Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Form Formed Glove With Longitudinal
Peripheral Undulations Facilitating Stripping
Background of the Invention
This invention relates a form for making an
elastomeric glove and the glove produced by the form.
5For many years gloves have been manufactured for
medical and other applications by dipping a hand-shaped form
into a tank of elastomeric liquid such as latex. The dipped
form is then immersed in a water trough to remove water soluble
impurities. Following this, the form is placed in an oven to
dry and cure the glove. Once the glove is cured, it is removed
from the form. This is typically a hand operation. This
process of glove production is most often performed using a
continuous or intermittent style conveyor for transporting the
glove forms.
15The process of transporting and dipping the forms at a
rate suitable for production often leads to air entrapment at
various places on the form, especially at the tips of the
digits and at the crotch area between the digits. This trapped
air can cause voids in the formed film that result in weak or
thin areas on the finished glove. It has been found that the
likelihood of air entrapment increases as the profile of the
form leading edges become broad or blunt. It is important to
design the form profile to minimize air entrapment. Most
conventional porcelain forms have a broad leading edge. The
nature of porcelain manufacturing can also create an irregular
surface on the form, which may increase the potential for air
entrapment.
In removing the glove from the form, the glove is
typically grasped at the cuff end and pulled away from the
form. This action causes the glove to reverse during removal.
Since the elastomeric material tightens when it is cured, the
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glove tends to adhere to the form and to be difficult to
remove, As a result, the finger tips of the glove may not be
fully reversed. While this does not create
a problem with the use of the glove, it is undesirable from an
aesthetic viewpoint.
Recently the use of gloves in the medical area has
increased substantially because of the increased awareness of
the spread of contagious diseases through contaminated body
fluid. The market demand has increased faster than the
capability of manufacturers to supply the products. It has
become extremely important to maximize the production of all
existing manufacturing facilities. The conventional glove
forms are approximately the same size as the human hand that
will wear the glove. If the thickness of the profile could be
reduced; more forms could be used on existing conveyor
systems. The capacity of existing facilities would be
increased quickly and at a reasonable cost. Conventional
porcelain forms have insulating properties that require high
oven temperatures and longer dwell time to effect a proper
cure. Thus a thinner profile would create new problems by
significantly increasing the heating requirements in existing
cure ovens.
The above problems are solved by the form and glove of
the present invention.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention provides a glove and glove form
having an approximately uniform profile that is thinner than
conventional forms. The form has thinner digit side edges and
thinner side peripheral portions. These thinner portions are
located on the base of each digit, the crotch between the
digits and adjacent the wrist. The base of each finger
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1 335228
adjoining the palm portion is approximately rectangular in
shape with channels at each of the four corners of the finger.
Toward the tip of the finger, the rectangular shape with
channels blends to an elliptical configuration.
Since the glove is inverted after it is cured on the
form, the glove has a shape approximately inverse to that of
the form. The glove has a flat front and back connected by a
side section, a portion of which is smooth and a portion of
which is contoured. The contoured portion is adjacent the base
Of the digit surfaces and on the contoured sides of the glove
from a point below the wearer's wrist to a point adjacent the
base of the digit surface.
An aspect of this invention is as follows:
A glove comprising:
a front surface,
a back surface, said back surface being
substantially a mirror image of said front surface,
both said front and back surfaces being
substantially flat, each of said front and back surfaces
having a palm surface, five digit surfaces, and a
periphery,
each of said digit surfaces having a base by which
each of said digit surfaces is connected to said palm
surface,
each of said digit surfaces also having a tip
portion spaced distally from said palm surface;
a side section connecting said periphery of said
front surface to said periphery of said back surface,
said side section having four concave portions
alternated with three convex portions that extend
substantially along said side section between said
periphery of said front and back surfaces except along
said periphery adjacent each of said tip portions.
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Brief Description of the Drawings
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front of the glove
form that is the subject of this invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the back of the glove
form.
FIG. 3 is a perspective of the glove that is the
subject of this invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective of a fingertip of a glove made
by a prior art glove form.
FIG. 5 is a perspective phantom view of a portion of
the glove form showing cross sectional views of each of the
digits.
FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the base of one of
the digits of the glove form.
FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the base of one of
the digit pockets of the glove.
FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of the glove
form showing the outline of the form at various cross sections.
FIG. 9 is a top view of one of the digits of the glove
form depicting the change in cross sectional shape.
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FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the glove form dipped
in a vat of elastomeric liquid.
Detailed Description of the Invention
FIGS. 1 and 2 show the front and back, respectively,
of the glove form, generally identified as 10, of the present
invention. The profile of the form is approximately 1/2 inch,
except for the edges that have a reduced thickness, as will be
described later. At such thin profiles, a form such as the one
described herein may experience excessive warpage if the form
has relatively large variations in thickness. The consistency
in thickness of the present form greatly reduces the warpage or
deflection of the form 10. This is especially important when
subjecting the form to the high heat of the cure ovens.
To manufacture a glove of a predetermined size, it is
necessary for the surface area of the form to be approximately
equal to the size of the hand that will wear the glove. Thus,
because the form 10 is thinner than a hand and than a
conventional form, the width of the form 10 must be greater
than the width of the hand to provide the correct size and fit.
Form digits 12 through 20 each have a digit side edge
22 of reduced thickness. These reduced digit side edges 22
extend from the base 26 of the finger adjacent the palm portion
28 towards the digit tips 24 which are elliptical.
Approximately midway between the digit bases 26 and tips 24,
the digit profile with the reduced side edges begins to blend
into the elliptical shape.
Viewing from the tip 24 of a digit, as shown in FIG.
9, the digit profile is more easily seen. The base 26 is
approximately rectangular in shape with concave indentations or
digit channels 30 at each of the four corners of the rectangle
to form the reduced digit side edges 22. When the form 10 is
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dipped in the elastomeric liquid, the liquid adheres directly
to the form contours. As the glove is cured, the resulting
film will tend to pull away from the channels 30, forming a
space between the glove and the channel. This space provides a
5 passageway for air when air is introduced under the cuff end 32
of the glove 34.
In a manner similar to the shape of the human hand,
the cross section of the glove form 10 is largest at the digit
base 26 and smallest at the digit tip 24. The tips of the
glove form digits are elliptical and radiused in two directions
to reduce the likelihood of air entrapment when the form is
dipped into the elastomeric liquid. For the same reason, the
digit crotches 36 are also radiused in two directions. That
is, the digit crotch is connected to the palm portion 28 by a
radial surface 37 and to the digit base 26 by a radial surface
38. These features have been shown to significantly reduce
glove defects.
Because the form tips 24 do not have channels 30, the
glove tightly adheres to the form tips 24 when the glove
20 cures. Before the glove is removed from the form 10, a stream
of air will be directed between the glove and form, as
described earlier. This separates the glove from the form 10
in the area adjacent the digit side channels so that this
portion of the glove offers little resistance to being removed
25 from the form. However, the tips of the digit pockets of the
gloves tightly adhere to the form. This combination of
features allows the glove finger pockets 44 to fully reverse
when the glove is pulled from the form 10.
Each side of form 10 also has a thinner side
peripheral portion 39. This thinner peripheral portion 39 has
a concave side channel 40 on both the front and the back of the
form. Each side channel begins just below the curve for the
wrist 42 and extends upwards to the sides of the outer digits.
When the form is dipped into the elastomeric liquid, it is
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submerged beyond the side channels 40 so that the cuff end is
not at the form side channels 40 but is at the radiused side
portion 45 of the form. This prevents leech or slurry solution
from seeping between the form 10 and the glove 34.
In the same manner as described above, the film
separates from the side channels 40 during the curing
procedure. The air stream directed between the glove and the
form 10 after the curing procedure will help separate the glove
from the form to make removal of the glove easier.
The forms 10 are positioned on the continuous conveyor
with a side of the glove being the leading edge into the
liquid. The side channels 40, while providing for easier glove
removal, also provide a thinner frontal surface for dipping
thereby decreasing turbulence of the form in the elastomeric
liquid. This allows for more even application of the
elastomeric liquid. The thin profile of the form 10 also
displaces the dipping liquid to a lesser extent than the
conventional hollow porcelain forms, making it easier to
maintain the proper solution level in the dip tank.
Of more significant importance, the thinner profile
allows more forms to be placed on the dipping conveyor. The
production of an existing facility can be expanded without
incurring significant costs, such as would be incurred with the
construction of additional production lines.
Conventional porcelain forms, manufactured with a
thinner profile, would provide some of the benefits outlined
above. However, since porcelain is an insulator, a much larger
expenditure of energy would be required to heat the form and
provide proper glove cure. The present invention is a form
manufactured of a high temperature thermoplastic which has a
higher heat transfer coefficient than porcelain. This allows
the form to gain the heat required for curing at a higher rate
than porcelain. The thermoplastic form requires significantly
less energy to heat than a porcelain form of the same size and
also cools more quickly to aid in removal of the glove.
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The glove produced by using the form described above
has approximately the inverse shape of the form as shown in
FIG. 3. The glove includes a front 48 and a back (not shown)
which is substantially a mirror image of the front. Both the
front 48 and the back are substantially flat, each having a
palm surface 58, five digit surfaces 60 and a periphery 66.
Each of the digit surfaces has a base 62 by which it is
connected to a palm surface 58 and a tip 64 spaced distally
from the palm surface 58. The front 48 and back are connected
at their peripheries by a side section, a portion of which is
smooth 68 and a portion of which is contoured 70. The
contoured portion 70 results from the part of the glove form
that has the thinner digit side edges 22 or thinner side
peripheral portion 39. The smooth portion 68 results from the
part of the glove form that has no reduced cross section.
The concave digit channels 30 and side channels 40 of
the form become convex portions when the glove is removed from
the form and inverted. Thus the glove is flat across the front
48 and back and rounded on the sides of the finger pockets 44
and side edges 52 of the glove. The finger pockets 44 take on
a more circular configuration as compared to the flatness of
the form 10. This feature may aid in donning the gloves.
FIG. 7 shows a close-up view of the cross section of one of the
fingers of the glove. The rounded finger pocket sides 44 and
rounded side edges 50 are actually comprised of four concave
portions 54 alternated with three convex portions 56.
While the invention has particularly been shown and
described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be
understood by those skilled in the art that variation-in form,
construction and arrangement may be made therein without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
