Oil resistant work glove
A work glove is provided having some liquid resistance. The work glove consists of an outer fabric shell which has a plastisol coating on the fabric on an interior surface of the glove to cover a palm portion and inner surfaces of the glove. An inner comfort liner covers the plastisol coating to cushion the palm and absorb some perspiration. Preferably, the outer fabric shell is a circular knitted cotton fabric which provides good grip on oily metal surfaces. A method of fabrication is also provided.
This invention relates to work gloves which are used for handling metal which is often coated with oil, and in particular relates to gloves having an oil or solvent resistant barrier.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONLiquid impervious gloves consisting of a synthetic plastic shell formed to cover a hand are not suitable for applications where the glove is used over a prolonged period of time since they do not breathe or transmit air and they are therefore uncomfortable and hot.
While gloves made of fabric and having a protective covering such as a plastisol fused to the palm and fingers will be more comfortable and will provide some resistance to liquid penetration, the plastisol covering can become slippery particularly when exposed to oil and other lubricants. It is therefore common practice to simply use knitted cotton fabric gloves and to discard them when saturated. Some additional protection may be obtained by wearing an inner fabric glove and an outer fabric glove and discarding the outer glove on a periodic basis.
An object of this invention is to provide a glove which will have an outer surface with good grip properties while providing some liquid resistance and comfort.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with this invention there is provided a glove having an outer shell made of fabric, a plastisol coating on the fabric disposed on an interior surface of the glove to cover a palm portion and front portions of the glove, and an inner comfort liner covering the plastisol coating.
The invention also provides a method of fabricating such a glove in which an outer shell made of fabric is slipped over a hand former, the hand former is brought into contact with a bath of plastisol to coat the fabric shell on a palm portion and front portions of the glove with a plastisol coating, the hand former and the bath are separated, the plastisol coating is allowed to dry until it is still tacky, an inner comfort liner is applied to the tacky plastisol coating to produce a glove assembly, the glove assembly is heated to cure the plastisol coating and the glove assembly is removed from the hand former to bring the inner comfort liner into an interior of the glove while exposing the fabric outer shell adjacent the palm portion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSIn order that the invention can be more clearly understood, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention, as follows:
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fabrication of a glove 20 will be described which has five pocket portions for receiving respective digits of a hand. It will be understood that the glove 20 may have other configurations and could for example have two such pocket portions to form a mitten or other configurations, as desired. The glove indicated by reference numeral 20 in
While it is preferred to coat only the palm portion and front portions of the outer shell 22, in order to maximize the comfort and breathability of the glove, other orientations of the hand former 24 may be used if it is desirable to immerse the entire outer shell 22 into the plastisol bath 30. As can be seen more clearly in
After removal of the hand former 24 from the plastisol bath 30, the plastisol is allowed to run off the outer shell so that any excess material will be captured by the underlying bath of plastisol 30. The hand former is then rotated as indicated by arrow 38 in order to orient the hand former with the palm facing upwards so as to provide ready access to the plastisol coating 34. While the plastisol coating 34 is still tacky and is not yet fully cured, usually within two minutes after separating the hand former from the bath of plastisol, a felt comfort liner 40 (
The resulting glove assembly 20 is carried by the hand former 24 into an oven where the glove assembly is heated at a temperature suitable for curing the plastisol. In the case where the plastisol consists of nitrile, the heating takes place at a nominal temperature of approximately 300° F. for a period of about one half hour. This curing will polymerize the nitrile so that it remains solid at room temperature and also secure the bond between the comfort liner 40 and the underlying plastisol coating 34.
After the glove assembly 20 has been heated, it is removed from the hand former to bring the comfort liner 40 into an interior of the glove assembly while exposing the outer fabric shell adjacent the palm portion. Conveniently, this inversion of the glove assembly 20 is performed by bringing a second hand former 44 adjacent to the first hand former 24 so that the finger portions are disposed end to end and by inverting the glove assembly by removing it from the first hand former 24 and sliding it over the second hand former 44. Once inverted, the glove assembly 20 is removed and can be matched to an opposing hand glove for further shipping and handling.
In use, the resulting glove assembly 20 will have a fabric shell exterior which on the back side will provide comfort and breathability while on the front or palm side, the glove assembly 20 will have some resistance to liquid penetration provided by the inner plastisol coating. The inner comfort lining 40 will cushion the hand and wick away any perspiration from the palm.
It will of course be understood that several variations may be made to the above-described embodiment of the invention within the scope of the appended claims. As indicated above, the plastisol coating 34 may cover additional portions of the outer shell 22 if additional resistance to liquid penetration is desired. The nature of the materials used may be varied such that the outer fabric shell could alternatively be fabricated from woven-fabric pieces sewn together. In addition, the comfort liner could be made from other materials and could include a sub-assembly of suitable padding material encased in a shell made of fabric. Other such variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Claims
1. A glove having an outer shell made of fabric, a plastisol coating on the fabric shell disposed on an interior portions of the glove to cover a palm portion and front portions of the glove, and an inner comfort liner covering the plastisol coating.
2. A glove according to claim 1 in which the outer shell is made of a circular knitted cotton fabric.
3. A glove according to claim 1 in which the plastisol coating is selected from the group comprising: polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, latex.
4. A glove according to claim 1 in which the comfort liner is a non-woven felt made of polyester.
5. A glove according to claim 1 defining a plurality of pockets each adapted to receive a digit.
6. A glove according to claim 1 defining five pockets each adapted to receive a respective digit.
7. A glove having an outer shell made of a circular knitted cotton fabric, a plastisol coating on the fabric disposed on an interior surface of the glove to cover a palm portion and front portions of the glove, and an inner comfort liner covering the plastisol coating on the palm portion and front portions of the glove.
8. A method of fabricating a glove having a palm portion, front portions, and a back portion, the method having the following steps:
- slipping an outer fabric shell over a first hand former,
- bringing the hand former into contact with a bath of plastisol to coat the fabric shell on the palm portion and front portions of the glove with a plastisol coating,
- separating the hand former from the bath of plastisol,
- allowing the plastisol coating to dry until it is still tacky,
- applying an inner comfort liner to the tacky plastisol coating to produce a glove assembly,
- heating the glove assembly to cure the plastisol coating, and
- removing the glove assembly from the hand former to bring the inner comfort liner into an interior of the glove while exposing the outer shell adjacent the palm portion.
9. A method according to claim 8 in which the hand former is made of aluminum.
10. A method according to claim 8 in which the inner comfort liner is applied to the plastisol coating within two minutes after separating the hand former and the bath of plastisol.
11. A method according to claim 8 in which the glove assembly is heated at 300° F. for one half hour to cure a plastisol coating made of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber.
12. A method according to claim 8 in which the glove assembly is removed from the first hand former by inverting the glove assembly over a second hand former disposed end to end with the first hand former.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 12, 2005
Publication Date: Jul 13, 2006
Inventor: Tony Geng (Georgetown)
Application Number: 11/034,508
International Classification: A41D 19/00 (20060101);