HappyShieldHappyShield Curved Crease Origami Face Shield For Infection Control
What?
HappyShield is a new open-source design for a simple, foldable face shield for infection control in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Why?
Healthcare workers need face shields in addition to masks and goggles to provide protection from splashes and sprays of infected bodily fluids from Covid-19 patients during a number of high-risk medical procedures and situations. There is currently a significant shortage of face shields globally, which is likely to be particularly severe in less wealthy regions without the ability to buy or manufacture necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as easily or quickly as wealthy countries.
How?
The aim of this project is to develop, disseminate, and mass-manufacture a set of designs for face shields which are safe, cheap, easy to mass-produce quickly using materials, equipment, and labour available in low and middle-income regions, are easy to reuse, and are comfortable enough to be worn for extended periods by healthcare workers without inducing pain or discomfort. The first phase of this project, the development of a prototype design, has yielded HappyShield, which successfully meets these design goals. The features of the HappyShield design are listed below:
Features
- Single-sheet fluid-impermeable design with extra protection from fluids and sprays from above.
- Easy decontamination for reuse over high numbers of shifts.
- Form-fitting and adjustable shape allowing for comfortable wearing for extended periods.
- Fast, flexible and scaleable mass-manufacturing approaches to help meet global demand despite supply chain disruptions.
Gallery
How can I help?
We have begun production of HappyShields in the UK, and are hoping to rapidly expand our production and distribution capacity here. Most especially, however, we are currently seeking partnerships and collaborations which can help us to disseminate the HappyShield design and related production methods to less wealthy countries and jump-start mass-production of face shields there as quickly as possible.
Here’s how you can help:
1. 🏭 Manufacturers and Makers
Do you have access to a laser-cutter, a bench-mounted hydraulic press, die-cutting machinery, or have connections to an institution or business which does? We would love to be connected so that we can help you to start mass-manufacturing HappyShields locally as quickly as possible.
Are you a maker / DIY enthusiast? We have developed and documented a small number of diverse manufacturing pathways (shown below) for HappyShield, but because of the simplicity of the design, we anticipate there being many effective ways to produce them using locally available materials, equipment, and labor. We need your help to develop and document these new methods so that makers and manufacturers worldwide can scale up production using materials and equipment that they already have. All of our documentation and template files are available open-source on GitHub. Pull requests are encouraged!
| Production Method | Web | Video | Templates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hand Creasing | ||||
| Laser-cut + Pressure Creasing | ||||
| Laser-cut | ||||
| Laminated | ||||
| WaveShield |
2. 🏥 Healthcare Workers
Are you responsible for procurement of PPE for healthcare workers and do you anticipate needing face shields (or know someone who meets these criteria)? We would love to connect you with manufacturers locally who can produce HappyShields for you. We can send a pack of 5-10 HappyShields to you straight away for any necessary testing and approval.
3. 🌐 Translators
Are you comfortable writing technically in a language other than English? We need your help translating our homepage, instructions, and video captions into as many languages as possible, so that these designs and manufacturing methods can reach as many people around the world as possible, particularly in less-wealthy regions. Please sign up as a translator here. If you speak a language which we currently need translators for, we will reach out to you!
🙏 Thank you and looking forward to connecting!
Disclaimer
The University of Cambridge (UC) and the University of Queensland (UQ) make no warranty of any kind, express or implied, about the design, characteristics, durability, proper use or performance of the HappyShield, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for any particular purpose. The HappyShield is designed to minimise exposure to fluids and sprays, but UC and UQ do not warrant that HappyShield will protect users from COVID-19 infection or any other infectious disease. Nothing in this material constitutes medical advice, and users should seek their own medical advice about whether HappyShield is suitable for the use they intend, and whether they should use it in conjunction with any other medical or other strategies. To the fullest extent allowed by law, UC and UQ exclude all implied warranties, guarantees, terms and conditions. UC and UQ are not liable for any claims, demands, damages or injuries, including but not limited to property damage, bodily injury or illness, death, indirect, special or consequential damages (“the Claims”) arising out of using the HappyShield, and users of HappyShield release UC and UQ and their officers, employees, contractors and agents from all Claims.
Project Credits
University of Cambridge, Department of Architecture
Centre for Natural Material Innovation
University of Queensland, School of Civil Engineering
Folded Structures Lab
Wesam Al Asali
Tom Bashford
Aurimas Bukauskas
Mutsuko Grant
Joe Gattas
Ana Gatoo
Yelda Gin
Will Hawkins
Millie Hood
Aftab Jalia
Antiopi Koronaki
Jeff Lee
Ana Maia
Andy Conway Morris
Josh Newman
Daniel Ott
Michael Ramage
Darshil Shah