Dispensing of gloves

Abstract

The present invention relates to the dispensing of gloves from a dispenser. The dispenser (1) comprises a container (2) and a plurality of disposable gloves (22). The container (2) has a plurality of faces (3, 4, 5), and each glove (22) has a cuff portion (36) and a finger portion (34), the cuff portion having a cuff (40) and the gloves being stacked one on another with the cuffs of the gloves being aligned on one side (42) of the stack (20) of gloves held within the container (2). The container (2) has in use a dispensing aperture (24) in at least one face (3, 5) of the container through which gloves (22) can be dispensed. The gloves (22) are oriented in the container (2) so that the gloves are positioned for dispensing cuff-first through the aperture (24), and the finger portion (34) of each glove (22) is folded back against the cuff portion (36) of the same glove to protect the finger portion from user contact and contamination during dispensing of the glove. The cuff portion has a cuff opening for receiving a user's hand, the cuff opening facing outwards with respect to the dispensing aperture.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]a. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to the dispensing of gloves from a dispenser.[0003]b. Related Art[0004]The control of infection of patients in hospitals, clinics, and doctors' surgeries has become an ever more pressing concern with the rise of infectious bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics, in particular methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MSRA). In the United Kingdom alone there are thought to be about 5,000 deaths a year from infections caught in hospitals but some experts believe the number could be as high as 20,000.[0005]Research has shown that high levels of MRSA are present on everyday items in hospitals. Samples taken from an intensive care unit at a London hospital found MRSA on charts, bins, pens, medical notes, phones and computer keyboards. There was also MRSA present on staff aprons and hands. The most common route for MRSA infection is between patients or via a doctor or nurse. Hospital staff can spread MRSA ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0020]the finger portion of each glove is folded back against the cuff portion of the same glove to protect the finger portion from user contact and contamination during dispensing of the glove; and

[0023]The folded arrangement of the gloves according to the invention provides a number of benefits. First the finger portion of the glove when stacked flat will tend to have a degree of wasted space between the fingers, as compared with the cuff portion which, of course, is of one piece and so presents no such wasted space. The result is that the packed volume of a particular number of stacked gloves, when folded with the finger portion bearing against the cuff portion, is less than the packed volume of the same number of gloves when stacked in a non-folded arrangement. Here, the packed volume is the volume of an equivalent multi-sided dispensing container, which will most practically be a six sided box.

[0025]Furthermore, because gloves are invariably longer from cuff to fingertip than they are broad, the folded arrangement according to the invention can be formed into a stack with approximately cubic proportions. This tends to minimise the volume of the stacked arrangement as compared with the surface area of the container, thus reducing the relative amount and cost of packaging necessary to form the container used for the glove dispenser. An approximately cubic packing arrangement also provides greater flexibility in terms of where the dispenser can be mounted, placed or used, owing to the reduced maximum dimensions of the container.

[0029]In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the dispenser comprises additionally a movable plate within the container, the plate being positioned on the top side of the stack of gloves to protect the topmost glove in the stack. The movable plate preferably moves downwards under its own weight as each glove is dispensed from the top of the stack of gloves. Therefore, there are preferably no means biasing the movable plate towards the stack of gloves, which simplifies the manufacture and operation of the dispenser as compared with a dispenser having such means.

[0030]The dispensing aperture may include a portion of the aperture that extends across a portion of a face of the container opposite the top side of the stack. The movable plate may then be shaped to conform to the shape or extent of this portion of the dispensing aperture. This helps to maximise the accessibility of the next glove to be dispensed while at the same time providing protection over the stack of gloves outside the bounds of the dispensing aperture.

[0037]prior to use the dispensing aperture is covered over by a plurality of panels, said panels being individually removable so that the size of the dispensing aperture may be increased during use to aid access to the next lowest section of gloves to be dispensed—depending on the number of gloves left in the stack for dispensing. This plurality of removable panels enables the cuffs of the majority of gloves still within the stack to remain protected from the environment.

Problems solved by technology

Disposable medical gloves can help prevent cross-contamination, but a problem arises if external parts of the glove are touched by a person prior to or during donning of the glove.

The cuffs of the gloves are not directly accessible to the user.

This arrangement encourages users to touch a glove only by the cuff and so minimise the risk of contamination, but at the cost of increased mechanical complexity and the need to apply an adhesive to the otherwise pristine external surface of the glove.

Apart from the several additional manufacturing steps entailed by this arrangement, the combination of cuff over-folding and interfolding of neighbouring gloves creates voids within the stack of interfolded gloves and so reduces the number of gloves which can be packed in a given volume.

Furthermore, the cuff of the next glove may not always be reliably pulled from the aperture.

This arrangement encourages users to touch a glove only by the cuff and so minimise the risk of contamination, but at the cost of increased mechanical complexity and the need to apply an adhesive to the otherwise pristine external surface of the glove.

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