US Patent 7673628 Oven rack guard

A guard for protecting a cook or chef from burn injury from accidentally touching a hot oven rack comprising a sleeve of material mounted on the front rail of a metal oven rack. The sleeve is formed of a material having a thermal conductivity that is lower than than the thermal conductivity of the metal oven rack, so that when the guard is accidentally touched, insufficient thermal energy is transferred to an oven user to cause a burn, allowing the oven user to withdraw from the sleeve before injury can result. Preferably, the material forming the sleeve is heat resistant and has a lower thermal mass and thermal conductivity than the metal oven rack.