1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to gloves and, more particularly, to a dyed, coated glove and a method of making same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, a variety of gloves are utilized in many fields for protecting workers, such as medical, industrial, household and many more. The gloves are subjected to extensive wear and movement in certain applications which, in turn, creates a need for durability, stretch-ability, and flexibility.
In one conventional technique, a glove having a knitted liner is dipped into a rubber polymer (e.g., natural rubber latex, synthetic rubber latex, and the like) to form a coating that covers at least a portion of the glove. To create a glove having color, a knitted portion of the gloves is dyed before dipping the product into the rubber polymer, while some other techniques merely utilize a colored yarn for forming the glove. The use of colored yarns or adding a dyeing step prior to the glove fabrication process adds expense and complexity to glove manufacturing.
Therefore, there exists a need for an improved colored glove as well as a commensurate method of making such a glove.
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally include a dyed, coated glove and a method of making such a glove. One embodiment of the invention provides a knitted liner having a rubber coating, where the liner and coating have been simultaneously dyed after the rubber has been cured.
In another embodiment, a method for making a coated glove is provided. The method includes knitting a liner of the glove, dipping the knitted liner into a rubber polymer, curing the rubber polymer to form a rubber coated glove, and then dyeing the rubber glove.
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
Embodiments of the present invention comprise a dyed, coated glove and method of making such a glove. The glove comprises a knitted liner, a cured rubber polymer coating over at least a portion of the knitted liner, and a dye staining the coating and dyeing the liner. Further embodiments of the invention comprise a method for making the dyed, coated glove. The method includes knitting a liner of the glove, dipping the knitted glove liner into a rubber polymer to cover at least a portion of the liner, curing the rubber polymer, and then dyeing the polymer coated knitted glove.
Existing flat knitting machines can be programmed to accommodate a large number of changes in stitch dimensions using stitch setup and to alter the physical dimensions used in a seven component liner 100. Stitch setup can be used to “customize” gloves and liners manufactured in various sizes, such as 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. They also can be used to develop specifications for finger length and width, palm length and width, and overall glove or liner length and width.
The liner 200 of this embodiment can be knit on a knitting machine and requires programming of the machine for each of the nineteen sections. For example, the liner 200 can be made according to the specifications provided in Table 1. Each of the components is indicated, and the sections that match
The specification in Table 1 can be used on a SFG knitting machine available from Shima Seiki Mfg., Ltd. based in Wakayama, Japan to create a size 9 glove. The information for the stitch setup and the number of courses is entered into the knitting machine's operation system using a keypad and LED display. Adjustments can be made to the specifications in Table 1 to create gloves of different sizes. The liners can be knit from different compositions of yarn, including cotton, nylon fibers, water-soluble fibers, such as polyvinyl alcohol, or other fibers that can be used on a knitting machine, such as polyester or high-strength synthetic fibers, such as aramid, polyethylene, and liquid crystal polymer. The yarns used to knit the gloves can be spun yarns, textured filament yarns, or multi-component composite yarns. Once the liner 100 or 200 is complete, it is coated at least in part with a polymer.
The manufacturing process for a flexible polymer coated glove involves several steps. In a detailed embodiment, an 18-gauge knitted liner with nominally 140 denier nylon 66 yarn is dressed on a hand shaped ceramic or metallic former and is immersed in a 2-15 wt % calcium nitrate aqueous solution. The calcium nitrate coagulant solution penetrates the entire thickness of the knitted liner. When this coagulant coated liner contacts aqueous polymeric latex emulsion, it destabilizes the emulsion and gels the latex. The coagulant coated knitted liner dressed on the former is next dipped in the aqueous polymeric latex emulsion. The polymeric aqueous latex has a viscosity in the range of 250-5000 centipoise and has commonly used stabilizers including but not limited to potassium hydroxide, ammonia, sulfonates, and others. The latex may contain other commonly used ingredients such as surfactants, anti-microbial agents, fillers/additives and the like. Due to the smaller diameter of the yarn, the distance between the fibers decrease rapidly forming a pinch region in the knitted liner and when the polymeric latex emulsion enters this region, the gelling action essentially chokes the ingress of the polymeric latex emulsion, thereby substantially preventing the entire penetration of the polymeric latex emulsion into the thickness of the knitted liner. This penetration and gelling action is sensitive to the viscosity of the polymeric latex emulsion and the depth to which the former with the coagulant coated liner is depressed into the polymeric latex emulsion tank. The higher the hydrostatic pressure, the polymeric latex emulsion penetrates more into the knitted liner. When the immersion depth is small and the viscosity of the polymeric latex emulsion is high the polymeric latex coating minimally penetrates the knitted liner resulting in poor adhesion of the coating. Therefore two controllable process variables are available for precisely and reliably controlling the penetration of the polymeric latex coating into the knitted liner, even when the knitted liner is relatively thin. These process variables are 1) the control of polymeric latex emulsion viscosity and 2) depth of immersion of the knitted liner dressed former. Typical depth of immersion needed to achieve this aqueous polymeric latex emulsion to a depth greater than half the thickness of the knitted liner to a penetration that is less than the entire thickness, e.g., 0.2 to 5 cm, based on the viscosity of the latex emulsion. Since a latex coating of the glove is generally only provided on the palm and finger areas of the glove, the former is articulated using a complex mechanism that moves the form in and out of the latex emulsion, immersing various portions of the knitted liner dressed on the former to progressively varying depths. As a result, some portions of the glove may have some degree of latex penetration, however, more than 75% of the knitted liner is penetrated at least half way or more than halfway without showing latex stain on the skin-contacting surface of the glove. The first embodiment of the process produces a thin continuous latex gelled layer on a thin knitted liner is washed first and is subsequently heated to vulcanize the latex composition and is washed to remove coagulant salts and other processing chemicals used to stabilize and control viscosity and wetting characteristics of the latex emulsion. The glove thus produced is better than 30% less in weight and thickness compared to a 15-gauge glove, and has better than three times the flexibility.
In a second embodiment of the invention, the polymeric latex emulsion used is foamed. The air content is typically in the 5 to 50% range on a volume basis. The polymeric latex emulsion may contain additional surfactants such as TWEEN 20 to stabilize the latex foam. Once the latex is foamed with the right air content and the viscosity is adjusted, refinement of the foam is undertaken by using the right whipping impeller stirrer driven at an optimal speed first and the air bubble size is refined using a different impeller run at a reduced speed. This foamed polymeric latex emulsion generally has a higher viscosity and therefore is more difficult to penetrate the interstices between the yarns in the knitted liner and may require a higher depth of immersion of the former with dressed knitted liner. The penetrated foamed latex emulsion instantly gels due to the action of the coagulant resident of the surfaces of the yarns forming chocking regions between the fibers preventing further entry of the foamed latex emulsion into the thickness of the knitted liner. The air cells reduce the modulus of elasticity of the polymeric latex coating increasing the flexibility of the glove. The air content in the range of 5-15 volumetric percentile results in foams that have closed cells and the polymeric latex coating is liquid impervious. This coating has a spongy soft feel. Some of the air cells adjacent to the external surface open out providing increased roughness and have the ability to remove boundary layer of oil and water from a gripping surface, providing increased grip. When the volumetric air content is in the range of 15-50%, the air cells are adjacent to each other and during vulcanization heating step, they expand, touch each other creating an open celled foam. The polymeric latex coating of the glove is breathable and the glove does not become clammy. If a drop of liquid is placed on a glove in the palm portion, the liquid may penetrate the polymeric latex coating especially when the glove is worn due to the stretching of the open air cells. This liquid penetration can be minimized or prevented depending on the size of the openings in the air cell by applying an aqueous fluorochemical dispersion coating. The dispersion generally consists of fluorochemical composition dispersed in an aqueous solvent medium to form a coating that is typically 0.5 to 2 micron in thickness. The aqueous fluorochemical dispersion coating may also be applied to portions of the knitted liner that is not covered by the polymeric latex coating. The fluorochemical coating may be applied to the gelled latex prior to vulcanization and the coating cures together with the latex polymer. The fluorochemical coating may be equally well applied to unfoamed latex coating to prevent oil or water penetration through occasional imperfections in the latex coating of the glove.
According to some embodiments, the liners 100 or 200 can comprise a woven textile fabric or a knitted textile fabric. The liners 100 or 200 can comprise cotton, nylon, or a form of spandex (elastane), or any combination of two or more of the foregoing. In other embodiments for various glove applications, the cotton, nylon or spandex may be combined with rayon, polyester, polypropylene, Kevlar® (DuPont, Wilmington, Del.), Spectra™ (Honeywell, Morristown, N.J.), or steel wire. The liners 100 or 200 comprising cotton and/or rayon, for example, can be placed on the skin-contacting surface, thereby providing a comfortable feel and moisture-absorption. The liners 100 or 200 comprising steel wire, Kevlar®, and/or Spectra™, can be placed on the exterior surface, thereby providing cut-resistance.
As illustrated in
Further, the knitted liner is then dipped into a rubber polymer and partially coated as described above.
Furthermore, a dyeing process is performed on the resultant knitted, elastomeric coated glove produced from above steps. In one embodiment, the gloves are pre-cured in a dryer, then acid dyed for 30 minutes at 140° F., then washed with detergent, followed by a cold water wash, and finally dried. The pre-curing step insures that the urethane coating is not “tacky.” If it is tacky, the gloves may stick to each other during the dyeing or drying process. The result of dyeing the glove in this manner is a dyed liner and a stained coating.
The method 500 starts at step 502 and proceeds to step 504. At step 504, a glove liner is knitted as described above with respect to
At step 506, the knitted glove liner is coated with a rubber polymer. In some embodiments, the knitted glove liner is dipped into a rubber polymer to cover at least a portion of the liner. The glove liner is dipped into a coagulant composition, then into at least one aqueous emulsion composition comprising rubber latex, a tackifier, or both. Those skilled in the art may utilize other chemical compositions for the rubber polymer and utilize various other dipping techniques, without limiting and departing from the scope of the invention.
At step 508, in one embodiment, the gloves are cured (e.g., tumble dryed) in a gas powered dryer at 170° F. for 20 minutes. The curing process reduces the tackiness of the rubber coating and ensures that the gloves will not stick to one another during the drying process.
At step 510, the knitted polymer coated glove is dyed using an acid dye for 30 minutes at 140 F, then washed with detergent, followed by a cold water wash, and finally dried. For gloves with nylon liners, the dye bath temperature is about 140° F. to reduce shrinking of the liner. In other embodiments, using other glove materials, the dye bath temperature may be higher than 140° F., e.g., 180° F. or 200° F. Those skilled in the art may utilize various dyeing techniques for making the final coated gloves. The method 500 proceeds to step 510, where the method 500 ends.
The dye provides color to the liner and stains the elastomeric coating.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/465,571, filed Mar. 21, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61465571 | Mar 2011 | US |