Conductive Glove Resistance Check for Safe Machine Startup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing safety systems for machines with electric drives and metal components cannot reliably ensure that operators wear electrically conductive gloves, as body resistance varies among individuals, leading to potential injuries during operation.
Innovation Solution
A device and method that utilize a pair of electrically conductive undergloves and insulating overgloves, connected to a control device with a resistance testing system, ensuring the machine drive is only activated if the conductive gloves are worn correctly and maintain electrical conductivity, with specific resistance ranges verified to prevent accidental startup or injury.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If body resistance measurement is used to verify glove wear, then the verification process is simple, but the reliability is insufficient due to varying body resistance among individuals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary verification mechanism: instead of directly measuring body resistance, it measures the resistance of the conductive gloves themselves by applying voltage between left and right gloves and measuring the resulting current. This intermediary measurement (glove resistance) is then used to indirectly verify proper glove wear, eliminating the problem of varying body resistance while maintaining simple verification procedure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the direct body resistance measurement approach with an electrical resistance measurement of the gloves themselves. By substituting the measurement target from the human body to the conductive gloves, the system achieves reliable verification independent of individual physiological variations
2Ease of operation
If conductive gloves are used without reliable verification, then ease of operation is maintained, but safety is compromised due to potential injuries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary verification of conductive glove wear and proper electrical connection before allowing machine operation. The control device measures resistance between left and right gloves and verifies conductivity thresholds are met before enabling the drive, ensuring safety conditions are established in advance
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the electrical resistance between conductive gloves and provides feedback to the control device. When resistance values indicate improper glove wear or loss of conductivity, the system automatically disables machine operation, creating a closed-loop safety mechanism that responds to changing conditions
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures the machine drive is only activated when the operator is wearing the electrically conductive gloves correctly, reducing the risk of injury by preventing machine operation if improper glove wear or damage is detected, thus enhancing safety during operation.
Implementation Method 1
a resistance testing device for the control device... The resistance between the left and right conductive gloves is measured with the resistance testing device
Implementation Method 2
electrically conductive undergloves... an electrically conductive connection between the left conductive glove and the control device, an electrically conductive connection between the right conductive glove and the control device
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention relates to a device and a method for safety instrumented control of a machine, said machine (1) being equipped with an electric drive, being operated by a person, and comprising at least one metal component (2) capable of causing injury in the event of a mechanical interaction with said person. The device is provided with a left-hand and a right-hand conductive glove (10, 12) in the form of an under-glove, a left-hand and a right-hand insulating glove in the form of an over-glove, a control device (8) which controls the electric drive of the machine (1) and to which said conductive gloves (10, 12) can be connected, and a resistance test device (16) of said control device (8), which compares the resistance between the left-hand and the right-hand conductive glove (10, 12) to a predetermined minimum resistance and a predetermined maximum resistance, and prevents said drive from being switched on if the resistance that has been detected is lower than the minimum resistance or greater than the maximum resistance.