Unlike any other inventions, gas mask is one with no particular name to give direct credit. In this article, we would look into the early developments of gas masks that shaped the modern day respirator which have given us several benefits. Almost a century ago in 1915, when the modern chemical weapon was invented, gas masks were used. This enables the person to breath freely even if poisonous gas, thick smoke, or fumes exist on air. At the height of the chemical warfare, gas masks keep soldiers alive while performing its normal functions at war. But this was not the first trace of the use of gas masks. Even before the First World War, gas masks are used by firemen, divers, and firemen for a particular task. Going almost another century back in 1832, an apparatus capable of protecting people from smoke was patented. Brothers John and Charles Deane were the names responsible. Years later, the original patent was develop for the use of underwater divers. Meanwhile on 1819, Augustus Siebe used the concept in another approach. He used it by including a helmet and a tube where the air was pumped. This had become the basis of the future defense respirators. In 1849, an inventor named Lewis Haslett created and patented the "inhaler or lung protector". This was the first air-purifying respirator that is capable of filtering dust particles from the air before it goes in to the nose. And if you think this is the best gas mask ever, consider the gas mask that was developed 5 years after. A Scotish chemist named John Stenhouse was able to create gas masks that filter toxic gases with the use of charcoal alone. Moving ahead in 1860, Auguste Denayrouse and Benoit Rouquayrol, both French inventor created the Rsevoir-Rgulateur. This design was able to help rescuers save trapped miners. It was composed of a mouthpiece, a nose clip, and an air tank that is carried at the back. Gas mask was again improved 11 years later in another part of the world. This time, a British physicist named John Tyndall created the respirator that allowed firemen to breath properly against smoke and gas. In 1874, a patented device was patented By Samuel Barton, another British inventor. The particular respirator was permitted and was accepted safe when used in conditions where gas, vapors, smoke, and other harmful air substance may be present. In America, gas masks also continued to develop by the turn of the 20th century particularly in 1914. Garrett Morgan was the man responsible to the patented Morgan safety hood and smoke protector. He was probably the most popular gas mask inventor during that time as his gas masks were able to save 32 lives that were trapped after an underground tunnel explosion happened 250 feet below the surface of Lake Erie. This event made Garrett Morgan's work sold throughout the country. Some claimed that the Morgan safety hood and smoke protector became the basis of the future gas masks used in the military during the First World War although some disagreed. Cluny Mcpherson was another gas mask inventor who made big time in this device. His invention was used at the same time developed by the Allied Forces during WW1 as a protection for chemical weapon. In the course of years, gas masks continued to develop. And thanks to these people, gas masks today became more efficient and a lot safer. |
