Face shield

Priority for this application is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to commonly owned and co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/797,270 which was filed on May 3, 2006 and which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The present invention relates in general to a face shield assembly and pertains, more particularly, to an improvement in the support of the protective element or lens of the face shield assembly.

The use of face shields to protect a user's eyes and face from various occupational hazards is well known in the prior art. Face shields are used in numerous professions as protective equipment including, for example, in the chemical, medical, construction and manufacturing fields. The face shield is typically supported on a user head by a support structure such as a headband, visor or helmet. The face shield is supported so that it is positioned in front of the user face during its use. It is typical for the lens of the face shield to come into contact with various types of debris, which can damage the lens, particularly over a long period of time. Thus, it is also advantageous if the lens can be readily replaced. It is also advantageous if the lens can be replaced without the requirement of fasteners for securing the lens or other protective element to the face shield frame.

A face shield assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,306 in which I am a co-inventor and which is assigned in common with the present application. U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,306 is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The face shield assembly employed in this patent uses a protective lens that is not fastened by means of any fasteners but that is instead removably secured within a frame of the assembly in a groove or channel. This arrangement makes it convenient to readily replace the lens or protective element if need be. However, it has been found that, even with the use of detents to capture the lens, the lens can dislodge from its frame, particularly if the face shield assembly is impacted, such as by being dropped.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved face shield assembly, particularly one in which the protective element or lens of the face shield assembly is more positively engaged and thus more positively secured within or to the face shield assembly frame. This object is attained preferably without the use of any fasteners and thus even though the lens or protective element is more securely retained it still can be readily removed for cleaning or replacement.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided, for a face shield assembly, a protective element in combination with a support frame for holding the protective element. The protective element has a peripheral edge region that is adapted to engage about an opening in the support frame. Substantially opposed retaining areas of the peripheral edge region have interlocking members including, respectively, a protective element interlock member and a support frame interlock member. The interlock members are adapted for releasable interlocking engagement to hold the protective element in place in the support frame. These interlock members are also adapted to enable ready release of the protective element from the support frame.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, the interlocking members may include, for example, a slot or hole in the protective element and a pin, post or projection on the support frame that engages therewith. The opposed retaining areas may be disposed at the top and bottom of the support frame.

It should be understood that the drawings are provided for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to define the limits of the invention. The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the embodiments described herein will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a face shield assembly in accordance with the present invention including a protective element or lens supported within a support frame;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the protective element or lens alone;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating the manner in which the bottom end of the protective element is secured in the support frame;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4 - 4 of FIG. 3 ;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view illustrating the interlocking slots at the top of the protective element;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary rear view showing the manner in which the top end of the protective element interlocks with the support frame;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the interlocking at the top of the protective element;

FIG. 8 is a perspective fragmentary view showing the components of FIG. 7 exploded from each other; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9 - 9 of FIG. 7 .

A face shield assembly for protecting a user's eyes and face is illustrated in FIGS. 1-9 . The face shield assembly 10 includes a frame 12 and a protective element 14 that is removably supported in an opening 16 of the frame. The assembly may also include a head worn support structure (not shown) for supporting the frame in different positions including separate upper and lower positions. FIG. 22 of the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,306 illustrates the face shield assembly in relationship to the user's head.

The frame 12 preferably includes a top portion 20 , a bottom portion 22 , and side portions 24 . In use, the top portion rests adjacent the forehead and top of the head of a user, while the bottom portion lies adjacent the jaw of the user, and the side portions are disposed adjacent the ears of the user. The top, bottom and side portions are preferably fabricated as a single, unitary member out of a lightweight material, for example polycarbonate or nylon although other lightweight materials may be utilized, as would be known to those of skill in the art. An opening 16 is bounded by an inner edge 25 of the top, bottom and side portions, respectively. The opening 16 is sized to receive the protective element 14 and preferably extends from a centerline of the face shield toward the edges of the face shield, so that the frame 12 does not obstruct the peripheral vision of the user.

The protective element 14 may be a lens made of a substantially transparent material, may be a mesh having very fine openings, or may be made of any other suitable material known in the art. The protective element 14 is preferably formed as a single, unitary member having a shape defined by an outer peripheral edge 28 ( FIG. 2 ), which is preferably continuous. Because the protective element 14 is supported within the frame 12 without the use of fasteners, there is no need for any openings for receiving fasteners in the protective element 14 .

Referring now to FIG. 2 , one embodiment of a protective element 14 is illustrated. In this embodiment the protective element is a lens 15 . The lens 15 is preferably injection molded into a sheet made of, for example, polycarbonate, acrylic, polyester, or any other of a variety of materials that are well known in the art. The lens 15 may be substantially planar in its uninstalled position. Alternately, the lens may be pre-molded into a spherical or other rounded shape. The lens 15 may also be coated with a variety of chemical coatings, depending upon the particular application. For example, the lens may include an anti-fog coating, a reflective coating, may have a coating applied to improve the chemical and/or scratch resistance of the lens, or any other coating as is well known in the art. The lens is preferably shaped and sized to fit into the shape and size opening provided in the frame. In the present embodiment, the lens includes a slightly arcuate upper edge 30 , side edges 32 which curve slightly backward and a lower edge 34 . Alternatively, a variety of shaped lenses (or protective elements) may be utilized, depending upon the shape of the corresponding opening, as described above. The lens is sufficiently flexible so that it curves or bends without fracturing it when placed within the opening of the face shield frame 12 . The protective element illustrated in FIG. 2 is preferably used, as shown, in its pre-formed configuration.

Protective element 14 is removably secured within the frame by a groove or channel 38 that is preferably formed between the inner edges 25 of the top, bottom and side portions and a lip 40 . As best shown in FIG. 1 , the channel 38 is formed between the inner edges 25 of the frame 12 and the lip 40 , and is sized to receive the edges of the protective element 14 . In order to more securely fit the protective element into the channel, a plurality of fingers or ridges 42 supported on an inner surface of the lip 40 are preferably provided. The ridges 42 also aid in the manufacturing process of the shell by making the lip more rigid. Any suitable number of ridges may be provided, as desired. The lip 40 and ridges 42 may also be formed as a single, unitary piece with the remaining portion of the frame. Alternately, the pieces may be formed as separate members and joined in any manner, as known to those of skill in the art.

In addition to channel 38 , an upper detent 46 and a lower detent 48 are also preferably provided, as shown, for example, in FIG. 1 . The upper and lower detents may be approximately centered on the top inner edge and bottom inner edge respectively, of the frame. During use, the detents aid in placement and securing of the protective element 14 within the opening 16 . Both the upper detent 46 and the lower detent 48 may include one or more backing ridges to help secure the lens. Once the protective element 14 is secured within the channel 38 such that it covers the opening 16 , a continuous outer surface is formed to protect the user's eyes and face from external hazards when the user wears the face shield assembly.

As will be appreciated, because no fasteners are required to secure the protective element to the frame, the user may readily replace the protective element even with gloved hands. For example, if the lens is damaged it may be replaced, or if the user is changing applications a lens having different characteristics may be replaced for the existing lens. As will also be appreciated, because of the lack of fasteners, the inserting and removing the lens is simple and intuitive, even during the user's first replacement or insertion. This is true, at least in part, because once the edges are inserted within the channel the lens is self locating. In other words, there is no need for a specific alignment in order to place holes in a proper position with corresponding fasteners. In addition, the use of the interlocking feature of the present invention further assures a positive securing or nesting of the lens, while still enabling ready removal thereof.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2 which is a perspective view of the protective element or lens shown separate from the support frame of the face shield. As indicated previously, the protective element has a peripheral edge region 28 that is adapted to engage with a groove or channel of the support frame so as to position the protective element. Mention has also been made hereinbefore regarding the upper and lower detents 46 and 48 . At about the same location of these detents, in the protective element, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , there is provided an upper retaining area indicated at 30 and a lower retaining area indicated at 34 . These areas 30 and 34 may be masked off as illustrated in FIG. 2 or the entire surface may be transparent. FIG. 2 also illustrates a single hole at the bottom area 34 and a pair of through slots 54 at the top area 30 . The hole 50 is preferably centered as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 . The through slots 54 are disposed symmetrically. In another version of the invention only a single through slot 54 may be employed at a center position, although at least a pair is preferred.

The bottom portion 22 of the support frame also includes a bridge member 56 that supports the post 58 . The bridge member 56 is supported behind the lower detent 48 . When the protective element 14 is engaged with its support frame, the post 58 is adapted to pass through the hole 50 thus interlocking the protective element with the support frame at the bottom section thereof. Refer also to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 which illustrates the post 58 extending forwardly through the hole 50 at the bottom of the protective element 14 . FIG. 4 also illustrates the lower detent 48 that is also used to capture the bottom edge of the protective element. Thus, one interlock is preferably used at the bottom of the shield that, not only is retained by the detent 38 , but is also interlocked to more positively retain the protective element within the frame. There is preferably sufficient space between the post 58 and the detent 48 so that the user can relatively easily deflect the lens so as to disengage the lens from the frame.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 5-8 for a further illustration of the interlock member at the top part of the protective element. As indicated previously, the protective element itself is provided with a pair of through slots 54 . These are adapted to engage with respective ribs 60 . In the disclosed embodiment, the ribs 60 comprise two of a series of parallel arranged ribs that are disposed on the inside surface of the upper detent 46 . The ribs that do not extend form a backing support for the lens. Thus, a further interlock is preferably used at the top of the shield that, not only is retained by the detent 46 , but is also interlocked to more positively retain the lens within the frame. There is preferably sufficient space between the projections 60 and the detent 46 so that the user can relatively easily deflect the lens so as to disengage the lens from the frame.

FIGS. 7-9 illustrate the two ribs 60 extending beyond the other shallower ribs. In FIG. 7 , when the protective element is in place it is noted that the longer ribs 60 extend through the holes 54 while the other ribs remain as a backing surface for the protective element. FIG. 8 illustrates the portion of the interlocking member at the support frame including the ribs 60 with the fragmentary portion of the protective element exploded away from the ribs 60 .

In the preferred embodiment disclosed herein, it is noted that a single interlocking arrangement is shown at the bottom of the protective element while a pair of interlocking members are used at the top. In another embodiment only a single slot 54 may be employed associated with a single extending rib 60 . In that case the slot and rib are preferably centrally disposed. Moreover, although slots are shown at the top and a hole at the bottom, in alternate embodiments the slots and holes may be interchanged.

It will be understood that various modifications may be made to the embodiments disclosed herein. For example, it should be understood that a variety of materials may be utilized for both the frame and the protective element, that the frame and lens may have alternate shapes other than those shown, depending upon the particular application, and that the frame need not be made as a unitary member. Therefore, the above description should not be construed as limiting, but merely as exemplifications of preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will envision other modifications within the scope, spirit and intent of the invention.