Lightweight face shield

Abstract

A face shield including a flexible transparent sheet and a strap component having a strap configured to encircle a wearer's neck, with a pair of support arms disposed on the strap which are secured to a lower portion of the sheet at two spaced apart locations. The support arms extend away from the strap so as to support the sheet in front of, and spaced apart from, the wearer's face. The extended support arms further introduce a bend in the sheet to provide lateral facial coverage.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A face shield comprising:
 a flexible transparent sheet having first and second opposite side edges spaced apart from one another a distance W along the transparent sheet and first and second opposite end edges;   a strap component including
 an elongated strap configured to encircle a user's neck; 
 first and second support arms disposed on the elongated strap, with each support arm including an attaching section and an arm section separated by an intermediate transition region, with each of the support arms being secured to the elongated strap along a length of the attaching section and up to and terminating at the transition region; and 
   first and second fasteners positioned to secure the respective first and second support arms to the transparent sheet at separate respective first and second spaced apart sheet locations and wherein the transparent sheet is supported on the strap component exclusively at the transparent sheet locations.   
     
     
         2 . The face shield of  claim 1  wherein the first fastener includes first and second fastener elements that form a hook and loop fastener mechanism and the second fastener includes third and fourth fastener elements that form a hook and loop fastener mechanism, wherein the second and fourth fastener elements are secured to the transparent sheet at the respective first and second sheet locations and wherein the first and third fastener elements are secured to the respective first and second arm sections of the support arms. 
     
     
         3 . The face shield of  claim 1  wherein the first and second support arms are disposed on the elongated strap with the respective arm sections facing one another. 
     
     
         4 . The face shield of  claim 3  wherein the first and second transparent sheet locations are spaced apart from one another along the sheet a distance C which is at least 0.3 times distance W. 
     
     
         5 . The face shield of  claim 4  wherein portions of each of the arm sections extend past a first edge of the elongated strap when the arm sections are positioned adjacent the elongated strap. 
     
     
         6 . The face shield of  claim 5  wherein each of the arm sections has an arm section length L extending from the transition region to a distal end of the arm section, where length L is at least 1.5 inches. 
     
     
         7 . The face shield of  claim 6  wherein the arm section of the first support arm defines a first alignment edge disposed adjacent the first fastener element and wherein the arm section of the second support arm defines a second alignment edge disposed adjacent the third fastener element and wherein the first and second alignment edges are each disposed at an angle with respect to the elongated strap which is at least 10 degrees. 
     
     
         8 . The face shield of  claim 7  wherein the second fastener element is disposed on the transparent sheet adjacent a corner defined by the first side edge and the first end edge of the transparent sheet and the fourth fastener element is disposed on the transparent sheet adjacent a corner defined by the second side edge and first end edge of the transparent sheet. 
     
     
         9 . The face shield of  claim 8  configured such that when the shield component is secured to the first support arm and to the second support arm, the respective first and second alignment edges are substantially aligned with the first end edge of the transparent sheet. 
     
     
         10 . A face shield comprising:
 a flexible transparent sheet having first and second opposite side edges spaced apart from one another a distance W along the transparent sheet and first and second opposite end edges;   a strap component including
 an elongated strap configured to encircle a user's neck; 
 first and second support arms disposed on the elongated strap, with each support arm including an attaching section and an arm section separated by an intermediate transition region, with each of the support arms being secured to the elongated strap along a length of the attaching section and up to and terminating at the transition region and wherein each of the arm sections has an arm section length L extending from the transition region to the distal end of the arm section, wherein length L is at least 1.5 inches; and 
   first and second fasteners positioned to secure the respective first and second support arms to the transparent sheet at respective first and second transparent sheet locations and wherein the transparent sheet is supported on a user exclusively by the support arms.   
     
     
         11 . The face shield of  claim 10  wherein the first fastener includes first and second fastener elements that form a hook and loop fastener mechanism and the second fastener includes third and fourth fastener elements that form a hook and loop fastener mechanism, wherein the second and fourth fastener elements are secured to the transparent sheet at the respective first and second sheet locations and wherein the first and third fastener elements are secured to the respective first and second arm sections of the support arms. 
     
     
         12 . The face shield of  claim 10  wherein the first and second support arms are disposed on the elongated strap with the respective arm sections facing one another and wherein the first and second fasteners are spaced apart from one another along the transparent sheet a distance C, with distance C being at least 0.3 times distance W. 
     
     
         13 . The face shield of  claim 12  wherein portions of each of the arm sections extend past a first edge of the elongated strap when the arm sections are positioned adjacent the elongated strap. 
     
     
         14 . The face shield of  claim 13  wherein the arm section of the first support arm defines a first alignment edge disposed adjacent the first fastener element and wherein the arm section of the second support arm defines a second alignment edge disposed adjacent the third fastener element and wherein the first and second alignment edges are each disposed at an angle with respect to the elongated strap of at least 10 degrees. 
     
     
         15 . The face shield of  claim 14  wherein the second fastener element is disposed on the transparent sheet adjacent a transparent sheet corner defined by the first side edge and the first end edge of transparent sheet and the fourth fastener element is disposed on the transparent sheet adjacent a transparent sheet corner defined by the second side edge and the first end edge of the transparent sheet. 
     
     
         16 . The face shield of  claim 15  configured such that when the shield component is secured to the first support arm and to the second support arm, the respective first and second alignment edges are substantially aligned with the first end edge of the transparent sheet. 
     
     
         17 . A face shield comprising:
 a flexible transparent sheet having first and second opposite side edges spaced apart from one another a distance W along the transparent sheet and first and second opposite end edges;   a strap component including
 an elongated strap configured to encircle a user's neck; 
 first and second support arms disposed on the elongated strap, with each support arm including an attaching section and an arm section separated by an intermediate transition region, with each of the support arms being secured to the elongated strap along a length of the attaching section and up to and terminating at the transition region; and 
   first and second fasteners positioned to secure the respective first and second support arms to the transparent sheet at respective first and second transparent sheet locations, with distance C between the first and second locations along the transparent sheet being at least as great as  0 . 3  times the distance W and wherein the transparent sheet is supported on the user exclusively by the support arms.   
     
     
         18 . The face shield of  claim 17  wherein the arm section of the first support arm defines a first alignment edge disposed adjacent the first fastener, wherein the arm section of the second support arm defines a second alignment edge disposed adjacent the third element, wherein the first and second alignment edges are disposed at an angle with respect to the elongated strap of at least 10 degrees.