AUTOMATED GLOVE APPLICATION DEVICE

Abstract

A glove donning system for automated donning of gloves includes a robotic arm equipped with grippers configured to select a glove from a glove supply, a glove donning device configured to receive the glove from the robotic arm and prepare the glove for a user's hand, control system configured to control the robotic arm and the glove donning device, and one or more sensors in communication with the control system to provide real-time feedback and ensure smooth operation of the system.

Description

BACKGROUND

Glove donning is a common practice in various industries such as healthcare, food handling, laboratory work, and manufacturing, where the use of protective gloves is essential to maintain hygiene and protect against potential hazards. The traditional method of manually donning gloves can be time-consuming, cumbersome, and may result in improper fitting or contamination. Therefore, there is a need for an automated glove application device that overcomes these limitations.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to an automated glove donning system and method that is designed to efficiently and apply a glove onto a user's hand. The glove donning system utilizes robotics, pneumatics and mechanical systems to don a glove onto a user's hand, eliminating the need for manual intervention and reducing the risk of contamination and wasted time. The glove donning system may offer enhanced convenience, speed, and/or hygiene in glove donning across a wide range of industries and applications.

The glove donning system is an automated system designed to assist users in donning gloves efficiently. The glove donning system includes a robotic arm with grippers to select gloves from a supply and a glove donning device that prepares the glove for the user's hand. A control system manages the robotic arm and glove donning device, using integrated sensors to provide real-time feedback and ensure smooth operation.

The glove donning device features a first subassembly with multiple arms that clamp onto the glove and a second subassembly with positioning fingers that wrap around and open the glove cuff. These subassemblies use radially arranged arms resembling a camera iris to clamp and open the glove. The glove supply includes a compartment or rack, possibly arranged in an annular or circular array, and may include carts and rails for organization. An alignment stopper with proximity sensors and limit switches ensures proper glove positioning.

Additionally, the control system may have a notification feature to indicate progress through colored LEDs or a touch display.

In another aspect, the control system initiates the glove application sequence upon detecting the user's presence via a distance sensor.

In yet other aspects, glove donning device includes glove opening fingers and positioning fingers. For example, the glove opening fingers may be of rigid plastic, while the positioning fingers may be made of an elastomer material for flexibility.

In further aspects, the glove donning system may be attached to a linear lift actuator to angle the glove donning device ergonomically for the user.

For larger setups, the glove donning system may comprise two glove donning stations within a housing with front panels forming glove cavities. A control system manages these stations, which are mounted to a frame with hinges for easy restocking and access. The glove donning system may include a storage drawer, which may have multiple receptacles that are configured to hold packaged glove pairs, and a selection gantry, vision sensor, and package opening device manage these pairs.

In other aspects, the package opening device may include articulated grippers and a cutter.

In yet other aspects, the selection gantry is motorized for efficient transport.

For example, in another aspect, a lift platform may position the gloves for manipulation by a glove manipulator gantry, which reorients the gloves from a flat to a vertical open cuff position.

In yet other aspects, the glove donning system may also include a vacuum pump to inflate the glove, with a manifold and an optional sensor to control the airflow, which can aid in glove removal from the glove opening fingers.

User input to the glove donning system is facilitated through a user input device, such as at least one of a touch display, microphone, pedal switch, and RFID reader, all managed by the control system, which also indicates glove donning system readiness and glove inventory status.

Additional features may include a hand sanitizer dispenser with a sensor, a motion sensor for safety, user input via RFID reader, microphone, or touch display, and a UV sterilizer to sanitize glove donning system components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of one embodiment of a glove donning system;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the glove donning system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged isometric view of a glove opening assembly of the glove donning system of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged isometric view of a glove positioning assembly of the donning system of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view the glove donning device of FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrating the manipulation and positioning of a glove;

FIG. 6 is another enlarged isometric view of the glove opening assembly of FIG. 3 illustrating the manipulation and positioning of a glove;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged isometric view of another embodiment of a simplified glove opening assembly opening a glove;

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a second embodiment of a glove donning system that includes two glove donning devices and a user positioned in front of the glove donning system;

FIG. 9 is a similar view to FIG. 8 illustrating an example of a glove storage drawer;

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of the glove donning system of FIGS. 8 and 9 with the outside panels removed to show the internal components of the glove donning system;

FIG. 11 is another isometric view of the glove donning system of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an isometric view of the internal components for selecting and positioning of packaged glove pairs from the storage drawer of the glove donning system of FIGS. 8-11;

FIG. 13 is an isometric view of a packaged glove pair positioned in the package opening device;

FIG. 13A is an enlarged isometric view of the package opening device of FIG. 13;

FIG. 14 is an isometric view of FIG. 13 illustrating the competed sequence of the package opening device with the pair of gloves from within the package;

FIG. 15 is an isometric view of FIG. 14 illustrating the selection of the individual gloves and placing them onto the lift platform;

FIG. 16 is an isometric view of the two glove manipulator devices with one retrieving a glove from the lift platform from FIG. 15;

FIG. 16a is an enlarged isometric view of the glove manipulator device of FIG. 16;

FIG. 17 is an isometric view of the glove manipulator devices and glove donning devices with a glove in position to be inserted into the glove donning device;

FIG. 18 is an isometric view of a glove donning system ready to don gloves onto the user's hands, with the user in position to accept them;

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of the control system that can be employed to facilitate operation of a glove donning system;

FIG. 20A is a first section of an exemplary flowchart of the operation of the glove donning system;

FIG. 20B is a second section of the exemplary flowchart of the operation of the glove donning system; and

FIG. 20C is a third section of the exemplary flowchart of the operation of the glove donning system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Several embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments can take various and alternative forms.

Referring to FIG. 1, the numeral 100 generally designates a glove donning system for an automated donning of a glove 113, for example a nitrile glove. As will be more fully described below, glove donning system 100 is configured to select a selected glove from a glove supply 138 and then prepare the selected glove 113 for a user to insert their hand into the glove 113.

Referring again to FIG. 1, glove donning system 100 includes a glove donning device 110, a robotic arm 111, and a control system 124. The control system 124 may include one or more controllers or microcontrollers, such as microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays, systems on a chip, volatile or nonvolatile memory, discrete circuitry, and/or other hardware, software, or firmware that is capable of carrying out the functions described herein, as would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art.

The glove donning system 100 may also include a glove supply 138. The robotic arm 111 is equipped with grippers 118 (e.g., pneumatic suction cup, or claw) and is configured to perform precise movements to select a glove 113 from the glove supply 138 and then load the glove 113 into the glove donning device 110 that prepares the glove 113 for donning onto a user's hand.

Referring to FIG. 5, glove donning device 110 may be formed from two or more subassemblies—with a first subassembly 110a first receiving the glove 113 from the robotic arm 111 and holding the glove 113, and a second subassembly 110b that positions the glove 113. The first subassembly 110a includes glove opening fingers 145 to open the glove 113 while held. The second subassembly 110b includes glove positioning fingers 112 to wrap around the glove 113. This allows the first subassembly 110a to open the glove 113 and apply it to the user's hand. Although described as two subassemblies—they may be one assembly or two separate components that simply operate together.

One of the two subassemblies of the glove donning device 110 can be supported by a lead screw 160, which is driven by a stepper motor 151, while the other subassembly remains stationary. This allows one of the subassemblies of the glove donning device 110 to move closer to or further from the other, enabling the glove positioning fingers 112 and glove opening fingers 145 to either make contact or remain apart. This movement aids in the manipulation of the glove 113, as depicted in FIG. 5.

To hold the glove 113, the first subassembly 110a includes a plurality of arms 114a that are supported between a stationary plate 116a and rotating plate 148a. To open, and optionally stretch the mouth of the glove 113, as noted, the second subassembly 110b includes a plurality of glove positioning fingers 112 that wrap the glove 113 around the first assembly's 110a glove opening fingers 145.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the glove donning device 110 may be supported by a base 155. For example, base 155 may be formed by a frame in the form of a box. The glove supply 138 and robotic arm 111 are supported by the base 155.

The glove supply 138 may be a compartment or rack with a plurality of gloves 113 or may comprise an assembly that individually supports the gloves 113, for example, in an annular or circular array, which feeds the gloves 113 to the robotic arm 111.

Referring to FIG. 2, the glove supply 138 may include carts 132 and rails 130 to feed gloves 113 to the robotic arm 111. As noted, the glove supply 138 may simply be a storage compartment for gloves 113. Optionally, system 100 may have an alignment stopper 136, which ensures proper glove 113 positioning. The alignment stopper 136 includes a limit switch 120 or sensor that may include one or more proximity sensors and limit switches to detect the position of a glove 113.

This limit switch 120 can provide real-time feedback to the control system 124, to enable detection of obstructions, and ensure smooth operation. The control system 124 integrates the sensory data detected by the sensor(s) and starts the operation of the robotic arm 111, as well as opening and closing the first and second subassemblies 110a, 110b. The sensors may include limit switches for all moving components for determining positions of each moving component, including limit switch 120 for the glove supply 138 to verify a glove 113 is ready for the robotic arm 111 to grab, a presence sensor 142 for the glove donning device 110 to detect when glove 113 is successfully being held as well as to detect when a hand is present, and a distance sensor 134 for detecting the presence and proximity of a user.

In operation, the user initiates the glove application sequence by being near the glove donning system 501 (for example, approximately 1 meter). The distance sensor 134 detects the user, then the control system 124 initiates the pre-defined program and ensures there is a glove 113 available in the glove supply 138 based on the limit switch 120 input and activates the robotic arm 111 to grab a glove 113 from the glove supply 138.

The first subassembly 110b of glove donning device 110 is configured to clamp onto the glove 113. For example, the first subassembly 110a, as noted, may have a plurality of glove opening fingers 145 that are supported on radially arranged arms 114 a that when moved cause the glove opening fingers 145 to open or contract to form a glove opening assembly 110a. For example, the arms 114a may resemble a camera iris aperture. Once the first subassembly 110a clamps onto the glove 113, for example a cuff of the glove 113, the robotic arm 111 can release the glove 113. The second subassembly 110b, then opens the cuff of the glove 113 by moving its glove positioning fingers 112 to wrap it around the glove opening fingers 145 of the first subassembly 110a and, thereby form a glove position assembly. For example, the second subassembly 110b may also be formed by radially arranged arms 114b that when moved open or closed, also resemble a camera iris aperture. This allows the first subassembly 110a of glove donning device 110 to open and optionally stretch the glove 113 cuff to prepare for the user's hand.

The presence sensor 142 detects the presence of the hand and the second subassembly 110b is moved away from the first subassembly 110a to release the glove 113 from the glove opening fingers 145 by use of glove remover fingers 115, which release the glove 113 from the glove donning device 110 and onto the user's hand. Once the glove 113 is released from the glove donning device 110, the glove supply 138 (under the control of the control system 124) advances to present the next glove 113 to the robotic arm 111 for subsequent applications.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the first and second subassemblies 110a, 110b may each include a stationary plate 116a and 116b rotating plate 148a and 148b that supports the plurality arms 114a and 114b. Each plurality of arms 114a and 114b creates a central opening that opens or closes when its respective plate is rotated. The plate may be rotated by a rack or gears, for example a worm gear 158, which are controlled by the control system 124 and a stepper motor 151. For glove positioning assembly 110b, the glove positioning fingers 112 attached to the arms 114b can be made of an elastomer material, for example silicon. The glove positioning fingers 112 must be firm, but flexible to allow movement around the contours of the glove donning device 110, glove opening fingers 145. The glove donning device 110, glove opening fingers 145 fingers are made of a rigid plastic to withstand the forces of a stretched glove 113.

Referring back to FIG. 1, optionally the structure can be attached to a linear lift actuator 144. This can angle the glove donning device 110 in order for the user to have a more ergonomic approach for the user when donning a glove 113.

Referring to FIG. 8, the numeral 501 generally designates another embodiment of a glove donning system. As will be more fully described below, glove donning system 501 is configured to provide two glove donning stations where a user 505 can either select between a left hand glove 113 and a right hand glove 113 or different types of gloves 113.

As best seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, glove donning system 501 includes a housing 506 or cabinet that is formed from a plurality of panels, for example, mounted to a frame 624, shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, to support the glove donning system 501 on a floor. In the illustrated embodiment, housing 506 houses two glove donning devices 555. For example, glove donning devices 555 may be similar to or identical to the glove donning devices 110 described above in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, including being mounted in a base 155, such as box frame 630. Therefore, reference is made to the above for any details of the glove donning devices 555 and mounting arrangement not specifically provided herein.

The front panel 518 forms the glove donning side of the housing 506 where a user 505 stands adjacent while having a glove 113 or gloves 113 donned on their hands. To that end, the front panel 518 is configured with a top glove cavity 503 and bottom glove cavity 504 that align with the glove donning devices 555 so that the user 505 can simply insert their hand into a respective cavity 503, 504 and then into the open and stretched glove 113 held by the glove donning devices 555 associated with that cavity.

Optionally, the front panel 518 may be mounted to frame 624 with hinges to form an access door to allow the supply of gloves 113 (described more fully below) to be restocked and also to allow access to the internal components for repair or replacement. Further, as will be more fully described below, similar to the first embodiment, glove donning system 501 includes a control system 524 for controlling the components described herein, as will be more fully described below. Similar to control system 124, control system 524 may include one or more controllers or microcontrollers, such as microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays, systems on a chip, volatile or nonvolatile memory, discrete circuitry, and/or other hardware, software, or firmware that is capable of carrying out the functions described herein, as would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art.

Further, the front panel 518 may include a user interface, such as a touch display 502, including a touch screen display, which is in communication with control system 524, which is configured to control glove donning system 501 based on input by a user 505 at touch display 502, as more fully described below.

As noted above, glove donning system 501 may include two glove donning devices 555, namely two mirror-image glove donning devices 555, or a single device 555 with a top glove cavity 503 for inserting one hand at a time to receive a glove 113.

Referring to FIG. 9 and FIG. 12, glove donning system 501 may have a storage drawer 520 containing at least one receptacle 525 (with nine receptacles illustrated), with optionally eight configured to store multiple stacked, packaged glove pairs 507 (100 pairs per stack shown) and one configured as a disposal bin 516. The packaging of the gloves 113 remains within each receptacle. These receptacles 525 may store the packaged glove pairs 507 in an equidistant box-like arrangement so that the location of each packaged glove pair 507 is in a known location and, therefore, accessible to the selection gantry 611, described below. The storage drawer 520 can be opened remotely by input at the touch display 502 to activate the solenoid latch 616 to prevent tampering and contamination of the packaged glove pairs 507.

Described in more detail below, the glove donning system 501 includes a selection gantry 611 that receives instruction based on the user's 505 chosen glove 113 size and type (e.g., latex, neoprene, polyisoprene) and moves to the correct packaged glove pair 507 position within the storage drawer 520. A vision sensor 615 may be part of this selection.

The selection gantry 611, which can be a motorized gantry made up of linear rails that can travel in 3D space or a robotic arm 111, can pick up a packaged glove pair 507. The selection gantry 611 includes a package gripper 621 (e.g., pneumatic suction cup, or claw) which may be connected to a vacuum pump 601. The packaged glove pair 507 is carried to a vision sensor 615 to ensure its correct orientation and verification, which will vary based on the glove 113 type and brand selected.

Once verified by the vision sensor 615, the packaged glove pair 507 is delivered to the package opening device 608 or discarded in disposal bin 516 if the incorrect selection is made. Referring to FIGS. 13 and 13a, the package opening device 608 includes articulated grippers 628 (e.g., pneumatic suction cup, or claw) and a package cutter 651 to remove the outer and inner packaging 650, which are then discarded in disposal bin 516.

The package opening sequence begins with the selection gantry 611 placing the packaged glove pair 507 in the cavity of the package opening device 608. The package cutter 651 then rotates to cut the edge of the packaged glove pair 507 off. The selection gantry 611 then removes the outer packaging of the packaged glove pair 507 and discards in the disposal bin 516 exposing the inner packaging 650 of the packaged glove pair 507. Each package gripper 628 rotates in a sequence starting from the center and moving outwards of top, right, left, right to grab and unfold the inner packaging 650 to expose the gloves 113 as shown in FIG. 14. This sequence may vary depending on brand or glove 113 type. Optionally there can be a package gripper 628 to hold the center of the inner packaging 650 during the unfolding sequence.

The selection gantry 611 places the gloves 113 onto a lift platform 622 as shown in FIG. 15. The lift platform 622 is operated by a motorized rail 619, which can raise and lower the lift platform 622 as needed. The gloves 113 may be positioned stacked or side by side on the lift platform 622.

The glove manipulator gantry 606 retrieves a glove 113 from the lift platform 622 when it is able to reach the cuff of the glove 113 as shown in FIG. 16. The glove manipulator gantry 606, controlled by electric motors supported by linear rails and has the ability to travel in a planar motion. The glove manipulator 632 is attached to the glove manipulator arm 626 which is attached to the glove manipulator gantry 606.

The glove manipulator 632 uses a glove manipulator gripper 643 (e.g., pneumatic suction cups or mechanical claws) to manipulate the gloves 113 to be inserted into the glove donning device 555. FIG. 16a highlights the glove manipulator 632, which can tilt with about an articulable joint 640 (which can articulate like a wrist) and use two sets of grippers, such as glove manipulator gripper 643 and a clamp gripper 635 to position the glove 113 for the glove donning device 555. The glove manipulator 632 includes a linkage 637 and a rotating arm 638, which are each controlled by a motor, such as a servo motor 639. Linkage 637 and rotating arm 638 support and move clamp gripper 635 to create the clamping motion. The glove manipulator 632 also includes a motor, such as a servo motor 639, to move articulable joint 640, with each of the servo motors 639 being controlled by control system 524. Thus, the movement of the linkage 637 and rotating arm 638 and motion of the articulable joint 640 allow manipulation of a glove 113 by control system 524. This manipulation allows the glove 113, for example, to go from a flat horizontal position to a vertical open cuff position, as described below.

The glove manipulator 632 may also be used to pick up the glove 113 by the cuff from the lift platform 622 by activating the glove manipulator gantry 606 and by activating its glove manipulator gripper 643. The glove manipulator 632 continues to manipulate the glove 113 by rotating its articulable joint 640 to position the glove 113 from horizontal to vertical. For example, the servo motor 639 is configured to move rotating arm 638 so that the clamp gripper 635 is parallel to the glove manipulator gripper 643. The servo motor 639 then moves linkage 637 to move the clamp gripper 635 towards the glove manipulator gripper 643 until it is clamping the glove 113. The clamp gripper 635 and glove manipulator gripper 643 are activated to grab the glove 113 cuff (e.g., pneumatic suction cups or mechanical claws). After activation, the servo motor 639 is reversed to move linkage 637 causing clamp gripper 635 to move away from glove manipulator gripper 643. This opens the cuff of the glove 113 which prepares it for it to be inserted into the glove donning device 555 as shown in FIG. 17.

The gloves 113 are lowered into each glove donning device 555 to begin the donning sequence. This starts with the glove opening fingers 145 clamping onto the glove 113, grabbing it, and wrapping the cuff around the glove opening fingers 145, as described in the first embodiment.

Once the glove 113 is open and optionally stretched, the glove donning device 555 may rotate from the horizontal loading position as shown in FIG. 17 to vertical unloading position as shown in FIG. 18. This may use a hinge 609 and linear actuator 604 to create this rotation motion, which is controlled by control system 524.

The glove donning system 501 may also include a chamber 603 mounted on the back of the glove donning device 555. This chamber 603 is linked to a vacuum pump 601, which when operated by control system 524 inflates or expands the glove 113 to facilitate easier donning by the user 505. When the glove 113 is open and optionally stretched within the glove donning device 555, the vacuum pump 601 is activated to expand the glove 113.

Optionally, glove donning system 501 is powered via a standard wall outlet. As noted above, glove donning system 501 may include control system 524. In the illustrated embodiment, control system 524 includes a microprocessor 700, which is configured to manage the touch display 502. Microprocessor 700 may also be configured to indicate glove donning system 501 readiness, e.g. via an indicator, such as lights, a sound, or an image at touch display 502. Microprocessor 700 may also be configured to detects glove 113 inventory and also indicate machine status through one or more indicators, such as colored lights—for example the color green for a glove 113 that is ready to don by the user 505 and the color red when a glove 113 is not ready for donning.

Control system 524 may also include a vision sensor 615, which may be used to determine successful packaged glove pair 507 selection and orientation. A solenoid latch 616 may be used to secure the storage drawer 520 for remote access via the display 502 interface. A user input sensor for example an RFID reader 511 can be used to determine the user's 505 credentials and glove 113 preferences. Stepper motors 551, similar to stepper motors 151 described in reference to the first embodiment, may be used to create precise movements to locate and position components of the glove donning system 501. Optionally a pedal switch 514 and be used by the user 505 to indicate that they are ready for the gloves 113 to release from the glove donning system 501 and onto their hands to complete the glove 113 donning.

The control system 524 may be equipped with software designed to monitor glove 113 usage data. This data may include details such as the types of gloves 113 used, the quantity used, and date and time stamps of when the gloves 113 were donned, all linked to the identity of the user 505. User 505 data is collected through inputs from an RFID reader 511, touchscreen display 502, or voice commands via a microphone 510, and sent to the control system 524. This information can be stored locally in the control system 524 or transmitted to a server for further review.

To facilitate the handling of a glove 113, as noted above, the glove donning system 501 includes vacuum pump 601, which may be controlled by control system 524. As detailed below, when vacuum pump 601 is activated a vacuum is created in chamber 603, which can be used to expand the gloves 113. Chamber 603 is connected to vacuum pump 601 through vacuum hose 602 which is connected to vacuum manifold 620. The vacuum source may be vacuum pump 601 or a variable-speed blower motor, activated by control system 524, which may include a vacuum sensor 631 in the vacuum manifold 620 for pressure feedback to control system 524. The vacuum sensor 631 measures the pressure in the manifold which lets the control system 524 know if it is in an open state so that the glove donning system 501 performs each task successfully. Additionally, the glove donning system 501 features a vacuum valve 627 that switches airflow on or off, to assist in the removal of gloves 113 from the glove opening fingers 145 after donning or enabling quick release of vacuum pressure throughout the glove donning system 501. Each vacuum component is connected to the vacuum manifold 620 by a vacuum hose 602.

As noted above, front panel 518 optionally includes a touch display 502 for the user 505 to provide input to the glove donning system 501. Alternatively, or in addition, the front panel 518 may include one or more of a microphone 510, a pedal switch 514, and an RFID reader 511 for the user 505 to provide input to the glove donning system 501. For example, user 505 may input the desired glove 113 type and size. The display 502 may also display glove 113 inventory status and when the glove donning system 501 is completed or ready to don a glove 113 as shown in FIG. 8. This can also be achieved by an auditory notification by use of a speaker 512 creating a buzz or beeping noise.

Additionally, the glove donning system 501 may include a hand sanitizer dispenser 513 actuated by a sensor that senses the user's 505 hand. Optionally, the glove donning system 501 may include motion sensors 515 that are configured via the control system 524 to prevent the glove donning system 501 from actuating unsafely when hands are inserted into the glove donning system 501.

The glove donning system 501 may identify the user 505 requesting a glove 113 via a badge swipe by the RFID reader 511, voice via the microphone 510 or touch display 502 or similar means, all connected to microprocessor 700, which may be located in an electronics box 617. These input methods assist in glove 113 inventory control and ordering additional supplies, as well as managing sanitizer inventory.

Optionally, glove donning system 501 may include a UV sterilizer 629 or similar that can activate via the control system 524 to sterilize the components of the glove donning system 501.

FIGS. 20A-C outline the steps of the automated glove donning system 501 for donning a glove 113 onto a user's 505 hand. The process begins with the user 505 inputting their glove 113 preference via a display 502, voice input 512, or RFID reader 511.

The glove donning system 501 selects the packaged glove pair 507 from storage drawer 520 using the selection gantry 611, which verifies the packaged glove pair 507 with a scanner or vision sensor 615. The gantry 611 then places the packaged glove pair 507 on the package opening device 608, which cuts the outer wrapper using a package cutter 651 and disposes of it in the bin 516. The inner packaging 650 is opened by the package gripper 628 to expose the gloves 113.

Each glove 113 is lifted by the lift platform 622 to the first glove manipulator 632, which rotates 90 degrees and opens the glove 113 cuff to place it in the glove donning device 555. The glove opening assembly of the glove donning device 555 closes onto the glove 113, and the glove positioning assembly of the glove donning device 555 positions the glove 113 cuff onto the glove opening fingers. Both subassemblies of glove donning device 555 open, and the glove opening assembly of the glove donning device 555 opens and optionally stretch the glove 113.

Vacuum pump 601 is activated which then expands the gloves 113. The glove donning device 555 is rotated 90 degrees, and a presence sensor (similar to presence sensor 142) checks for successful glove 113 loading. The control system 524 instructs the user 505 via display 502 for visual notification or possibly speaker 512 via auditory notification to don the gloves 113 by inserting their hands into the glove cavities 503, 504 of the glove donning device 555.

Once the motion sensor 515 detects the user's 505 hand, the glove remover fingers release the gloves 113 from the glove opening fingers. The glove donning system 501 is then ready for the next user's input.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description is not a definition of the invention itself but is a description of one or more preferred exemplary embodiments of the disclosure invention.

Changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments, as recognized by a person skilled in the art, without deviating from the scope of this invention defined in the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A glove donning system for automated donning of gloves, comprising: a. a robotic arm equipped with grippers configured to select a glove from a glove supply;b. a glove donning device configured to receive the glove from the robotic arm and prepare the glove for a user's hand;c. a control system configured to control the robotic arm and the glove donning device; andd. one or more sensors in communication with said control system to provide feedback of the operation of the system.

2. The glove donning system of claim 1, wherein the glove donning device comprises: a. a first subassembly including a plurality of arms supported between a stationary plate and a rotating plate to clamp onto the glove;b. a second subassembly including a plurality of glove positioning fingers configured to wrap around the glove and open its cuff, allowing the user to insert their hand.

3. The glove donning system of claim 2, wherein the first and second subassemblies are formed by radially arranged arms, which open and close to clamp and open the glove.

4. The glove donning system of claim 1, wherein said glove supply comprises a compartment or rack with a plurality of gloves.

5. The glove donning system of claim 4, wherein said glove supply includes carts and rails.

6. The glove donning system of claim 1, further comprising an alignment stopper with a limit switch or sensor to ensure proper glove positioning.

7. The glove donning system of claim 6, wherein the alignment stopper includes (1) at least one proximity sensor or (2) at least one proximity sensor and limit switches to detect obstructions.

8. The glove donning system of claim 1, further comprising a sensor to detect a user's presence, wherein said control system initiates the glove application sequence upon detecting the user's presence via said sensor.

9. The glove donning system of claim 2, wherein said first subassembly includes a plurality of glove opening fingers, said glove positioning fingers made of an elastomer material to allow movement of said positioning fingers around said glove opening fingers.

10. The glove donning system of claim 1, further comprising an actuator to change the angle of the glove donning device.

11. A glove donning system comprising: a. two glove donning devices, each glove donning device of said glove donning devices configured for donning a glove onto a user's hand;b. a housing with front panel forming two glove cavities, each glove cavity of said glove cavities aligned with a respective glove donning device of said glove donning devices; andc. a control system to manage the operation of the glove donning devices and components.

12. The glove donning system of claim 11, wherein said housing includes a frame and a panel with hinges to form an access door for access to an interior of said housing.

13. The glove donning system of claim 11, further comprising a storage drawer with multiple glove storage receptacles for storing packaged glove pairs.

14. The glove donning system of claim 13, further comprising: a. a selection gantry configured to select and transport a packaged glove pair based on user input to said control system;b. a sensor to verify the correct orientation of a selected packaged glove pair;c. a package opening device to remove packaging from the selected packaged glove pair.

15. The glove donning system of claim 14, wherein said package opening device includes articulated grippers and a package cutter to remove the packaging.

16. The glove donning system of claim 14, wherein said selection gantry includes a motorized gantry to pick up and transport the selected packaged glove pair.

17. The glove donning system of claim 14, wherein the lift platform is operated by a motorized rail to position the gloves for subsequent manipulation.

18. The glove donning system of claim 17, further comprising a glove manipulator gantry to retrieve gloves from said lift platform and position them in the glove donning devices.

19. The glove donning system of claim 18, wherein said glove manipulator gantry includes a glove manipulator gripper configured to manipulate the glove from a flat horizontal position to a vertical open cuff position.

20. The glove donning system of claim 19, further comprising a vacuum pump to inflate or expand the glove for easier donning by the user.

21. The glove donning system of claim 20, further comprising a vacuum valve to switch airflow from said vacuum pump on or off to assisting in glove removal from the glove donning devices.

22. The glove donning system of claim 11, further comprising: a. at least one user input device selected from the group consisting of (1) a touch display, (2) a microphone, (3) a pedal switch, and (4) an RFID reader; andb. said control system managing said display and indicating system readiness and/or glove inventory status through one or more indicators.

23. The glove donning system of claim 22, further comprising: a. receive glove usage data including the type of glove used, the quantity of gloves used, and date and time stamps of when the gloves were donned, linked to the identity of the user;b. collect user data from the RFID reader, touchscreen display, and microphone;c. store the collected data locally within the control system;d. transmit the collected data to a remote server for further review.

24. The glove donning system of claim 22, further comprising a hand sanitizer dispenser actuated by a sensor to dispense sanitizer to the user's hand.

25. The glove donning system of claim 22, further comprising a motion sensor to prevent unsafe actuation of the system when hands are inserted a user input device for example.

26. The glove donning system of claim 22, further comprising a UV sterilizer to sterilize the components of the glove donning system.