on what is known as the Poka Yoke system.