Glove

Abstract

A muscular stress-reducing glove (100), comprising a thumb (150) with a thumb ball profile (155); a plurality of fingers (161-164) with one or more flattened fingers to improve the matching of physical profile between the glove and fingers of a glove user; flattened palm (120) and backhand (130) profile to resemble the physical profile of glove user's palm and backhand; a cuff region (110); a plurality of crotch regions; a plurality of concave profiles (145) to mimic the physical profile of glove user's finger crotches or one or more grooves (170) at the palm region (120) and/or backhand region (130) to provide additional flexibility and stretchability for the comfort of glove user.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a glove, particularly to a muscular stress-reducing glove.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Industrial glove is intended for protecting a user's hand from hazardous conditions during an activity. The durability, chemical resistance and abrasion resistance of an industrial glove have to be adequate to serve the function and oftentimes, this would result in a thicker and longer length of the glove. As the thickness and length of the glove increase, the glove is stiffer and harder to don which will further cause discomfort during donning. In usage, a user that experiences hand or muscle fatigue would possibly affect the user's performance in a specific activity. A user may also experience fatigue after a long duration of wearing the glove.

[0003] Industrial gloves can be designed to be hand specific or ambidextrous. However, an ambidextrous glove is easier to produce and it is more cost-effective as compared to a hand specific glove. Further, for an ambidextrous glove, it has higher production output with a lower rejection rate than a hand specific glove. The ambidextrous glove is more economical as it can fit both hands. Moreover, the production cost and rejection rate of an ambidextrous former are lower as compared to the hand specific former.

[0004] In view of the preceding, it would be advantageous to develop a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention relates to a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove comprising a thumb with thumb ball profile; a plurality of fingers with one or more flattened finger profile to improve the matching of physical profile between the glove and fingers of a glove user; flattened palm and backhand profile to resemble the physical profile of glove user's palm and backhand; a cuff region; a plurality of crotch regions; a plurality of concave profiles to mimic the physical profile of glove user's finger crotches or one or more grooves at the palm and/or backhand region to provide additional flexibility or stretchability for the comfort of glove user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

[0006] The present invention will be fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, wherein:

[0007] In the appended drawings:

[0008] FIG. 1 depicts a front view of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove with concave profile.

[0009] FIG. 2 depicts a top view of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove with concave profile.

[0010] FIG. 3 depicts a side view (from thumb) of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove with concave profile.

[0011] FIG. 4 depicts a side view (from little finger) of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove with concave profile.

[0012] FIG. 5 depicts a front view of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove with grooves.

[0013] FIG. 6 depicts a top view of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove with grooves.

[0014] FIG. 7 depicts a side view (from thumb) of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove with grooves.

[0015] FIG. 8 depicts a side view (from little finger) of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove with grooves.

[0016] FIG. 9A shows a detailed illustration of a hand section.

[0017] FIG. 9B shows the stress and discomfort areas evaluated by test subjects when wearing different types of glove.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] A detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention is disclosed herein. It should be understood, however, that the embodiments are merely exemplary of the present invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, the details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as the basis for the claims and for teaching one skilled in the art of the invention. The numerical data or ranges used in the specification are not to be construed as limiting. The following detailed description of the preferred embodiments will now be described in accordance with the attached drawings.

[0019] The present invention relates to a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove (100) with an ergonomic design. The stress-reducing and ergonomic features are created at selected areas of the glove (100) through modification on a former. As the glove (100) is ambidextrous, these features are introduced on both sides of the glove (100) such that it can be worn for either right hand or left hand. This design eases production, increases output, lowers rejection rate and increases cost efficiency. A user experiences less fatigue and more comfort while performing activities.

[0020] The present invention will now be explained in detail. In the preferred embodiment, the glove (100) comprises a thumb (150) having a front surface and a back surface, a plurality of fingers (161-164) with each of the fingers having a front surface and a back surface, a palm region (120), a backhand region (130), a plurality of crotch regions (140), a cuff region (110) and one or more stress-reducing features.

[0021] As the glove (100) is ambidextrous, it is understood that the glove (100) can be used for either right hand or left hand. Hence, the front surface and back surface of the thumb (150), fingers (161-164), palm (120) and backhand region (130) of the glove (100) may be interchangeable depending on the hand-fitted. The illustration (FIGS. 1-8) is based on the glove (100) for right hand.

[0022] The glove (100) is made from an elastomeric material such as but not limited to nitrile, natural rubber and synthetic rubber. The glove (100) is introduced in four standard sizes, namely small, S, medium, M, large, L and extra large, XL.

[0023] FIG. 1 depicts a front view of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove (100) according to the present invention. The glove (100) comprising a thumb (150) and four fingers (161-164) interconnected to each other through a plurality of crotch regions (140). The thumb (150), fingers (161-164) and crotch regions (140) are connected to the palm (120) and backhand region (130). The palm (120) and backhand region (130) further leads to a cuff region (110).

[0024] In the preferred embodiment, the cuff region (110) refers to a lower end of the glove (100) which an opening is disposed at the bottom for donning. The elasticity of the glove material eases the opening to stretch for donning. When a hand is fitted into the glove (100), the cuff region (110) contains the wrist of a user. The wrist circumference at cuff region (110) is enlarged to have the larger wrist circumference than wrist circumference of a conventional glove to facilitate donning and to reduce discomfort. The upper side of the cuff region (110) is connected to the palm (120) and backhand region (130). Table 1 shows the wrist circumference of the glove (100) in different sizes.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Wrist circumference of the glove. Glove size S M L XL Wrist circumference (mm) 168-183 184-200 198-214 210-227

[0025] The backhand region (130) refers to a dorsal side of the hand or opposite of the palm (120). The palm (120) and backhand region (130) comprises a flattened profile to resemble a physical profile of a user's palm and backhand. The flattened profile reduces stress at the metacarpophalangeal joint of index, middle, ring and little fingers (161-164) and helps to accommodate the physical profile mismatch between the glove (100) and a user's palm and backhand. Table 2 shows the palm circumference of the glove (100) in different sizes when measured at "P" (referring to FIG. 1).

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Palm circumference of the glove. Glove size S M L XL Palm circumference (mm) 172-181 190-203 214-225 232-243

[0026] A plurality of crotch regions (140) are disposed at the upper connection between the palm (120) and backhand region (130) whereby they interconnect the thumb (150), the index finger (161), the middle finger (162), the ring finger (163) and the little finger (164). A plurality of concave profiles (145) extend from the tip of each finger crotch to the palm region (120) and/or backhand region (130) wherein the function of the concave profiles (145) are to mimic the physical profile of human finger crotches and thus improving the degree of comfort for glove user while wearing the glove (100). The length of the concave profile (145) from the tip of each finger crotch to the palm region (120) and/or backhand region (130) ranges from 10 mm to 75 mm. The depth of the concave profile (145) gradually decreases from the tip of each finger crotch to the palm (120) and/or backhand region (130). The maximum depth of the concave profile (145) at the tip of each finger crotch is 25 mm.

[0027] FIG. 2 depicts a top view of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove (100). The muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove (100) comprises fingers with flattened fingers profile to improve the matching of physical profile between the glove (100) and the fingers of a user. The circumference of the fingers at the center of the fingers of the glove (100) remains in the common range as shown in Table 3 below. Preferably, only the index (161) and middle (162) fingers of the glove (100) are flattened as they are the main support for any hand action. The flattened fingers profile improves the matching of physical profile that would reduce the stress at the index (161) and middle (162) fingers. A glove user would have better gripping ability at the index (161) and middle (162) fingers because the total contact area between the glove (100) and the user's fingers is maximized by the matching of their physical profiles.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Finger circumference at the center of the index and middle fingers of the glove. Finger circumference at the center of finger (mm) Glove size S M L XL Index finger 49-57 57-63 61-69 69-75 Middle finger 53-61 61-66 65-73 75-81

[0028] FIG. 3 depicts a side view from thumb (150) and FIG. 4 depicts a side view from little finger (164) of a muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove (100). The thumb (150) area covers from the proximal phalanx to the metacarpal bone of thumb finger, comprises a thumb ball profile (155). The thumb ball profile (155) is able to reduce stress on the muscles of the thumb, such as but not limited to flexor and abductor pollicis brevis when a user is flexing the thumb. The width of the thumb ball is measured on the former as it is difficult to be measured on the glove (100). The width of thumb ball on the former, measured horizontally, is tabulated in Table 4.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Width of thumb ball on the former. Former size S M L XL Thumb ball (mm) Min. 33 Min. 35 Min. 37 Min. 39

[0029] The thumb (150) and the fingers (161-164) of the glove are slightly spread-out to reduce the stress at fingers when the glove user spreads out his fingers to grasp an object. The horizontal distance between the thumb (150) and little finger (164) is measured on the former as it is inaccurate to be measured on the glove. The horizontal distance between the thumb (150) and the little finger (164) on the former, also known as span width, is tabulated in Table 5.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Horizontal distance between the thumb and the little finger (span width) on the former. Former size S M L XL Span width (mm) 110-116 121-127 132-138 136-142

[0030] Referring to FIGS. 5-8, as an alternative to having concave profile (145) as a stress-reducing feature, the muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove (100) comprises a plurality of grooves (170), preferably at least four grooves at the palm (120) and/or backhand region (130), in which the grooves (170) are concave or protruding or the combination of both. The width of the grooves (170) ranges from 2 mm to 6 mm. The depth of the concave grooves and the height of the protruding grooves range from 0.5 mm to 3.5 mm. The length of the grooves (170) ranges from 10 mm to 65 mm. In general, three grooves (170) are placed at the palm (120) and/or backhand region (130) and are covered from proximal phalanx to metacarpal bones of the index, middle, ring and little fingers (161-164). One groove (170) is placed at the palm (120) and/or backhand region (130) and is covered the adductor pollicis and first dorsal interosseous muscles. Each groove (170) can be vertically straight or tilted in the range of 1.degree. to 20.degree. from the vertical axis, clockwise or anti-clockwise. The grooves' (170) function is to provide additional flexibility and stretchability of the muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous glove (100) when the glove user is flexing all his fingers while performing any task. The additional flexibility and stretchability of the glove (100) prevent glove tightness at the palm (120) and backhand region (130) which leads to stress, fatigue or discomfort. The grooves (170) do not significantly incur additional overall weight and material cost of the glove (100).

User Evaluation for Muscular Stress-Reducing Ambidextrous Industrial Glove

Glove Description

[0031] 1. Ambidextrous nitrile conventional industrial glove (labeled as Control). [0032] 2. Ambidextrous nitrile muscular stress-reducing glove (100) with concave profile (145) of present invention (labeled as Design 1). [0033] 3. Ambidextrous nitrile muscular stress-reducing glove (100) with grooves (170) of present invention (labeled as Design 2).

TABLE-US-00006 [0033] TABLE 6 Physical dimensions of Control, Design 1 and Design 2 gloves. Glove type Control Design 1 Design 2 Glove weight (g) 11.7 .+-. 0.1 11.9 .+-. 0.2 11.8 .+-. 0.3 Glove length (mm) 300 .+-. 2 300 .+-. 2 300 .+-. 2 Palm width (mm) 97 .+-. 1 99 .+-. 1 99 .+-. 1 Cuff thickness (mm) 0.12 .+-. 0.01 0.11 .+-. 0.01 0.11 .+-. 0.01 Palm thickness (mm) 0.21 .+-. 0.01 0.21 .+-. 0.01 0.20 .+-. 0.01 Finger thickness (mm) 0.23 .+-. 0.01 0.25 .+-. 0.01 0.23 .+-. 0.01

Evaluation Method

[0034] A user evaluation form that focuses on the assessment of different hand sections, including wrist, palm, finger, crotch and knuckle (while grasping) was prepared. Control (ambidextrous nitrile conventional industrial glove), Design 1 (ambidextrous nitrile muscular stress-reducing glove (100) with concave profile (145) of present invention) and Design 2 (ambidextrous nitrile muscular stress-reducing glove (100) with grooves (170) of present invention) gloves were provided to 30 test subjects for evaluation according to the user evaluation form. Test subjects were requested to move their fingers and flex their hand while wearing each type of glove. Stress and discomfort points evaluated by the subject were marked on the glove and recorded in the form. Their comments on each type of glove were recorded in the form as well.

[0035] The number of stress and discomfort points were counted and summarized in the following sections.

Results

TABLE-US-00007 [0036] TABLE 7 Detailed user evaluation results. Number of stress and Hand section discomfort points gathered Front/ from 30 test subjects back/side Design Design Main section surface Description Control 1 2 Wrist Not Tight at wrist 2 0 0 specified Loose at wrist 0 0 0 Palm Front Tight at lower palm 3 0 1 Tight at upper palm 13 7 4 Back Tight at lower palm 1 1 0 Tight at upper palm 7 5 0 Side Tight at side palm 12 10 5 (near to thumb) Tight at side palm 8 6 3 (near to little finger) Finger Front Tight at 1.sup.st Thumb 14 10 10 phalanx Index 11 15 7 Middle 10 15 8 Ring 10 15 7 Little 5 4 3 Tight at 2.sup.nd Thumb 9 11 12 phalanx Index 22 12 14 Middle 22 12 15 Ring 22 12 14 Little 14 6 7 Tight at 3.sup.rd Thumb N/A N/A N/A phalanx Index 16 16 15 Middle 16 26 15 Ring 17 26 15 Little 9 10 8 Back Tight at 1.sup.st Thumb 7 4 7 phalanx Index 11 4 6 Middle 11 4 7 Ring 11 4 5 Little 8 1 1 Tight at 2.sup.nd Thumb 5 9 10 phalanx Index 9 5 7 Middle 9 5 7 Ring 7 5 6 Little 4 4 2 Back Tight at 3.sup.rd Thumb N/A N/A N/A phalanx Index 2 3 3 Middle 1 3 3 Ring 1 0 2 Little 1 2 2 Side Tight at Thumb 9 11 5 finger side Index 12 14 6 Middle 11 14 7 Ring 10 14 6 Little 3 4 3 Crotch Front Discomfort Thumb- 8 4 1 at crotch Index Index- 10 7 1 Middle Middle- 9 6 1 Ring Ring- 7 6 1 Little Back Discomfort Thumb- 5 5 5 at crotch Index Index- 6 3 4 Middle Middle- 5 3 3 Ring Ring- 2 1 0 Little Knuckle Back Discomfort Thumb 6 0 1 (when at 1.sup.st Index 1 0 0 grasping) knuckle Middle 1 0 0 Ring 1 0 0 Little 0 0 0 Discomfort Thumb 1 0 0 at 2.sup.nd Index 15 1 1 knuckle Middle 15 1 1 Ring 14 1 1 Little 6 0 0 Discomfort Thumb N/A N/A N/A at 3.sup.rd Index 3 1 0 knuckle Middle 3 1 0 Ring 2 1 0 Little 1 0 0 Total 496 370 278

CONCLUSION

TABLE-US-00008 [0037] TABLE 8 Summary of user evaluation. Total number of stress and discomfort points experienced on user's hand (gathered from 30 test subjects) Knuckle Glove (when type Wrist Palm Finger Crotch grasping) Total Control 2 44 329 52 69 496 Design 1 0 29 300 35 6 370 (present invention) Design 2 0 13 245 16 4 278 (present invention)

[0038] FIG. 9A shows a detailed illustration of a hand section and FIG. 9B shows the stress and discomfort areas evaluated by test subjects when wearing different types of glove. Based on the results shown in FIG. 9B and Table 8, muscular stress-reducing ambidextrous industrial gloves of the present invention are more comfortable to wear as compared to the control glove. Both Design 1 and Design 2 of present invention have significantly reduced the stress and discomfort area at palm, finger, crotch and knuckle (while grasping) sections. Discomfort at the wrist section was eliminated as well. In comparison, Design 2 of present invention is more comfortable than Design 1 of present invention since fewer users experienced stress at palm, finger, crotch and knuckle sections. 60% of the test subjects found that Design 2 glove is the most comfortable amongst all. The statistic is shown in Table 9.

TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 9 Statistics of ambidextrous industrial glove preference of 30 test subjects. Number of Percentage of Glove type preference preference (%) Control 4 13 Design 1 (present invention) 8 27 Design 2 (present invention) 18 60 Total 30 100

[0039] Design 2 of present invention was selected by 60% of test subjects as their preferred glove, followed by Design 1 of present invention with 27% of the test subjects. Only 13% of the test subjects selected the control sample as their preferred glove.

[0040] In conclusion, both Design 1 and Design 2 of the present invention are effective to improve the ambidextrous nitrile industrial glove in terms of the degree of comfort. The majority of the test subjects prefer Design 2 over Design 1 of present invention.

[0041] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises", "comprising", "including" and "having" are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups therefrom.

[0042] The method, steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed. The use of the expression "at least" or "at least one" suggests the use of one or more elements, as the use may be in one of the embodiments to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.

Claims

1. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100), comprising: a thumb (150) having a thumb ball profile (155); a plurality of fingers (161-164) with one or more flattened fingers profile to improve the matching of physical profile between the glove (100) and fingers of a glove user; flattened palm (120) and backhand (130) profile to resemble the physical profile of glove user's palm and backhand; a cuff region (110); a plurality of crotch regions (140); and a plurality of concave profiles (145) at the palm (120) and/or backhand region (130) to mimic the physical profile of glove user's finger crotches.

2. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100), comprising: a thumb (150) having a thumb ball profile (155); a plurality of fingers (161-164) with one or more flattened fingers profile to improve the matching of physical profile between the glove (100) and fingers of a glove user; flattened palm (120) and backhand (130) profile to resemble the physical profile of glove user's palm and backhand; a cuff region (110); a plurality of crotch regions (140); and one or more grooves (170) at the palm (120) and/or backhand region (130) to provide additional flexibility and stretchability for the comfort of glove user.

3. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the glove (100) is ambidextrous and wherein front surface and back surface of the thumb (150), fingers (161-164), palm (120) and backhand region (130) of the glove (100) may be interchangeable depending on the hand-fitted.

4. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wrist circumference at cuff region (110) is enlarged to have the larger wrist circumference than wrist circumference of a conventional glove to facilitate donning and to reduce discomfort.

5. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flattened palm (120) and backhand profile (130) reduces stress at the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index, middle, ring and little fingers (161-164) and helps to accommodate the physical profile mismatch between the glove (100) and a user's palm and backhand.

6. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flattened fingers profile improves the matching of physical profile between the glove and the user's fingers, thus maximizes the total contact area between the glove (100) and the user's fingers.

7. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thumb ball profile (155) reduces stress at the flexor and abductor pollicis brevis when a user is flexing the thumb.

8. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thumb (150) and fingers (161-164) of the glove are slightly spread-out to reduce the stress at fingers when the glove user spreads out his fingers to grasp an object.

9. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the concave profiles are for improving the degree of comfort for glove (100) user while wearing the glove (100).

10. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the length of the concave profile (145) from the tip of each finger crotch to the palm (120) and/or backhand region (130) ranges from 10 mm to 75 mm. The depth of the concave profile (145) gradually decreases from the tip of each finger crotch to the palm (120) and/or backhand region (130). The maximum depth of the concave profile (145) at the tip of each finger crotch is 25 mm.

11. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the glove (100) is ambidextrous and wherein front surface and back surface of the thumb (150), fingers (161-164), palm (120) and backhand region (130) of the glove (100) may be interchangeable depending on the hand-fitted.

12. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the wrist circumference at cuff region (110) is enlarged to have the larger wrist circumference than wrist circumference of a conventional glove to facilitate donning and to reduce discomfort.

13. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the flattened palm (120) and backhand profile (130) reduces stress at the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index, middle, ring and little fingers (161-164) and helps to accommodate the physical profile mismatch between the glove (100) and a user's palm and backhand.

14. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the flattened fingers profile improves the matching of physical profile between the glove and the user's fingers, thus maximizes the total contact area between the glove (100) and the user's fingers.

15. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the thumb ball profile (155) reduces stress at the flexor and abductor pollicis brevis when a user is flexing the thumb.

16. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the thumb (150) and fingers (161-164) of the glove are slightly spread-out to reduce the stress at fingers when the glove user spreads out his fingers to grasp an object.

17. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the grooves (170) are concave or protruding or the combination of both.

18. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the width of the grooves (170) ranges from 2 mm to 6 mm, the depth of the concave grooves and the height of the protruding grooves range from 0.5 mm to 3.5 mm and the length of the grooves (170) ranges from 10 mm to 65 mm.

19. A muscular stress-reducing glove (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the additional flexibility and stretchability of the glove (100) prevents glove tightness at the palm (120) and backhand region (130) which leads to stress, fatigue or discomfort.