JP2016069761A - Rubber glove with electrode and manufacturing method thereof, and hand mold for manufacturing rubber glove with electrode - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rubber glove with electrodes having no possibility of cutting electric wires when the glove is worn, and ensuring positioning of electrodes with respect to fingers and application of electric stimulus.SOLUTION: The rubber glove with electrodes includes: a glove body obtained by double molding for forming an inner layer and an outer layer by dipping a hand mold twice, into a liquid tank of an insulative rubber; electrodes that are provided on mounting parts of fingers of the glove body, with a skin side exposed, and electrically stimulating the afferent nerves of the fingers wearing the glove, via exposed parts; and electric wires connected to the electrodes and arranged along the back of the hand of the glove body. Each electric wire includes a meandering stretchable margin halfway through the wiring, and is interposed between the inner layer and the outer layer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a rubber glove with an electrode, a manufacturing method thereof, and a hand mold used in the method.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a spatially transparent tactile sensation presentation apparatus that generates a tactile sensation on a fingertip that does not actually have mechanical contact by applying an electrode to a predetermined portion of a finger of a hand and applying electrical stimulation. And as an embodiment, when a surgeon shows an unfavorable movement during an operation, an example is disclosed in which a tactile sensation is given by electrical stimulation to draw attention.

  This technology is characterized in that by applying electrical stimulation to afferent nerves running on both sides of the index finger, a tactile sensation is generated at a fingertip (afferent nerve mechanoreceptor) different from the stimulation position. It is possible to have a tool held by a fingertip such as a scalpel or a brush without being disturbed by the electrodes.

  In this technique, a tactile sensation is given to the fingertip, but the force to move the finger against the intention of the person is not generated.

  On the other hand, Patent Literature 2 discloses a tactile sensation generating device using rubber gloves provided with electrodes.

JP 2010-5596 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-39909

  As described above, Patent Document 1 discloses that the apparatus is used for alerting a surgeon during surgery, and a band is disclosed for positioning an electrode with respect to a finger. However, there is no mention of the relationship with gloves that are essential for surgery. In this regard, if a band is attached first, and surgical gloves are worn from above, the band tends to slip due to friction with the glove during wearing, and the glove is in close contact with the hand after wearing. Correction becomes difficult and electrical stimulation cannot be applied to the appropriate part of the finger. In addition, since surgical gloves are made of insulating rubber, even if a band is worn over surgical gloves, electrical stimulation cannot be applied to the fingers.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 2 discloses a rubber glove in which an electrode is provided in advance on a finger wearing portion. Moreover, about the electric wire connected with an electrode, the structure embedded between an electroconductive rubber part and an outer_layer | skin is disclosed. However, since the electric wire is not stretchable and does not follow the expansion and contraction of the rubber glove, the electric wire may be cut when the glove is stretched most.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. The object of the present invention is to provide an electrode that does not cause the electric wire to be cut at the time of wearing, and that can reliably align the electrode with the finger and apply electrical stimulation. It is to provide rubber gloves with.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, in the present invention, as a rubber glove with an electrode, first, a glove body obtained by double molding that forms an inner layer and an outer layer by immersing a hand mold twice in an insulating rubber liquid tank; An electrode for exposing the skin side to the finger attachment portion of the glove body, and applying electrical stimulation to the afferent nerve of the finger attached through the exposed portion; and the glove body connected to the electrode And an electric wire that is wired along the back side of the hand, and the electric wire uses characteristic means that a middle part of the wiring is formed in a meandering extension margin portion while being sandwiched between the inner layer and the outer layer.

  According to the rubber glove with an electrode by the means, since the electrode is provided integrally with the rubber glove, positioning of the electrode is completed only by wearing the glove. Of course, the correct positioning of the electrodes is ensured by selecting a glove having a size according to the hand of the user. Since the electrode is exposed directly to the finger with the skin side exposed, if a predetermined electrical signal is applied to the electrode through the electric wire, the afferent nerve of the finger that comes into contact with the electrode is electrically stimulated, for example, at the fingertip of the finger A tactile sensation can be generated. The principle of giving a simulated tactile sensation to a finger by such electrical stimulation is as described in Patent Document 1.

  In addition, since the electric wire has a meandering stretch margin part in the middle of the wiring, even if the glove stretches due to the wearing of rubber gloves or the movement of the hand, the stretch margin part extends following this, The electric wire is never cut.

  Furthermore, since the electric wires are wired not along the palm side but along the back side of the hand, the movement of the hand is not obstructed while holding the tool. Moreover, since it is sandwiched between the inner and outer layers of the glove body made of insulating rubber, even if the wire is configured with bare wire, an insulation effect is obtained, and sweat and gas do not contact the wire, so malfunction Can also be prevented.

  In the present invention, the number of electrodes is not limited, and may be determined according to the number of fingers to which electrical stimulation is to be applied. In this regard, when holding a so-called pencil with a long tool such as a medical tool using two fingers, the index finger and thumb, there are a total of four points on both sides near the second joint of the index finger and two near the first joint of the thumb. By applying electrical stimulation to the fingertips, it is possible to generate a sense of touch at the fingertips of the index finger and the thumb more reliably. Therefore, in the present invention, a means of providing a plurality of electrical stimulation modules in which one electric wire is connected to one electrode is used. However, in order to generate a tactile sensation by electrical stimulation, a current of at least 0.1 mA is required as shown in Patent Document 1, and for that purpose, a voltage of 200 V is required and a specific frequency is required. However, when such electricity is applied to the electric wire, a high-frequency wave of noise is generated around the electric wire. Therefore, in the present invention, means is used in which each set of wires is wired with an interval at which no electrical interference occurs when energized.

  In addition, since it is not preferable that the terminal is exposed, it is preferable that at least the skin side exposed portion of the terminal is covered with a conductive rubber such as conductive silicone. This is because a soft contact with the skin can be obtained. The electrode may include a GND (ground) electrode.

  On the other hand, as a method for producing a rubber glove with an electrode for electrically stimulating the afferent nerve of the finger as described above, in the present invention, the inner layer on the skin side is immersed in a liquid tank of insulating rubber in the present invention. In the inner layer forming step to be formed and the hand mold after the step, an electrode is disposed so that the skin side can be exposed, and an electric wire previously connected to the electrode is connected to the electrode while securing a meandering extension margin on the way. An electrode / wire arrangement step for wiring along the side, and an outer layer forming step for immersing the hand mold after the step again in a liquid tank of insulating rubber to form an outer layer covering the electrode and the wire .

  In addition, although manufacture of the glove itself of this invention is completed in an outer layer formation process, in order to use this, it is needless to say that it releases from a hand mold. Since this mold release is performed while turning over the glove as usual, the skin side exposed portion of the electrode is located outside, and even if it is worn in this state, effective electrical stimulation cannot be given. Therefore, in order to ship as a product, it is necessary to turn the glove after mold release again. That is, after the outer layer forming step, the state of being attached to the hand mold before being released is the state when actually used.

  As a hand mold used in manufacturing the rubber gloves with electrodes as described above, in the present invention, the surface is provided with recesses and grooves corresponding to the positions of the electrodes and the wiring patterns of the wires connected to the electrodes. Use the means.

  According to the rubber glove with an electrode of the present invention, the electric wire is not cut during wearing or during the movement of the hand, the electrode is always positioned at the correct position, and corrosion due to electrical interference or sweat is prevented. Therefore, a desired electrical stimulation can be reliably applied.

  Moreover, according to the manufacturing method of this invention, the electric wire which consists of bare wires can be reliably coat | covered with insulating rubber, and the insulation effect and the protection effect of an electric wire can be enjoyed.

  Furthermore, according to the hand mold of the present invention, the electrodes can be easily and stably arranged and the electric wires can be wired.

Explanatory drawing which shows the rubber glove with an electrode which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. Schematic diagram of the main section Process diagram showing the manufacturing method Illustration of hand mold for manufacturing

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a rubber glove with an electrode (for the right hand) according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) shows the palm side and (b) shows the back side of the hand. In the figure, 1a to 1e are finger attachment parts corresponding to five fingers, 2 is a palm attachment part, 3 is a forearm attachment part, and 4 is a cuff part serving as a hand slot, as shown in FIG. In addition, in this embodiment, three electrodes 5 are provided on the thumb mounting portion 1a and the index finger 1b, respectively. Of the electrodes 5, the pair of left and right electrodes 5 provided on both side surfaces of the mounting portions 1 a and 1 b are stimulation electrodes for applying electrical stimulation to afferent nerves running on the thumb and index finger, respectively. The electrode located in the center of 1a * 1b is a GND electrode. However, the number and arrangement of the electrodes 5 are not limited to those of this embodiment.

  The electrodes 5 are connected with electric wires 6 for transmitting electric signals. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5B, along the back side of the hand of the palm mounting portion 2 and the forearm mounting portion 3. Are wired to the cuff part 4. In addition, although the suitable connector may be provided in the terminal of the electric wire 6, and the terminal of the electric wire 6 protrudes from the cuff part 4 in the example of illustration, the length is free as long as the movement of a hand is not disturbed. .

  Moreover, each electric wire 6 is wired with the space | interval d which does not produce an electrical interference mutually at the time of electricity supply. The interval d is 8 mm as an example, but is set according to the magnitude and voltage of the flowing current.

  Furthermore, each electric wire 6 is wired while securing an extension allowance portion 7 that meanders to the left and right in the middle of the wiring. This is because if the electric wires 6 are wired in a straight line, there is a fear that the wire 6 will be cut by stretching when the glove is worn.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a cross section of the main part of the glove. As shown in the figure, the glove has a two-layer structure of an inner layer 8 on the skin side and an outer layer 9 covering the outer surface. These layers are all formed of insulating rubber, and are formed by a double molding method described later. The inner layer 8 and the outer layer 9 are not separated but are integrated. Moreover, although the thickness of the glove which combined the inner layer 8 and the outer layer 9 will be set to about 0.1 mm-0.2 mm if it is an object for surgery, it is not limited to this.

  The electrode 5 is insulatively coated with the outer layer 9 on the outer side, but is exposed without the inner layer 8 on the skin side. That is, the skin-side exposed portion 5a of the electrode 5 is not insulated, and has a structure capable of applying electrical stimulation by directly contacting the finger. In this embodiment, the skin-side exposed portion 5a of the electrode 5 is made of conductive rubber such as conductive silicone, so that the contact with the finger is soft.

  On the other hand, the electric wire 6 is sandwiched between the inner layer 8 and the outer layer 9. In other words, the electric wire 6 is embedded in the thickness of the glove in which the inner layer 8 and the outer layer 9 are integrally formed. This is because when the wire 6 is made of a silver-plated thread with silver plating on nylon, the wire diameter is extremely thin, flexible, has little influence on hand movement, and has good energization efficiency. This is because this is covered with an inner layer 8 and an outer layer 9 made of insulating rubber for electrical insulation. That is, since the silver-plated yarn is a bare wire, it is electrically insulated by the configuration. Moreover, by covering the electric wire 6 in this way, contact with sweat or air can be blocked, and malfunction due to generation of noise can be prevented.

  According to the rubber glove with an electrode, even if the glove is stretched when it is worn or when a hand is moved, there is no fear that the electric wire 6 is disconnected by providing the stretch allowance 7. The electric wire 6 is connected to an appropriate electrical signal generator (not shown) and energized at an appropriate timing, whereby the electrode 5 electrically stimulates the afferent nerve of the finger, and the finger is actually mechanically Tactile sensation can be perceived even though there is no physical contact.

  FIG. 3 is a process diagram showing a manufacturing method of the glove. First, in the inner layer forming step (a), the hand mold 10 is immersed in a liquid tank 11 of insulating rubber as usual to form the inner layer 8 described above. That is, after immersion, the hand mold 10 is taken out from the liquid tank 11 and the inner layer 8 is formed by drying or the like.

  Next, in the wiring process of the electrical stimulation module (b), the required number of electrical stimulation modules in which the electrodes 5 and the electric wires 6 are connected in a one-to-one manner is prepared in advance, and each is set from above the inner layer 8. . Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the hand mold 10 is preliminarily engraved with the location of the electrodes 5 and the wiring pattern of the electric wires 6 on the surface. That is, the concave portion 12 corresponding to the position where the electrode 5 is disposed is provided at a position where it contacts the centripetal nerve of the finger, and is constituted by a circular depression shaped like the above-described (circular) insulating silicone. Grooves 13 corresponding to the wiring pattern are entirely composed of grooves having a width and a depth corresponding to the wire diameter of the silver-plated yarn described above, including the extension margin 7 of the meandering wiring.

  Thus, since the hand mold 10 is formed with the recess 12 and the groove 13 corresponding to the arrangement and wiring of the electrical stimulation module in advance, the electrode 5 and the electric wire 6 are fitted into the inner layer 8 from above. By setting, the electrode 5 can always be arrange | positioned to the hand mold | type 10 with the same position and wiring, and the electric wire 6 can be wired.

  Then, in the outer layer forming step (c), the hand mold 10 in which the required number of the electrical stimulation modules composed of the electrodes 5 and the electric wires 6 is set is dipped again in the liquid tank 11 of insulating rubber. And an outer layer 9 that covers the electric wires 6 are formed. Also in the formation of the outer layer 9, the hand mold 10 is taken out from the liquid tank 11 and is subjected to drying, vulcanization and the like.

  In addition, in the rubber glove with an electrode of this invention, the electrode 5 is comprised so that the inner layer 6 may not exist in the skin side exposed part 5a, but may touch a finger | toe directly, as demonstrated according to FIG. In the manufacturing method described above, in order to obtain such a configuration, masking for preventing adhesion of the rubber liquid is performed in advance on the concave portion 12 corresponding to the electrode placement portion of the hand mold 10 before the step (a). Or after the step (a) and before the step (b), the inner layer 6 of the recess 12 is cut out while being attached to the hand mold 10 or the inner layer covering the electrode 5 after releasing from the hand mold 10 6 can be excised by either means. In the present invention, any means can be adopted.

  Then, after the step (c), the gloves are released from the hand mold 10. At this time, the glove is usually released while turning over, but then the skin side exposed portion 5a of the electrode 5 is exposed to the outside, and the glove cannot be used as it is. Therefore, when the glove is released from the hand mold 10 by turning it over, the glove is turned over again to return to the same state as in the step (c) and shipped.

  The glove with an electrode of the present invention can be used as an application shown in Patent Document 1, that is, a glove for medical use (including dentistry). However, the application is not limited to this, and it can be used for all applications in which it is effective to alert a user who uses a fingertip with a tactile sense by electrical stimulation.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1a-1e Finger mounting part 2 Palm mounting part 3 Forearm mounting part 4 Cuff part 5 Electrode 5a Skin side exposed part 6 Wire d Wire wiring interval 7 Wire extension allowance 8 Inner layer 9 Outer layer 10 Hand type 11 Insulation Rubber tank 12 Recesses 13 corresponding to electrode placement locations Grooves corresponding to wiring patterns of electric wires

Claims (6)

A glove body obtained by double molding that forms the inner layer and the outer layer by dipping the hand mold twice in a liquid tank of insulating rubber, and the skin side is provided on the finger mounting part of the glove body. An electrode for applying electrical stimulation to the afferent nerve of a finger attached through the exposed portion, and an electric wire connected to the electrode and wired along the back side of the hand of the glove body,
The rubber glove with an electrode, wherein the electric wire is sandwiched between the inner layer and the outer layer, and a middle part of the wiring is formed into a meandering extending margin. The rubber glove with an electrode according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of sets of electrical stimulation modules each having one electric wire connected to one electrode are provided, and the electric wires of each set are wired at intervals that do not cause electrical interference with each other when energized. The rubber glove with an electrode according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a skin-side exposed portion of the electrode is covered with a conductive rubber. The rubber glove with an electrode according to claim 1, wherein the electric wire is a silver-plated thread. An inner layer forming step of immersing the hand mold in a liquid tank of insulating rubber to form an inner layer on the skin side;
In the hand mold after the step, the electrode is disposed so that the skin side can be exposed, and the wire connected to the electrode is wired along the back side of the hand while forming a meandering extension margin,
A method for producing a rubber glove with an electrode, comprising: an outer layer forming step of immersing the hand mold after the step in a liquid tank of insulating rubber again to form an outer layer covering the electrode and the electric wire. A hand mold for manufacturing a rubber glove with an electrode, characterized in that a concave portion and a groove corresponding to each of an arrangement position of an electrode and a wiring pattern of an electric wire connected to the electrode are provided on a surface.

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