Apple Face Shield
The Apple face shield, a face shield manufactured by Apple Inc., was announced on April 5, 2020, for medical professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 17, 2020, Apple published the design, with full schematics and instructions for mass production, as free (both gratis and libre) open source under the MIT License.[1][2]
Background[edit]
The COVID-19 pandemic's unanticipated speed of propagation and severity caused supply chain failure and widespread medical shortages. Several Western countries quickly exhausted their limited strategic stocks of surgical masks while the need for protective glasses and faceshields at such scale was not anticipated. Facing shortages and emergency, medical institutions turned to alternatives sources of medical equipment such as crowdsourcing from locals and volunteer 3D makers[disambiguation needed].[3]
Development[edit]
A pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Clara, California, created a prototype of the product a few weeks prior to its release and brought her prototype to Apple seeking a manufacturing collaborator.[4] Apple CEO Tim Cook described the design and production of the face shield as "a company-wide effort".[5]
Design[edit]
The face shield consists of a plastic forehead band, a clear plastic face shield, and a silicone strap.[6] Assembly of the product, which happens in the field, involves removing thin protective films from the face shield and band, aligning the slots on the shield and band, and passing the strap via the slots. The product can be adjusted by loosening or tightening the strap. It is designed to worn with other personal protective equipment, and it can be sterilized and reused.[7]
Release[edit]
The face shield was announced by Tim Cook on April 5, 2020, via a video posted to Cook's Twitter account; in the video Cook announced that 20 million shields had been sourced to global suppliers.[8] The first batch was delivered to the Kaiser facility in Santa Clara where the product was first prototyped.[4] The company planned to ship over a million face shields within the week of announcement, and one million face shields per week subsequently.[5]
The product is packed flat, allowing 100 face shields to fit in each box for shipment, and can be assembled in under two minutes.[9] The product is initially shipped exclusively to medical facilities in the United States, with plans to expand distribution worldwide in the future.[9]
Reception[edit]
Smita Rouillard, an executive director at Kaiser Permanente, said that the face shields allowed them to preserve personal protective equipment "for a longer period of time".[4] Apple has been compared to other companies manufacturing similar devices during the pandemic, such as SpaceX and Ford.[10] According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), healthcare workers who aren't wearing tight-fitting N95 masks should wear face shields like Apple's.[11]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Apple releases face shield design files and manufacturing guide". AppleInsider. April 19, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
- ↑ "Make your own face shield". Apple Support. April 17, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
- ↑ "Les visières de protection imprimées en 3D, une réponse des " makers " à la crise sanitaire". Le Monde (in français). April 23, 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 DeRuy, Emily (April 6, 2020). "Coronavirus: Apple to make millions of face shields for hospitals desperate for gear". The Mercury News. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Byford, Sam (April 5, 2020). "Apple is designing and shipping face shields for medical workers". The Verge. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- ↑ Miller, Chance (April 7, 2020). "Apple publishes new details for its Face Shield designed to help health workers avoid coronavirus". 9to5Mac. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- ↑ "Assemble and adjust your Face Shield". Apple Support. April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- ↑ Brown, Dalvin. "Apple is designing and shipping 1 million face shields per week for medical workers". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Rossignol, Joe (April 5, 2020). "Apple Donating Over 20 Million Masks to Healthcare Professionals, Producing Face Shields With Suppliers". MacRumors. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- ↑ Griggs, Mary Beth (April 7, 2020). "Apple publishes instructions and fitting guide for its new face shields". The Verge. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- ↑ Manskar, Noah (2020-04-06). "Apple making face shields for doctors battling coronavirus". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
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