Multilayer Elastomeric Glove Breach Detection via Color Contrast
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current elastomeric gloves with multiple layers, particularly those used in medical and industrial settings, face challenges in detecting small punctures or breaches due to lack of visible contrast, especially when one layer is white, making it difficult to notice exposure risks in environments with similar color backgrounds.
Innovation Solution
A multilayered elastomeric article is developed with a first layer compounded with a colored pigment and a second layer compounded with titanium dioxide, where the ratio of titanium dioxide to colored pigment provides sufficient contrast to detect breaches, using materials like polyurethane and nitrile rubber, and a specific process involving coagulant solutions and dip-coating to form distinct grip and donning side layers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If one layer of the glove is made white by adding titanium dioxide, then the glove provides good protection and is visually clean, but breach detection becomes difficult especially in environments with white backgrounds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color changes by making the outer layer (first layer) a color other than white (such as blue, green, red, or black) while keeping the inner layer (second layer) white. This color differentiation creates visual contrast that enables easy breach detection - when the colored outer layer is punctured, the white inner layer is visible through the breach, immediately alerting the wearer to the compromise in protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by giving different colors to different layers of the glove - the outer layer has a color other than white while the inner layer is white. This localized color differentiation serves the specific function of breach detection at the interface between layers, while maintaining the protective function of both layers.
2Reliability
If a small puncture or tear occurs in the glove, then the protective barrier is breached, but the breach is difficult to see due to poor lighting or similar color backgrounds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color changes by implementing a colored outer layer and a white inner layer. This creates a high-contrast visual indicator system where any breach in the colored outer layer immediately reveals the white inner layer, making even small punctures or tears highly visible regardless of environmental lighting conditions or background colors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the white inner layer as an intermediary visual indicator. The white color of the inner layer serves as a mediator that translates the invisible or hard-to-see breach in the outer layer into a clearly visible signal, allowing the wearer to detect breaches without directly observing the puncture site in the outer layer.
3Ease of manufacture
If two-layered gloves are made with one white layer, then manufacturing is simplified, but breach detection is difficult particularly in industrial settings with white surroundings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color changes by making the outer layer a color other than white (such as blue, green, red, or black) while keeping the inner layer white. This maintains the simplicity of two-layer construction and manufacturing processes, while the color differentiation solves the breach detection problem in industrial settings with white backgrounds, equipment, and lighting.
Data Source
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AI summary
Elastomeric articles, such as gloves, made from more than one layer, are provided. The gloves can include a first (grip side) layer in which a first colorant is compounded or integrated and a second (donning side) layer in which a second colorant is compounded or integrated. Alternatively, the gloves can include a translucent first layer and a second layer in which a colorant is compounded or integrated. Either arrangement can enable a breach of the first layer to be more easily detected, either due to the high level of contrast between the first layer and the second when a first colorant and a second colorant are utilized, or due to the translucence of the first layer as compared to the donning side layer, where the intensity of the second layer is increased upon a breach of the translucent first layer.