The present invention relates generally to the prevention of infection and more specifically to a desk top safety partition, which allows a clear flexible sheet to be used for protection, instead of an expensive rigid plexiglass material.
Presently, plexiglass is used to protect individuals from exposure to infection from viruses, such as COVID-19. However, plexiglass is very expensive and the supply of the plexiglass is presently in limited supply, because of the extraordinary demand. Further, plexiglass is very brittle and can be easily damaged.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for a desk top safety partition, which allows a clear flexible sheet to be used for protection, instead of an expensive rigid plexiglass material.
The present invention provides a desk top safety partition, which allows a clear flexible sheet to be used for protection, instead of plexiglass. The desk top safety partition (safety partition) preferably includes a sheet frame, a clear flexible sheet and a pair of legs. The sheet frame includes a pair of vertical poles, a pair of horizontal poles and four pole connectors. Each pole connector includes a side hole and a lengthwise bore. The side hole goes through a thickness of the pole connector. The lengthwise bore goes through substantially all of a length of the connector, but does not intersect the side hole. The side hole and the lengthwise bore are sized to firmly receive the pair of vertical poles and the pair of horizontal poles. The side hole is perpendicular to the lengthwise bore. The clear flexible sheet includes pole loops formed on opposing sides to receive the pair of vertical poles. The pole loops are formed by folding over opposing edges of the clear flexible sheet. The opposing edges are attached to itself with heat welding, a bonding substance or any other suitable process. Each leg preferably includes a leg pole and three pole connectors. The vertical poles, the horizontal poles and the leg poles are preferably fabricated from a fiberglass pultrusions, but other materials may also be used. The pole connectors are preferably fabricated from ABS plastic, but other materials may also be used.
The safety partition is preferably assembled in the following manner. Two pole connectors are pushed on to opposing ends of one of the two horizontal poles to form a top support. Two pole connectors are pushed on to opposing ends of the other one of the two horizontal poles to form a bottom support. The pair of vertical poles are pushed through the opposing loops in the clear flexible sheet. Each leg is assembled by inserting the leg pole through the side hole in one of the pole connectors, such that the pole connector is located in a middle of the leg pole. Each end of the leg pole is inserted into the lengthwise bore of one of the pole connectors. A top of each vertical pole is inserted through side holes in the pole connectors on opposing ends of the top support. A bottom of each vertical pole is inserted through side holes in the pole connectors on opposing ends of the bottom support and into the lengthwise holes in the pole connectors on the pair of legs.
A C-shaped safety partition includes three sheet frames, three clear flexible sheets, a plurality of pole connectors and a plurality of routing clamps. Each routing clamp includes two parallel snap cavities, which are sized to receive two parallel vertical poles. The routing clamps may be purchased from McMaster-Carr. However, other devices for retaining two parallel vertical poles may also be used. Three sheet frames with the clear flexible sheet are assembled. A bottom of each vertical pole is inserted into the lengthwise bore of the pole connector. Two adjacent frames are connected to each other with two routing clamps, such that a C-shaped safety partition is formed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a safety partition, which allows a clear flexible sheet to be used for protection, instead of an expensive rigid plexiglass material.
These and additional objects, advantages, features and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification.
With reference now to the drawings, and particularly to
With reference to
The vertical poles 16, the horizontal pole 30 and the leg poles 32 are preferably fabricated from a fiberglass pultrusions, but other materials may also be used. The pole connectors 22 are preferably fabricated from ABS plastic, but other materials may also be used. The feet 34 are purchased from any number of vendors.
The safety partition 1 is preferably assembled in the following manner. Opposing ends of the horizontal pole 30 are pushed into the lengthwise holes 26 of two pole connectors 22 for the top support 18 and the bottom support 20. The pair of vertical poles 16 are pushed through the opposing loops 28 in the clear flexible sheet 12. Each leg 14 is assembled by inserting the leg pole 32 through the side hole 24 in one of the pole connectors 22, such that the pole connector is located in a middle of the leg pole 32. Each end of the leg pole 32 is inserted into the lengthwise bore 26 of one of the two other pole connectors 22. A top of each vertical pole 16 is inserted through the side holes 24 in the pole connectors 22 of the top support 18. A bottom of each vertical pole 16 is inserted through the side holes 24 in the pole connectors 22 on opposing ends of the bottom support 20 and into the lengthwise holes 26 in the pole connectors 22 on the pair of legs 14.
With reference to
While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2533324 | Mendle | Dec 1950 | A |
3326147 | Toney | Jun 1967 | A |
3494405 | Bartelmas | Feb 1970 | A |
5090587 | Brown | Feb 1992 | A |
5169258 | Raynak | Dec 1992 | A |
5348368 | Garcia | Sep 1994 | A |
6161320 | Peterson | Dec 2000 | A |
6182740 | Pfaff | Feb 2001 | B1 |
6370803 | Burquest | Apr 2002 | B1 |
9622570 | Holdredge | Apr 2017 | B1 |
10159358 | Wells | Dec 2018 | B2 |
20010003878 | Dawkins | Jun 2001 | A1 |
20040111943 | Pollack | Jun 2004 | A1 |
20050097798 | Evans | May 2005 | A1 |
20050126446 | Nobles | Jun 2005 | A1 |
20060137232 | Mann | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20070006498 | Collins | Jan 2007 | A1 |
20070160801 | Johnstone | Jul 2007 | A1 |
20100133395 | Durello | Jun 2010 | A1 |
20100282696 | Shang | Nov 2010 | A1 |
20110239908 | Nakamura | Oct 2011 | A1 |
20120279102 | Topcuoglu | Nov 2012 | A1 |
20120312948 | Maguire | Dec 2012 | A1 |
20130008617 | Rivera | Jan 2013 | A1 |
20130239856 | Lee | Sep 2013 | A1 |
20140109449 | Cavalieri | Apr 2014 | A1 |
20140202897 | Collins | Jul 2014 | A1 |
20140311036 | Alexander | Oct 2014 | A1 |
20160249750 | Taylor | Sep 2016 | A1 |
20170178550 | Miller | Jun 2017 | A1 |
20180319476 | Araujo | Nov 2018 | A1 |
20190059602 | Gobron | Feb 2019 | A1 |
20190279542 | Wicken | Sep 2019 | A1 |
20200232211 | Pan | Jul 2020 | A1 |
20200288867 | Knapp | Sep 2020 | A1 |