Shield for protecting automobile wheels

#I. Field of the Invention

#The present invention generally relates to shields and, in particular, the present invention is concerned with a shield for protecting automobile wheels during the process of painting the automobile's adjacent panels.

#II. Description of the Prior Art

#The description herein makes reference to the accompanying drawing wherein like reference numbers refer to like parts throughout the various views, and wherein:

#FIG. 1 illustrates a broken perspective view of an automobile utilizing the shield of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the shield of the present invention;

#Referring now to the drawing, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 an example of the present invention in the form of a shield 10 for protecting automobile wheels during the spray painting of nearby automobile panels. As shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing, the protective shield of the present invention comprises a circular disk 12 with a segment 14 removed from the bottom of the disk 12. A flange 16 extends axially inward along the perimeter of the disk 12 and ends at the segment 14. A flat spot formed along the bottom of the disk 12 by the removal of the segment 14 and the ends of the flange 16 provides a means for making the shield free standing when resting on the ends of the flange 16. The ability of the shield to be free standing is important in that this enables the shield to adequately cover a large number of wheels that may be substantially smaller than the shield itself, yet provide adequate coverage and protection of the wheel against overspray during use.

#As shown in FIG. 3, the shield 10 further comprises a hand hold 20 for grasping the shield and moving it about. The hand hold 20 comprises a U-shaped cut formed in the center of the disk 10 forming a hinged flap. The flap may be displaced by the user's fingers to grasp the shield as shown in FIG. 4 of the drawing. The U-shaped cut 20 is formed by a narrow slit 22 cut through the disk 12 as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing. The narrow slit 22 can be readily formed and very inexpensively produced in a plastic shield, but the hand hold becomes very functional and inexpensive in that once the user's hand, as shown in FIG. 4 of the drawing, is removed, the flap 20 returns to the condition shown in FIG. 3 and the shield is sealed against any overspray passing the shield 10.

#FIG. 5 of the drawing illustrates an alternate embodiment of the shield 10 wherein a flange 24 is attached to the perimeter of the hand hold 20. The flange 24 further aids in sealing the slit 22 against overspray leaking past the shield 10.