Regulation 3.2 Revised 2/98 AUSTRALIA Patents Act, 1990 COMPLETE INNOVATION SPECIFICATION NAME OF APPLICANT OLDFIELD, Hailey ACTUAL INVENTOR OLDFIELD, Hailey ADDRESS FOR SERVICE Peter Maxwell and Associates Level 6 60 Pitt Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 INVENTION TITLE: AN ARM SUPPORT DETAILS OF ASSOCIATED APPLICATION NO(S) Nil The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me: mAdocs\20101043\198571.doc 2 AN ARM SUPPORT TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to arm supports and, in particular, to an arm support for a client of a nail technician. 5 BACKGROUND ART Many nail technicians experience upper body problems caused by having to maintain awkward and uncomfortable postures of the upper body and limbs while performing highly repetitive tasks. Fig. 1 shows a nail technician 10 performing a manicure on a user 12. The nail technician 10 has her back 10 curved, her shoulders hunched and her neck bent over a hand 14 of the user 12. The hand 14 of the user 12 rests on a table 16. As a result of adopting the position shown in Fig. 1, the nail technician 10 may sustain problems which include musculo-skeletal disorders, also known as repetitive strain injuries or cumulative trauma disorders such as myalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, 15 tendonitis and tenosynovitis. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to substantially ameliorate at least some of the problems of the prior art. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an arm support comprising a body having a base member and a side member attached thereto, 20 wherein the base member is adapted to support an elbow of a user and the side member is adapted to support a wrist of the user in an elevated position above the elbow. Preferably, the side member is approximately equal in height to the length of a forearm of the user. 25 In a preferred form, the arm support also comprises a cover for the body, wherein the cover is adapted be removed from the body.
3 The cover may be made of a dust and waterproof fabric adapted to be cleaned in a washing machine. The cover may also be made of a material adapted to be disposed after use. It is preferred that that at least a portion of the body is made of a soft 5 polymer. It is also preferred that at least a portion of the base member is made of a higher density polymer than the side member. Preferably, the user is a client of a nail technician. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 10 In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a nail technician performing a manicure on a user, according to the prior art; 15 Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a nail technician using an arm support according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the arm support of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the arm support of Fig. 3, wherein a cover is partially removed from a body of the arm support; 20 Fig. 5 is a side view of the arm support of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a front view of the arm support of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a top view of the arm support of Fig. 2. MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The arm support 18 according to a preferred embodiment of the present 25 invention is shown in use in Fig. 2. The arm support 18 rests on a table 20. The arm support 18 has a body 22 having a base member 24, a pair of side members 26 and 26a and a back member 27 extending between the side n A In4 lfl4 4 4 members 26 and 26a. The back member 27 and the side members 26 and 26a define a cavity extending upwardly from the base member 24. The base member 24 supports an elbow 28 of a user 30 and the back member 27 and the side members 26 and 26a support a wrist 32 of the user 30 5 in an elevated position above the elbow 28 with the hand of the user projection outwardly from the support 18 as shown in Fig. 2. The side member 26 is approximately equal in height to the length of the forearm 33 of the user 30, so that a hand 34 of the user 30 is presented to a nail technician 36. The nail technician 36 is thereby able to adopt a comfortable 10 and upright position and may therefore avoid many of the upper body problems caused by the prior art. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show the arm support 18 with suitable dimensions (in millimetres) for an average user. The arm support 18 is also shown in Fig. 3 and may comprise a cover 38 which may be removed from the body 22 via a zipper 40. Preferably, 15 the cover 38 is made of a dust and waterproof fabric adapted to be cleaned in a washing machine. In other embodiments of the invention, the cover 38 may comprise a material adapted to be disposed after use for hygienic reasons, such as plastic. The zipper 40 is shown opened in Fig. 4. In the embodiment of the 20 invention shown in Fig. 4, the side member 26 is comprised of a block 42 of shape-conforming latex, which also forms part of the base member 24. A portion of the base member 24 is made of a block 44 of foam, which has a higher density than the block 42. The block 44 prevents the elbow 28 of the user 30 from sinking too deeply into the base member 24 so that the wrist 32 of 25 the user 30 is not supported above the arm support 18. The side member 26 may be made of another suitably soft polymer which preferably has some form of shape-memory. A suitable material may be 5 visco-elastic memory foam, but all other materials which may be used for base member 24 and a side member 26 of body 22 of the arm support 18 are within the scope and ambit of the present invention. Although the arm support has been described with reference to its use by nail technicians, other uses of the 5 arm support are within the scope and ambit of the present invention. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in details of design and construction of the arm support described above without departing from the scope or ambit of the present invention. For instance, in some embodiments of the present invention, the height of the side member 10 may be adjustable to accommodate the length of forearm of the user. flA(^.4 )f.f.A.