METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WEARING GLOVE

Abstract

An expanded glove has its palm and back portions brought into contact with the palm and back contacting portions, respectively, of an expansion restricting member so that the palm portion of the glove may be drawn through vent holes formed in the palm contacting portion and engaged with an inclined engaging part on the palm contacting portion.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for making it possible to put on an elastic glove, such as a medical rubber glove made of a thin-film of material, easily, quickly and properly such that the glove comes closely into contact with the palm beyond the wrist and the surfaces of the fingers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A rubber glove made of a thin-film of material is used in a surgical operation and is formed in a size smaller than the hand so that the glove fits the fingers closely when put on the hand. Accordingly, it is difficult to put the hand in the glove smoothly. So, the hand has to be pushed into the glove forcibly to put it on, while the wrist-surrounding edge of the glove is being stretched. However, the above-described manner of putting on the glove takes a long time to put it on and is also likely to cause damage to the glove by a nail, etc.

In order to solve this problem, there has been developed a glove wearing apparatus comprising a case having an opening surrounding a gloves a means for fixing removably an inlet of the glove situated in the vicinity of the opening, a pressure reducing means situated at a predetermined location of the case, and a restricting plate extending along the glove in the case for restricting the expansion of the glove. After the insertion of the glove into the case through its opening, the pressure inside of the case is reduced so that the glove is expanded to a size bigger than the hand expected to put it on, thereby facilitating the insertion of the hand thereinto, while the expansion of the glove is restricted by the restricting plate.

The following types are known as the glove restricting plate (reference is made to, e.g., JP-A-10-202);

(1) A hand-shaped type shaped like a bag similar to a glove and having vent holes formed in its palm and finger positions.

(2) A flat type consisting of an upper guide and a lower guide each formed by a flat or a gently curved plate so that the back and palm portions of an expanded glove come into contact with the upper and lower guides, respectively.

The known types have problems as pointed out below.

(1) As the hand-shaped restricting plate, it has a dividing wall between every two adjoining fingers thereof, it is likely that the fingers of a glove may fail to enter the corresponding finger portions of the restricting plate, and that even if they may enter correctly, the fingers of the glove may be caught by the dividing walls. Accordingly, the glove does not expand properly as designed, thereby disabling the smooth insertion of the hand therein.

As the vent holes are formed in the finger portions of the restricting plate, the fingers of the glove are drawn into the vent holes and stretched longitudinally As a result, the boundary between the palm and finger portions (or the bases of the fingers) of the glove and the finger tip portions thereof fail to make a satisfactory radial expansion, thereby making it difficult to insert the fingers of the hand therein This phenomenon is more prominent with a smaller glove. For example, in the natural shape of a glove prior to its expansion, the tips of fingers of a small glove for a female nurse have a greater distance from the tips of finger portions of the restricting plate than those of a large glove for a male doctor do. As the tips of fingers of the small glove are stretched to a greater extent upon expansion than those of the large glove, it becomes still more difficult to put the hand in the small glove.

(2) The flat type restricting plate restricts the palm portion of the glove in its radial expansion, but does not restrict it in its longitudinal expansion. As the palm portion of the glove expands longitudinally, while the bases and tips of its finger portions does not make a satisfactory radial expansion, the tips of fingers of the hand cannot be inserted in the glove smoothly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to ensure the expansion of an elastic glove as designed and its smooth wearing.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of wearing a glove by inserting a stretchable glove into a reduced pressure vessel containing an expansion restricting member, reducing the internal pressure of the vessel to expand the glove, and inserting the palm and fingers beyond the wrist into the expanded glove, wherein the palm and back portions of the expanded glove are brought into contact with the palm and back contacting portions, respectively, of the expansion restricting member so that the palm portion of the glove may be drawn through vent holes in the palm contacting portion and engaged with an inclined engaging part on the palm contacting portion.

According to the present invention, there is also provided an apparatus for wearing a glove which includes a reduced pressure vessel containing an expansion restricting member and having an air drawing hole and a palm inserting hole through which an elastic glove is inserted to have its wrist surrounding edge brought into intimate contact with the edge of the palm inserting hole, so that the vessel may have its internal pressure reduced to expand the glove, wherein the expansion restricting member has a palm contacting portion adapted to face the palm portion of the glove, a back contacting portion, vent holes formed in the contacting portions and an inclined engaging part formed on the palm contacting portion for engaging the palm portion of the glove.

According to the present invention, the reduced pressure vessel has its pressure reduced by a blower motor controlled by a controller connected to a sensor for detecting the position of the glove in the expansion restricting member.

According to the present invention, the glove inserted through the inserting hole has a wrist portion provided with a diametrically expansive ring adapted to make intimate contact with the edge of the inserting hole and having a means for removing it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a different state from FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a part of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a left side elevational view of the glove shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line IX-IX in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line X-X in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a partly cutaway perspective view showing a first experiment.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken along the line XII-XII in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a restricting box.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a restricting box having vent holes positioned differently from FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing a restricting box having vent holes positioned differently from FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a second experiment.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view showing a restricting box having vent holes positioned differently from FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view showing a restricting box having vent holes positioned differently from FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is a front elevational view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a diametrically expanding ring according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 20 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of a part of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing the removal of the diametrically expanding ring.

FIG. 22 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a glove being set in a glove wearing apparatus.

FIG. 23 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the glove inserted in the glove wearing apparatus shown in FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a hand inserted in the expanded glove.

FIG. 25 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the hand being raised after having the glove fitted thereon.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a control unit for a blower motor.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 28 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a part of FIG. 27.

FIG. 29 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a part of a glove having a diametrically expanding ring fixed thereto.

FIG. 30 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to FIG. 24, and showing a hand inserted in a glove wearing apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

Referring to FIG. 1, a reduced pressure vessel 1 has an air drawing hole 2 and a hand inserting hole 4 through which an elastic glove, for example, a medical rubber glove 5 made of a thin-film of material is inserted into the vessel 1. An inserting cylinder 4a surrounding the inserting hole 4 has an end to which the glove 5 has its wrist-surrounding part 6 attached in intimate contact therewith, and the glove 5 is suspended as shown by solid lines.

The reduced pressure vessel 1 has its internal pressure reduced by e.g. a vacuum pump (not shown) so that the reduced pressure P of the air outside the glove 5 and the atmospheric pressure Pa prevailing within the glove 5 may have their pressure difference ΔP increased to expand the glove 5 having the shape shown by the solid lines into a size enabling the fingers and palm beyond the wrist to be inserted therein loosely with an ample clearance, i.e., the shape of a glove 5a shown by one-dot chain lines in the same figure.

The reduced pressure vessel 1 contains an expansion restricting member B connected with the hand inserting hole 4. The restricting member B comprises, for example, a pair of restricting plates 9 and 10 facing each other and having a spacing allowing the insertion of a hand therebetween and each restricting plate 9 or 10 has vent holes 11, while the restricting plate 9 facing a palm surface portion 7 of the glove has an inclined engaging part 29.

The restricting plates 9 and 10 are fixed at a distance D from the palm surface portion 7 and a back portion 8, respectively, of the palm portion 3 of the glove 5 as shown by the solid lines. The restricting plates 9 and 10 have their upper ends secured to the top 1b of the reduced pressure vessel 1 and their lower ends connected by a connecting plate 12. The connecting plate 12 is spaced apart from the bottom la of the vessel 1 and the restricting plates 9 and 10 have their right and left ends connected to the sidewalls 15 of the reduced pressure vessel 1.

The restricting plates 9 and 10 have a plurality of vent holes 11 formed toward the upper ends of their palm and back contacting portions 9a and 10a, respectively, and the vent holes 11 may be selected in position, shape, number, etc appropriately as required. For example, the vent holes 11 may be formed in the middle of each contacting portion 9a or 10a, or only in the back contacting portion 10a of the restricting plate 10.

The palm contacting portion 9a of the restricting plate 9 is a portion adapted to contact the palm portion 7 of the glove 5 and the back contacting portion 10a of the flat restricting plate 10 is a portion adapted to contact the back portion 8 of the glove 5.

The restricting plate 9 has an inclined engaging part 29 formed toward the lower end of its palm contacting portion 9a. The inclined engaging part 29 is a portion adapted to engage the palm portion 7 of the glove 5 upon expansion of the glove 5 and is formed to define a curved surface conforming to the contour of the palm of the hand, or an inclined surface having a specific angle, for example, an inclination angle of 30°.

The glove 5 shown by solid lines as stated above has a shape as shown in FIG. 5 when viewed from its back portion 8 and its sectional shape taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5 is an elongated flat shape as shown by solid lines in FIG. 6.

Its sectional shape taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 5 is a flat loop L5 as shown by solid lines in FIGS. 2 and 7 and its sectional shape taken along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 5 is a flat loop L13 as shown by solid lines in FIGS. 2 and 7.

The shape of the glove 5a shown by solid lines in FIGS. 6 and 7 is a solid shape formed by a change in shape from the loop L5 having a flattened cross section to a circle C having a radius R as a result of reduction of the pressure P in the reduced pressure vessel 1 from the atmospheric pressure Pa, thereafter its radius R starts to increase.

The shape of the finger portion 13 of the glove 5a shown by a solid line in FIG. 6 is a shape formed by a change in shape from the loop L13 having a flattened cross section to a circle c having a radius r as a result of some reduction of the pressure P in the reduced pressure vessel 1 from the atmospheric pressure Pa, thereafter its radius r starts to increase.

When the pressure P of the air in the reduced pressure vessel 1 is further reduced to an air pressure P1 having a greater difference ΔP from the atmospheric pressure Pa, the circle C having a radius R expands to a circle C1 having a radius R1, while the circle c showing the finger portion 13 hardly expands, but remains the same as its initial radius r₁.

Referring to FIG. 7 in further detail, a tangential external force produced by the pressure difference ΔP and acting on a part of angular displacement θ on the circumference of the circle C is

∫₀^πpR sin θdθ=2pR

and when the rubber glove 5 has an internal force σ per unit area, the external and internal forces are balanced, i.e.

σ=2pR

The radius R of the circle C increases by ΔR to R+ΔR and its circumferential length 2πR increases by RΔθ, and the Young's modulus E of the rubber glove 5 as thereby deformed is

E=σ/(ΔR/R)

Thus, it follows that the amount ΔR of its radial displacement is

ΔR=1/E·2pR²

Thus, the amount ΔR of its radial displacement is proportional to the square of its radius R, and the radius r of the glove 5a along the line VIII-VIII is by far smaller than its radius along the line VII-VII, i.e., the radius R of its palm portion, while its Young's modulus E and the air pressure P along one of those lines are equal to those along the other.

Therefore, if there were no restricting plate 9 or 10, the radius of the glove along the line VIII-VIII, i.e., the radius r of its finger portion 13 would hardly increase, but would remain almost unchanged despite the increase of its radius R along the line VII-VII to R1 or R2 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and it would be impossible to insert the fingers of the hand into the finger portions of the glove.

According to the present invention, the restricting plates 9 and 10 having the vent holes 11 and spaced apart by a distance D from the palm and back portions 7 and 8, respectively, of the glove 5 shown by solid lines as described above do not allow the radius R in FIGS. 6 and 7 to increase to R1 or R2 despite the reduction of the pressure P of the air in the reduced pressure vessel 1 to P1 or P2, but the palm and back portions 7 and 8 of the glove 5 are met and stopped by the restricting plates 9 and 10, respectively.

At this time, the palm and back portions 7 and 8 of the glove 5 are pushed against the palm and back contacting portions 9a and 10a, respectively, of the restricting plates 9 and 10, and partly drawn into the vent holes 11, as shown in FIG. 4, while the palm portion 7 is engaged by the inclined engaging part 29 as shown in FIG. 3. Accordingly, the palm portion 3 of the glove 5 is not allowed to expand or slide in the direction of an arrow A5, but the finger portions 13 are meanwhile allowed to expand.

Referring to the relations between the air pressures P1 and P2 and the radii R1 and R2, the air pressure P1 would allow the glove to expand to a glove 5b having a radius R1 as shown by one-dot chain lines in FIG. 6, while the air pressure P2 would allow it to expand to a glove 5c having a radius R2 as shown by two-dot chain lines, if the restricting plates 9 and 10 were removed from FIG. 6. However, as the glove 5 is not allowed to expand beyond the restricting plate 9 and 10, the pressure energy leaving the glove portion restricted from expansion acts on the finger portions 13 of the glove 5, which are not contacting the restricting plate 9 or 10, and causes the finger portions 13 to expand to the extent that their radius r increases to r₁ responding to the air pressure P1 or P2, that is to say, to the extent that they allow the loose insertion of the fingers

Thus, the palm beyond the wrist on which the glove is to be put is inserted into the satisfactorily expanded glove 5 loosely with an ample clearance through its wrist portion, as shown in FIG. 3. Then, air is drawn into the reduced pressure vessel 1 through its air drawing hole 2 to make the pressure of the air in the reduced pressure vessel 1 equal to the atmospheric pressure to allow the expanded glove 5 to contract elastically and closely contact with the hand.

The expanded glove 5 in which the hand has been inserted has its tip portion slid in the direction indicated by the arrow A5 to have its wrist portion disengaged from the inserting cylinder 4a, as shown in FIG. 3. Then, the hand is slid in the opposite direction to have the wrist pulled out from the hand inserting hole 4 of the reduced pressure vessel 1, whereby the action to put on the glove 5 is finished.

The apparatus installed in e.g. an operation room in a hospital enables the doctor to put on gloves quickly and accurately without the aid of a nurse or the like and thereby perform medical treatment more quickly and accurately.

The second embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. The same reference numerals used in these figures denote the same names and functions as that of in FIGS. 1 to 7.

The following points differentiate the present embodiment from the first embodiment:

(1) The reduced pressure vessel 1 has a lid 21. The reduced pressure vessel 1 is composed of a bottomed cylindrical body 20 and the lid 21 which can open and close the opening of the body 20, and the body 20 and the lid 21 have their joint sealed with a packing material 23.

(2) The expansion restricting member B comprises a restricting box 25 formed in a box shape instead of a pair of restricting plates 9 and 10. The restricting box 25 is a box which is independent of the reduced pressure vessel 1 and the lid 21, and has a bottom wall 25a and four side walls surrounding the bottom wall 25a, i.e., right and left side walls 25b and 25c, a back side wall 25d and a palm side wall 25e.

The bottom wall 25a is spaced apart from the bottom 1a of the reduced pressure vessel 1. The right and left side walls 25b and 25c are formed from non-porous plates and face each other in a spaced apart relation from the inner surface of the reduced pressure vessel 1. The back and palm side walls 25d and 25e each have a plurality of vent holes 11 formed in a line in the middle of their portions corresponding to the palm portion 3 of the glove 5, i.e., their palm and back contacting portions 9a and 10a, respectively

The palm side wall 25e has an inclined engaging part 29 formed toward the lower end of its palm contacting portion 9a. Of the back and palm side walls 25d and 25e, those portions 9a and 10a which correspond to the palm portion 3 are on the opposite side from each other of a palm inserting space 27 therebetween, and those portions which correspond to the finger portions 13 are on the opposite side from each other of a finger inserting space 30 therebetween. The palm inserting space 27 is large enough to enable the insertion of the pale in its open state with an ample clearance and the finger inserting space 30 is smaller than the palm inserting space 27, and is large enough to enable the insertion of the fingers with an ample clearance.

Since the operation of putting on glove according to the present embodiment is identical to that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. Here, the operation of putting off the glove after a surgical operation will be described.

After the end of the operation, each hand wearing the glove 5 made of a thin-film of rubber is inserted into the inserting hole 4 and its palm is positioned in the palm inserting space 27 of the restricting box 25, and its fingers in the finger inserting space 30 thereof.

After the wrist surrounding edge 6 of the glove 5 is attached to the outer end of the inserting cylinder 4a on the lid 21 in close contact therewith, a reduced pressure is created by e.g. a vacuum pump (not shown), whereupon the glove 5 expands and its palm portion 3 is separated from the palm of the hand and its finger portions 13 from the fingers thereof. The hand can now be pulled out through the inserting hole 4 without receiving any resistance from the glove 5, whereby the glove can be put off easily.

After the glove 5 has been put off, the atmospheric pressure in the reduced pressure vessel 1 is restored to return the glove to its natural state and the wrist surrounding edge 6 of the glove 5 is detached from the outer end of the inserting cylinder 4a on the lid 21. The removal of the glove as described is desirable from a sanitary standpoint, since, for example, blood adhering to the glove does not stain any clothes, skin, or the like.

When the apparatus according to the present invention is used for putting off the glove 5, the reduced pressure vessel 1 and the restricting box 25 are soiled, but the removal of the lid 21 from the reduced pressure vessel 1 makes it possible to take out the restricting box 25 and clean the reduced pressure vessel 1 and the restricting box 25 easily.

Description will now be made of experiments.

A first experiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 14. In practice, the palm and back portions 7 and 8 of a glove 5 are in contact with the palm and back contacting portions 25e and 25d, respectively. However, in these drawings, they are illustrated in a spaced apart relation just for the sake of clearly showing the positions of the vent holes 11.

The restricting box 25 provided in a reduced pressure vessel 1 has a restricting wall 25w, as shown in FIG. 10. The restricting wall 25w has a palm contacting portion 25e and a back contacting portion 25d facing each other and each having vent holes 11.

A glove 5 made of a thin-film of rubber and staying in its natural shape (yet to be expanded) is suspended in the reduced pressure vessel 1 through its inserting hole 4, and has its wrist surrounding edge secured around the inserting hole 4. The finger portion 13 of the glove 5 in its natural shape has its tip 13a staying on a standard line S, as shown in FIG. 11.

The restricting box 25 shown in FIG. 12 had its vent holes 11 formed below the fingers of the glove 5 in its natural shape. When a blower motor (not shown) was started to draw air out through the air drawing hole 2 and create a negative pressure in the reduced pressure vessel 1, the glove 5 was expanded while being restrained by the restricting wall 25w, and the tip 13a of the finger portion 13 extended and reached at a height H1 of about 6 cm below the standard line S.

The restricting box 25 shown in FIG. 13 had its vent holes 11 formed near the bottom of the palm portion 3 of the glove 5 in its natural shape, and the tip 13a of the finger portion 13 of the glove 5 extended and reached at a height H2 of about 4 to 5 cm below the standard line S.

The restricting box 25 shown in FIG. 14 had its vent holes 11 formed near the top of the palm portion 3 of the glove 5 in its natural shape, and the tip 13a of the finger portion 13 of the glove 5 extended and reached at a height H3 of about 3 cm below the standard line S.

As is obvious from the experiment described above, the extension of the finger portion of the glove depends largely on the position of the vent holes 11, and unless its extension is to the extent that having its tip located within less than 3 cm below the standard line S, it is difficult to put on the glove smoothly.

A second experiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 to 17. In practice, the palm and back portions 7 and 8 of a glove 5 are in contact with the palm and back contacting portions 25e and 25d, respectively. However, in these drawings, they are illustrated in a spaced apart relation just for the shake of clearly showing the positions of the vent holes 11.

The present experiment is differentiated from the first experiment by an inclined engaging part 29 formed toward the bottom of the palm contacting portion 25e of the restricting wall 25w facing the surface 7 of the palm portion 3 of the glove 5.

The restricting box 25 shown in FIG. 15 had its vent holes 11 formed below the fingers of the glove 5 in its natural shape. When the glove 5 was expanded, the tip 13a of the finger portion 13 extended and reached at a height H4 of about 4 cm below the standard line S.

The restricting box 25 shown in FIG. 16 had its vent holes 11 formed near the bottom of the palm portion 3 of the glove 5 in its natural shape. The tip 13a of the finger portion 13 of the glove 5 extended and reached at a height H5 of about 3 cm below the standard line S.

The restricting box 25 shown in FIG. 17 had its vent holes 11 formed near the top of the palm portion 3 of the glove 5 in its natural shape. The tip 13a of the finger portion 13 of the glove 5 extended and reached at a height H6 of about 1 to 2 cm below the standard line S.

It is obvious from the experiment described above that the restricting box 25 shown in FIG. 16 or 17, i.e., the expansion restricting member having an inclined engaging part 29 and vent holes 11 formed in its portion corresponding to the palm portion of the glove, is the optimum for the practical purpose of putting on the glove smoothly.

The third embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 18 to 26. The same reference numerals used in these figures denote the same names and functions as that of in FIGS. 1 to 17.

The following points differentiate the present embodiment from the first embodiment:

(1) The glove is provided with a diametrically expanding ring around its wrist portion.

(2) The reduced pressure vessel has its internal pressure reduced by a blower motor which is automatically controlled in accordance with the output of a sensor detecting the position of the glove.

Referring to FIG. 18, the glove 5 is an elastic glove designed for use by e.g. a surgeon and formed from a thin-film of latex rubber, for example, a thin-film having a thickness of 0.16 mm at its finger portion 13 and a thickness of 0.10 mm at its wrist portion (cuff) 6. The thickness of the thin-film of the glove may be selected as required, and it may, for example, be formed from a thin-film having a thickness of 0.21 mm at its finger portion 13 and a thickness of 0.22 mm at its wrist portion (cuff) 6. Its wrist portion 6 is provided with a bead 31 at its open end.

The wrist portion 6 is provided with a diametrically expanding ring 32 at its open end 6a. The diametrically expanding ring 32 has a flexible pipe 33 formed from e.g. a synthetic resin, a connecting cylinder 34 into which the flexible pipe 33 is connected at its opposite ends to form a ring and a disconnecting means 36 attached to the connecting cylinder 34, as shown in FIGS. 19 to 21

The diametrically expanding ring 32 is circular and has a diameter which is equal to, or slightly larger than that of the inserting hole 4 of a glove wearing apparatus which will be described below. The disconnecting means 36 comprises a yarn ring formed by passing one end of a gut or cotton yarn through the connecting cylinder and fastening it to the other end thereof. The yarn ring 36 is large enough to be easily picked up with fingers.

The glove 5 is stored in e.g. a storage bag (not shown) with the diametrically expanding ring 32 fixed to its wrist portion 6. The diametrically expanding ring 32 can be fixed to the wrist portion 6 by stretching the wrist portion 6 to turn it over at its open end 6a and engaging the bead 31 with the diametrically expanding ring 32.

Description will now be made of a glove wearing apparatus. The glove wearing apparatus has a reduced pressure vessel 1. The reduced pressure vessel 1 has an air drawing hole 2 and a hand inserting hole 4 and contains an expansion restricting member B communicating with the hand inserting hole 4 The restricting member B comprises, for example, a pair of restricting plates 9 and 10 facing each other with their spacing allowing the insertion of a hand and each having vent holes 11, while the restricting plate 9 facing the palm portion 7 of a glove has an inclined engaging part 29.

The restricting plates 9 and 10 are held in position at a distance D from the palm and back surfaces 7 and 8, respectively, of the palm portion 3 of the glove 5 in its natural shape (yet to be expanded) as shown by solid lines in FIG. 23. The restricting plates 9 and 10 have their upper ends fixed to the top of the reduced pressure vessel 1 and their lower ends connected by a connecting plate 12. The connecting plate 12 is spaced apart from the bottom of the vessel 1 and the restricting plates 9 and 10 have their right and left ends connected to the sidewalls of the reduced pressure vessel 1.

The restricting plates 9 and 10 have a plurality of vent holes 11 formed toward the upper ends of their palm and back contacting portions 9a and 10a, respectively. The palm contacting portion 9a of the restricting plate 9 is a portion adapted to contact the palm portion 7 of the glove 5 and the back contacting portion 10a of the flat restricting plate 10 is a portion adapted to contact the back portion 8 of the glove 5.

The restricting plate 9 has an inclined engaging part 29 formed toward the lower end of its palm contacting portion 9a. The inclined engaging part 29 is a portion adapted to engage the palm portion 7 of the glove 5 upon expansion of the glove 5 and is formed to define a curved surface conforming to the contour of the palm of the hand, or an inclined surface having a specific angle, for example, an inclination angle of 30°.

The reduced pressure vessel 1 has a light sensor 35 for detecting the displacement of the glove 5. The sensor 35 comprises an upper sensor 35A situated toward the top of the reduced pressure vessel 1 and a lower sensor 35C situated toward its bottom, though the positions of the sensors 35A and 35C may be selected as required.

The upper sensor 35A comprises a pair of transmission light sensors situated on the opposite sides of the expansion restricting member B from each other and includes a light emitter 35a having a light-emitting element and a light receiver 35b having a light-receiving element. Light L1 is emitted from the light emitter 35a to the light receiver 35b.

Of the restricting plates 9 and 10 of the expansion restricting member B, those portions which correspond to a path for the light L1 (or its axis) are formed from a transparent material, e.g. glass windows, so as not to obstruct the transmission of the light L1. It is possible to form the restricting plates 9 and 10 from a transparent material instead of the glass windows.

The light receiver 35b is connected to a control unit 38 for controlling the actuation operation (on/off) of a blower motor 39. The blower motor 39 is connected with the air drawing hole 2 of the reduced pressure vessel 1 and can be driven to draw air out from the reduced pressure vessel 1 to create a reduced pressure therein.

The lower sensor 35C comprises a pair of transmission light sensors situated on the opposite sides of the expansion restricting member B from each other and includes a light emitter 35c having a light-emitting element and a light receiver 35d having a light-receiving element

Light L2 is emitted from the light emitter 35c to the light receiver 35d. Of the restricting plates 9 and 10 of the expansion restricting member B, those portions which correspond to a path for the light L2 (or its axis) are formed from a transparent material, e.g. glass windows, so as not to obstruct the transmission of the light L2.

It is possible to form the restricting plates 9 and 10 of the expansion restricting member B from a transparent material instead of the glass windows, as stated before.

The lower sensor 35C is so positioned that the axis of light emitted by the light emitter 35c may lie on a standard line, i.e., a horizontal line passing through the tip of the finger portion 13 of the glove 5 held in the expansion restricting member B and suspended in its natural state (yet to be expanded), though its position may be selected as required.

The light receiver 35d is connected to the control unit 38 through a delay circuit 37. The delay circuit 37 is employed for preventing any erroneous operation of the control unit 38 and may, for example, comprise a timer.

Description will now be made of the use of the glove wearing apparatus by a surgeon for putting on gloves. Before starting an operation, the surgeon takes out each glove 5 from its storage bag, inserts it into the inserting hole 4 of the apparatus and puts the diametrically expanding ring 32 of its wrist portion 6 on the upper end of the inserting hole 4.

Before the glove 5 is suspended as shown by solid lines in FIG. 23, its finger portion 13 interferes with the light L1 of the upper sensor 35A and prevents it from reaching the light receiver 35b, as shown in FIG. 22, so that the light receiver 35b ceases to send its output to the control unit 38.

The control unit 38 turns on the blower motor 39 to draw out air from the reduced pressure vessel 1 through its air drawing hole 2. A reduced pressure is created in the reduced pressure vessel 1 outside the glove 5 to increase a difference between the pressure P of the air outside the glove 5 and the atmospheric pressure prevailing inside it, whereby the glove 5 is expanded.

As it further expands, the glove 5 is deformed as shown at 5a by chain lines in FIG. 23, and its palm portion 7 contacts the palm contacting portion 9a of the restricting plate 9, while the back portion 8 of the glove 5 contacts the back contacting portion 10a of the restricting plate 10.

The finger portion 13 of the glove 5 interferes with the light L2 emitted by the light emitter 35c of the lower sensor 35C and prevents it from reaching the light receiver 35d. This makes it possible to learn that the finger portion 13 of the glove 5 has reached the lower portion of the expansion restricting member.

The surgeon inserts his hand H into the glove 5 through its inserting hole 4, as shown in FIG. 24. Re can insert his hand H smoothly into the glove 5 as the glove has expanded to a sufficiently larger size.

At this time, the air existing in the finger portion 13 of the glove 5 disables the hand H to have its finger tips fit closely in the finger portion 13. Therefore, the hand R is moved up and down a plurality of times, for example, three or four times, to expel the air from the finger portion 13 and thereby enable the finger tips to fit closely in the finger portion 13.

Although the transmission of light by the lower sensor 35C and its discontinuation are repeated by the up and down movement of the hand H, the delay circuit 37 ensures that the control unit 38 does not send the blower motor 39 any signal to stop operation unless the transmission of light continues for a specific length of time, for example, three seconds. Therefore, the up and down movement of the hand repeated a plurality of times as stated above does not stop the operation of the blower motor 39.

When the hand H is lifted or clenched with its finger tips fitted closely in the finger portion 13, the light L2 in the lower sensor 35C reaches the light receiver 35d and its output is sent to the delay circuit 37. After a specific length of time, for example, three seconds, the control unit 38 sends a signal to stop the operation of the blower motor 39. Air is drawn into the reduced pressure vessel 1 through its air drawing hole 2 and the pressure of the air in the reduced pressure vessel 1 becomes equal to the atmospheric pressure. As a result, the resilience of the glove 5a causes it to contract from its expanded state into close contact with the hand, as shown in FIG. 25.

When the hand H is lifted, the light L1 of the upper sensor 35A reaches the light receiver 35b and its output is sent to the control unit 38. Thus, it is possible to learn that the glove 5 has been put on, and that the hand H has been pulled out through the inserting hole 4.

If the yarn ring 36 is pulled after the hand H has been pulled out through the inserting hole 4, the flexible pipe 33 is detached from the connecting cylinder 34 at one end and the diametrically expanding ring 32 is disengaged from the open end 6a of the wrist portion 6 of the glove, as shown in FIG. 21. As a result, the open end 6a fits the wrist of the hand H closely in its process of restoring its original shape resiliently.

As it is not necessary to touch the glove 5 with the hand directly to detach the diametrically expanding ring 32 therefrom, there is no fear of the outer surface of the glove being stained with sweat, or the like.

The fourth embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 27 to 30. The same reference numerals used in these figures denote the same names and functions as that of in FIGS. 18 to 26.

The present embodiment is differentiated from the third embodiment by a cylindrical diametrically expanding ring 40 in place of the one formed from a flexible pipe.

The ring 40 comprises a cylindrical body 41 having an engaging protrusion 42 formed at the top of its outer surface and a disengaging means 43 provided to the cylindrical body 41. The cylindrical body 41 is a rigid cylindrical body formed from e.g. a synthetic resin.

The disengaging means 43 is a pull strip formed from a flexible material, such as vinyl or cloth, and having a base fixed to the top of the cylindrical body 41. The width, length, material, etc., of the pull strip 43 are selected as required.

The wrist portion 6 of a glove 5 is turned over at its open end 6a and its bead 31 is engaged with the engaging protrusion 42. The pull strip 43 is flexible enough to be easily deformed under the wrist portion 6 turned over at its open end 6a.

After a hand is put in the glove 5, the pull strip 43 is picked up at its free end with fingers and lifted to disengage the bead 31 from the engaging protrusion 42, whereby the diametrically expanding ring 40 is detached from the glove 5.

As it is not necessary to touch the glove 5 with the hand directly to detach the diametrically expanding ring 40 therefrom, there is no fear of the outer surface of the glove being stained with sweat, or the like.

The embodiments of the present invention are not limited by the foregoing, but may be modified or varied as stated below:

(1) The diametrically expanding ring according to the third embodiment may, for example, comprise a flexible pipe or bar having an oval or rectangular cross section and connected at both ends into the connecting cylinder. The ring is not necessarily circular, but may alternatively be oval or polygonal. The connecting cylinder may be replaced by any other connecting means, and the disconnecting means does not necessarily have to be a yarn ring, but may be replaced by, for example, a flexible strip having a base fastened to the connecting cylinder.

(2) The cylindrical body for the diametrically expanding ring according to the fourth embodiment may be replaced by a body having an oval or polygonal cross section. The engaging protrusion may be replaced by, for example, a groove formed at the top of the outer wall of the cylindrical body for engaging the bead.

(3) The present invention is useful not only in a medical field of application including a surgical operation, but also in the fields of e.g. atomic power, food, semiconductors, liquid crystals and medicines calling for a clean room for their manufacture.

(4) The transmission light sensor used to detect the position of the glove may be replaced by, for example, a touch sensor adapted to detect the finger (finger portion of the glove) in the expansion restricting member to cause the blower motor to start or stop automatically.

(5) The reduced pressure vessel may be provided with a volume switch for controlling the degree of drawing air from the vessel.

Recently, the gloves which are in wide use in various fields of industry are not merely employed for protecting hands or preventing the contamination of products with stained hands, but also include gloves intended for a wide variety of functions, such as dust-preventing purposes (so that no dust may adhere to small industrial products, such as semiconductors, and spoil their properties), and antistatic purposes, as well as specially shaped gloves.

These types of gloves are often difficult to put on, since their functions are considered more important than the easiness of putting them on, and in order to overcome such difficulty, it is necessary to expand any types of gloves as desired.

In order to satisfy the requirement, it is effective to rely on a volume switch for controlling the air drawing power of the blower motor. The volume switch may be controlled to make it possible to expand any kind of gloves as intended. Preferred examples of the volume switch are a rotary switch, a slide switch, and a digital switch having a DA converter.

Claims

1. A method of wearing a glove comprising:

inserting a stretchable glove into a reduced pressure vessel containing an expansion restricting member,

reducing an internal pressure of the vessel to expand the glove to form an expanded glove, and

inserting palm and fingers beyond a wrist into the glove,

wherein palm and back portions of the glove are brought into contact with palm and back contacting portions, respectively, of the expansion restricting member so that the palm portion of the glove is drawn through vent holes in the palm contacting portion and engaged with an inclined engaging part on the palm contacting portion.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the palm and back portions of the glove are drawn through vent holes in the palm and back contacting portions of the expansion restricting member.

3. An apparatus for wearing a glove comprising:

a reduced pressure vessel containing an expansion restricting member, an air drawing hole, and a palm inserting hole through which an elastic glove is inserted to have its wrist surrounding edge brought into intimate contact with an edge of the palm inserting hole so that the vessel can have its internal pressure reduced to expand the glove,

wherein the expansion restricting member has a palm contacting portion adapted to face a palm portion of the glove, a back contacting portion, vent holes formed in the contacting portions and an inclined engaging part formed on the palm contacting portion for engaging the palm portion of the glove.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the expansion restricting member comprises a pair of restricting plates facing each other with a spacing to allow the insertion of a hand therebetween.

5. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the expansion restricting member comprises a removable restricting box.

6. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each of the palm and back contacting portions has the vent holes formed toward an upper end thereof.

7. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each of the palm and back contacting portions has the vent holes formed toward a lower end thereof.

8. An apparatus according to claim 3, further including a blower motor for reducing the internal pressure of the reduced pressure vessel.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the blower motor is controlled by a control unit connected to a sensor for detecting a position of the glove in the expansion restricting member.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the sensor comprises an upper sensor situated toward a top of the reduced pressure vessel for detecting the glove during beginning of its insertion into the vessel, and a lower sensor situated toward a bottom of the vessel for detecting a finger portion of the glove inserted therein.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a delay circuit is connected between the lower sensor and the control unit.

12. An apparatus according to claim 3, further including a diametrically expanding ring attached to a wrist portion of the glove to be inserted in the palm inserting hole, extending across a whole diameter of the palm inserting hole and having a member for detaching the ring from the wrist portion.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the diametrically expanding ring comprises a flexible pipe and a connecting cylinder into which the pipe is connected at both ends to form a ring.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the

member is for pulling the connecting cylinder to disconnect the pipe therefrom.

15. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the diametrically expanding ring comprises a cylindrical body having an engaging protrusion or groove formed at a top of its outer wall.

16. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the member comprises a flexible pull strip attached to the cylindrical body.