Patent ID: 8015714

Claim:
A removable shield for a hand-held digging tool having a handle and a removable tool head, the handle having a gripping end and an outwardly tapered working end, the tool head having a tapered bore and a generally outwardly extending tool blade, the tapered bore being slidable along the handle for engagement of the tool head with the outwardly tapered working end, the shield comprising: a shield portion; a mounting portion having two sidewalls extending from two sides of the mounting portion and connected to the shield portion; and a blade slot, the blade slot being formed by the two sidewalls, the shield portion and the mounting portion , wherein when the mounting portion is aligned with the tapered bore, for passing the handle therethrough, and is sandwiched between the tool head and the outwardly tapered working end of the handle, the tool blade extends outwardly from the tool head and passes through blade slot, and the shield portion extends outwardly between the tool blade and the gripping end, wherein in use, the shield portion intercepts debris from the tool blade.