Wendell Brown Alec Gellis

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 17/070,230, filed October 13, 2020 and U.S. Patent Application No. 17/069,546, filed October 13, 2020 both of which claim the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No.

63/038,876, filed June 14, 2020, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

[0002] The disclosure relates generally to a single or multiple use mask for covid-19 protections and in particular to a complete face seal single use mask.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Facial masks are common in various medical settings to reduce the spread of disease, in the building construction trades to reduce breathing intake of dust or fumes, and in travel and other scenarios to reduce contagious disease spread. Currently, due to the covid-19 pandemic, people are wearing various types of masks designed to prevent droplets containing the virus from gaining access to the nasal passages or mouth of a user. Many people are wearing or required to wear facial masks while at work, shopping, and walking outside and many other non-medical situations. Some people were required or voluntarily wore facial masks for extended times - sometimes for multiple hours and sometimes for 8+ hours per day.

[0004] Facial masks have typically been constructed using elastic straps which loop around the ears or the back of the head to hold the mask itself against the face. This design can result in wearers suffering back-of-the-ear irritations, where the elastic straps irritate the skin behind the ears. The straps often can become uncomfortable, especially for extended-time wearers or every-day wearers. Facial masks which are held against the face by ear straps often have “air gaps” around the edge of the mask, allowing unfiltered air to enter in or out of the wearer. One solution has been to pull the mask tighter against the face, which does create a better seal/smaller gaps, however wearing a tight face masks typically makes the face mask less comfortable to wear and can leave impression marks in the skin. [0005] Thus, the problem with most of these masks is that they do not create a complete facial seal meaning that the virus can still exit or enter the mask because there is not a complete facial seal. Furthermore, most of these masks use straps that go around the ears of the user or the back of the head of the user which is uncomfortable and results in people removing the mask at the wrong times (such as when still inside in an enclosed area with a large number of other people) or not wearing the mask at all. Thus, it is desirable to provide a mask that do not require straps and seals the face.

[0006] There have been other uses for an adhesive to adhere an item to the skin of the user. For example, nasal strips meant to open the nasal passages or strapless brassieres use some form of adhesive to adhere to the skin pull the skin up on the nose and thus open the nasal passages. The adhesive on a strapless brassiere adheres to the skin and keeps the brassiere up and covering the breasts of the wearer. None of the uses however, have contemplated using an adhesive for other purposes.

[0007] In certain situations, it is desirable to have the above mask that uses adhesives to completely seal the face region that is a single use and then discarded. For example, when a user visits a business or doctor and forgets their mask, it would be ideal to be able to provide a disposable, single use mask to the user and thus, it is desirable to provide a single use facial mask that uses a weak adhesive to completely seal the face and it is to this end that the disclosure is directed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Figures 1 A and IB illustrate a first embodiment of a facial mask and a backside of the mask in Figure 1A, respectively;

[0009] Figures 2A and 2B illustrate a second embodiment of a facial mask and a backside of the mask in Figure 2A, respectively;

[0010] Figures 3 A and 3B illustrate a third embodiment of a facial mask and a backside of the mask in Figure 3A, respectively;

[0011] Figures 4A and 4B illustrate a fourth embodiment of a facial mask and a backside of the mask in Figure 4A, respectively;

[0012] Figure 5 is a front view of an exemplary mask;

[0013] Figure 6 illustrates a first embodiment of the single use mask;

[0014] Figure 7 illustrates a second embodiment of the single use mask; [0015] Figure 8 illustrates a third embodiment of the single use mask;

[0016] Figure 9A illustrates the facial mask with hinge in a normal wearing position;

[0017] Figure 9B illustrates the facial mask with hinge in a folded up position; and

[0018] Figure 10 illustrates a stack of layers that can be used to form the covering of each mask.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE OR MORE EMBODIMENTS

[0019] The disclosure is particularly applicable to a face mask that is meant for a single use for protection against Covid 19 and it is in this context that the disclosure will be described.

It will be appreciated, however, that the mask may be manufactured of different materials, have different sizes or shapes and have other features that are all within the scope of the disclosure. Although the disclosure below is directed to a single use face mask, it is understood that the disclosure applies as well to a multiple user mask.

[0020] The disclosure is directed to a facial mask that completely seals the areas of the face that improves wearing comfort, avoids ear irritations, and creates a complete seal of the mask against the face. The facial mask may be implemented for both non-medical grade (cloth) masks and/or medical-grade (N95 or similar) masks. Furthermore, different materials can also be utilized with this invention to achieve disease-spread-reducing, particulate filtering, fume-reducing, or other goals/criteria. Now, several examples of embodiments of the facial mask will be described.

[0021] Figures 1 A and IB illustrate a first embodiment of a facial mask 100 shown being worn by a user. In this embodiment, the mask 100 covers only the mouth of the user. The mask has a covering portion 102 that filters the air being inhaled and traps particulate and droplets being exhaled by the user through the mouth. Examples of the particular material and one or more layers of the covering portion 102 are described below in more detail. As shown in Figure IB, an adhesive 104 encircles the mask near the edge of the mask. Note that the precise distance of the adhesive 104 from the edge of the mask can vary somewhat and a width of the adhesive can vary between about 0.25 inches to 1 inch. In one embodiment, the adhesive is 0.75 inches wide all of the way around a perimeter of the mask. The adhesive may be a weak adhesive (an adhesive that is semi-adhesive allowing the wearer to put- on/take-off or reposition the mask one or more times) and may be in the form of a strip of adhesive that is affixed to the covering portion 102. For example, the adhesive may be double sided and one side is stuck to the covering portion 102, the adhesive may be sewed to the covering portion or attached to a hook and loop structure, such as Velcro or similar material with the purpose of the hook and loop or similar fastener allows the facial mask material/covering to be temporarily remove/replaced by the wearer, with the tape/adhesive continuing to be attached to the face (for example to eat a meal or take a drink). The first side of the adhesive does not release from the covering portion 102 while the other side adhesive is pressed onto the face to secure the mask to the face. When the mask 100 is placed over the mouth of the user, the adhesive 104 sticks to the skin of the user to completely seal the mouth of the user. The adhesive may be manufactured such that it can be easily removed from the face of the user and then replaced onto the face of the user without significantly degrading the stickiness. In one embodiment, the adhesive strip is a commercially available product number 2477P that is manufactured by 3M although the mask may be manufactured using other adhesive strips/tapes.

[0022] Figures 2A and 2B illustrate a second embodiment of a facial mask 200 shown being worn by a user. In this embodiment, the mask 200 covers both the nose and mouth of the user. The mask has a covering portion 202 that filters the air being inhaled and traps particulate and droplets being exhaled by the user through the mouth and/or nose. Examples of the particular material and one or more layers of the covering portion 202 are described below in more detail. As shown in Figure 2B, an adhesive 204 encircles the mask near the edge of the mask and the distance from the edge of the mask may vary somewhat.

[0023] The adhesive may be a weak adhesive and may be in the form of a strip of adhesive that is affixed to the covering portion 202. For example, the adhesive may be double sided and one side is stuck to the covering portion 202, the adhesive may be sewed to the covering portion or attached to a hook and loop structure, such as Velcro or similar material with the purpose of the hook and loop or similar fastener allows the facial mask material/covering to be temporarily remove/replaced by the wearer, with the tape/adhesive continuing to be attached to the face (for example to eat a meal or take a drink). The first side of the adhesive does not release from the covering portion 202 while the other side adhesive is pressed onto the face to secure the mask to the face. When the mask 200 is placed over the mouth and nose of the user, the adhesive 204 sticks to the skin of the user to completely seal the mouth and nose of the user. The adhesive may be manufactured such that it can be easily removed from the face of the user and then replaced onto the face of the user without significantly degrading the stickiness as above. [0024] Figures 3A and 3B illustrates a third embodiment of a facial mask 300 shown being worn by a user. In this embodiment, the mask 300 covers both the nose and mouth of the user. The mask has a covering portion 302 that filters the air being inhaled and traps particulate and droplets being exhaled by the user through the mouth and/or nose. Examples of the particular material and one or more layers of the covering portion 302 are described below in more detail. As shown in Figure 3B, an adhesive 304 encircles the mask near the edge of the mask and the distance from the edge of the mask may vary somewhat. In this embodiment, there may also be another piece of adhesive between the nose and mouth for stability.

[0025] The adhesive may be a weak adhesive and may be in the form of a strip of adhesive that is affixed to the covering portion 302. For example, the adhesive may be double sided and one side is stuck to the covering portion 302, the adhesive may be sewed to the covering portion or attached to a hook and loop structure, such as Velcro or similar material with the purpose of the hook and loop or similar fastener allows the facial mask material/covering to be temporarily remove/replaced by the wearer, with the tape/adhesive continuing to be attached to the face (for example to eat a meal or take a drink). The first side of the adhesive does not release from the covering portion 302 while the other side adhesive is pressed onto the face to secure the mask to the face. In an alternate embodiment, the adhesive, such as a skin-friendly adhesive, may be sprayed or otherwise deposited onto the skin of the face of the user or directly onto the mask material so that the mask may be completed sealed onto the face of the user. In this alternative embodiment, no adhesive tape/strip is needed to achieve the complete face sealing.

[0026] This embodiment of the mask 300 also may have a wire mesh attached into the mask, such as sewn into around the edge of the mask, to provide shape-forming rigidity to the mask 300. Alternatively, other materials that provide shape forming, such as silicone, plastic, etc., may also be used. In addition to the shape forming rigidity, the wire mesh or other materials may be used to keep the mask cloth/filter off of the lips of the user (to avoid touching lipstick, make it easier for the user to breath or talk, etc).

[0027] When the mask 300 is placed over the mouth and nose of the user, the adhesive 304 sticks to the skin of the user to completely seal the mouth and nose of the user. The adhesive may be manufactured such that it can be easily removed from the face of the user and then replaced onto the face of the user without significantly degrading the stickiness. [0028] Figures 4A and 4B illustrate a fourth embodiment of a facial mask 400 shown being worn by a user. In this embodiment, the mask 400 covers both the nose and mouth of the user. The mask has a covering portion 402 that filters the air being inhaled and traps particulate and droplets being exhaled by the user through the mouth and/or nose. Examples of the particular material and one or more layers of the covering portion 402 are described below in more detail. As shown in Figure 4B, an adhesive 404 encircles the mask near the edge of the mask and the distance from the edge of the mask may vary somewhat. This embodiment of the mask 400 as shown in Figure 4A may have one or more additional adhesive anchor points 406, such as the three shown near the two lower comers and near the middle/top of the nose, where a limited adhesive area anchors (attaches) the mask to the face. Alternatively, this embodiment may be attached to the face by just the one or more anchor points 406. The limited number of anchor points 406 allows for the maximum mouth/facial movement (underneath the mask) for talking, eating, or comfort reasons and the facial mask would continue to cover additional parts of the face on a free-floating (non-adhered) basis.

[0029] The adhesive may be a weak adhesive and may be in the form of a strip of adhesive that is affixed to the covering portion 402. For example, the adhesive may be double sided and one side is stuck to the covering portion 402, the adhesive may be sewed to the covering portion or attached to a hook and loop structure, such as Velcro or similar material with the purpose of the hook and loop or similar fastener allows the facial mask material/covering to be temporarily remove/replaced by the wearer, with the tape/adhesive continuing to be attached to the face (for example to eat a meal or take a drink). The first side of the adhesive does not release from the covering portion 402 while the other side adhesive is pressed onto the face to secure the mask to the face.

[0030] This embodiment of the mask 400 also may have a wire mesh attached into the mask, such as sewn into around the edge of the mask, to provide shape-forming rigidity to the mask 400 that can fit to the 3 dimensional shape of the face. When the mask 400 is placed over the mouth and nose of the user, the adhesive 404 and/or anchor points 406 sticks to the skin of the user to completely seal the mouth and nose of the user. The adhesive may be manufactured such that it can be easily removed from the face of the user and then replaced onto the face of the user without significantly degrading the stickiness.

[0031] Each of the embodiments shown in Figures 1A-4B do not require straps to secure the mask to the face of the user. However, each of these masks 100-400 may also include straps or may have holes in the mask 100-400 to accommodate a strap. Alternatively, the mask may alsio have loops or other similar methods to connect an optional strap to the mask.

[0032] Furthermore, each embodiment of the mask may have different sizes to accommodate different size and shape faces. For example, the facial mask may have an overall circular, elliptical, oval, square, and/or elliptical shape with both sides curving upwards (to approximate a smile shape), or in any other shape, for example to visually create a company logo (for example a circular body with two “ears” in the upper comers - for example to appear as mouse with two ears shape). As shown in the above figures, the mask may be a single piece or made from two pieces. Also, each embodiment may have advertising on an outside surface of the mask, an image and/or writing on the outside of the mask. Thus, in different embodiments, the mask may have a consistent color across the outside of the mask, different colors, designs, patterns, etc on the visible-to-the-world side of the mask. For example, the outer surface of the mask may have cosmetic patterns, colors, and shapes, such as a brand or company logo, patterns, or shapes.

[0033] Each of the above masks and the mask shown in Figures 5-6 may be made using an double sided adhesive tape as disclosed above. Alternatively, an adhesive may be poured onto the mask to form the adhesive that adheres to the face of the user. In some embodiments, the adhesive may be flexible and stretchy so that, for example, a user can open his/her mouth and the mask will remain attached to the face of the user. In some embodiments, the silicon adhesive may be stretchy although the amount of stretch may be dependent on the tape material itself.

[0034] In some embodiments, the mask may have the adhesive or “tape” on the outside-side of the mask, positioned such that the single-sided tape approximately half covers the facial mask material, with some of the tape extending beyond the edge of the mask, allowing the tape material to then adhere to the skin outside of the area covered by the facial mask material.

[0035] Each of these masks 100-400 may be made of a typical mask material, such as a fine mesh of synthetic polymer fibers, such as a nonwoven polypropylene fabric. Each mask 100- 400 may also be made of a cloth material and may have one or more folds in the mask that allows the mask to expand to accommodate a wider range of face sizes or to accommodate stretching/expansion of the mask. Alternatively, each mask 100-400 may be made of material that itself may contain one or more folds to accommodate stretching/expansion. [0036] Each of the embodiments of the mask above or shown in Figures 5-6 may be transparent, semi-transparent and/or not-transparent. In various embodiments, the facial mask and the adhesive may be water-proof or water-resistant to allow the wearer to wear the mask in the rain, etc. In another embodiment, the facial mask along with the adhesive/adhering mechanism is not water-proof or water-resistant.

[0037] In one embodiment, any of the masks may be folded/sewn in areas so the facial mask may be shipped/stored flat or minimal height. Then, when the mask is applied to the face the folded areas unfold to better cover to the typical contours of the nose/mouth of the user. The masks may have a Caucasian skin color on an outside surface of the mask. In other embodiments, the mask may come in different colors to better blend with black, dark, or other colors and shades to match the wide-variety of human face color/tones.

[0038] Figure 5 is a front view of an exemplary mask 500. This mask may be made of a cloth material and may have one or more folds that allows the bottom of the mask 500 to adjust in size. In this embodiment, an adhesive strip 504 may encircle the mask 500 to seal the mask to the face and the adhesive strip may be 0.75” wide and may be very close to the edge of the mask. The placement of the adhesive 504 provide a sealed pocket inside of the mask in which the nose and mouth of the user are located. Figure 5 also shows an example of advertising being placed on the outside of the mask surface.

[0039] Now, three embodiments of the single use mask that cover the nose and mouth of the user will be described with reference to Figures 6-8. It is understood however, that the single use mask may be manufactured as shown in Figures 1A-1B, 3A-3B and 4A-4B above.

[0040] Figure 6 illustrates a first embodiment of the single use mask in which the single use mask has a single layer 600 of filter material (which could itself contain one or more internal layers like a filter stack for a multiuse mask version that has an anti-sticking cloth, a first stage filter, an activated carbon layer, a second stage filter and a second anti-sticking cloth that are stacked together). In addition or alternatively, the filter material 600 could be additional forms of filters, have any of one or more layers. Furthermore, the filter material 600 may be electro-cloth filters, nano-filters, HEPA filters, silver-based filters, etc.

[0041] The mask may also have an adhesive layer 602, such as well known and commercially available double sided adhesive tape, so that the mask may be directly attached to the face as shown in Figure 6. In the example in Figure 6, the adhesive layer 602 may be formed as a continuous loop in the shape of the mask, but it may also be formed of several pieces of adhesive each of which does not form a closed loop as shown in Figure 6.

[0042] Figure 7 illustrates a second embodiment of the single use mask that has the same elements as Figure 6 (layer 600/700 and adhesive layer 602/702) in which the single layer 700 may be a fabric material that may also still have filter stack as described above.

[0043] Figure 8 illustrates a third embodiment of the single use mask 800. This embodiment of the single use mask 800 may have a layer 801, an adhesive layer 802 and a cover 804 that encapsulates the layer 801. The cover 804 may have graphics/logos/advertisements/text on the surface pointing away from the user. The cover 804 may also be made of different colors. The cover 804 may be attached to layer 801 using stitching, glue, ultrasonic welding, plastic or metal staples, or other similar forms of bonding or attaching multiple materials together. The cover 804 may also include one or more folds, or may be folded over around the edges of layer 801, or layer 801 may include one or more folds, or may be folder over around the edges of cover 804.

[0044] In an alternative embodiment, the single use mask may have a filter layer (either a single layer or a sandwich comprised of multiple internal layers) that is attached to a region of the face using an adhesive, such as a silicon adhesive, that is sprayed or other deposited onto an outer perimeter of the filter layer/mask and then adhered to the face without the need for adhesive tape and with only a single layer of silicone adhesive. In this embodiment, the outer perimeter of the mask contains the adhesive, with the main inner portion of the mask being the breathing/filter material and an outer 0.75 wide perimeter, all the way around the mask (the area shown inside the two dotted lines) is where the spray adhesive is applied.

This alternative embodiment of the mask is very thin/flat and the adhesive portion is a thin material which holds the mask in place (similar to the adhesive in a band-aid).

[0045] In all of the embodiments, the center portion of the mask (the breathing portion) may be straight/flat or may contain an excess (folded) amount of mask/material, to accomodate for opening of the mouth, talking, and/or to position the mask/filter material slightly in front of the lips/mouth to assist with breathing. Alternatively, some mask materials may be semi rigid and the mask material could have a slight outward protrusion to keep the mask/filter material slightly ahead/in front of the lips, to help avoid the lips from touching the mask/filter material, to increase comfort. [0046] As an alternative embodiment to the embodiments shown above in which the adhesive bond/strip goes around the periphery of the mask, the mask may form a complete face seal with the combination of adhesives and other materials. For example, the mask may have a combination of adhesives in some portions of the face-to-mask seal and non-adhesive but air blocking insulators (1 -sided sticky foam for example) in other parts. For example, the mask forms the tight, complete seal in which adhesives are used for some portions of the seal as it goes around the face and then the insulators, such as piece of foam with one side having an adhesive to adhere to the covering, may be used to "fill in the gaps" between sections of adhesive as the seal goes around the face. As another alternative, the adhesives form an incomplete face seal to hold the mask on to the face, but not necessarily to form an air-tight seal. For example, there could be 4 or 5 adhesive points which hold the cloth covering on to the face and holds it in place over the nose/mouth, and forms a majority seal but not necessarily an "airtight" seal.

[0047] In some embodiments, the mask may include one or more valve or other air-flow limiting or switching device (to allow for greater unidirectional airflow rates). In some embodiments, the facial mask covering may extend over the skin slightly past the adhesive area/region to allow for a finger to easily grab this extra “tab” to allow easy mask removal from the face. For example, such a tab be placed along the bottom (chin-facing) side of the mask.

[0048] In some embodiment, the facial mask have “shape forming” material added to, in, formed on or attached to the face mask covering material, to aid in the covering conforming to either a pre-formed shape (i.e. the 3 dimensional shape around the nose), or user- conformed shape. Such “shape forming” forming materials may be continuous, semi- continuous, or limited (strips), in one multiple directions (for example in a mesh combined of multiple strips in parallel and/or different directions) to allow the user to conform (custom shape) the mask to a rigid, or semi-rigid, or shape to customize the mask to conform to that user’s face shape. Such “shape additive” material could be composed of one or more metal areas, wire mesh (similar to a metal wire fence) metal, plastic, or other bendable materials, either pre-formed at the factory to a standard facial shape, or with user-formable materials to allow the user to custom-shape the semi-rigid material to the custom size/shape of his/her face.

[0049] In some embodiments, the facial mask may have one or more “hinge points” added to the filtering material, on, or attached to the face mask covering material, to aid in the temporary lift up/away from the mouth, for purposes of eating, drinking, talking on the phone, etc. The facial mask may have any combination of one or more of the above shapes, colors, valves, and/or features, elements, adhesives or adhesive mechanisms.

[0050] Figure 9A illustrates the facial mask with hinge in a normal wearing position and Figure 9B illustrates the facial mask with hinge in a folded up position. The facial mask 900 may have a horizontal crease 904, that may be pre-folded, approximately halfway down the mask 900 and one or more attachment mechanisms 902, 903, such as hook and loop materials, such as 3M branch Velcro or other attachment mechanisms that are attached to the mask and used to hold the mask in the folded up position as shown in Figure 9B (to allow eating or drinking, etc by the user without having to completely remove the facial mask).

The horizontal crease 904 allows the mask material to easily fold at the crease line. The attachment mechanisms 902, 903 are attached to the mask in positions such that when the lower-half of the mask is folded in the “folded up” position, along the crease line, that the two piece of the attachment mechanism 902, 903 (as shown in Figure 9B) connect with each other and hold the lower half of the mask up against the upper half of the mask, enabling the wearer to eat or drink, exposing this mouth. In some embodiments, there may be one or more attachment mechanisms.

[0051] Figure 10 illustrates a mask 1000 having a stack of layers that can be used to form the covering of the mask. Note that this stack of layers in Figure 10 may be used with all of the other mask embodiments described above. In the example in Figure 10, the mask 1000 has one or more folds, but the stack of layers may be employed in the masks the do not have the one or more folds. As shown in Figure 10, the stack may include an outer covering 1002 on which advertising, an image, text may be placed and the outer covering may have various colors. The stack may also have a filter element 1004 that may be replaceable and an inner covering 1006 that separates the face of the user from the filter element 1004. The filter element 1004 may be a single use filter or a five layer replaceable filter. As before, the mask may also have an adhesive strip 1008 that may be two sided and replaceable. In one embodiment, the adhesive strip 1008 may have a skin side that is skin-friendly, non-irritating adhesive, such as an FDA approved silicon adhesive, and a mask side adhesive that is an acrylic adhesive. An inner layer between the two adhesive sides may be a polymer strip. The adhesive strip may have peel and stick paper coverings on both adhesive sides.

[0052] In some embodiments, the filter element 1004 may further comprise an anti-sticking cloth 1004A, a first stage filter 1004B, an activated carbon layer 1004C, a second stage filter 1004D and a second anti-sticking cloth 1004E that are stacked together and are replaceable. The filter element 1004 may typically be available commercially as a pre-manufactured "sandwich" of the multiple layers 1004A-1004E. Then, the "filter" pre-manufactured with the five layers is replaced. In other embodiments, the filter element 1004 may have more or fewer layers, may have a different type or types of active layers (carbon or otherwise), and the filter element 1004 and its constituent layers/parts may be adjusted depending on the target particles (virus, smoke, fumes, dust particles, etc) being filtered. Furthermore, the filter layers may be made from electro-cloth filters, nano-filters, HEPA filters, silver-based filters, etc.

[0053] The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

[0054] The system and method disclosed herein may be implemented via one or more components, systems, servers, appliances, other subcomponents, or distributed between such elements. When implemented as a system, such systems may include and/or involve, inter alia, components such as software modules, general-purpose CPU, RAM, etc. found in general-purpose computers,. In implementations where the innovations reside on a server, such a server may include or involve components such as CPU, RAM, etc., such as those found in general-purpose computers.

[0055] Additionally, the system and method herein may be achieved via implementations with disparate or entirely different software, hardware and/or firmware components, beyond that set forth above. With regard to such other components (e.g., software, processing components, etc.) and/or computer-readable media associated with or embodying the present inventions, for example, aspects of the innovations herein may be implemented consistent with numerous general purpose or special purpose computing systems or configurations. Various exemplary computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the innovations herein may include, but are not limited to: software or other components within or embodied on personal computers, servers or server computing devices such as routing/connectivity components, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, consumer electronic devices, network PCs, other existing computer platforms, distributed computing environments that include one or more of the above systems or devices, etc.

[0056] In some instances, aspects of the system and method may be achieved via or performed by logic and/or logic instructions including program modules, executed in association with such components or circuitry, for example. In general, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular instructions herein. The inventions may also be practiced in the context of distributed software, computer, or circuit settings where circuitry is connected via communication buses, circuitry or links. In distributed settings, control/instructions may occur from both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

[0057] The software, circuitry and components herein may also include and/or utilize one or more type of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that is resident on, associable with, or can be accessed by such circuits and/or computing components. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and can accessed by computing component. Communication media may comprise computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and/or other components. Further, communication media may include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, however no media of any such type herein includes transitory media. Combinations of the any of the above are also included within the scope of computer readable media.

[0058] In the present description, the terms component, module, device, etc. may refer to any type of logical or functional software elements, circuits, blocks and/or processes that may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, the functions of various circuits and/or blocks can be combined with one another into any other number of modules. Each module may even be implemented as a software program stored on a tangible memory (e.g., random access memory, read only memory, CD-ROM memory, hard disk drive, etc.) to be read by a central processing unit to implement the functions of the innovations herein. Or, the modules can comprise programming instructions transmitted to a general-purpose computer or to processing/graphics hardware via a transmission carrier wave. Also, the modules can be implemented as hardware logic circuitry implementing the functions encompassed by the innovations herein. Finally, the modules can be implemented using special purpose instructions (SIMD instructions), field programmable logic arrays or any mix thereof which provides the desired level performance and cost.

[0059] As disclosed herein, features consistent with the disclosure may be implemented via computer-hardware, software, and/or firmware. For example, the systems and methods disclosed herein may be embodied in various forms including, for example, a data processor, such as a computer that also includes a database, digital electronic circuitry, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Further, while some of the disclosed implementations describe specific hardware components, systems and methods consistent with the innovations herein may be implemented with any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Moreover, the above-noted features and other aspects and principles of the innovations herein may be implemented in various environments. Such environments and related applications may be specially constructed for performing the various routines, processes and/or operations according to the invention or they may include a general-purpose computer or computing platform selectively activated or reconfigured by code to provide the necessary functionality. The processes disclosed herein are not inherently related to any particular computer, network, architecture, environment, or other apparatus, and may be implemented by a suitable combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. For example, various general-purpose machines may be used with programs written in accordance with teachings of the invention, or it may be more convenient to construct a specialized apparatus or system to perform the required methods and techniques.

[0060] Aspects of the method and system described herein, such as the logic, may also be implemented as functionality programmed into any of a variety of circuitry, including programmable logic devices ("PLDs"), such as field programmable gate arrays ("FPGAs"), programmable array logic ("PAL") devices, electrically programmable logic and memory devices and standard cell-based devices, as well as application specific integrated circuits. Some other possibilities for implementing aspects include: memory devices, microcontrollers with memory (such as EEPROM), embedded microprocessors, firmware, software, etc. Furthermore, aspects may be embodied in microprocessors having software-based circuit emulation, discrete logic (sequential and combinatorial), custom devices, fuzzy (neural) logic, quantum devices, and hybrids of any of the above device types. The underlying device technologies may be provided in a variety of component types, e.g., metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor ("MOSFET") technologies like complementary metal- oxide semiconductor ("CMOS"), bipolar technologies like emitter-coupled logic ("ECL"), polymer technologies (e.g., silicon-conjugated polymer and metal-conjugated polymer-metal structures), mixed analog and digital, and so on.

[0061] It should also be noted that the various logic and/or functions disclosed herein may be enabled using any number of combinations of hardware, firmware, and/or as data and/or instructions embodied in various machine-readable or computer-readable media, in terms of their behavioral, register transfer, logic component, and/or other characteristics. Computer- readable media in which such formatted data and/or instructions may be embodied include, but are not limited to, non-volatile storage media in various forms (e.g., optical, magnetic or semiconductor storage media) though again does not include transitory media. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description, the words "comprise," "comprising," and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in a sense of "including, but not limited to." Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. Additionally, the words "herein," "hereunder," "above," "below," and words of similar import refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the word "or" is used in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list.

[0062] Although certain presently preferred implementations of the invention have been specifically described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that variations and modifications of the various implementations shown and described herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only to the extent required by the applicable rules of law. [0063] While the foregoing has been with reference to a particular embodiment of the disclosure, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes in this embodiment may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.