Disposable gloves

Details Disposable gloves Disposable gloves

2001-03-19

2001-10-09

Lindsey, Rodney M. (Department: 3741)

Apparel

Hand or arm coverings

Gloves

C002S046000, C002S161600, C002S167000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06298491

ABSTRACT:

This invention relates to disposable gloves, a term intended herein (for the avoidance of doubt) to embrace also gauntlets, and it relates especially to gloves intended to protect material being handled, such as food, from contaminants associated with a handle, or vice versa.
In the catering industry, for example, there is a need for disposable gloves that enable operatives to handle foodstuffs without the risk of transferring to the foodstuffs contaminants from the hands. The gloves must therefore be impermeable to the contaminants anticipated yet cheap and moreover, especially where it is necessary for a handler to transfer hot foodstuffs, such as burgers, from a cooking area to a serving or food preparation area, it is important that the gloves can tolerate at least brief contact with cooking utensils and/or the hot food itself without degradation, and particularly without adherence to the appliance and/or the food.
Difficulties arise in providing gloves having the above-desired attributes, and further difficulties are associated with the retention of mobility and dexterity of the wearer's fingers and hands, the accommodation of under-gloves which may, for example, have heat-resistant capabilities, and the ready donning and/or removal of the gloves.
In non-catering industries, a principal requirement may be to protect an operative's hands from contaminants in materials that are being handled, but the above recited difficulties (mutatis mutandis) still arise.
In this connection, there are currently available gloves formed of polyethylene which are used in the catering industry. Such known gloves take the form shown in
FIG. 1
in the drawings. A significant problem associated with such gloves is that they have a low tolerance to heat, i.e. a low melting point. Hence when used with hot foods and hot utensils, such known gloves have been known to melt which has obvious food hygiene problems and can cause severe burns to the hands where the glove melts onto the skin of the wearer. The problem of burning the hands of the wearer is exacerbated due to the shape of known gloves which inhibits quick donning and removal.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,245 that hand-shaped plastic gloves with heat-sealed seams can be fabricated in a die-stamping process. However, the gloves so produced are said to exhibit the disadvantage of sticking to a wearer's hands due to perspiration, and the specification is concerned with the incorporation of suitable liners to prevent this happening. Other solutions, such as dusting or the fabrication of oversized gloves, are dismissed as unsatisfactory.
Another approach is advocated in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol.8, no.4, September 1965 (1965-09), page 622 XP-002119958 wherein a plastics material is made by vacuum-forming into the shape of a wearer's fingers and palm, and the resulting glove-like shape is heat-sealed onto a flat film backing layer. This approach is said to provide gloves with improved flexibility of motion and to prevent tearing due to friction.
Both of the above-mentioned disclosures, however, relate to gloves which are fabricated so as to resemble, and thus closely fit to, a wearer's hand and thus do not meet the requirements of the present invention, or overcome the difficulties it seeks to address.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide disposable gloves directed to meeting at least one of the foregoing requirements whilst seeking to overcome at least one of the above-mentioned difficulties.
According to the present invention there is provided a disposable glove comprising first and second juxtaposed shaped films of plastics material, said films being sealed together around their peripheries except in a region thereof forming an opening dimensioned and located to accommodate insertion and withdrawal of a user's hand; characterised in that the glove comprises respective compartments, each positioned and dimensioned to accommodate only part of the length of a respective finger of the user, the plastics material forming webs between adjacent fingers.
This permits of greater mobility and dexterity as compared with mitten like gloves in which all fingers share a common compartment.
In preferred embodiments, the plastics material has a melting point in the vicinity of 200 degrees C. or greater.
Preferably also, the breadth dimension of each finger compartment is substantially larger than necessary to accommodate a finger. This facilitates donning and removal of the gloves end/or assists in accommodating undergloves.
Preferably, the length dimension of each finger compartment, being shorter than that necessary to accommodate the whole finger, extends to the vicinity only of the second finger joint (reference to the fingertip). This further assists in rapid donning and removal, provides the wearer with an ability to readily bend each finger both at the said second joint and at the knuckle joint; and moreover provides a “web” extending between adjacent fingers which aids in handling certain products or materials.
It is particularly preferred that, notwithstanding the aforementioned relationship between the length of each finger compartment and the respective finger which that compartment is intended to accommodate, the thumb compartment of the glove is dimensioned to accommodate substantially the entire length of the wearer's thumb.
Preferably also the glove, when measured across the palm area and the wrist aperture, is substantially wider than necessary to accommodate the wearer's hand and wrist. This further aids in rapid donning and removal.
In a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a glove comprising a generally sealed pouch for accommodating a hand, the pouch having respective compartments defined therein, said compartments being positioned and dimensioned to accommodate only an upper part of each finger.
Preferably, the plastics material (not woven) is a polyamide material, such a nylon film, for example Nylon 6 or Nylon 66, or another material whose melting point is in the vicinity of 200 degrees C. or greater. The material is in preferred embodiments non porous.
Nylon has the particular advantage that in addition is offering heat resistance, it is relatively chemically inert and is thus strongly resistant to chemical attack.


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Guggenheim, “Gloves for Handling Corrosive Materials”, IBM Technical Disclosure Bullet, vol. 8, No. 4, Sep. 1965, p. 622.

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