Ergonomic Grouting Glove with Integrated Blade
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing grouting tools cause fatigue and risk of injury due to repetitive motion stresses in the hand, wrist, and forearm during tile grouting tasks.
Innovation Solution
A grouting tool integrated into a glove or mitt with a passive hand retaining portion and an elongate tool blade that extends alongside the user's hand, providing ergonomic support and leverage, along with water-impermeable and breathable materials for comfort and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a manual grouting tool with handle is used, then grouting can be performed, but fatigue and injury occur in hand, wrist and forearm due to repetitive motion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the grouting tool blade directly with the glove structure, creating an integrated tool-glove system. The blade is attached to the glove body and extends along the user's hand, eliminating the separate handle and allowing the glove itself to serve as both protective covering and functional tool, thereby reducing grip-related fatigue and repetitive motion stress.
Solution Approach 2:
The glove structure itself provides the grouting function through its integrated blade, eliminating the need for a separate handling mechanism. The user's hand in the glove directly controls and executes the grouting action, making the system self-sufficient and reducing the mechanical stress on external structures like handles and wrists.
2Strength
If the tool blade extends alongside the user's hand, then leverage and stiffness are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The glove is segmented into functional zones: the blade portion extending along the hand for grouting, the reinforced palm area for structural support, and the joined fourth and fifth fingers for leverage. This segmentation allows each part to serve its specific function while maintaining overall structural efficiency without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The glove incorporates reinforced material in the palm area that is more rigid than the base glove material, creating a composite structure. This provides the necessary stiffness and structural support for the extended blade while keeping the rest of the glove flexible and comfortable, resolving the contradiction between strength and complexity.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the palm side of the glove is water impermeable, then hand cleanliness is maintained, but breathability and comfort are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The glove applies water impermeability selectively to the palm side and finger portions that contact grout, while leaving the back of the hand breathable. This local differentiation protects against contamination where needed while maintaining comfort and breathability in areas that do not contact grout, resolving the contradiction between protection and comfort.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides ergonomic grouting tools attached to a glove, mitt, brace, or other passive retention means worn on the hand of a user and methods of using them. In particular, one grouting tool according to the invention includes an elongate tool blade, which may for example be a squeegee, a hollow flexible tube, or a solid, flexible, generally round member, attached proximate to and extending along the fifth digit side of a glove. Reinforcement material integral with the tool blade is preferably included to prevent the tool blade from pulling away from a user's hand during use. The glove itself may be composed of fabric dip-coated in plastic, or otherwise waterproofed/sealed, over palm and finger portions, and uncoated over a wrist region and part of a region covering the back side of a user's hand to provide breathability and comfort.