Introduction: Protective Face Shields for Covid-19 Frontliners V2

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Due to the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for those working in the front-line amidst the Covid-19 outbreak, we thought it would be best to share a collaborative design for a fast and efficient protective face shield that could be easily replicated and mass-produced.

This initiative is the result of a request by our friends in the medical sector who have expressed a need of about 30 thousand units per month of this face shield due to the outbreak. Please follow the steps below and make sure to share with others that may have the capacity to build the protective face shields too!

This is Version 2 of the protective face shield. For the first version, you can click on this link : https://www.instructables.com/id/Protective-Face-S...

Supplies

1) A4 sized transparent PVC rigid sheet (0.2mm)

2) Elastic bands (flat or rounded)

3) Sponge or PU Foam equivalent of at least 1½ inch thickness

4) Scissors and cutters

5) Stapler

6) Hot glue gun + Glue sticks

Step 1: Cutting Your Foam

Using a Foam with a thickness of at least 1½ inch, cut them into strips of 220mm x 35mm.

The rigidity of the foam plays an important role here. The softer your foam the more it gets compressed and if it's too thick it will not bend comfortably on the wearer's forehead.

We have found PU Foam to be the best type for this function as it is not too rigid and comfortable enough. We would recommend a 1½ inch or 2 inch thickness for ample distance between the wearer's face and the Transparent Screen.

Step 2: Cutting Your Elastic Band

The next step would be to cut your Elastic Bands into strips. The exact length varies on the type of elastic bands that you use.

For us, we have been going with a length of 350mm per strip. Do test this out to find the most suitable length that suits the type of your elastic band.

Step 3: Glue-ing the Foam to the Transparent Sheet

Using a hot glue gun, put a line of glue on either side of the Foam and place it on the top of your Transparent Sheet with a horizontal alignment.

An ideal margin of the Transparent Sheet to the foam strip would be about 10mm from the top.

Leave it to harden and secure in place for about a minute or so.

Step 4: Attaching the Elastic Band to the Transparent Sheet

Now that your foam is in place, you can attach your Elastic Band.

The simplest method would be stapling on the elastic band to either side of the transparent screen next to the foam as shown in the picture above.

Make sure there is a margin of at least 20mm that is stapled for a secured attachment of the band.

This method works for most types of bands, especially the flat types.

Step 5: Finishing

Finally, round off the edges on the bottom of the transparent sheet with a pair of scissors to make it safer for use by the medical officers.

The Face Shield is now complete and ready to be packed!

Make sure to share this with all relevant personnel to help provide this basic necessity for those fighting in the front line to combat the virus.