Face shield

A face shield is disclosed that includes a headband with an inner and outer surface, first and second ends and a visor between a portion of the inner and outer surfaces that 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 removably attached to the outer edge of said headband, and means for adjustably securing the shield to a wearer's head. This face shield permits a wearer to comfortably wear eye glasses and/or breathing apparatus under the shield. Also, the flexible cover can be readily removed and replaced if damaged.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a shield to protect the face of a wearer 
particularly from splattered or spattered liquids. More particularly the 
present invention relates to an improved face protecting shield that 
easily and comfortably shields the face of the wearer even if eye glasses 
are worn under the shield, is adaptable to a variety of different users, 
permits a clear and full view therethrough and permits use alone or in 
combination with a hat. 
When painting or applying similar liquid coating material to a surface by 
rolling, brushing, spraying or the like, it is all too common to have the 
liquid material spatter and come into contact with the applicator's face. 
This result, of course, is quite undesirable particularly given the 
ingredients of many of these liquids. These problems are exacerbated when 
the application of paint or liquid coating material takes place overhead, 
as opposed to directly in front of the applicator. 
A similar problem is encountered during medical procedures where personnel 
are faced with the potential of blood or other body fluids coming into 
contact with the face. Such contact can be extremely dangerous due to the 
potential presence of deadly or otherwise harmful viruses and pathogens. 
The prior art has addressed the problems set forth above in a number of 
different structures. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art face 
shield distributed by Safe-T-Face Corporation of Beverly Hills, Calif. 
This particular prior art face shield is disposable and includes a 
transparent member affixed to a cardboard framework which folds flat for 
shipment and expands to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1 when worn. 
The shield is secured to a wearer by an elastic band only. 
In use, the cardboard framework which supports the top of the transparent 
member away from the face creates a large gap between the forehead of the 
wearer and the front of the transparent member. Spattered liquid material 
can therefore pass through the gap and land on the wearer's face. This 
face shield, therefore, only affords protection from fluid and spatters 
that approach the face directly from the front. Spatters approaching the 
top of the head will readily pass through the gap and land on the wearer's 
face. 
FIG. 2 illustrates a second known face shield that is the subject of U.S. 
Pat. No. 5,303,423 to Gazara et al. This patent teaches a face shield 
having a flexible transparent barrier member and a spacer member affixed 
to a top portion of the transparent member along with an apparatus to 
secure the transparent member-spacer member combination to the face with 
the spacer member in contact with the forehead. Although adequate for some 
applications, this face shield also presents a number of drawbacks. 
To begin with, due to the limited size and depth of the scalloped spacer 
member, the transparent member of the shield is frequently spaced an inch 
or less from the user's forehead. Due to this close spacing to the 
wearer's face, it becomes very difficult to use this shield and 
comfortably accommodate a wearer that uses eye glasses or wants to use the 
mask in combination with a breathing apparatus, since they will almost 
inevitably continue to contact the transparent barrier during use. In 
addition, this shield is difficult to use in conjunction with a hat, since 
the spacer member competes with the brim of the hat for support on the 
user's forehead. 
Likewise, the spacer member and the device on the whole gains depend 
entirely upon the forehead and an elastic band to entirely support the 
device. This structure has a tendency to draw the bottom of the face 
shield away from the user's face if it is in an extremely tightened state 
and causes the bottom to contact the user's face and creates a gap if it 
loosely fastened to the wearer's head. This device likewise allows all 
spatters that may be coming from a location above the level of the face 
shield to contact the front of the shield. This leads to the necessity of 
frequent cleaning of the shield, rather than preventing any of the 
spatters from contacting the shield itself. This shield is also designed 
as an integral unit so that, if any portion of the shield becomes damaged 
or unuseable, the entire device is rendered useless. 
It is therefore apparent that there exists a need in the art for an 
improved face shield that overcomes these drawbacks. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved 
face shield that is simple and more comfortable to wear than existing 
shields. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a face shield that 
has enough space between the shield and the wearer's face to allow the 
wearer with glasses to utilize the shield comfortably. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a face shield 
that provides the aforementioned objects in a manner that does not obscure 
the wearer's view. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a face shield 
that permits easy removal and replacement of a transparent face protector. 
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a face 
shield having an adjustable padded member that contacts the wearer's 
forehead. 
These and other objects are provided by a face shield comprising a flexible 
fluid impervious transparent cover removably attached to the edge of the 
headband, a headband having inner and outer surfaces, first and second 
ends and a visor between a portion of the inner and outer surfaces that 
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, and means for 
adjustably securing the shield to a wearer's head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to the drawings and in particular FIGS. 3-4 and 9, a 
preferred embodiment of the shield 10 of the present invention will be 
described. It should be understood that the following description is 
intended to be exemplary rather than limiting and the present invention 
can be varied from this detailed description without departing from the 
scope and spirit of the claimed invention. 
The shield 10 includes a flexible fluid impervious transparent face 
protector 16. The protector 16 is sized to cover the entire face of a 
wearer. The top 19 of the protector 16 is preferably flat and the bottom 
17 of the protector is preferably curved. 
The protector 16 is removably attached to the edge 36 of the headband 18. A 
variety of known attachment mechanisms including adhesive, velcro and 
snaps could be used to attach the protector 16. In a particularly 
preferred embodiment best illustrated in FIGS. 5-7 the protector 16 is 
provided with a plurality of keyhole slots 30 around the periphery near 
its top 19. The slots 30 cooperate with buttons 26 that project outwardly 
on stems 28 from the edge 36 of the headband 18 to removably yet tightly 
secure the protector 16 to the edge 36. This form of attachment is 
adequate to prevent any spattering through the slots 30. 
Attachment is achieved by passing the larger end of the keyhole slot 30 
over the button 20 then shifting the protector 16 appropriately until the 
stem 28 is accommodated in the narrow portion of keyhole slot 30 and the 
larger portion is blocked by the button 26. In this manner, if the face 
protector 16 becomes spattered or damaged it can easily be removed to be 
cleaned or replaced with another protector 16 and not require the entire 
shield to be disposed of. 
The protector 16 is constructed of transparent flexible plastic or similar 
material. It preferably includes a chemical coating to prevent glare. As 
illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 8 perforations 24 can be provided around the 
mouth area to further assist in preventing fogging of the protector 16 and 
increasing comfort of the wearer. These perforations 24 can be angled 
downwardly to further assist in preventing any liquid material from 
passing therethrough and contacting the wearer's face. 
As described above the protector 16 is removably attached to a visor-like 
headband 18. The headband 18 can be formed of plastic or high impact 
styrene plastic molded into a visor-like form. The headband 18 features 
opposing semi-rigid elongated projections 20 and 22 respectively that 
extend along the sides of the wearer's head and assist in supporting the 
shield 10 by providing a slight pressure against the sides of the wearer's 
head. The projections are further provided with slots 34 near their ends 
that form a point of attachment for an elastic retainer 25 that extends 
between the projections and provides an adjustable attachment and 
supporting mechanism for the device 10 on the head of the wearer. 
The headband 18 also features a visor 14 that tapers from a minimum value 
near the temples of the wearer to a maximum width at approximately the 
midpoint of the wearer's forehead when the shield 10 is in use. An inner 
edge 38 and the outer edge 36 are found along opposing surfaces of the 
visor 14. Although the maximum width of the visor 14 can vary depending 
upon the particular application for the present invention, widths around 
at least 1.5 inches have been found most preferable. In this manner, the 
protector 16 that is attached to the outer edge 36 of the headband 18 is 
spaced sufficiently away from the user's face to comfortably accommodate 
eye glasses and/or breathing apparatus, further assist in preventing 
fogging of the protector 16 and yet still provide protection from 
spatters. The visor 14 also provides a support to enable a user to easily 
wear a hat in combination with the device 10 if desired. 
The headband 18 is designed to follow the contour of the wearer's head. A 
portion of the inner edge 38 of the headband 18 is provided with an 
absorbent cushioning material 12. The cushioning material 12 forms a 
sponge-like cushion fitted padding contoured to the shape of the headband 
18. This allows a snug fit about the forehead of the user that keeps any 
gaps from forming between the user's forehead and the shield 10 through 
which spatters might otherwise travel. The absorbency of the material 12 
also serves to prevent slippage of the shield due to perspiration on the 
wearer's forehead. 
A variety of different attachment mechanisms can be used to attach the 
cushioning material to the inner edge 38. Preferred attachment mechanisms 
include permanent rigid attachment to the edge 38 using adhesives or the 
like. Although the material is usually of a uniform thickness, the 
resiliency of its cushioning material allows it to be adjusted to have a 
slightly differing thickness along its length if this is necessary to 
accommodate the forehead of the wearer.