Prototype Glove Research Articles

Durability Variation Among Medical Gloves Made from Existing and New Elastomers Poses a Risk to Public Health.

Despite being an essential line of defense in preventing the spread of diseases, medical glove durability is neither measured routinely nor has standard specifications. In this study, a new glove durability assessment device is used to objectively compare the durability of gloves made of a variety of elastomers from different manufacturers. Results are related to several mechanical tests, including stress relaxation, tensile and tear tests. Overall, natural latex gloves far outperformed those made of synthetic elastomers, and there is great disparity among the different brands of nitrile gloves, some of which do not meet nitrile glove performance requirements. The study includes prototype gloves made from guayule latex, a domestic source of alternative natural rubber latex, currently under commercial development. The guayule gloves outperformed all other gloves tested, including those made from Hevea latex, without posing allergy risks. Mechanical analysis demonstrated that the guayule gloves are as strong as the best alternatives, are softer and more elastic, have better tear strength, and have such low stress relaxation that they cause very little hand fatigue during use. Guayule latex can address the need for domestic production of gloves to resolve supply chain and quality issues and encourage a shift back to natural latex gloves, which will significantly diversify the natural rubber supply.

Designing Flex Sensor Gloves with Temperature Sensor & Pulse Sensor to Help Stroke Patients

Stroke patients often have trouble in daily interactions, when the patient communicated with people who are guarding them. If the distance between the patient and their guard is far, this will make it difficult for the stroke patient to communicate. Therefore, this research designed a prototype glove with a flex sensor installed as a communication tool to aid stroke patients. The designed glove is paired with five flexible sensors to enable nurses easily to read the five-finger movement signals. This tool is also equipped with DS18B20 temperature and pulse sensors capable of monitoring the physical condition of stroke patients in real-time. Testing the flex sensor glove prototype was carried out by measuring temperature & heart rate through pulse and temperature sensors. The output data is in the form of text and sound displayed on the LCD and heard through the speaker through the DFPlayer mini module. The body temperature was measured using the DS18B20 temperature sensor and compared with an Avico digital thermometer which has an average error of 0.1%, indicating adequacy. The heart rate test results through the pulse sensor were compared with measurements obtained using measure heart rate correctly. Instant heart rate, which has an average error of 0.7%, hence, it can

Development of Triboelectroceutical Fabrics for Potential Applications in Self-Sanitizing Personal Protective Equipment.

Attachment of microbial bodies including the corona virus on the surface of personal protective equipment (PPE) is found to be potential threat of spreading infection. Here, we report the development of a triboelectroceutical fabric (TECF) consisting of commonly available materials, namely, nylon and silicone rubber (SR), for the fabrication of protective gloves on the nitrile platform as model wearable PPE. A small triboelectric device (2 cm × 2 cm) consisting of SR and nylon on nitrile can generate more than 20 V transient or 41 μW output power, which is capable of charging a capacitor up to 65 V in only ∼50 s. The importance of the present work relies on the TECF-led antimicrobial activity through the generation of an electric current in saline water. The fabrication of TECF-based functional prototype gloves can generate hypochlorite ions through the formation of electrolyzed water upon rubbing them with saline water. Further, computational modelling has been employed to reveal the optimum structure and mechanistic pathway of antimicrobial hypochlorite generation. Detailed antimicrobial assays have been performed to establish effectiveness of such TECF-based gloves to reduce the risk from life-threatening pathogen spreading. The present work provides the rationale to consider the studied TECF, or other materials with comparable properties, as a material of choice for the development of self-sanitizing PPE in the fight against microbial infections including COVID-19.

Measuring finger engagement during manual assembly operations in automotive assembly

Abstract Electrical connection defects represent a significant percentage of the defects caused during the automotive assembly process. These defects are usually discovered during the inspection stages of the vehicle. To rework such defects, much time is spent uninstalling and reinstalling components such as instrument panels and carpeting as the connections are covered over during subsequent assembly processes. Human detection of these defects has proven insufficient. This work focuses on finger engagement during manual assembly processes to assist future smart wearable systems in determining human-process interaction state during manual assembly processes. Thus, points of interest are which individual fingers engage with the connector, force exerted, and how it differs among personnel. Pressure sensors were created using a piezoresistive fabric and layered with conductive material to produce a flexible pressure sensor. The piezoresistive fabric changes its resistivity as it is deformed or stretched, and which was calibrated to obtain force values. By utilizing a flexible fabric material, the assembly process was minimally interrupted by limiting interference of a user’s tactile feel. A prototype glove pair was developed for testing purposes with sensor placement at each of the five fingertips. Testing was conducted by performing four electrical connections using connectors of a variety of connector sizes.

Semiautomatic machine for turning inside out industrial leather gloves

The last step in the industrial leather gloves manufacturing is to turn the inside out so that the sewing be in the inside of the glove. This work presents the design and testing of a machine for that purpose. In order to quantify the relevant variables, testing was performed with a prototype glove. The employed devices and the testing proceeding were developed experimentally. The obtained information was used to build the turning inside out machine. This machine works with pneumatic power to carry the inside out turning by means of double effect lineal actuators. It has two independent work stations that could be operated simultaneously by two persons, one in each station or in single mode operating one station by one person. The turning inside out cycle is started by means of directional control valves operated with pedals. The velocity and developed force by the actuators is controlled with typical pneumatic resources. The geometrical dimensions of the machine are: 1.15 m length; 0.71 m width and 2.15 m high. Its approximated weight is 120 kg. The air consumption is 5.4 fps by each working station with 60 psig work pressure. The turning inside out operation is 40 s for each industrial leather glove.

Anthropometric Robotic Hand for Pressurized Glove Torque Measurement

While robotic hands have been developed for tasks such as manipulation and grasping, their potential as tools for evaluation of engineered products — particularly compliant structures that are not easily modeled — has not been broadly studied. In this research, a low-cost anthropometric robotic hand is introduced that is designed to characterize glove stiffness in a pressurized environment. The interaction with the compliant pressurized glove provides unique performance requirements and design constraints. The anthropometric robotic hand was designed to mimic the human hand in a configuration corresponding to the neutral position in zero gravity, including the transverse arch, longitudinal arch, and oblique flexion of the rays. The resulting robotic hand also allows for realistic donning and doffing of the prototype glove, its pressurization, and torque testing of individual joints. Solid modeling and 3D printing enabled the rapid design iterations necessary to work successfully with the compliant pressure garment. An instrumentation and data processing method was used to calculate the required actuator torque at each finger's knuckle joint. The performance of the robotic hand was experimentally demonstrated with a prototype spacesuit glove at different levels of pressure, followed by a statistical repeatability analysis. The reliable measurement method validated the pressure-induced stiffening. The resulting robotic design and testing method provide an objective and systematic way of evaluating the performance of compliant gloves.

Design options for improving protective gloves for industrial assembly work

The study investigated the effects of wearing two new designs of cotton glove on several hand performance capabilities and compared them against the effects of barehanded, single-layered and double cotton glove conditions when working with hand tools (screwdriver and pliers). The new glove designs were based on the findings of subjective hand discomfort assessments for this type of work and aimed to match the glove thickness to the localised pressure and sensitivity in different areas of the hand as well as to provide adequate dexterity for fine manipulative tasks. The results showed that the first prototype glove and the barehanded condition were comparable and provided better dexterity and higher handgrip strength than double thickness gloves. The results support the hypothesis that selective thickness in different areas of the hand could be applied by glove manufacturers to improve the glove design, so that it can protect the hands from the environment and at the same time allow optimal hand performance capabilities.

Augmented robotic device for EVA hand manoeuvres

During extravehicular activities (EVAs), pressurised space suits can lead to difficulties in performing hand manoeuvres and fatigue. This is often the cause of EVAs being terminated early, or taking longer to complete. Assistive robotic gloves can be used to augment the natural motion of a human hand, meaning work can be carried out more efficiently with less stress to the astronaut. Lightweight and low profile solutions must be found in order for the assistive robotic glove to be easily integrated with a space suit pressure garment. Pneumatic muscle actuators combined with force sensors are one such solution. These actuators are extremely light, yet can output high forces using pressurised gases as the actuation drive. Their movement is omnidirectional, so when combined with a flexible exoskeleton that itself provides a degree of freedom of movement, individual fingers can be controlled during flexion and extension. This setup allows actuators and other hardware to be stored remotely on the user's body, resulting in the least possible mass being supported by the hand. Two prototype gloves have been developed at the University of Sydney; prototype I using a fibreglass exoskeleton to provide flexion force, and prototype II using torsion springs to achieve the same result. The gloves have been designed to increase the ease of human movements, rather than to add unnatural ability to the hand. A state space control algorithm has been developed to ensure that human initiated movements are recognised, and calibration methods have been implemented to accommodate the different characteristics of each wearer's hands. For this calibration technique, it was necessary to take into account the natural tremors of the human hand which may have otherwise initiated unexpected control signals. Prototype I was able to actuate the user's hand in 1 degree of freedom (DOF) from full flexion to partial extension, and prototype II actuated a user's finger in 2 DOF with forces achieved comparable to those of a natural, healthy hand. The minimum mass held by the user on the hand was 240g, with remote hardware, including a compressed air bottle, having a further mass of 1.6kg. These results indicate that the design is able to augment human motion in a low profile, low mass package, and could be a valuable addition to a space suit during an EVA.

Touching the Void: Exploring Virtual Objects through a Vibrotactile Glove

This paper describes a simple low-cost approach to adding an element of haptic interaction within a virtual environment. Using off-the-shelf hardware and software we describe a simple setup that can be used to explore physically virtual objects in space. This setup comprises of a prototype glove with a number of vibrating actuators to provide the haptic feedback, a Kinect camera for the tracking of the user's hand and a virtual reality development environment. As proof of concept and to test the efficiency of the system as well as its potential applications, we developed a simple application where we created 4 different shapes within a virtual environment in order to try to explore them and guess their shape through touch alone.

Influence of Glove Type on Mobility Performance for Wheelchair Rugby Players

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of different glove types on mobility performance in a series of field tests specific to wheelchair rugby. Ten international wheelchair rugby players performed three drills in each glove condition: (i) players' current glove selection, (ii) American football glove, (iii) building glove, and (iv) new prototype glove. Performance was assessed by a combination of outcomes including test times, peak velocities, and accelerations within each drill. Peak velocities and accelerations were measured using a velocometer sampling at 100 Hz. A two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures revealed that participants performed statistically better for measures of acceleration and sprinting when wearing their current choice of glove compared with the new prototype glove (P < 0.05). Subjective data identified that players also favored their current gloves compared with others, although slight discrepancies were evident among classification levels concerning the building gloves. Building gloves seemed to be less suited to low-point players because of the reduced grip and protection they provided. It may be concluded that participants' current gloves that have been modified for the specific demands of wheelchair rugby are more effective for aspects of mobility performance than other glove types.

Safety performance of gloves using the pressure tolerance of the hand

Two prototype gloves have been designed and developed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety performance of the developed gloves. An experiment was conducted to assess the discomfort threshold level at 12 zones on the palmar surface of the hand for five hand conditions — bare hand, single glove, double glove and two prototype gloves. Prototype I consisted of a glove with an extra layer of glove material applied selectively to critical areas of the hand; while prototype II had up to four layers applied to critical areas. This design increases protection in critical areas without increasing bulk, provides performances comparable with single glove, and improves grip strength. The study was conducted using an algometer device to apply pressure to each of the 12 zones, for all hand conditions. The results indicated that for pressure tolerance, prototype II had the highest pressure-discomfort threshold, while prototype I had a threshold similar to the double layer glove. Pressure discomfort tolerance threshold is greatly increased by the use of gloves, and pressure— discomfort thresholds are raised by 25–65%. The two prototype gloves, although much less bulkier than the double glove, have pressure thresholds that are equal to or superior to that of a double glove. The algometer can be used to assess the safety of glove from mechanical trauma. Hence, the generalizability of the results is somewhat restricted. However, the method of selective protection, without compromising performance appears to be promising and is worth pursuing by glove designers.

The development and evaluation of an ergonomic glove

The primary intent of this study was to determine if a hand glove could be designed on a criterion of selective protection. Force distribution patterns on the palmar side of hand were obtained from various studies to develop zones of hand that needed protection. A new design for gloves was developed based on the principle of selective protection, where protective material is introduced in varying levels over different parts of the glove, in order to provide protection where it is most needed, and at the same time preserve the desirable dexterity and strength capabilities of the barehand, optimizing the trade-off between protection and performance. Two pairs of prototype gloves incorporating different levels of protection were fabricated and tested using a battery of performance tests and an algometer test for pressure sensitivity. The test battery comprising four dexterity tasks and a maximal voluntary grip strength task was used to assess a number of glove conditions, including the two prototype gloves developed. The results indicate that the performance of the prototype gloves are comparable, and that the performance times for the double glove and the two prototype gloves tested were not significantly different. For the grip strength, the two prototype gloves were better than the double glove. The assembly task performance for the prototype II (laminar glove) was significantly lower than that of the other glove types tested. It appears that gloves of variable thickness can be developed to afford adequate protection at zones of most need. Glove manufacturers are recommended to use an ergonomic approach in the design of gloves. Such an approach, besides protecting the safety objective of gloves, could enhance productivity considerably.

Ergonomic Glove: Design and Evaluation

A new design for gloves was developed based on the principle of selective protection, where protective material is introduced in varying levels over different parts of the glove, in order to provide protection where it is most needed, and at the same time preserve the desirable dexterity and strength capabilities of the barehand, optimizing the trade-off between protection and performance. The pattern for selective protection was arrived at based on existing research, and two pairs of gloves incorporating different levels of protection have been prototyped and are currently being tested using a battery of performance tests and an Algometer test for pressure sensitivity. A battery of tests was developed to evaluate a new glove design which used the principle of selective levels of protection over different parts of the hand, in order to maximize protection, and minimize loss of dexterity. The test battery comprised of four dexterity tasks and a maximal voluntary grip strength task. The battery assessed the performance of 5 hand conditions, barehand, single glove (one layer), double glove (two layers), and two prototype gloves, one with one layer of protection (contour glove) and the other with four layers of protection over selected parts of the hand (laminar glove). The evaluation compared the performance of the prototype gloves developed with respect to the performance with the double layer glove and the single layer glove. The results indicated that the performance of the prototype gloves was comparable, and that the performance times for the double glove and the two prototype gloves tested were not significantly different. For the test of grip strength, the two prototype gloves tested enabled better performance than the double glove. The assembly task performance for the prototype II (laminar glove) was significantly lower than that of the other glove types tested

Impact of the Chemical Protective Ensemble on the Performance of Basic Medical Tasks

The purposes of this study were to measure the ability of medical specialists to perform eight selected basic medical tasks while in fatigue uniform, MOPP-4, or MOPP with a tactile glove prototype, to measure learning effects on performance of these tasks, to determine the degree to which task performance is degraded by MOPP-4 with or without the prototype gloves, and to obtain preliminary durability and user satisfaction data on tactile glove. The present findings indicate that soldiers must practice specific tasks when wearing the chemical protective ensemble if they are to develop the skills needed to function on the integrated battlefield.