How and why the “Shield Community” from Würzburg produces protective equipment against a Covid19 infection around the clock – and what a grandmother has to do with it.
Together against the virus: For a few weeks now, 3D printers have been running hot all over Germany in order to produce the urgently needed protective equipment for the staff of medical practices, hospitals and nursing homes during the corona pandemic. In Würzburg, too, a private initiative was launched almost two weeks ago, which now produces facial visors around the clock.
The founder and coordinator of the “Shield Community” actually had other plans: Wolfram Weinhold is a prospective company founder and has rented a co-working workplace in the founding laboratory of the Center for Digital Innovation (ZDI). This is where the threads of the “Shield Coummunity” come together, which started with three people and only a week later can count on the voluntary work of more than 70 people.
It started with door openers for the grandmother
Weinhold started printing door openers for his grandmother at the ZDI: This enables her to open doors without having to touch the handles. Then the 31-year-old came up with the idea of the face visors, the brackets of which are made in a 3D printer – the printing takes about 40 to 60 minutes.
The visor itself is cut by hand from commercially available overhead foils, in addition there is a rubber band for a secure fit. Weinhold sent one of the first visors to a friend of his doctor: “He told me: Immediately bring it here so that his parents can continue their practice . ”
In the meantime, the community has produced a four-digit number of facial visors and has made them available to the district medical association, the civil protection department of the district office and the senior citizens’ homes and disabled facilities of Arche gGmbH. “Our visors are not a certified medical product, but they can be part of personal protective equipment,” says Weinhold.
The need for facial visors is enormous
The demand is enormous across Germany – In some hospitals, doctors and nursing staff have already created facial visors out of desperation. Therefore in March the nationwide platform “Maker versus Virus” founded, which networks private supporters with each other – there are now a good 5,000 people at almost 200 locations. The Würzburg “Shield Community” is one of the so-called “hubs”, one of the local groups of the maker network.
“In the beginning everything was a bit uncoordinated, now we work 24 hours a day in several shifts,” reports Weinhold. Around 50 people manufacture brackets in the ZDI and on their private 3D printers: “Many print 16 to 18 hours a day. Others come home from work and print until they go to bed.”
Volunteers help with the assembly
More than 20 volunteers meet regularly in small groups to cut the foils, assemble the visors and ensure the distribution. They wear protective masks or visors for self-protection and make sure that they always keep the necessary protective distance.
Photo: Patrick Wötzel
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Svea is one of the volunteers: “It’s much better than hanging out at home. And it feels good to do something that makes sense,” says the 23-year-old student. The Shield Community generally makes its masks available free of charge, but needs financial support, emphasizes Wolfram Weinhold: “We are happy about every donation. The more money we have, the more visors we can produce.”
All donations are invested in the purchase of the necessary material and in additional 3D printers, a usable device can be had for around 400 euros each. In order to put the project on a legally secure footing, an association should be founded at short notice. Weinhold hopes for financial support from the city and the district office to be able to increase the visor production at short notice.
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