GB2565799A - Glass powder shaker - Google Patents

Abstract

A powder shaker for use in glass art, having a body, a mesh layer 5, a handle, and a lid 1. The lid is preferably hinged, and there is preferably a flipping platform actuated by the user’s thumb to open the cover. The body of the shaker is preferably cylindrical but may be of other shapes. The mesh sieving or sifting layer is situated within the body, with the lower walls 2 of the body extending beyond the mesh. The mesh may come in a variety of grades. The handle is preferably a rod and preferably has an ergonomic grip with grooves 9 for finger placement. In use, glass or chemical powder is placed into the device, which is then shaken or tapped to release the powder through the sieve. The lid prevents powder rising into the air towards to user’s face. The extended lower wall directs the powder downwards and reduces spread of the powder.

Description

Description

Protective Glass Powder Shaker

Glass Art is a popular craft for a variety of ages. Creating a hand crafted piece of glass involves using glass powder, which is an extremely dangerous material, when used in an unsafe manner.

Glass artists use different grades of glass powder and harmful chemical powders to decorate their piece. They decorate their work by spreading different grades and colours of glass powder and chemical powder over their design, on the base of their work. This base is normally a sheet of glass which is to be decorated according to the design. To spread these powders, the artist uses a sieve; this is to make sure that the powder spreads evenly over the surface of the work piece. This sieve does not have any protection to prevent the dangerous powders from floating in the air. While working with these harmful materials, the finer the glass powder is, the higher the amount of powder is to float freely in the air. Therefore, the artists are more likely to breath in the dust of the glass powder, which can have life threatening consequences. Although the workshop ought to be well ventilated, using an unprotected sieve, the dust generally still floats in the air and can harm anybody in the workshop who does not have the appropriate form of protection - ideally a high quality mask.

In spite of the fact that all glass artists must wear a mask to protect their nose and mouth when in the workshop, it has been witnessed that a vast majority of these artists do not pay attention to this serious subject and do not wear a mask. Therefore they are unprotected while they work in very close contact with the glass powder and other harmful decorating powders.

The process starts when the artist picks up the glass powder (from a jar or bag) and spoons the powder into the sieve; then whilst holding the loaded sieve over the glass sheet - the base of their art work - the artist, hits the side of the sieve using a spoon, to help the powder fall out and cover the intended areas evenly. Due to the lack of the required protection of the sieve, this process of hitting and spreading the powder causes the glass dust and the powder to float uncontrollably in the air.

The existed sieves are open from the top and are unprotected at the sides. Consequently, the dust easily spreads to the face of the artist as well as in the air throughout the workshop. As a result, the exposure of the harmful dust from the sieve is inhaled by people present in the workshop.

The user-friendly design of the ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker’ is an efficient and simple solution which helps to protect glass artists and others in a glass workshop by substantially reducing the amount of glass and chemical powders which spread up in the air when in use - helping artists work in a significantly safer environment.

The ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker’ is equipped with a ‘Lid’ which comfortably opens up (using hinges) for the powder to be loaded in, and closes manually to prevent the powder floating out in the air - while the artist hits the shaker to spread the powder over the glass sheet. The ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker’ also has been fitted with a protective ‘Extended Lower Wall’ at the lower part of the device, so the wall directs the powder downwards, towards the glass sheet. The purpose of this wall is to prevent the powder floating up in the air from the lower part of the device.

The body of the ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker’ can also be built in other geometric shapes than a cylinder, such as cuboid, triangular prism or non-geometrical shapes. It also can come in various sizes, to help the artist to achieve better accuracy in spreading the powder according to their design’s shape and size.

Following is the annotation related to the numbers put on the attached drawings:

1. The Lid (1): is connected to the Body (3) of the ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker’ by two Hinges (4) on both sides of the Flipping Platform (6).

2. The Extended Lower Wall (2): is located at the lower part of the Body (3) of the ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker’ which helps to prevent the powder spreading out and in the air unprotectedly, while the device is in use.

3. The Body (3): of the ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker’.

4. The Hinges (4): are connected to the Lid (1) of the body of the ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker’ to facilitate the opening and closing of the Lid (1).

5. The Mesh (5): facilitates the even spreading of the powder. It is located at the higher part of the Body of the ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker’.

6. The Flipping Platform (6): is a finger flipping, tongue-like part, which is connected to the top of the Lid from one side, and to the Hinges - allocated on the Body - at the other side. This part makes the opening of the Lid (1) feasible and effortless when pushing it downwards by the thumb.

7. The Holding Rod (7): which is to hold the ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker ‘while spreading the powders.

8. The Single Groove (8): supports the thumb to make holding easier and more comfortable.

9. The Series of Four Grooves (9): is to land the fingers on, while holding the Holding Rod (7) of the shaker, for an ergonomic and comfortable hold.

10. The Holding Ring (10): connects the Holding Rod (7) to the Body (3) of the “Protective Glass Powder Shaker’.

11. The Arrow (11): is to show the direction of the opening of the Lid by the Hinges.

The main features of the design are the ‘Lid’ and the ‘Extended Lower Wall’.

When glass artists work, they have to stand in front of their work (their sheet of glass) which is laid on a table right under their eyes, nose and mouth. They bend over their work and hold the loaded sieve (containing the harmful powder) above the base of their work the glass sheet. They then shake sieve to spread the powder over the glass sheet to decorate their piece according to their design. In this process, the unprotected artists are exposed to the harmful powder using a nonspecialist, none suitable and unprotected tool: the sieve - which causes the powder to float in the air during their work. As said above, it is witnessed that many people - including new learners in courses, amateurs or professionals - do work unprotectedly. Not using a mask is the result of a variety of reasons, many find the mask uncomfortable, impractical, expensive and messy. However working in a glass workshop environment without the right protection can be life threatening. The dusty environment of the glass workshop can be significantly helped by using a protective glass shaker.

This design is a functional and practical solution to significantly reduce the amount of floating harmful chemical dusts in the Glass workshop while artists are working.

The ‘Lid’ of the 'Protective Glass Powder Shaker’ protects the users by preventing the powder to spread up in the air freely and towards the artist’s face, particularly when they hit the shaker to let the powder out and over the intended areas.

The ‘Extended Lower Wall’ of the ‘Protective Glass Powder Shaker’, directs the powder downwards and significantly reduces the spread of the powder up in the air and towards the face of the artist, as well as in the workshop.

Claims (9)

1. The Protective Glass Powder Shaker comprises a Lid for covering the glass powder and chemical powders.

2. A Protective Glass Powder Shaker comprises of an Extended Lower Wall which is an extended wall that surrounds the layer of the Mesh.

3. The Lid according to claim 1 is attached to the Flipping Platform which is connected to the Body of the Protective Glass Powder Shaker by a pair of hinges to facilitate the feasibility of opening and closing the Lid.

4. The protective Glass Powder Shaker has a Body in shape of a cylinder.

5. A Protective Glass Powder Shaker’s Body according to claim 4, can come in different shapes and sizes.

6. The Protective Glass Power Shaker is equipped with a layer of Mesh attached to the upper part of the Body, to spread the powder evenly.

7. The fitted layer of Mesh according to the claim 6 can come in various grades.

8. The Protective Glass Powder Shaker is equipped with a Holding Rod to be held while in use.

9. The Holding Rod according to claim 8 is equipped with one Groove at the top and four Grooves underneath for ergonomic reasons.