BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Hitherto shield panel supports that are of wood, metal or aluminium have been used for safety enclosures.

For example, United States Patent No.

4,905,970 (Holmsden et al), teaches the construction of a shield panel support with aluminium, upright shield panel support channels 34 that are H-shaped in cross- section (Figure 4). The shield panel support further comprises an upper tubing section 100, also of aluminium (Figures 3 and 4). As well, the patent teaches that flexible and compressible gasketing or liners are installed into the supports. The gasketing serves to more firmly secure the shield panel side edges in the supports and to prevent the damage that would be occasioned by direct contact between the panels and metal. The gasketing is further intended to protect the panels from damage by absorbing some of the shock of a collision with the panel by an ice hockey player.

A drawback of the aluminium, metal and wood panel supports is that they impede visibility and present a significant obstruction, for example, to the viewing or televising of an ice hockey game.

Consequently, various attempts have been made in the

art to maximise visibility. For example, so called "seamless"systems have been developed for ice hockey shield panel support systems to eliminate the shield panel supports and thereby to improve spectator visibility. However, whereas the seamless systems improve visibility, this improvement necessitated significant sacrifices in many other respects. For example, because of the elimination of the vertical shield panel supports, it became necessary to substitute the existing 1/2"acrylic shield panels of the solid support systems with tempered glass of a substantially greater thickness, namely 5/8". However, although this substitution eliminated the need for the shield panel supports, it did not necessarily result in a much greater benefit, for acrylic is a superior shielding material in many respects with greater transparency characteristics than tempered glass.

Most significantly, the introduction of the seamless system requires substantial modifications to the supporting dasher board systems. To install a seamless system utilizing an existing dasher board system, is not always possible without extensive modification, and often requires replacement of the entire dasher board system. An example of such a seamless system is evident in, for example, United States Patent No. 5,706,625 (Vallance).

Apart from the significant financial outlay required to upgrade or convert existing shield support systems and dasher board systems to a seamless system, it is also readily apparent that the seamless systems are not necessarily"seamless"as implied. Because of the impracticality of using a continuous panel of glass, for example, for an ice hockey rink shielding, the shielding is split into panels as shown in Vallance. Where the panels abut, there is of course a

vertical"seam"or a"gap"between the panels. As well, top clips are employed in the seamless system to secure the abutting panel top edges in an attempt to provide greater stability, but which also results in an increase in the overall stiffness or rigidity of the seamless system.

The above summary is not intended to be an exhaustive list of the deficiencies in the existing art. Many additional deficiencies will be evident to a person skilled in the art. It is the object of the present invention to provide a shield panel support system that maximizes visibility but without the sacrifices referred to above.

Although the further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the summary of the invention and the description of the preferred embodiment of the invention below, the advantages of the instant invention are the following: (a) It presents a"seamless"effect; (b) It permits the use of acrylic shield panels as opposed to tempered glass shield panels; (c) It eliminates the necessity to use the top edge clips of the seamless systems; (d) The use of gasketing or lining is rendered unnecessary; (e) It provides for the use of light weight shield panels which decreases conversion and replacement time; (f) Retrofitting into any existing dasher board

system is possible without the significant cost outlay to install a seamless system; and (g) It eliminates, for example, the necessity of the solid, vertical supports at the gates of an ice hockey rink that has a"seamless" system installed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention there is provided a shield panel support for providing a vertical side edge support for a shield panel, the shield panel support being removably attached to and supported on a support system, and wherein the shield panel support comprises a transparent shield panel support pillar.

Also according to the invention there is provided a shield panel support for providing vertical side edge support for a shield panel, the shield panel support being removably attached to and supported on a support system, and wherein the shield panel support is integrally moulded from a transparent material.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a front view of a support for a shield panel of a safety enclosure; Figure 2 is a rear view of the shield panel support;

Figure 3 is a right side view of the shield panel support; Figure 4 is a left side perspective view of the shield panel support; Figure 5 is a fractional perspective view showing detail of the part of the shield panel support of Figure 4 which is encircled and referenced A; Figure 6 is a fractional perspective view showing detail of the part of the shield panel support of Figure 4 which is encircled and referenced B; Figure 7 is a right side perspective view of the shield panel support; Figure 8 is a fractional perspective view showing detail of the part of the shield panel support of Figure 7 which is encircled and referenced C; Figure 9 is a fractional perspective view showing detail of the part of the shield panel support of Figure 7 which is encircled and referenced D ; Figure 10 is top plan view of the shield panel support shown on a larger scale ; Figure 11 is a bottom plan view of the shield panel support shown on a larger scale; Figure 12 is a side view of the shield panel support shown mounted as part of a dasher board system; and Figure 13 is a fragmentary side view on a larger scale of a part of the dasher board system of Figure 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally indicates an ice hockey shield panel support for providing a secure mounting and a side edge support for an ice hockey shield panel 11, which support 10 and shield panel 11 are supported on an ice hockey dasher board system, generally indicated by the numeral 12.

The shield panel support 10 comprises a transparent, vertical support pillar 13, which according to the preferred embodiment of the invention is of a clear polymer.

The dasher board system 12 includes a plurality of interconnected, vertical 14 and horizontal 15 members to constitute a dasher board frame. The dasher board system 12 further comprises two opposite vertical dasher board side panels 17 and a horizontal dasher board top sill 18. A plurality of the supports 10 is incorporated in spaced relationship into the dasher board system 12 for supporting the shield panels 11 between adjacent ones of the supports 10.

The panel support 10 is in the form of an elongate member. It has one side 20, which in use, is on the ice side of the dasher board system 12. As shown, it comprises a convex-shaped surface to minimize ice hockey puck deflection.

A pair of opposing grooves 22 is provided adjacent the side 20 for receiving ice hockey shield panels 11 which are being supported by the support 10.

The panel also has a side 24, opposite to the side 20, which, in use, is on the spectators'side of the dasher board system 12.

The panel support 10 further has a hollow section 26 surrounded by walls forming the pillar 13 extending along the full length of the panel support 10.

As shown in Figures 12 and 13, a light source 30 is provided inside the dasherboard system 12. The light source 30 which may be of any convenient type, such as fibre optic or laser, is located below the hollow section 26 so that when activated it will shine up into the support 10 thereby illuminating the support 10.

A reflector 32 is provided around the light source 30 for reflecting light up into the support 10. A further reflector 34 is provided at the top end of the support 10 which reflects light back down into the support 10.

The light source 30 may for example be used to light up the support 10 before, after or during a game, e. g. when a side has scored or during a break in the game. The light source 30 may for example be illuminated intermittently to produce a flashing effect. It also may be adapted to produce light of different colours.

The entire panel support 10 is preferably integrally moulded or extruded form a transparent material, such as a clear polymer.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described in detail, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the appended claims.