FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to disposable
gloves, and more particularly to disposable gloves having
improved sanitary characteristics.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Disposable gloves are mandatory equipment in many
industries that require clean and/or sterile environments,
e.g., the food service industry. The use of disposable
gloves reduces the spread of viruses and other contaminants
among individuals. In the food service industry, such
contaminants are less likely to be transmitted from
employees to food when employees regularly wear gloves, and
when employees frequently and regularly replace used gloves
with new ones. The gloves should be easily removable from
the dispenser, and be substantially free of contaminants
prior to donning. The gloves should also be easy to wear
and to take off.
Many types of disposable gloves are known to and used
by the food service industry. These disposable gloves are
typically fabricated using vinyl, latex or polyethylene.
Disposable gloves are generally sold in stacked units
containing a supply of gloves layered one on top of the
other. Gloves may be sold in a dispenser, such as a
paperboard box, which encloses the stack and from which
gloves may be removed one at a time. A glove is typically
removed in the manner that a tissue paper is removed from a
tissue dispenser.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional disposable glove 10
has a top thermoplastic layer 12 and a bottom thermoplastic
layer 14. One such conventional disposable glove is
disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 6,497,340 entitled "Disposable
Glove Donning System" and U.S. Patent No. 6,578,729
entitled "Glove Cartridge and Method of Donning a
Disposable Glove," the entire contents of both of which are
incorporated by reference herein.
The distance from the tip of the middle finger portion
to the opposing end of the top layer is approximately 21.5
cm. The distance from the tip of the middle finger portion
to of the bottom layer and a line of weakness 33 is
approximately 24.5 cm. The top and bottom layers 12 and 14
are joined together along their peripheries 16 and 17,
respectively, to form an abutted portion 18. The layers in
the wrist region of the glove are not joined together in
order to provide a glove opening 20 where the hand is
inserted between the layers 12 and 14.
An extended region 19 of the bottom layer 14 is not
overlayed by the top layer 12, providing the bare inner
surface 15 of the bottom layer 14 for permitting the easy
donning of a glove. By making the width of the
glove/opening at the wrist region to be approximately 15.0
cm, the glove has been made easy to slip on and off.
The bottom layer 14 of the glove has a mounting
section 28 attached to its extended region 19 by the
transversely oriented line of weakness 33, i.e., a
perforated line in the plastic film substantially
perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 29 of the glove. The
mounting section 28 includes two key-holes 32, wherein each
keyhole is positioned approximately 2.54 cm from the
rearmost edge 21 of the mounting section and approximately
2.54 cm from the respective side edges 22 and 23 of the
mounting section. The mounting section of a glove may also
have longitudinal lines of weakness 34 extending from each
mounting hole 32 to the rearmost edge 21 of the mounting
section 28.
As can be seen in FIG. 1, the conventional disposable
gloves for handling food typically cover the hand and the
wrist of the person wearing it. For example, the
conventional disposable glove after detaching from the
mounting section is designed to cover less than one-sixth
(1/6) (e.g., approximately 15%) of the forearm on the palm-side
between the wrist and the elbow of an average person.
On the back-side (i.e., the top layer side), the glove
merely covers the hand. Because of this, when the person
wearing the glove is preparing food, there is a substantial
risk of the exposed wrist/forearm touching food, thereby
contaminating it.
Therefore, disposable gloves having improved sanitary
characteristics are desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a
disposable glove includes a first layer, and a second layer
overlaying a region of the first layer. The first and
second layers are joined together along their peripheries
to form an abutted portion and an opening for inserting a
hand between the first and second layers. The first layer
of the glove has a mounting section attached to the rest of
the first layer by a transverse line of weakness. The
mounting section has a mounting hole for mounting the glove
on a glove rack. A distance between a tip of a middle
finger portion of the glove and the transverse line of
weakness is between approximately 28 cm and approximately
32 cm.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, a disposable glove includes a first layer, and a
second layer overlaying a region of the first layer. The
first and second layers are joined together along their
peripheries to form an abutted portion and an opening for
inserting a hand between the first and second layers. The
first layer of the glove has a mounting section attached to
the rest of the first layer by a transverse line of
weakness, the mounting section having a mounting hole for
mounting the glove on a glove rack. The first layer after
detaching from the mounting section covers a hand and about
one-third of a forearm between a wrist and an elbow of a
person wearing the glove. The second layer covers the
hand, the wrist and at least a portion of the forearm of
the person wearing the glove.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top view of a conventional disposable
glove;
FIG. 2 is a top view of a disposable glove in an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the disposable
glove of FIG. 2, taken along the line 3-3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a glove 110 in an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention has a top thermoplastic
layer 112 and a bottom thermoplastic layer 114. The top
layer 112 is shorter than the bottom layer 114 to provide a
bare inner surface 115 of the bottom layer 114 along which
a hand may be slid easily into a glove opening 120. The
distance between the tip of the middle finger portion and
the opposing end of the top layer is approximately 27.0 cm.
The distance between the tip of the middle finger portion
of the bottom layer and a line of weakness 133 is
approximately 29.75 cm or 30 cm. While the length of the
glove 110 is longer than that of the conventional
disposable glove 10 of FIG. 1, the width at the wrist
region is substantially the same at approximately 15.0 cm.
The width of the wrist region may be different in other
embodiments.
The glove 110 is slightly more than 5 cm longer than
the glove 10. By elongating the glove, the glove 110
(after detaching from the mounting section) is designed to
cover about one-third (1/3) (e.g., approximately 36%) of
the forearm on the palm-side between the wrist and the
elbow (e.g., of an average person). Further, the glove on
the back-side covers the wrist and at least a portion of
the forearm (e.g., of an average person) This way, there
is less risk of an exposed area of the wrist or forearm
coming into contact with the food, thereby contaminating
it. Further, the glove 110 is not so long (e.g., covers
the entire forearm) as to hinder easy donning.
The two layers are superimposed and may be fabricated
from tear-resistant plastic film, such as polyethylene
film, or any other suitable material that allows the glove
to be easily slipped on and off. The glove 110 may be non-transparent,
transparent or semi-transparent. Further, the
glove 110 may have any desired color, such as, for example,
white or blue.
The top and bottom layers 112 and 114 are joined
together along their peripheries 116 and 117, respectively,
to form an abutted portion 118. The layers in the wrist
region of the glove are not joined together in order to
provide the glove opening 120 where a hand is inserted
between the layers 112 and 114. The top and bottom layers
may be joined by heat welding or a similar process.
The glove opening 120 allows the entire hand to be
inserted quickly and easily between the two layers of
plastic film. In particular, an extended region 119 of the
bottom layer 114 is not overlayed by the top layer 11,2,
providing the bare inner surface 115 of the bottom layer
114 for permitting the easy donning of a glove. Moreover,
each plastic layer should be fabricated from a material
having little elasticity, such as polyethylene, causing the
glove opening 120 to open immediately with little effort by
a user upon donning the glove. The top 112 and bottom 114
layers of the glove of FIG. 2 are shaped to form a separate
pocket for each finger, where each pocket is sufficiently
large to permit a finger to be slid easily thereinto.
Alternately, the glove may be shaped to form a mitt having
a thumb region and a separate pocket for covering all other
fingers.
The bottom layer 114 of the glove has a mounting
section 128 attached to its extended region 119 by the
transversely oriented line of weakness 133, i.e., a
perforated line in the plastic film substantially
perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 129 of the glove.
The mounting section 128 should be integrally formed
with the bottom layer 114. The mounting section 128
includes at least one hole 132 (or "key-hole 132") for
receiving an arm or other type of fastener of a glove rack.
The mounting section 128 as shown has two key-holes 132,
wherein each keyhole is positioned approximately 2.54 cm
from the rearmost edge 121 of the mounting section and
approximately 2.54 cm from the respective side edge 122 and
123 of the mounting section.
The mounting section of the glove may also have
longitudinal lines of weakness 134 extending from each
mounting hole 132 to the rearmost edge 121 of the mounting
section 128. In other embodiments, the disposable glove
may have either the line of weakness 133 or the
longitudinal lines of weakness 134, but not both.
The glove 110 has five pockets for each of the five
fingers, as shown in FIG. 2. In other embodiments, the
glove may be a mitt having a compartment for four fingers
and a separate thumb compartment. The gloves may also have
various different sizes, all packaged in a single case or
different sizes in different cases.
It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in
the art that the invention can be embodied in other
specific forms without departing from the spirit or
essential character hereof. The present description is
therefore considered in all respects to be illustrative and
not restrictive, the scope of the invention to be
determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
For example, while the disposable glove of FIGs. 2 and
3 is a right-hand glove which is normally donned on a right
hand, the disposable gloves in other embodiments may be a
left-hand glove which is a mirror-image of the right-hand
glove.