A method of making a protective glove

Abstract

A method for making a protective glove comprises the steps of forming a glove body 2 from flexible material, with a front layer, a rear layer with an opening between the layers to allow insertion of t

Description

The present invention relates to a method of making a protective glove. Protective gloves may be used, for example, by labourers or sportsmen in order to provide a degree of impact protection particularly to the back of the hand. Such gloves are traditionally made by creating a glove body by knitting or from separate pieces of fabric which are cut and sewn together. Protective features are formed separately by injection moulding and are then attached to the glove body by stitching or sewing. This approach has a number of drawbacks. The stitching or gluing process is a largely manual process, and, as such, is labour intensive. Further, the protective features themselves cannot be particularly complex as they need to be of a relatively robust structure which can be moulded and then attached to the glove body. The present invention is aimed at improving on the prior art. Accordingly to the present invention, there is provided a method according to claim 1. The present invention automates the step of attaching the protective features, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture. Further, the use of 3D printing, rather than injection moulding allows the protective features themselves to have a more complex design. This provides a number of benefits. The protective features can cover a wider area, thereby providing improved impact protection. At the same time, the gloves can be more flexible as the creation of the more complex shapes allow the features with enhanced flexibility to be produced in the vicinity of the finger joints. The better targeting of material allows the protective features to be lighter as the protection can be better distributed across the glove. This reduces weight and enhances the flexibility of the glove, thereby improving the comfort and further reducing manufacturing costs. With the present invention, it is easier to create gaps within the protective features thereby improving the ventilation provided by the gloves. Thus, the resulting glove can be lighter, more flexible and provide greater breathability than the existing gloves. This provides greater comfort and better impact protection for a user than the prior art gloves. By holding the rear layer in a stretched form without creases, the last provides a well-defined surface on which the 3D printing can occur. Further, because the glove body is stretched, this has the effect of opening up the structure of the underlying material to provide enhanced bonding with the 3D printed protection features. The last inserted into the glove may be a single piece. For example, the single piece may fill the finger and palm regions of the glove body to allow the protection features to be printed on this part of the body. Protection in the thumb region can then be formed in a conventional manner. Alternatively, the single piece last may include a main body and a thumb region which may be deformable with respect to the main body once it is inserted into the glove body. However, preferably, the last is provided in at least two parts, namely a thumb part insertable into a thumb portion of the glove body and a main part insertable into finger and palm portions of the glove body. The last may be configured to hold the rear layer in a curved configuration. However, preferably, the last is configured to hold the rear layer in a planar configuration. This provides the most straightforward surface for 3D printing. The last may also stretch the front layer to be without creases. The last will rest on this surface during the 3D printing process, so this helps the stability of the last. It also allows the option of turning the over to allow features to be printed on the front layer. The sub-assembly of the last and glove body may be placed on the print bed of a 3D printer. Optical imaging can be used to determine the position of the glove body. However, preferably, a position reference feature is provided in order to locate the glove body and last in a pre-determined position within the 3D printer. This location feature may take the form of one or more stop features on the print bed or the last. However, preferably, a reference plate is provided, the reference plate being configured to receive the last in a predetermined position, the reference plate also being provided with at least one stop feature to locate the reference plate on the 3D printer print bed. In this arrangement, the last is preferably provided with a plurality of magnetic features which are complimentary to magnetic features on the reference plate in order to locate the last on the reference plate. An example of the method according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a last and a reference plate; Figure 2 is a schematic cross-section through a portion of the glove, last and reference plate prior to insertion in the 3D printer; and Figure 3 is a schematic cross-section through a 3D printer showing the subassembly of Figure 2 after the 3D printing process: Figure 4 is a schematic plan view of a glove on which a lattice has been 3D printed. The method of the present invention is concerned with the manner in which protective features 1 are formed onto the glove body 2. The glove body 2 is formed in a conventional manner, and is, for example, knitted or formed of pieces of fabric which have been sewn together. This process will now be described further here. With the knitted body formed in a conventional manner, a last 3 is inserted into the glove body 2. The last 3 is shown in Figure 1 in six pieces, namely a thumb piece 4, a palm piece 5 and four finger pieces 6-9 which are of varying sizes in order to accommodate the different finger sizes of the glove body 2. A thumb piece 4 and finger pieces 6-9 are inserted first followed by the palm piece 5. Alternatively the palm piece 5 and finger pieces 6-9 may be provided as a single piece. It is generally preferred to keep the thumb piece 4 separate for ease of insertion. The last 3 is sized to stretch the fabric of the glove body 2 such that it provides a crease free and generally flat rear layer 10 and front layer 11 as shown in Figure 2. In this stretched-flat configuration, the last 3 and glove body 2 are placed onto a reference plate 12. As shown in Figure 1, this has a shape which generally follows the shape of the last 3. However, this can be other shapes, such as a generally rectangular shape if desired. The last 3 and reference plate 12 are preferably made from a relatively hard plastic (e.g., acrylic / PMMA) or a metal (e.g., aluminium). In order to correctly locate the last parts 4-9 on the reference plate 12, complimentary magnetic elements 13, 14 are provided in the last 3 and reference plates 12 respectively. Spacers 15,16 are also provided in the last 3 and reference plate 12 respectively in order to maintain the flat surfaces of the last 3 and reference plate 12. At least two pairs of magnetic elements 13, 14 are provided for each last part 4-9 at the various locations as noted by the small circles in Figure 1 to ensure the correct alignment of components. With the lasts 3 in place on the reference plate 12, the whole sub assembly shown in Figures 1 and 2 is then placed into the 3D printer 17 shown schematically in Figure 3. The reference plate 12 is provided with a pair of tabs 18, 19 which extend in mutually orthogonal direction and have hook like structures 20 in order to locate the reference plate 12 in the X and Y directions around the edge of the print bed 21. This provides a well defined and reliably located face of the glove body 2 which is stretched flat and devoid of creases such that the protective features 1 can then be printed onto the glove body 2. The material for the protective features 1 is preferably a polymer and is preferably relatively soft (e.g.,TPU). The nature of 3D printing together with the well-defined surface, which stretches the fabric of the glove body 2, provide for enhanced bonding and allow for the automatic formation of protective features 1 of a complexity which cannot be achieved with prior art techniques. As such, the protective features 1 can have a structure which is much more precisely defined in order to provide the optimal impact protection, flexibility and breathability Example features which may be incorporated into the protective parts, which are difficult or impossible to produce via injection moulding, may, for example, be an open or closed lattice form. Combinations of structures and adjacent gaps efficiently control shockwave propagation and energy absorption whilst being much lighter than ‘solid’ parts of equivalent bounding boxes. The lattice may, for example be a hexagonal lattice, or a Penrose lattice as described in our earlier GB application GB2011397.3. An example of a glove 30 with such a lattice pattern 31 is shown in Figure 4.

Claims

1. A method for making a protective glove, the method comprising forming a glove body from flexible material, the glove body comprising a front layer and a rear layer with an 5 opening between the layers to allow access for the hand into an internal space within the glove;inserting a last into the glove body to stretch the glove body and to hold the rear layer in a planar configuration in the stretched form without creases;placing the glove and last on a 3D printer bed; and10 3D printing protection features onto the rear layer.

2. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein a position reference feature is provided in order to locate the glove body and last in a pre-determined position within the 3D printer.LO 15CM3. A method according to claim 2, wherein a reference plate is provided, the reference CM plate being configured to receive the last in a predetermined position, the reference platehaving with at least one stop feature to locate the reference plate on the 3D printer print "1“ bed.CM 204. A method according to claim 3, wherein the last is provided with a plurality of magnetic features which are complimentary to magnetic features on the reference plate in order to locate the last on the reference plate.25 5. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the last is provided in at leasttwo parts.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the parts include a thumb part insertable into a thumb portion of the glove body and a main part insertable into finger and palm30 portions of the body.

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