GB2468638A

GB2468638A - Hand utility interface device

Info

Publication number: GB2468638A
Application number: GB0902832A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Charlton Powell; Leslie James Stokes
Original assignee: SWITCHKEY
Current assignee: SWITCHKEY
Priority date: 2009-02-19
Filing date: 2009-02-19
Publication date: 2010-09-22
Anticipated expiration: 2029-02-19
Also published as: GB2468638B; GB0902832D0

Abstract

A hand utility interface device comprises a body 10 having a plurality of finger members or channels each sized and shaped to receive one finger of the user's hand, wherein the user's hand is releasably gripped by the device when the fingers inserted into the channels 11. The device serves as a means to engage the hand with media such as an abrasive cloth 12 when sanding down a surface. It is characterised by having a finger tip-receiving recess 16 formed in the upper surface of the body 10 near the front edge 10a and forward of at least one of the finger channels 11. In use, the user may insert a finger tip into the recess 16 to press the body 10 down firmly against a target surface. This arrangement enhances control when the device is used to treat surfaces in corners or in regions that are otherwise enclosed and awkward to access.

Description

Hand Utility Interface

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a hand utility interface which can grip the hand of a user and which, by eliminating the need for the user to "grip", serves to enable the hand naturally to conform to the contours of the surface being cared for and which protects the user's hand during utility tasks. The interface serves as a means to engage the hand with media, such as, for example, an abrasive cloth, sheet or pad, for sanding down a target surface or applying or working in a treatment fluid to a target surface or for any number of other uses. The hand utility interface may have uses including, for example, for sanding, polishing, waxing or otherwise finishing wooden furniture or other items or sanding or otherwise treating items of metalwork. The interface may also be used in domestic surface care, wet trade and food surface care, hospital surface care, janitorial care, automotive care and boat care amongst many other possible uses.

Background to the Invention

The closest known prior art is represented by the applicant's earlier published International applications WO 2002/087406, WO 2004/098365, WO 2006/000762 and WO 2008/003979. Each of these disclosures concerns a hand utility interface which can grip the hand of a user and which protects the user's hand during utility tasks. In the latter of these the hand utility interface is fabricated from a block foam structure or from a self-supporting resilient membrane and has open-topped finger channels each sized and shaped to receive one finger of the user's hand. The user's hand is releasably gripped by the hand utility interface when the fingers of the hand are pressed into the finger channels.

These hand utility interfaces, and especially the latter ones, have excellent performance. They can be very flexible and resilient giving the user similar sensitivity and dexterity as if directly handling the task surface yet delivering protection for the hand, fingers and nails from abrasion, knocks and stubbing of the finger tips against the surface and can also provide a waterproof and chemical barrier between the users hand and the task. In freeing the hand from the need to grip the substrate, the fingers of the hand can remain fully out stretched, so covering a bigger surface area in each pass, and freeing the hand naturally to conform to the contours of the surface, a thing it cannot do if it has to grip the substrate.

However when used for some tasks, and most notably those that require application of substantial pressure to the target surface, such as when sanding or seeking to abrade away ingrained grime, the existing form of the hand utility interface has limitations in adequately reaching some areas. Zones of the target surface that fall within enclosed areas! corners between walls or other structures or formations of a target surface can be difficult to penetrate effectively with the hand utility interfaces. It is accordingly a general object of the present invention to address this limitation of the existing hand utility interfaces. Additionally, the existing hand utility interfaces do not co-operate ideally with the widely commercially available forms of abrasive media that are commonly rectangular. It is a further general object of the invention to facilitate effective use of the hand utility interface with such regular abrasive media without need for wasteful cuthng down of the media that is otherwise needed to better suit the media to the interface.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a hand utility interface comprising a body having a plurality of finger members or channels each sized and shaped to receive one finger of the user's hand, wherein the user's hand is releasably gripped by the hand utility interface when the fingers of the hand are inserted into the members or channels, the interface having a finger tip-receiving recess formed therein in the upper surface thereof at a location that is proximate afront edge/ distal end of the hand utility interface substantially forward of at least one of the finger members or channels whereby the user may insert a finger tip into the recess to press the hand utility interface down firmly against a target surface at the front! distal end of the hand utility interface.

Preferably the recess is located in a region that is to the right or to the left of the hand utility interface and suitably at or near a right or left front corner of the hand utility interface. In a particularly preferred embodiment the hand utility interface has at least two finger-tip receiving recesses, one to the left and one to the right of the hand utility interface.

Preferably the recess has a front wall/ face and a rear wall/ face whereby when a fingertip is inserted into the recess the hand utility interface may be pressed and moved back and forth by the fingertip.

Advantageously the recess is substantially circular as viewed in plan whereby the recess may securely accommodate a fingertip to enable the hand utility interface to be readily pressed and moved back and forth by a fingertip inserted into the recess.

Preferably the hand utility interface has at least one, and suitably two, medial finger channels or members and two lateral finger channels or members and the at least one finger tip-receiving recess is located directly forward of the tip of one of the lateral finger channels or members.

Preferably the outer sidewalls of the lateral finger channels are substantially absent to assist moving of the index finger from the channels to insert the index finger into the finger tip-receiving recess when required.

The outer side walls being removed also means that this format can drive a narrower standard abrasive width (eg 115mm) and without risk of the interface's hook substrate coming in to contact with the target surface.

Suitably the hand utility interface body has a raised/ domed palm portion extending proximally beyond the proximal end of the finger channels to underlie the user's palm which assists in keeping the interface properly located under the user's hand and facilitates pressing the palm down on the body to apply maximum pressure when moving the device back-and-forth to sand or otherwise treat a target surface.

In use the hand utility interface body has utility media such as, for example, an abrasive cloth, sheet or pad mounted to its underside and, by virtue of the provision of the front corner-located finger-tip receiving recess, the hand utility interface can be manipulated to press the abrasive cloth, sheet or pad hard down into a corner of a target work object where otherwise only indirect or relatively lighter pressure could be applied. The utility media substrate is suitably demountably mounted to the underside of the hand utility interface body and preferably by use of a mounting substrate layer that is provided on, and suitably bonded to, the underside of the hand utility interface body.

A preferred mounting substrate for mounting the utility media substrate to the hand utility interface body comprises a sheet that has a plurality of minute hooks and particularly preferably minute lugs with heads (approximately mushroom-shaped lugs) to co-operatively engage with the backing of common abrasive utility media substrates -which variously have a fibrous, woven or non-woven backing or open cell foam backing.

Where the mounting substrate is of the latter type it is suitably formed as an extruded sheet with raised spikes that are then formed into minute mushroom forms.

Brief Description of the Drawings

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the following drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a top plan view of the hand utility interface body; and Figure 2 is a sectional view through the hand utility interface body taken along the line A-A in Figure 1.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Referring to the Figures, the illustrated hand utility interface comprises a hand utility interface body 10 that suitably has the form of any of the hand utility interface bodies described in the present applicant's afore-Most preferably the body 10 is constructed in accordance with the teachings of WO 2008/003979. The illustrated hand utility interface comprises a medially symmetric body 10 formed of a self supporting membrane, the body 10 having finger channels lla-d with sidewalls that deform elastically to grip the user's fingers when the fingers are pressed down into them, thereby attaching the body 10 to the hand for use.

An abrasive sheet such as a sanding pad 12 with a fibrous flock backing or open cell foam backing is provided on the under-side of the hand utility interface body 10 to serve as the utility media for treating the target work surface. For other purposes the sand pad 12 may be replaced by any other desired utility media, whether it be a scouring foam pad for cleaning or a cloth for waxing or polishing, for example.The sanding pad 12 is demountably mounted to the under-side of the hand utility interface body by a mounting substrate 17 bonded to the underside of the body 10.

The mounting substrate 17 suitably comprises an extruded sheet with a plurality of minute lugs with heads (approximately mushroom-shaped lugs) that co-operatively engage/ hook into the backing of the common abrasive utility media substrates/ sandpaper 12. Such form of hooks are greatly preferred because they are less likely to cause damage to a target surface if they accidentally come into contact with it.

The body 10 has a raised/ domed palm paW portion lOa extending proximally beyond the proximal end of the finger channels 11 to underlie the user's palm. The palm portion lOa assists in keeping the interface properly located under the user's hand and facilitates pressing the palm down on the body 10 to apply maximum pressure when moving the device back-and-forth to sand a target surface.

The illustrated body 10 has four finger channels lla-d, the two equal length medial channels lib, lic being the longest to accommodate the user's index and middle fingers, respectively and the two lateral channels 11 a, 11 c being shorter and of equal length to each other whereby the body 10 is medially symmetric to fit equally well to a user's right or left hand.

The sidewalls 14 of the finger channels 11 taper, narrowing from their open proximal end toward their distal/ finger tip end up to and including the expected location of the user's distal interphalangeal joint in order for the sidewalls 14 to grip that joint. In the medial channels lib, lic the channel then widens beyond that location up to and including the tip 15 to avoid pinching of the fingers where the sidewalls converge to join. While the sidewalls 14 for the majority of each channel I Ib, I ic are arranged to hug the sides of the fingers, the tip area 15 needs to be widened, because the sidewalls 14 are joined together ahead of the finger-tip and would otherwise pinch the finger tip.

Ease of flexure of the hand utility interface is aided by the provision of transverse grooves 13 in the bases of the channels I la-d and extending part-way up the channels' sidewalls. These grooves 13 are located fore and aft of the expected location of the user's proximal and distal interphalangeal joints and not only aid flexure but also provide lateral strengthening of the sidewalls.

Just forward of each lateral finger channel ha, lid close to the front edge I Oa of the hand utility interface body 10 is a respective circular recess 16a, 16b, each of which is adapted to be able to securely receive the fingertip of the user's index finger. One of the finger-tip receiving recesses 16a is positioned in the front left corner of the body 10 while the other finger-tip receiving recess 16b is positioned in the front right corner of the body 10. In these extreme frontal left and right positions the finger-tip receiving recesses 16a, 16b are optimally placed to enable the index finger of the left or right hand to work the body 10 in those positions into otherwise hard to reach corner locations of the target objects.

Each fingertip receiving recess 16a, 16b is of a similar depth to the depth of the finger channels 11, but being circu'ar in plan has a circumferential perimeter wall that provides constraint to the finger tip in all planar directions. A front portion of the recess perimeter wall and a rear portion of the recess perimeter wall respectively constrain the finger-tip so that the finger-tip when engaged in the recess may be used not only to press the body 10 downwardly hard against the target surface but also to move the body 10 backwardly and forwardly across the target surface. The circumferential perimeter wall of the recess 16a, 16b serves also to constrain the finger-tip in lateral directions so that the body 10 may be moved from side-to-side by the finger-tip.

In general use for open flat target surfaces the left or right hand is applied to the interface so that the hand is substantially flat against the body 10 s and able to press the attached abrasive 12 to the target surface and apply the desired sanding action. However, when approaching a confined corner of the target surface, the index finger can be lifted out of its lateral finger channel ha or lid and "step forward" into the circular fingertip receiving recess 16a, 16b immediately forward of that channel. All other finger-tips can stay in their respective finger-tip locations in the finger channels 11 and also assist to drive the body 10.

Ease of moving the fingers of the users hand from the finger channels 11 to insert a finger such as the index finger into one or other of the respective circular recesses 16a, 16b is aided by omission of much, if not all, of the outer sidewalls of the lateral finger channels 1 la, lid. The outer side walls being removed also means that this format can drive a narrower standard abrasive width (eg 115mm) and without risk of the hooks of the interface's mounting substrate 17 coming in to contact with the target surface (which is very important in fine automotive finishing work.

Claims

Claims 1. A hand utility interface comprising a body having a plurality of finger members or channels each sized and shaped to receive one finger of the user's hand, wherein the user's hand is releasably gripped by the hand utility interface when the fingers of the hand are inserted into the members or channels, the interface having a finger tip-receiving recess formed therein in the upper surface thereof at a location that is proximate a front edge! distal end of the hand utility interface substantially forward of at least one of the finger members or channels whereby the user may insert a finger tip into the recess to press the hand utility interface down firmly against a target surface at the front! distal end of the hand utility interface.
2. A hand utility interface as claimed in claim 1, wherein the recess is located in a region that is to the right or to the left of the hand utility is interface.
3. A hand utility interface as claimed in claim 2, wherein the recess is located at or near a right or left front corner of the hand utility interface.
4. A hand utility interface as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the hand utility interface has at least two finger-tip receiving recesses, one to the left and one to the right of the hand utility interface.
5. A hand utility interface as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the recess has a front wall! face and a rear wall! face whereby when a fingertip is inserted into the recess the hand utility interface may be pressed and moved back and forth by the fingertip.
6. A hand utility interface as claimed in claim 5, wherein the recess is substantially circular as viewed in plan whereby the recess may securely accommodate a fingertip to enable the hand utility interface to be readily pressed and moved back and forth or laterally by a fingertip inserted into the recess.
7. A hand utility interface as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the hand utility interface has at least one medial finger channel or member and two lateral finger channels or members and the least one finger tip-receiving recess is located directly forward of the tip of one of the lateral finger channels or members.
8. A hand utility interface as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the hand utility interface has at least one medial finger channel or member and two lateral finger channels or members and outer sidewalls of the lateral finger channels are substantially absent.
9. A hand utility interface as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the hand utility interface body has a raised/ domed palm portion extending proximally beyond the proximal end of the finger channels to overlie the user's palm.
10. A hand utility interface as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the hand utility interface body has a utility media substrate such as an abrasive cloth, sheet or pad demountably mounted to its underside in use.
11. A hand utility interface as claimed in claim 10, wherein the utility media substrate is an uncut rectangular sheet.
12. A hand utility interface as claimed in claim 10 or 11, wherein the utility media substrate is a narrower standard abrasive width (eg 115mm) or less.
13. A hand utility interface as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the hand utility interface body has a mounting substrate layer that is provided on, and suitably bonded to, the underside of the hand utility interface body and which has a plurality of minute hooks to co-operatively engage with the backing of common abrasive utility media substrates.
14. A hand utility interface as claimed claim 13 wherein the minute hooks are minute lugs with heads (approximately mushroom-shaped lugs).A hand utility interface as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the finger tip-receiving recess is located in a position where the user can reach it and insert their index finger tip without disengaging the rest of the hand and fingers from the finger channels/members.