Serial Disposable Gloves with Perforated Detachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing disposable gloves are not efficiently designed for serial delivery and quick hand insertion, leading to potential exposure to ambient microorganisms and chemicals during use.
Innovation Solution
A serially attached roll of gloves made from flexible polymeric material, where each glove is detachable from the next by manual pulling force along a perforated seam, allowing for easy access and minimizing contact with the environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If gloves are packaged individually in sterile containers, then sterility is maintained, but access time and convenience are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple gloves are nested within each other in a serial arrangement, with each glove positioned inside the previous one. This nesting allows multiple sterile gloves to be stored in a compact configuration while maintaining their individual sterile barriers, enabling quick access without opening separate containers for each glove.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple individually packaged gloves are merged into a single serially attached structure. The gloves remain individually sterile but are combined into one continuous assembly that can be accessed sequentially, merging the benefits of individual packaging with the convenience of a single access point.
2Ease of operation
If gloves are attached in a serial roll configuration, then quick access is enabled, but detachment force requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The serial attachment between gloves is segmented into discrete detachment zones located at specific anatomical landmarks (wrist, knuckle, finger joint). This segmentation allows the glove to be torn or detached at predetermined weak points with minimal force, rather than requiring separation along the entire length of the glove.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment strength varies locally along the glove structure. The polymeric material has different properties at different locations, with weaker attachment zones positioned at detachment points and stronger attachment in the main body of the glove. This local variation in quality enables easy detachment at specific points while maintaining overall structural integrity.
3Ease of operation
If the glove material is made thinner for flexibility, then comfort and dexterity improve, but structural strength decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The glove is constructed from composite polymeric materials that combine different polymer layers or structures. This composite structure provides both the flexibility and thinness needed for dexterity while maintaining adequate structural strength through the synergistic properties of the combined materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The glove utilizes flexible polymeric films and shells that are engineered to provide sufficient strength despite their thin profile. The flexible shell structure maintains glove integrity while allowing the thin material necessary for comfort and dexterity.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and method for enabling serial delivery of a plurality of interconnected gloves, the apparatus comprising:a plurality of flexible gloves,a distal tip end of one or more of the fingers of a downstream one the plurality of gloves being readily detachably attached to a bottom proximal edge of an open bottom end of an immediately upstream one of the plurality gloves.