Patent Publication Number: US-2023149219-A1

Title: Eyes Safety Shield Accessory For Eyewear

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATES APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/106,447, filed on Aug. 21, 2018, titled “Patient Safety Shield And Method Of Use”, and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/605,843, titled “Patient Safety Deflector Shield To Close Bottom Gaps For Use With Safety Glasses In A Dental Setting,” filed on Aug. 31, 2017, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     Implementations generally relate to the field of protection of the eyes of a dental patient who is inherently exposed to air-borne fine-size particulate debris and projectiles which may impact and harm the patient&#39;s eyes during a dental care procedure provided by a dental professional such as a dentist, dental assistant, dental hygienist, or other practitioner. 
     BACKGROUND 
     While undergoing dental treatment of a dental care provider, a patient should wear appropriate eye protection. Lenses in a patient&#39;s protective eyewear with side shields are helpful, particularly in consideration of: (i) the spatial relationship of the dental care provider and the patient; and (ii) the use of high and low speed rotary instruments and dental instrumentation by the dental care provider in the patient&#39;s oral cavity. This spatial angulation and dental instrument activity may result in projectiles off of the dental instruments reaching the patient&#39;s eyes by traveling vertically and tangentially through gaps which result between the patient&#39;s cheeks and the respective lower rims of the lenses of the patient&#39;s protective eyewear. Infection and injury may result when projectiles reach the patient&#39;s eyes. As such, it would be an advantage in the dental health care provider arts to provide a patient safety shield to close open bottom gaps between the patient&#39;s cheeks and the lower rims of the lenses of the patient&#39;s protective eyewear, thereby preventing potential infection and injury. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one implementation, a patient wears eyewear having two lenses in a frame or frameless protective eyewear. The eyewear has a width. Bottom gaps are formed respectively between the left and right cheeks of the patient and below the bottom edge of the patient&#39;s protective eyewear. A patient safety shield is placed across the patients nose and is configured as to close the generated bottom gaps. The patient safety shield includes a first, flexible and compressible, material having a length at least the width of the frame, and a folding region across the length of the shield. Also included is a second material attached to, and not exceeding the length of, the first material. The second material is bendable from a first position thereof to a second position thereof. The second material, after being bent, retains the second position thereof and causes the first material, after being bent with the first material from a first position thereof to a second position thereof, to also retain the second position thereof. The second positions of the first and second material make a conforming fit over both the nose of the person and the left and right cheek portions of the person adjacent to the nose of the person. The patient safety shield also includes a deflector shield, having left and right portions, contiguous to the first material at the folding region. When: (i) the patient safety shield is worn by the patient across the nose of the patient; (ii) the safety shield is folded at the folding region or score line into a plane approximately normal to a plane assumed by the deflector shield; and (iii) the safety shield (deflector shield) are bent from the respective first positions thereof to the second positions thereof so as to make conforming fits over both the nose of the patient and the left and right cheek portions of the patient adjacent to the nose of the patient; then (vi) the left and right portions of the deflector shield respectively cover over the left and right gaps that are formed respectively between the left and right cheeks of the patient and below the patient&#39;s eyewear. 
     In another implementation potential eye infection or injury is prevented for a patient wearing safety glasses or eyewear incident to a dental procedure. The eyewear has left and rights lenses in a frame or are frameless. Left and right bottom gaps are formed respectively between the left and right cheeks of the patient and below left and right bottom portions of the patient eyewear. A patient safety shield is placed across the bridge of the patients nose and below the left and right lenses of the patient&#39;s eyewear. The patient safety shield has a facial contact portion that has a deflector shield that extends from a periphery thereof. The deflector shield has left and right portions. The patient facial contact portion is first bent into a plane approximately normal to a plane assumed by the deflector shield. The patient facial contact portion is then bent from a first position thereof to a second position thereof. The patient safety shield, after being bent, retains the second position thereof The second position of the patient safety shield causes the facial contact portion of the patient safety shield to make a conforming fit about the nose of the patient and the left and right cheek portions of the patient adjacent to the nose. When so worn by the patient, the left and right portions of the deflector shield respectively close the left and right bottom gaps that are formed respectively between the left and right cheeks of the patient and below the bottom edge of the patient eye wear. 
     In an alternative embodiment of the foregoing implementations, the patient safety shield is positioned across the bridge of the nose of the patient and dental treatment is performed in the oral cavity of the patient. The dental treatment may result in projectiles and aerosol sprays that may be hazardous and infectious originating from the oral cavity of the patient. However, the left and right portions of the deflector shield deflect the projected, potentially infectious material from making contact with either or both of the patient&#39;s eyes by respectively covering over the left and right bottom gaps that are formed respectively between the left and right cheeks of the patient and below the patient&#39;s eyewear. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a top view of an exemplary patient safety shield having a deflector shield and a comfort foam strip shown within the same plane and showing a perforated score line which allows the deflector shield to be folded out of the same plane to an approximate 90-degree orientation with respect to the unfolded deflector shield portion and comfort foam strip. 
         FIG.  2   . is a perspective view of an exemplary patient safety shield having a deflector shield and a comfort foam strip shown to be folded along the perforated score line which allows the deflector shield to be folded to an approximate 90 degree orientation (e.g., normal to) with respect to the unfolded deflector shield portion and comfort foam strip. 
         FIG.  3    is a cutaway perspective view taken along the  3 - 3  Section seen in  FIG.  2    after the patient safety shield has been adjusted into a position thereof in which the deflector shield is folded to an approximate 90-degree orientation with respect to the unfolded deflector shield portion and comfort foam strip by way of the perforated score line. 
         FIG.  4    is a front elevational view of a patient&#39;s head and face, where the patient&#39;s head and face are shown to be wearing safety eye wear below which an exemplary patient safety shield is worn by the patient, where the exemplary patient safety shield has a deflector shield and a comfort foam strip, where the patient is shown with the patient&#39;s mouth open and safety glasses in place, and where the deflector shield portion and comfort foam strip has been folded about a perforated score line in the exemplary patient safety shield so as to make a conforming fit to both the patient&#39;s nose and the patient&#39;s face portions adjacent to the patient&#39;s nose. 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective view of  FIG.  4    cutaway to show approximately only the right side of the patient&#39;s face. 
       Implementations will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which like elements bear like reference numerals. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Implementations relate to a patient safety shield for patient use in a dental setting. The patient safety shield, when worn below a patient&#39;s safety eye wear, such as safety glasses, and across the bridge of the patient&#39;s nose, closes each of the two (2) bottom gaps below the patient&#39;s safety glasses. Each of the two (2) bottom gaps are an open space that exists between the lower edge of the patient&#39;s safety eyewear and the patient&#39;s cheeks. The patient safety shield will preferably be used below and in combination with standard safety eyewear as shown in  FIGS.  4 - 5   . The patient safety shield may be used in dental/medical applications and other settings where bottom gap eye protection would be appropriate. 
       FIGS.  1  and  3    shows an exemplary implementation of a patient safety shield  100  having elastic ear loops  102 , a deflector shield  104 , a bendable nose clip  308 , and a comfort foam strip  310 . Deflector shield  104  has right and left portions each of which will preferably be an identical mirror-image of the other so as to be similarly profiled, oriented, and attached. Nose clip  308  will preferably be bendable and retains its shape after being bent. Comfort foam strip  310  is also bendable but does not retain its shape after being bent but for the presence of nose clip  308  which is either embedded within (as shown in  FIGS.  2 - 3   ) or mounted upon (not shown in  FIGS.  2 - 3   ) comfort foam strip  310 . Deflector shield  104  will preferably be composed of a base material such a plastic, Mylar® (e.g., polyester), or other material having a functional equivalent thereof including functional paper product and additionally, various polymeric materials. The deflector shield  104  will preferably have a thickness of approximately 0.005 inches, although other implementations may vary in thickness as required by design. The base material will preferably be polymeric in nature and can be a variety of polymeric materials as well and also a functional paper product if so indicated. The base material may be opaque, transparent, colored and or printable. The deflector shield  104  will preferably have a perforated score line  106  which allows the deflector shield to be folded to an approximate 90 degree orientation as illustrated and described herein. 
     In alternative implementations, deflector shield  104  can be made of: (i) at least a portion of a flexible material; (ii) at least a portion of a high impact material; (iii) at least a portion of a transparent material; (iv) at least a portion of an opaque material; (v) at least a portion of a translucent material; (vi) a monolithic construction; (vii) a material having two (2 ) separate components that are respectively left and right segments; (viii) a material that is bendable relative to the comfort foam strip  310  such as along the perforated score line  106 ; or (ix) a combination of the foregoing.  100161  When the deflector shield  104  is folded along the perforated score line  106 , as shown and described herein, the patient safety shield  100  will preferably be placed and fitted on the patient&#39;s face across and over the bridge of the patient&#39;s nose and face so as to cover over the bottom gaps or lower edge of the patient&#39;s eyewear as will be described below with respect to  FIGS.  4 - 5   . Folding the deflector shield  104  along the perforated score line  106  allows the portions above the perforated score line  106 , which are shaped as bilateral lobes, to act as portions that deflect particulate matter when the patient safety shield  100  is properly worn. These lobes are designed to cover over the bottom gaps or lower edge of the patient&#39;s eyewear as will be described below with respect to  FIGS.  4 - 5   . 
     The deflector shield  104  will preferably be attached to a comfort form strip  310 . The comfort foam strip  310  will preferably have a nose clip strip  308  embedded within or secured upon the comfort foam strip  310 . The nose clip strip  308  will preferably be composed of a material that can be shaped so as to cause the comfort foam strip  310  to conform to the patient&#39;s facial geometry. By way of example, the nose clip strip  308  can be formed of aluminum, other bendable material, or it&#39;s functional equivalent. The deflector shield device  104  is attached to the comfort foam strip  310 . The comfort foam strip  310  can vary in thickness and be applied to the underside of that portion of the deflector shield  104  that contacts the patient&#39;s face as will be described below with respect to  FIGS.  4 - 5   . 
     The nose clip strip  308  is preferably applied between the bottom portion of the deflector shield  104  and between the comfort foam strip  310  so as to hide the nose clip strip  308  and to protect the patient&#39;s face from abrasion. With the comfort foam strip  310  as such, its location thus provides a comfortable interface between the patient safety shield  104  and the patient&#39;s face as will be described below with respect to  FIGS.  4 - 5   . 
     The comfort foam strip  310  and the nose clip strip  308  may both be attached, such as with an adhesive, heat staked, or welded to the back side of the deflector shield  104 . 
     The patient safety shield  100  has a pair of elastic ear loops  102  which are attached to both sides of the patient safety shield  100  in order for the patient safety shield  100  to be held in place on the patient&#39;s face as will be described below with respect to  FIGS.  4  &amp;  5    The pair of elastic ear loops  102  are attached to the patient safety shield  100 , such as by way of staples, adhesive, ultrasonically welding, and the like. 
       FIG.  2    shows a perspective view of an exemplary patient safety shield  200  having a deflector shield  204  and a comfort foam strip  210 . Both deflector shield  204  and comfort foam strip  210  are shown in  FIG.  2   . Also seen in  FIG.  2    are a perforated score-line  206 , a pair of elastic ear loops  202 , a comfort foam strip  210  attached to a deflector shield  204 , and a nose clip  208  which may be composed of a bendable material such as aluminum or its functional equivalent. In  FIG.  2   , the perforated score-line  206  allows the deflector shield  204  to be folded out of the same plane to an approximate 90 degree orientation with respect to the comfort foam strip  210 . 
     An illustration taken about the  3 - 3  Section seen in  FIG.  2    is shown in  FIG.  3    as a cutaway perspective view of a patient safety shield  300 . Like the patient safety shield  200  seen in  FIG.  2   , the patient safety shield  300  has been adjusted into a position thereof in which a deflector shield  304  has been folded to an approximate 90-degree orientation with respect to a comfort foam strip  310  by way of a perforated score line  306 . As such, the patient safety shield  300  is depicted so as to show a “sandwiching” of a nose clip  308  in relation to the comfort foam strip  310 . An elastic ear loop  302  has attachments as shown to the shield body with the comfort foam strip contained within the sandwich  310 . 
     Referring now to  FIG.  4   , a patient  400  is shown. In  FIG.  4   , the patient&#39;s  400  head and face are shown to be wearing safety eyewear  416  over which an exemplary patient safety shield  418  is worn by the patient. The patient safety shield  418  has a deflector shield  404  and a comfort foam strip  410 . Patient  400  is shown with the patient&#39;s  400  mouth open and safety glasses  416  in place. The comfort foam strip  410  has been folded about a perforated score line  406  so as to make a conforming fit to both the patient&#39;s  400  nose and the patient&#39;s  400  face portions adjacent to the patient&#39;s nose, thereby covering over bottom gaps  414  on opposing sides of the patient&#39;s  400  nose. Patient  400  is depicted with open mouth and head tilted back as would be positioned in a typical dental setting with safety eyewear  416  in place. This view illustrates the patient safety shield  418  conforming to the patient&#39;s  400  face with a perforated score line  406  and nose clip (not shown) formed and being held in position with two (2) elastic ear loops  402  on each of the patient&#39;s  400  ears.  FIG.  4    shows that two (2) opposing lobes of the deflector shield  404  respectively cover over and thereby close the two (2) bottom gaps  414  when the patient safety shield  418  shield is worn as illustrated in  FIGS.  4 - 5   . 
     Referring now to  FIG.  5   , a cutaway view shows approximately only the right side of a patient&#39;s  500  face in perspective. The patient  500  is shown wearing a patient safety shield  518  which includes a pair of elastic ear loops  502  of which only the right elastic ear loop  502  is shown in  FIG.  5   , a comfort foam strip  510 , a deflector shield  504 , and a nose clip (not shown) embedded within comfort foam strip  510 . Patient  500  is shown with the patient&#39;s  500  mouth open and safety eye wear  516  in place. As shown in  FIG.  5   , patient safety shield  518  has covered over and effectively closed the two (2) bottom gaps between safety eye wear  516  and the patient&#39;s  500  cheeks due to proper wear orientation and location of patient safety shield  518 . 
     In respective alternative implementations of  FIGS.  1 - 5   , ear loops  102 ,  202 ,  302 ,  402 , and  502  are optional and the function provided thereby may be replaced by other means for adhering patient safety shield  100 ,  200 ,  300 ,  400  and  500  to the patient&#39;s face. By way of example and not by way of limitation, such a patient facial adherent can be facilitated by: (i) two (2) pieces of tape attached to opposing sides of the patient safety shield, where each piece of tape has an adhesive on opposing sides thereof so as to respectively adhere to the patient&#39;s face on one side thereof and to adhere to the patient safety shield on the opposing side thereof (ii) two (2) pieces of tape attached to opposing sides of the patient safety shield, where each piece of tape has an adhesive on one side thereof, where the tape is adhered to one side of the patient&#39;s face at one end thereof and is adhered to the patient safety shield on the opposing side thereof; (iii) an adhesive bandage, with or without a gauze pad in the center thereof which is typically used to cover minor abrasions (e.g., Band-Aid® adhesive bandage) but is used in one implementation to adhere the patient safety shield to the patient&#39;s face; (iv) an adhesive or glue, preferably biologically inert and hypoallergenic, that is topically applied to at least one of the patient&#39;s face and the patient safety shield  100 ,  200 ,  300 ,  400  and  500 ; and (v) a combination of the foregoing. 
     Safety glasses  416 ,  516  respectively seen in  FIGS.  4 - 5   , as is typical of eye wear, have a nose bridge-contacting portion and left and right cheek side area-contacting portions, where the left and right segments respectively contact the left and right sides of the nose of the patient, and also contact the left and right cheek upper areas of the patient&#39;s face. Also as is typical of eye wear, two (2) gaps are respectively generated between left and right bottom profile of safety eye ware  416 ,  516  and respective left and right upper portions of the patient&#39;s cheek area. When the patient safety shield  400 ,  500  is properly installed over safety glasses  416 ,  516 , the left and right portions of deflector shield  404 ,  504  will respectively cover the left and right gaps generated between the patient&#39;s left and right cheeks and the left and right bottom profile of a protective eyewear  416 ,  516 . As such, the two (2) gaps are effectively closed so as to provide effective eye or face protection against hazards from flying spatter, flying liquids, flying particular matter, flying particulate bearing liquids, etc., whether infectious or not, which flying eye or face hazards would otherwise enter through the two (2) gaps between the lower rims of the patient&#39;s eyewear or safety glasses lenses  416 ,  516  and the respective two (2) patient&#39;s cheek areas. 
     A healthcare provider in a dental setting will preferably ensure that each patient be provided appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying spatter, flying liquids, flying particular matter, flying particulate bearing liquids, etc. In addition to safety glasses, adjunct eye protection as described and illustrated herein with respect to a patient safety shield provides an effective means of eye or face protection by way of deflecting air-borne debris and other hazards such as flying spatter, flying liquids, flying particular matter, flying particulate bearing liquids, etc., whether infectious or not, which flying eye or face hazards would otherwise, but for such deflection, potentially could enter through one or both of the two (2) gaps between the lower rims of the patient&#39;s safety glasses lenses and the respective two (2) patient&#39;s cheek areas. 
     Reference throughout this specification to “one example”, “an example”, “certain examples”, or “exemplary implementation” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the feature and/or example may be included in at least one feature and/or example of claimed subject matter. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in one example”, “an example”, “in certain examples” or “in some implementations” or other like phrases in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same feature, example, and/or limitation. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more examples and/or features. 
     While there has been illustrated and described what are presently considered to be example features, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted, without departing from claimed subject matter and spirit and scope. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of claimed subject matter without departing from the central concept described herein. Therefore, it is intended that claimed subject matter not be limited to the particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject matter may also include all aspects falling within the scope of appended claims, and equivalents thereof. 
     In the preceding detailed description, numerous specific details have been set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods and systems that would be known by one of ordinary skill have not been described in detail so as not to obscure claimed subject matter.