Patent Application
20220110386
Face shields are routinely worn in hospital operating room and emergency room environments. Such shields are designed to prevent foreign materials such as blood from splashing into or otherwise contacting the user's face, and particularly the user's eyes, nose, and mouth. Known face shields typically consist of a flexible, transparent shield portion made of clear plastic or similar material sized to generally cover the user's face, a flexible forehead spacer portion made of foam or similar material for contact with the wearer's forehead to provide adequate clearance of the transparent flexible shield portion away from the user's face, and a headband worn around the head for securing the face shield to the user's head. When worn, the flexible forehead spacer portion substantially seals the top portion of the shield to prevent spatters from reaching the user's face from the top, and the flexible transparent shield portion prevents spatters from reaching the user's face from the front. Full-face shields may not adequately protect the user's mouth, chin, neck, and ears area, or entry from side of face or bottom below the head through the neck area.
Some face shield products further incorporate a fabric material attached to the lower edge of a half-sized shield, fan-folding the fabric from a closed position adjacent the lower edge of the shield to an extended position at least partially covering the user's mouth and chin area. However, known face shields still do not provide adequate protection to the user's neck and chin area. Thus, there is a need for a face shield which will adequately protect the user. Current shields in the medical profession, in particular, do not provide the protection afforded by the present invention.
A variety of known face shields are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,465 to Kuntz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,423 to Gazzara et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,760 to Highsmith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,925 to Baker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,060 to Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,223 to McCausland and U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,410 to Machson, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,465 discloses a lightweight, disposable face shield assembly for the protection of the eyes and face of a wearer. The face shield assembly includes an elongated, generally rectangular, semi-flexible, transparent face protection panel having a central panel section and like side panel sections which are foldable rearwardly with respect to the central panel section and a semi-flexible head support strip for the face protection panel in alignment with the upper portion of such panel. The face shield assembly does not teach a water-resistant sheet that adheres to the bottom edge of the shield. Nor does it wrap around the face in order to cover the sides of the head including both ears. It only covers from the just above the eyes, nose, mouth, and just above the chin area. Thus, protection is only limited to eyes, nose, mouth. Entry is possible through side, ears, from below chin and neck area. Further, there are no provisions allowed to incorporate a water-resistant sheet to back of head to completely surround the head from entry possible from back.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,423 discloses a face shield for protecting a wearer's face from spatters that includes a flexible, transparent portion sized to cover the face and a flexible spacer portion for contact with the wearer's forehead to provide adequate clearance of the transparent flexible portion away from the wearer's face. When worn, the flexible spacer portion substantially completely seals the top portion of the shield to prevent spatters from reaching the face from the top, that is, through the portion occupied by the spacer. The face shield may also include a mask structure to cover the nose and mouth of the wearer. The face shield does not include a water-resistant sheet that adheres to the bottom edge of the shield. Nor does it wrap around the face in order to cover the sides of the head including both ears. Entry of particles or viruses is possible through side, below chin and neck area. In addition, there are no suggestions of including a water-resistant sheet to back of shield in order to completely surround the head from any possible entry from back.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,760 discloses a disposable face shield that protects the wearer against airborne particles and droplets possibly containing pathogens. The disposable face shield includes a transparent plastic shield and a cord attached to the transparent plastic shield for securing the shield about the wearer's face. A darkened strip may be affixed to the upper portion of the transparent plastic shield to reduce glare. The transparent plastic shield does not teach a water-resistant sheet that adheres to the bottom edge of the shield of the shield. Nor is there any teaching of providing a wraparound to cover side of both ears. There is a gap between the foam on the headband and the plastic shield. This will allow particles/viruses to enter on top, side or below chin and neck area. Further, there is no provision to add a water-resistant sheet to back of head to completely surround the head, preventing possible access to the face from sides of the head.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,925 disclose an adjustable face shield for protecting the eyes of the wearer, having a mask adapted to cover the nose and mouth of the wearer together with the eye shield. The flexible eye shield having a transparent upper portion adapted to fit over the eyes of the wearer. The eye shield has a base portion fixedly attached to the mask and an adjustable attachment means mounted on the eye shield that fits around the head of the wearer. Having a face mask attached to the eye shield is a completely different design from the invention. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,925 does not disclose a wraparound to cover the sides of both ears and offers no additional protection below the chin. In addition, '925 requires a separate face mask to be used together therewith. There is no disclosure provided to add a water-resistant sheet to back thereof, to completely surround the head, preventing any possible entry from the back.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,060 discloses a face shield assembly to protect the wearer from contaminants and airborne particles. The shield assembly includes a visor having a head-engaging band and a forwardly extending bill portion. The head-engaging band carries attachment means for attaching a transparent shield. The transparent shield is fabricated from a flexible plastic and in a use-position is spaced from the face of the wearer and extends above and below the visor for protection. The transparent shield does not have a water-resistant sheet adhered to the bottom edge, nor does it include a wraparound material to cover side of both ears. Entry of particles/viruses is possible from side and bottom of the apparatus from below the chin. Further, '060 does not allow any provisions to add a water-resistant sheet to back of head to completely surround the head from entry possible from back.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,223 discloses a face shield that includes a headband with an inner surface and an outer surface, first and second ends, and a visor between a portion of the inner and outer surfaces. The visor tapers from a maximum width at the midpoint between the first and second ends to a minimum at a first point spaced a distance from the first end and at a second point spaced a distance from the second end. A flexible fluid impervious transparent cover is removably attached to the outer edge of said headband. The flexible cover can be readily removed and replaced if damaged. The flexible fluid impervious transparent cover does not extend and wrap around the head in order to cover sides, both ears, and the back of the head. Further, '223 It offers no protection from particles, pathogens, or viruses to enter from the side or below the chin. In addition, there is no provision to add a water-resistant sheet to back of head, to thereby completely surround the head from any possible entry therefrom.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,410 a face shield apparatus is disclosed to prevent bodily fluids and foreign materials from splashing into the user's face. The apparatus disclosed in '410 includes a drape portion to protect against splash coming up under the shield. This drape portion features a fluid-impermeable fabric below the plastic to cover the user's mouth, chin, and upper neck, but does not adequately protect the user from getting bodily fluids and foreign materials into the user's clothing. The apparatus's plastic shield area only covers to nose. Below is the drape portion. In addition, the apparatus of '410 also does not wrap around to cover side of both ears. Further, patent '410 does not teach a cover for the back portion of the head by attaching an additional piece of water-resistant sheet thus surrounding the whole head area from entry of particles/viruses.
Most face shields are open from the side or bottom of the shield and does not ever cover the ears. It is an aim of the present invention to provide a face shield for protecting a face of a wearer from flying debris and fluids, which may be used for both medical applications such as dentistry, and non-medical applications such as hazardous materials handling and sporting activities, and which may be worn under conventional equipment such as hats and helmets, is surprisingly discovered.
Thus there is a considerable need for the present invention and one skilled in the art will continue to understand this need in the following summary and furthermore in the drawing and detailed description of the drawing.
The full-face protective shield is protective equipment designed to protect the face area from intrusion of particles or viruses. Virus transmits through droplets expelled into the surrounding by an individual. This full-face protective shield of the instant application prevents entry of contaminated droplets into the wearer through any mucous secreting membranes (such as: the eyes, mouth, nose and ears) of the wearer as they are all covered. Even aerosols (small virus particles that lingers around the air) will not be able enter into the face area of the wearer as all openings to the face of the wearer are blocked, whether front, back, or side. Therefore it is an aspect of the invention to provide a one piece of utility that shield the face from top to below chin area, covers the entire face and then attached water-resistant sheet that encloses the neck area from below the shield.
The full-face protective shield is comprised of 3 parts: a safety shield that covers the wearer from their forehead to below the chin, a strap that secures the safety shield onto the head and a water resistant membrane that adheres to the bottom edge of the shield from below the chin and tucked into the user's clothing to close out any possible entry of particles or viruses from entering into the wearer's face area from side or below the shield. It is within the purview of the instant application to include a water-resistant back sheet in order to completely surround the head and prevent entry from the front, sides, and back of the head.
The full-face protective shield has a face area is made of clear plastic, or the like, and is an isosceles trapezoid shape that fans out towards the bottom to allow more air circulation for wearing comfort. The headband is fitted with a thick piece of foam band which can be adjusted for tightness. The foam band prevents any particles or viruses from entry to the wearer's face area through opening or gap between the headband and the wearer's forehead. The shield also wraps around the wearer's face all the way to covering part of the ears, thus preventing entry from the side or below the shield.
Further aspects of the invention are evident from the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment, and
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiment illustrated.
The full-face protective shield is comprised of three parts: a safety shield that covers the face of the user from the forehead to below the chin, a strap that secures the safety shield onto the head, and a water-resistant sheet that adheres to the bottom edge of the shield that is designed and configured to be selectively tucked into clothing. This creates a face covering that is 48-55 cm in length, depending on the user and how the shield is fashioned.
The face shield is made of clear plastic and is an isosceles trapezoid shape. The width of the shield is shorter on the forehead level and fans out towards the bottom to offer greater comfort in wearing. The top width of the shield is around 40 cm and the bottom fans out to around 45 cm. The length of the shield is around 22 cm.
The headband is equipped with a thick 2.5 cm foam band that is around 14.5 cm long which can be adjusted for tightness. It is to be worn directly touching the top part of the brow allowing no exposed gap between the forehead and the shield's headpiece.
The shield wraps around the face and covers part of the ears as shown in
The total bottom edge of the shield (45 cm in length) adheres to a water-resistant paper/cloth wrapping about 33 cm long that is secured by adhesively such as double-sided tape or with hook and loop fastening materials. This paper/cloth wrapping can be selectively packed into clothing worn, so as to close any open regions on the side or bottom of the shield, or the wrapping can be allowed to be loosely suspended from the bottom edge of the shield.
In addition, an optional water-resistant paper/cloth wrapping may be adhered along each of the side edges of the plastic. The additional optional water-resistant paper/cloth wrapping is likewise attached adhesively or with hook and loop fasteners. This will cover the back of the head and overlap loosely over the front paper/cloth wrapping. This will completely surround the whole head and prevent any possible entry from the back.
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While a specific embodiment has been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without markedly departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of protection is thus only intended to be limited by the scope of the accompanying claims.
