Protective Glove Continuous Articulation Design
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional motorcycling gloves with rigid or semi-rigid protection elements at finger articulations face structural weaknesses due to stitching, leading to potential tearing and displacement of protection elements during impacts.
Innovation Solution
A glove design featuring a continuous flexible material covering articulations without openings, reinforced with two superimposed plate elements – one on the outer surface and one on the inner side – to provide impact protection and stability, eliminating the need for stitching and surface discontinuities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If stitching is used to join the anti-abrasion material layer and the glove body, then the protection elements are secured in place, but the structural integrity is weakened and tearing is more likely to occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the stitching process entirely from the construction method. Instead of joining the anti-abrasion material layer to the glove body through stitches that create weakness zones, the design uses a continuous one-piece glove body that eliminates the need for stitching, thereby maintaining structural integrity while still securing protection elements through alternative means such as adhesive bonding or integrated pockets.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the glove body and the anti-abrasion material layer into a unified continuous structure. By forming the glove body as a single piece of flexible material that covers the articulation zones without openings or windows, the design eliminates the interface between separate components where stitching would be required, thus preventing tearing while maintaining protection element stability.
2Manufacturing precision
If openings or windows are provided in the glove body for articulations, then the protection elements can be positioned accurately, but the glove structure is weakened and requires stitching
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the openings or windows from the glove body design. Instead of creating openings to position protection elements, the continuous glove body material is used to cover the articulation zones completely, removing the need for stitching and complex assembly while maintaining precise positioning through the continuous material structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local reinforcement or specific material properties at the articulation zones of the continuous glove body. By enhancing the material characteristics or structural properties locally at these critical areas, the design achieves accurate positioning and protection without requiring openings or stitching, thus simplifying the overall structure while maintaining manufacturing precision.
3Ease of manufacture
If artisanal stitching methods are used to join materials, then the glove can be manufactured, but uniformity between gloves cannot be ensured and production is time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the stitching process from the manufacturing sequence entirely. By designing the glove body as a continuous one-piece structure without openings or windows that would require stitching, the manufacturing process eliminates the need for manual or automated stitching operations, thereby ensuring uniformity across all gloves and enabling more efficient production methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental construction parameter from a multi-component stitched assembly to a continuous one-piece structure. This parameter change transforms the manufacturing process from one requiring precise stitching operations with artisanal methods to a more standardized process that ensures uniformity and can be more easily automated, significantly improving both ease of manufacture and manufacturing precision.
4Strength
If a continuous flexible material is used without openings, then the structural integrity is improved, but the protection elements require alternative fixing methods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical stitching system with an alternative fixing method such as adhesive bonding, ultrasonic welding, or integrated pockets molded into the continuous glove body. This substitution maintains the structural integrity provided by the continuous material while eliminating the complexity and weakness zones associated with stitching, achieving a simpler and more reliable fixing mechanism.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4~6
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a protective glove (10) including a glove body (12) of flexible material having an outer visible surface (14) and shaped to define an inner housing for accommodating a hand of a user. The glove body (12) includes, or defines, one or more covering areas (17, 18) adapted to cover articulation zones (20, 21) of the fingers, wherein the one or more covering areas (17, 18) of the said glove body (12) are devoid of an opening or a surface discontinuity in the region of, or surrounding, the one or more articulations of the fingers. The protective glove includes one or more protection elements (25, 26), said one or more protection elements (25, 26) being fixed on the outer visible surface (14) of a corresponding covering area (17, 18).